Just Gold launches Melbourne’s First Multicultural Museum Trail
At the heart of Melbourne is its multicultural heritage and fusion, but the city’s six cultural museums have never been connected through an innovative tour before, until now.
The Multicultural Museum Trail is the first of its kind in Australia and aims to connect the biggest cultural institutions in Victoria to explore the State’s rich multiculturalism.
Presented by social enterprise Just Gold under the banner “Think Culture”, spanning across 3 days the event consists of the Museum Trail over the weekend of the 26th to 27th of November and wraps up with an exclusive QandA event featuring Arts and Museum experts on Monday the 28th.
This celebratory QandA event hosted at the Commons QV at Melbourne’s Greek Quarter will be captured in front of a live audience and streamed across the country on Just Gold’s digital ecosystem, featuring a discussion of the representations of culture in our multicultural society.
The innovative trail will curate open dialogue between the Immigration, Chinese, Hellenic, Jewish, Islamic and Italian Museums discussing the ways museums invite everyone to participate, engage, understand, and have respect for different cultures and traditions.
Showcasing what the next generation of museum tours will look like, the experience is powered by AR technology. The immersive technology will guide guests across the city to explore featured artworks curated by each of the cultural museums. The AR pilot is designed to market Multicultural Museums to younger audiences.
To add to the excitement, the first 25 attendees that visit each of the six museums will win a $30 voucher to spend at the museum of their choice. Conditions apply*
Just Gold CEO Kyriakos Gold says “At Just Gold we believe that the arts and culture is nourished and strengthened by interactive community participation in cultural activities”.
‘That is why we connect, support and amplify the voices of cultural organisations and that is at the core of what we will be discussing on Monday the 28th with our experts’, says Mr. Gold.
‘Channeling and promoting diverse cultures to the broader public contributes significantly, not only to the production of cultural goods and social cohesion but also to the broader economy.’
The tour consists of curated talks and visits to each participating museum. Ancient cultural artefacts featured on the trail include:
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Hellenic Museum Melbourne: Ex Graecia, a collection of marble fragments dating from the Roman Empire. The fragments, all of which come from various contexts, give a glimpse of the integration and syncretism of Greek art and mythology with Roman values and ideals, to create pieces ranging from sarcophagi to stelae, victory columns and friezes.
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Islamic Museum of Australia: The Armillary Sphere, functions as a model of objects in the sky, or the celestial sphere. It is used to calculate the Earth’s position and track the movements of celestial bodies like planets and star constellations.
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Museum of Chinese Australian History: Finding Gold: Chinese on the Goldfields of 19th Century Australia, highlights the role of Chinese Settlers during the Australian Gold Rush. Visitors will be transported to an Australian goldfield through an immersive exhibition that begins on board a ship sailing from Hong Kong bound for Melbourne and progress through various scenes on a goldfield.
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Museo Italiano (Co.As.It): Dome Top Trunk (1880s)-is the trunk that carried ballerina Enrichetta Righettini’s belongings on her eventful journey to Melbourne.The trunk was later also used by her granddaughter. It did not only carry the family’s possessions, but also carried the memories of an immigrant voyage across countries, representing the journey of Italian migrants to Australia, from the earliest day.
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Jewish Museum of Australia: Early 20th Century Rosh Hashanah card, that was created in Germany and acquired in New York by one of the first supporters of the Jewish Museum of Australia, who in turn donated it in 1989. It depicts the interior of a room, with a family seated for the festive meal.
Think Culture is a Just Gold initiative, Australia’s first full service strategic communications agency that is an accredited social enterprise and is produced with the support of the Victorian Government.
Just Gold is Australia’s first full service consulting and creative agency that is a social enterprise, on a mission to empower people and tear down social barriers. Profits contribute to pro bono services that empower people and organisations who work to end social issues.
Think Culture is one of Just Gold’s impact programs, producing awareness campaigns and digital content focusing on multicultural issues and social justice, targeting CALD audiences and the broader society.
The trail will launch on Saturday 26th of November to Sunday 27th ending at the Immigration Museum (Common Sky) in Melbourne’s CBD.
Quotes attributable to Hellenic Museum
CEO and Head of Curation Sarah Craig says, ‘The Hellenic Museum is pleased to be a part of the Multicultural Museums Trail. It is an exciting opportunity to champion and celebrate the intercultural fabric of this city with fellow arts and culture institutions.’
Quotes attributable to Chinese Museum
CEO Mark Wang says ‘Our group of multicultural museums in Victoria are the custodians of our communities’ diverse culture, heritage and history’.
‘The Chinese Museum is proud to be an integral part of this celebration that brings our society together.’
Quotes attributable to Immigration Museum
Administration Officer Taneal Walker says ‘The Immigration Museum welcomes visitors on the Multicultural Museums Trail, providing thought provoking experiences filled with stories of people who have migrated to Victoria.’
Quotes attributable to Islamic Museum of Australia (IMA)
Director Education and Community Engagement Sherene Hassan says ‘We at the IMA are delighted to be part of this inaugural celebration of culture. Museums such as our own, contribute to highlighting the breadth and depth of multiculturalism in Australia, serving as a vehicle for education and greater cross cultural understanding.’
Quotes attributable to Museo Italiano
Manager Elizabeth Triarico says ‘The Museo Italiano is proud to be working again with its Multicultural Museums Victoria partners on this innovative and creative initiative’
‘The Multicultural Museums Trail is a fun interactive experience which brings us all closer together by highlighting our unique multicultural stories and objects.’
When
Museum Trail 26th & 27th November, Think Culture Event 28th November
Museums Opening Days/Hours
Islamic Museum: Sat 10am to 4pm
Museo Italiano (Co.As.It): Sat 12:30pm to 5pm
Hellenic Museum: Sat/Sun 10am to 4pm
Chinese Museum: Sat/Sun 10am to 4pm
Jewish Museum: Sun 10am to 5pm
Immigration Museum: Sat/Sun 10am to 5pm
The Trail
- Islamic Museum
- Museo Italiano (Co.As.It)
- Hellenic Museum Melbourne
- Museum of Chinese Australian History
- Jewish Museum of Australia
- Immigration Museum
(Visitors can choose one or more of the participating cultural museums).
Tickets: For free entry use the code “Think Culture 2022” at the ticketing desk to enter.
Tickets on temporary exhibitions excluded from the trail.
Where to Watch Think Culture Online
And on Just Gold’s Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn @wearejustgold
Competition terms and conditions
*Must present six (6) tickets at the final destination (Immigration Museum) to receive the $30 voucher. The voucher can be redeemed at the gift shop of their museum of choice.
