Australian Museum wins best temporary exhibition, best app and best website at national museum awards

Author(s)

Shirani Glover
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2 minutes

Sydney, 17 May 2019: The Australian Museum (AM) has taken home three major museum awards including the Museums & Galleries National Award for Best Temporary exhibition (level 2) and two Museums Australasia Multimedia & Publication Design Awards (MAPDA) for its new website and whale trail app.

Announced at an awards ceremony in Alice Springs during the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) National Conference this week, the AM was recognised for its landmark temporary exhibition GADI. First Nations Curator Laura McBride and Archaeologist Courtney Marsh accepted the award on behalf of the Elders and community who shared their knowledge with the AM and its audiences.

“We are facilitators, but it’s important we recognise the knowledge holders – Uncle Allen Madden, Uncle Chicka Madden, Aunty Julie Freeman, Uncle Steve Russell, Aunty Phyllis Stewart, Aunty Jodi Edwards, Aunty Vivienne Mason, Aunty Vicki Trindall, Aunty Leanne Mason and their children and grandchildren. Hundreds of thousands of people have been welcomed to Sydney City by Gadigal elders but very few know what Gadigal means or represents,” Laura McBride, GADI exhibition curator said today.

“We were born on Gadigal Country and feel honoured to help facilitate their voices so that they can, for the first time, represent themselves and their cultures within the Museum,” Courtney Marsh, archaeologist, added.

“GADI broke ground and challenged the dominant concepts of roles, gender and societal notions of pre- colonisation Australia. Its legacy continues to inform how we engage and work together with First Nations communities,” Kim McKay AO, Australian Museum Director & CEO, said today.

The AM’s recently launched new website australian.museum, won the MAPDA Award for Best Website. Receiving more than 11 million online visitors to the site each year, the AM’s website is a dynamic hub with information about its collections and research, world-class exhibitions and events, and detailed resources for schools.

The redevelopment of the website was a complex project managed by the AM’s Digital Experience team, led by Megan Lawrence, working closely with the Interaction Consortium digital design and development agency.

The AM also won the national museum design award for best app for its whale trail app, recently developed to complement the AM’s temporary exhibition Whales | Tohora. The free game mobile app, developed with mobile app company Beaconmaker, takes users on a museum-wide interactive adventure, bringing various whale specimens on display around the AM to life and providing fun facts, quizzes and whale sounds.

Full list of MAGNA and MAPDA winners available at: https://www.amaga.org.au

ENDS