Impact of National Museum of Australia in the Vision of Canberra and Australia

Introduction.

Canberra city is the National capital of Australia. It obtained its unique heritage from the conceptual framework of Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin. The city is still shouting some of the visions of Griffins’ in the designs of most of its structures. Their most renowned plan was the concept of a garden city (James, 2012). It implied the development of Canberra as the propagators give precedence to the nurturing of nature. Consequently, the city took into the idea, and vast areas of Canberra are covered by nature, which earned her the label “bush city.”

After the development of the city, the National Museum of Australia (NMA) is always forefront in exhibiting the visions of Canberra. Moreover, the Museum is also preserving Australian culture as it promotes the Vision of the country. The NMA became accessible by the public in 2001. It is obligated to showcase human activities in the lone standing continent of Australia (Ford, 2011). Therefore, NMA organized frequent exhibitions which was themed at highlighting some of the activities that had taken place in a span of six months. The exhibitions also shed light on the people, politics and vegetation of Australia.

After the wave of war which left approximately 62,000 people dead, Australian government started to implement strategies that would help the country to reel from the scourge of violence they experienced (Daley, 2015). As part of the mitigation technique towards healing, the country channeled its efforts in restructuring the development plan for Canberra and a construction of war memorial. The Australian administrators thought it sensible to use the memorial in honoring Charles bean, who fought for the federal state. These activities were aimed at the stabilizing the country as they took part in the preservation of its heritage. Australian Vision hence included breathing life into the Vision that the Griffins had for Canberra.

Therefore, the government of Australia wanted to give more weight to the Capital of Canberra which will distinguish it from Melbourne and Sydney. In addition to the existing government institutions in the capital, the administrators decided to construct the permanent structure of the NMA in the city (McIntyre, 2006). The institutions were tasked with the collection, breaking down and the dissemination of information related to the history of Australia. Further, the institutions together with the NMA would record and store the retrieved information on the legacy of the state to the future generations. Besides the NMA, Canberra also got its capital stature from the national parliament, research agencies and the judiciary which are centralized in the city (McIntyre, 2006).

Additionally, the NMA preserves a lot of information which are related to the multicultural state of the country. Australia has over 260 various language speakers and traces to approximately 270 ancestries (Arasaratnam, 2014). The diverse cultures which are mostly concentered on the country’s capital showcases the attempt of the country in accommodating a greater majority. Moreover, the collective information regarding the different ancestries has attracted many tourists in Canberra. The relevance of tourists often translates to the country’s economy and the transfer of culture to the tourist’s societies.

In addition to the highlighted functions, the NMA in conjunction with other national institutions are responsible for providing information to the continent (McIntyre, 2006). This obligation is achieved by the out-reach initiatives and regular publications. They also undertake tour exhibition to the greater majority. Moreover, the NMA has put in place programs which paves way for the interaction of youths, mostly high school student with the leaders. The leaders have a responsibility to enlighten the younger Australian generation through addressing the vital issues facing them. Canberra will also present unity in human experiences using the NMA as it links and predisposes the Australian history as a common experience with other countries internationally.

Another functional role of the NMA towards the Vision of Canberra and Australia is the provision of understanding for the natural environment (Walliss, 2004). It also explains on the aspects of natural environment that has impacts on the lives of individuals which eventually causes them to fit in. The former museums never postulated any links on human experiences and the environment in their publications. They had not delved into more research to create a relation between human histories and the surrounding. Therefore, the ability of the NMA to bridge this gap has enabled them to gain traction as a leading museum in research. Consequently, building a space on the global front for Canberra and the country.

Finally, the building block for conceptualization of the idea of NMA was to traverse and showcase the Australian endowment that embraces the successes of a multicultural country (McIntyre, 2006). The objective of creating a platform for the diverse cultures is to champion for political and social change. In contemporary Canberra, the promotion of NMA activities is meant to make it open-source of information. This is a response to the conventional notion that museums are designated for the elites in the society. The NMA will only be considered effective in its role when anybody in Canberra and Australia in general can access and appropriately use it. This realization will bring to fruition the vision of opening up the Museum.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the idea of constructing the National Museum of Australia was a functional concept. Since its inception, Canberra and Australia as a whole have realized meaningful impacts. The greased being the ability of the diverse groups to interact and engage in effective exchanges, which will consistently foster national growth.

References

Arasaratnam, L.A., 2014. A discussion of multiculturalism in Australia from educators’ perspective. SpringerPlus, 3(1), pp.1-8. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3918098/

Daley, P. (May 19, 2015) Australian War Memorial: the remarkable rise and rise of the nation’s secular shrine. The Guardian. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2015/may/19/australian-war-memorial-the-remarkable-rise-and-rise-of-the-nations-secular-shrine

Ford, B., 2011. Non-destructive microfade testing at the National Museum of Australia. AICCM Bulletin, 32(1), pp.54-64. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276395546_Non-destructive_microfade_testing_at_the_National_Museum_of_Australia

James, M.L., 2012. The capital city conundrum: an exploration of Canberra as Australia’s national capital. Commonwealth of Australia. Available from: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2011-2012/Canberra

McIntyre, D., 2006. The National Museum of Australia and Public Discourse: the role of public policies in the nation’s cultural debates1. Museum International, 58(4), pp.13-20. Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-0033.2006.00578.x

Walliss, J., 2004. Garden without a destiny: Untangling landscape narratives at the national Museum of Australia. Journal of Australian Studies, 28(83), pp.105-116. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237216106_Garden_without_a_destiny_Untangling_landscape_narratives_at_the_national_museum_of_Australia