A museum in progress….
By: Emily Siddons
Tags: Museums, Digital Transformation, Technology, Exhibition

How do you tell the story of something so intrinsic to all of us — our human need to communicate and connect?

The story of communications is intimately entwined with the story of people, of place, of communities and of belonging. When we think about the technologies that have enabled our ability to connect with one another, we can consistently see the role these technologies play in enabling, building and transforming societies.

As a technology centred museum, our key risk is that we focus on the tech rather than what the tech enables, which would fail to recognise that communication technologies were always developed in service of this fundamental human need.

We’ve inherited a lot of stuff from which to build this museum. Some of the technology objects are impressive and shine a light on a unique history and development of communication technologies in Australia. More interesting though is the macro view of the collection and the realisation that these objects, considered together, are rather mundane and ubiquitous tools of communication. It is, however, our universal embrace of these technologies that ensured their ubiquity and therefore provide us with the unique opportunity to speak to our collective experiences and shared narratives.

If ever there was an opportunity to create a more democratic, interactive and engaging museum, I feel this might be it. There is a shift in the mandate of museums occurring worldwide, the need for this shift was highlighted by Alpha Oumar Konaré, the prior president of ICOM:

The traditional museum is no longer in tune with our concerns; it has ossified our culture, deadened many of our cultural objects, and allowed the essence, imbued with the spirit of the people, to be lost.

This view, reminiscent of philosopher Adorno’s scathing regard for the ‘museum as mausoleum’, could not be further from the clanking sounds of our still-working, step-by-step exchange that forms the heartbeat of this retired telephone exchange, the site that will eventually become our new museum.

Positioning a new museum within a working building ties the museum to a tangible past. On our first visit it felt as if this site had been abandoned, the remnants of the human traces that once made this exchange a hive of activity were still very much present. The main distribution frame still in situ commanded a presence, workers tools remained scattered around, and etchings into the walls provided clues of the characters that may have once inhabited this place. This presented an intriguing dialogue with the still-working network site directly behind.

In considering our positioning, we have unpacked loaded words that speak to outdated and Eurocentric models from which to reframe and build this museum. Terms such as ‘innovation’, ‘technology’ and ‘progress’ that speak to old fashioned notions of nation building, and fail to recognise that communication technologies have been in existence in Australia for thousands of years. In shaping our own definitions, we create space for multiple diverse voices and pave the way for shared narratives to emerge; as the story of communication is a story that is universal and belongs to everyone.

When finding the storytellers of communication, there are the inventors, the operators, the users and the receivers. All of whom play a unique role in the transmission and reception of messages. We can consider all communication as code, and unless we are equipped with the tools to unlock that code, the message is rendered meaningless. Therefore, our interpretive principles frame this building as a machine for conversation, and our visitors we hope will participate in this active exchange.

As we embark on building The National Communications Museum in Hawthorn, we hope you can join us on this journey as we continue to post our works in progress over the course of the year.