Queensland Museum – backstage pass

“…there is no reason why anyone should understand how it works…and of course no reason why anyone should care…unless you are curious, in which case I love you, for curiosity about the world and all its corners is a beautiful thing.”

Stephen Fry – The Fry Chronicles 

It’s a lucky girl who gets to live out her dreams of being locked in a museum store, roaming the collections and poking through history. For the last two weeks, I’ve been that girl. With eyes full of wonder, hands itching to touch and a mind ready to explore, I’ve been allowed behind the scenes at the Queensland Museum.

They’re a lovely team there. Generous with their time and expertise, and passionate about what they do. It’s a common theme among all the people I’ve met right across Queensland Art Gallery, GOMA and Queensland Museum. There’s an incredible wealth of talent and specialist knowledge in Queensland. We’re all so used to thinking of Melbourne and Sydney as the cultural hubs of Australia that it comes as a bit of a shock when we find mastery here in this big old country town of Brisbane. Still, it is here and for that we should all feel very lucky. It’s such a shame that more of this collection can’t be out on display for the public to enjoy, because there really are some amazing items.

Here’s a few shots of our workshop on condition reporting and acquisitioning, and some of the treats spied as I wandered through their collection. Like a kid in a candy store I was!