The National Museum of Australia’s mission is to bring the world’s cultures to Australia and present Australia’s history and culture to the world. Since 2015, the Museum has been involved in exhibitions and creative projects seen by more than 1.7 million people in more than 40 countries, from the United Kingdom to China, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Turkey, Belgium and beyond.
The abundance and success of these projects are largely due to the Museum’s International and Domestic Engagement team, a dedicated group of staff working proactively to initiate new projects and build on previous work with the Museum’s existing partners in museums and galleries around Australia and overseas.
This year the Museum participated in an exhibition exchange with the National Museum of China (NMC) that saw Old Masters: Australia’s Great Bark Artists on display at NMC in Beijing from July to September 2018, and The Historical Expression of Chinese Art: Calligraphy and Painting from the National Museum of China displayed at the Museum in Canberra from April to July 2019.
After its display in Beijing, Old Masters toured across mainland China in what the Australian Ambassador to China, Jan Adams, described as a ‘cultural diplomacy milestone’. The exhibition of magnificent Arnhem Land bark paintings from the Museum’s collection has also been displayed in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu. It is the first time this collection has been seen overseas, and more than 350,000 visitors flocked to the exhibition during the year. With the support of the Australia–China Council, Indigenous artists Witiyana Marika and Ishmael Marika travelled to Beijing for the opening event, and Ishmael also attended the opening in Shenzhen. The tour received strong coverage from Chinese media.
The Museum partnered with the South Australian Museum to tour Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia to Japan as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s ‘Australia Now’ program in 2018. The exhibition was displayed as part of the Echigo Tsumari Triennale from July to September 2018, attracting over 40,000 visitors. The Australia–Japan Foundation supported the travel of Yolŋu community members to Japan for a weekend of public programming, including a cross-cultural concert with Yolŋu community members delivering yidaki performances, both traditional and contemporary, as well as a joint performance with famous Japanese yidaki player, GOMA.
One of the program’s most successful projects has been the development and exhibition of three graphic-panel displays delivered in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Two of the displays reproduce works from the Museum’s Yiwarra Kuju and Old Masters exhibitions. The most recently developed display is based on the exhibition Evolution: Torres Strait Masks, in which the Museum partnered with the Gab Titui Cultural Centre, Waiben (Thursday Island). It explores the longstanding importance of masks in Torres Strait culture and how they influence contemporary art forms. The panel displays have been translated into multiple languages and have been shown at embassies, airports, shopping centres and even along major city streets.
In June 2019, the Yiwarra Kuju graphic panels were exhibited at the Caudan Arts Centre, Port Louis, Mauritius, in partnership with the Australian High Commission. Carly Davenport Acker, who was a co-curator on the original Yiwarra Kuju exhibition, travelled to the Indian Ocean island nation along with Mangkaja artist Mervyn Street, from Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, to conduct tours of the exhibition, deliver Indigenous art workshops to primary school students, present to graphic design students at Curtin Mauritius, run an artist-in-residency workshop with local artists, and participate in discussions with local institutions on cultural collaborations.
Recognising the strong demand overseas for Indigenous Australian stories, the Museum is now working towards an international tour of the award- winning exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters. This Indigenous-led exhibition about the epic Seven Sisters Dreaming combines stunning artworks and immersive multimedia installations to take visitors on a journey across the Australian desert. It is the perfect platform for sharing the history, culture and art of Indigenous Australia with international audiences, as well as showcasing the Museum’s ethical practices and processes of enabling communities to tell their own stories. In 2019–20, and into the future, the Museum’s multifaceted International Program will continue to facilitate cultural diplomacy, promote collaboration and exchange, and provide reciprocal opportunities for capacity-building with museum and gallery professionals internationally.