Digitisation of objects for Wansolmoana

Hello. My name is Meredith Lynch Underwood, and I am the cultural collections enhancement manager at the Australian Museum. Wansolmoana meaning One Salt Ocean is the museum's newest permanent Pasifika gallery, opened in October 2023 as a testament to cultural connectivity and resilience. Wansolmoana aims to be a haven of welcome healing and community connection for the Pacific diaspora and for the audiences it provides a gateway to cultural objects, narratives and traditions, shedding light on Pacific challenges and strengths while reaffirming Australia's Pacific regional role.

Central to Wansolmoana's development was an indigenous Pasifika approach, emphasizing engagement, consultation and co-creation. More than 5000 community touchpoints and interactions shaped the project, ensuring the respectful representation of more than 3000 exhibited objects and more than 600 digital collection items. The Wansolmoana digital interactive was collaboratively designed by the Pacifica Cultural Collections team and the Cultural Collections Enhancement Team to increase access to the Pacifica collections virtually in the new Wansolmoana gallery space, the first iteration of the interactive features over 2000 digital assets from the Pacifica Cultural Collection, representing 620 objects from 22 different Pacific nations.

The Digital Interactive has been designed so that further digitized assets can be uploaded and shared with the public. This interactive has been very well-received by the public and has provided increased access to view, understand and research the Australian Museum's Pasifika collections. A key feature of the Wansolmoana digital interactive is the display of a scale Pacific map detailing proximity for museum visitors in Sydney, Australia, across the Pacific region.

The Pacific map is set out on the start screen and in the interactives dormant resting state display. The digital map is a key exhibition welcoming space feature. The interactive maps Pacific nations placement in the vast Pacific Ocean, and shows the depth and breadth of the Australian Museum's Pasifika Collection. Introductory information about each nation is detailed when the map is interacted with.

Then, from each nation's landing page, visitors can navigate to explore more of the museum's collection via high quality image sets with accompanying cultural knowledge text data. This all comes together on the technology, a 65 inch multi-use touch screen encased in museum design housing. Wansolmoana exhibition and digital interactive, is a testament to the Australian Museum's commitment to honoring Pasifika cultures, fostering meaningful dialog and inspiring global cultural institutions to engage authentically with diverse communities.

Its legacy is not just in the exhibit, but in the profound connections and empowerment it has sparked within Pasifika communities in New South Wales and beyond.