Collecting and archiving

Our vision at Museums Victoria is of a society that is compelled to act for a thriving future. Recently we have been collecting objects and stories about protest and innovation relating to our changing climate, to help us understand what inspires people to take action. Through recording major moments in history, museums can look at the environmental and social impacts these events have on us as a community.

A selection of these projects are shared here.

Climate Strikes

During the climate strikes in 2019, our history curators attended rallies to collect protest posters and images to document the movement. This material sits alongside objects from other major historic protest movements that have helped shape our world.

Invisible Farmer

The Invisible Farmer Project is the largest ever study of Australian women on the land. It seeks to create new histories of rural Australia and reveal the hidden stories of women who work in agriculture and farming. It also looks at sustainable farming and agriculture and the impact of climate change on life on the land.

Watersmart Home

We work with communities to document and spark new responses to our changing climate. The Water Smart Home Project was a community-based project developed during Victoria’s 2003-10 drought that aimed to engage, educate and inspire Melburnians in how to reduce, reuse and revalue water in their daily lives.

Mallee Drought Project

The Mallee Climate Oral History Collection was the first significant study on the lived experience of drought and perceptions of climate change in Australia. In the context of contemporary concerns about drought and climate variability, the project recorded oral histories, collected photographs and published several publications documenting themes of endurance, adaptation and survival within Mallee life.