4 August 2004
The History Channel is pleased to announce an historic agreement with the National Museum of Australia. The two year agreement is the first formal collaboration for the channel and is part of a broader plan which has the channel working with museums and historic societies across the country.
The collaboration was a natural progression for The History Channel and the National Museum of Australia after the successful co-production of a series of short programmes based on the Museum's exhibition, Outlawed!
Outlawed!, which is currently screening on The History Channel, is drawn from the Museum's travelling exhibition, now at the Melbourne Museum and in November moving to the Queensland Museum. Outlawed! is the first major exhibition in the world to investigate the lives of individual bushrangers and outlaws who, in their own countries, became figures of national significance. The series is hosted by well known television personality, Scott McGregor.
The History Channel, as Australia's only channel dedicated to history, is committed to working with Australian historic institutions and organisations to bring history to the fore. This collaboration with the prestigious National Museum of Australia aims to take history to wider audiences, enabling viewers and visitors to experience and discover more about their Australian heritage and history through different but complementary mediums.
The venture with the National Museum of Australia establishes what will be an on-going relationship with further projects being planned such as EXTREMES: GREAT DESERTS OF THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE for late 2004. This exhibition and related series is a journey through the world's great deserts in Australia, South America and Africa, tracing the origin and history of these deserts and the people who explored, live and work in these harsh desert environments. The History Channel is also working with the National Museum of Australia on a series of short programs about some of the living and historic Australians explored in the Museum's permanent exhibitions, under the themes of Land, Nation and People.
The National Museum has attracted more than 2.75 million visitors since it opened in Canberra in March 2001. The Museum celebrates Australian social history in a unique way by revealing the stories of ordinary and extraordinary Australians and with colourful architecture mixes an imaginative use of multimedia with a fresh exhibition approach.
The History Channel has produced an impressive array of short-form programmes with other educational and historic organisations such as IN OUR COLLECTION with the Australian War Memorial; a series on Australian maritime history with The National Maritime Museum, a commemorative special on the first anniversary of Bali and in conjunction with the Temora Aviation Museum, a series of interstitials and a special one hour presentation.
For more information contact:
Elizabeth Hunter, Publicity, FOXTEL, t: 02-9200 1415,
e: Elizabeth.Hunter@foxtel.com.au
Martin Portus, Public Affairs, National Museum, t:-6208 5351,
e: m.portus@nma.gov.au