This is one of the best ideas Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has ever had. How about a permanent display at Sydney Town Hall?

I would even contemplate visiting Sydney to visit the musuem! LOL

Seriously though, what a great idea!

About time they did something like this, I'd like to see somewhere like the old Taylor Square hotel be used as a permament museum space.

Matt I will most likely never meet you but love the way you keep me informed of such interesting stuff. By the way you are a marvelous writer!

Excellent !

So would it look like a hopeful rally for human rights slowly turning into an empty commercialised joke?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudeboy86

....empty commercialised joke?

Sydney and Melbourne both have big buildings venerating our war efforts. Sydney has a Jewish Museum but I've never been in because they charge $10 just to walk in the door.

Yeah sounds like a good idea . . . in the beginning!!!!!!!!!!!!So did the AIDS Quilt which years later had problems finding a home (think Power House Museum stepped in?). It is a good idea. . . but wot happens after initial interest dies out!!!!!!!!! And I dont think there'll much interest from he str8 community-they're only interested in seeing the pathetic freak sideshow that has become the parade.

There was a similar exhibition a few years back.

LONG OVERDUE but coming at a perfect time when identity of our community is in question. SO glad this is happening! yay :)

and to the usual negative tirade that come here - I think it will be a fantastic tourist stop especially during mardi gras season. I also think there will be straights who will find it worth checking out if it is done right.

Sydney is supposed to be the gay capital of australia and one of the gay cities of the world, lets have something worth showcasing.

It is also really important that we have a place to share our history with the younger queens.

This is the sort of forward thinking we need to evolve and survive whats happening at the moment

Quote:

Originally Posted by biglebstud

Yeah sounds like a good idea . . . in the beginning!!!!!!!!!!!!So did the AIDS Quilt which years later had problems finding a home (think Power House Museum stepped in?). It is a good idea. . . but wot happens after initial interest dies out!!!!!!!!! And I dont think there'll much interest from he str8 community-they're only interested in seeing the pathetic freak sideshow that has become the parade.

Mr biglebstud, I know it's rather trivial but couldn't you find ANOTHER term to describe your dislike of the parade........ as my little bear friend would say......... just asking???

I applaud the efforts of the committee working towards establishing a museum in Sydney relating to LGBT history. I am, however, somewhat concerned that this museum doesn't end up being a narrow history of Mardi Gras from the point of view of the current board. The Museum, if it eventuates should explore the breadth of LGBT history in Sydney, which is of course much much broader than the organisational history of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (or its various predecessors, back to the Gay Solidarity Group who organised the 1978 March, Mardi Gras parade etc.)

The history of LGBT Sydney is broad and has many threads as is the history of Mardi Gras itself; it is also one which has at various points been very highly contested - will the current Mardi Gras board like to explore the issues around the recent somewhat divisive name change of the parade?

The Museum, under whatever name (personally I like HomoMuseum, rather than Mardi Gras Museum), offers a great opportunity to display the multifaceted history of LGBT Sydney, with the Mardi Gras of course being very central to that history. Let's not end up with a stale exhibition space which only tells the 'approved' history of Mardi Gras.

It also deserves mentioning that there are a number of collecting institutions around Australia who have been collecting and preserving the LGBT history of Sydney for many many years, foremost of which is the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives (ALGA), established in 1978, who amongst other things published a history of the Mardi Gras; other organisations collecting LGBT material relating to Sydney include the Powerhouse Museum, the State Library of NSW and the National Library of Australia. While many of these orgnisations have been collecting, preserving, publishing and exhiting material on LGBT life for many years, they often dont have the exhibition space to display their collections. Ideally this new Museum project should focus on working with public and private collections to display this material, rather than re-creating the wheel and establishing a new collecting institution. This would also free up more space for exhibitions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paperhouse

…there are a number of collecting institutions around Australia who have been collecting… the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives …the State Library of NSW…

I've donated to both.

I doubt the idea mentioned in this article will happen. The Internet is the cheapest way of disseminating information nowdays.

The only way this museum will eventuate is if the current Sydney mayor takes it up. She has a habit of taking an idea, spending a million dollars on it and then closing it down one year later. viz the former Taylor Square Hotel and the council property on Oxford St which ditched its gay lessees.

I think they should turn Charlotte Dawsons house into the museum. Now that she's... you know... dead.

It's what she would have wanted

mark_: developing a museum/exhibition space is a very complex project, from ensuring the space has appropriate 'museum/gallery-quality' exhibition spaces (e.g. humidity, lighting, security etc.); the ongoing staff/volunteers to support the exhibitions; funding for new installations etc. etc. etc. but the proposal has a great deal of merit and I believe as a 'community' we should all get behind the proposal. Given that many of the press releases, this article included, note that the project is still very formative, there is clearly a desire to guage/develop community support, while I think that there is a need for community input/consultation, we should also be agitating for it, writing letters to the Mayor, councillors etc to express our support for the project.

^
Dear Paperhouse, I applaud the idea in principle. But a book or a website fulfills the same function …and everyone knows that museums LOSE money every day they're open.

There are museum-cum-shrines which are successful if they're subsidised. And there's the Disneyland-style museums— but I'm sure you don't want that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Light-Bearer

… Charlotte Dawsons house …

I think the woman has a unit in the The Horizon— that Seidler tower above the street-whores of East Sydney.

Museums perform a similar but not identicle function to books and websites, they are complementary.

Exhibitions offer a tangible visceral experience for people to physically engage in. Unfortunately, despite the many wonderful books published on LGBT history there is an unfortunate lack of awareness of LGBT history in Australia. Similarly, websites offer another viral avenue for learning, but many people, particularly older people aren't online or don't want to spend time searching and reading through a website.

I totally agree with you that exhibitions/museums are very very rarely profit making projects, I sincerely doubt any LGBT exhibition/museum would generate a revenue stream, even if it was a 'Disneyland' multimedia extravaganza, as opposed to a a history 'temple'.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paperhouse

....many people, particularly older people aren't online or don't want to spend time searching and reading through a website....

A NSW govt rep told me ten years ago that 40% of NSW households were on line and that they funded access in every municipal library in the state. That was one decade ago.

In this last year I noticed two of my local libraries offering 6 hours worth of free tutorials to people on Internet/Tumblr/Facebook/ etc. All funded by Telstra. I also notice that the NSW Electoral Office is allowing some people to vote on line.