The Western Australian Museums Australia conference was held in Kalgoorlie this year. I was privileged to be able to attend, and to meet up with people from around the state and the nation, who are involved in presenting and preserving collections of objects and records. In my conference kit was Musings.
The key editorial message, ‘Victoria vibrancy and value’, looks at the way in which cultural heritage institutions are valued. Funding, or lack of it, has been a critical discussion point in the cultural heritage sector and Western Australia, despite our mining boom, or perhaps because of it, has been no stranger to cuts and tightening belts. The WA Museum and the Art Gallery had both announced that due to budget shortfalls they would be closing one day a week. (At the same time, however, the major cultural institutions in the Perth CBD are involved in a significant reworking of the Cultural Centre.)
In the mailbox 