Immigration Museum wins the AMaGA Victoria Award for LOVE
Immigration Museum is delighted to receive The AMaGA Victoria Award for Medium Museums for the 2018-19 summer exhibition LOVE.
The 2019 Victorian Museum Awards were presented on Wednesday 26 June at NGV International by AMaGA Victoria – the peak body for 1,000+ museums and collecting organisations. Immigration Museum was delighted to receive the AMaGA Victoria Award for Medium Museums for the 2018-19 summer exhibition LOVE.
LOVE was the first step in the evolution of Immigration Museum. The museum is now transforming from a traditional migration history museum, to a more participatory experience that reflects shared human experience, telling stories that cross time, culture, gender, age, place and sexuality. In LOVE, storytellers from many walks of life were presented as individuals, rather than representatives of particular groups, cultures or experiences. All stories were told by the person who lived the experience, a relative or descendant, or a contemporary community representative.
LOVE dramatically increased visitation to the Immigration Museum aided by a digital guide app that was created in-house. The exhibition was presented via a collaborative partnership with Heide Museum of Modern Art; a first for both museums.
The AMaGA Judges commented that “this was the type of exhibition that museums need to do to remain relevant” and they applauded the exhibition’s “resolved presentation, the use of technology, and high level of engagement that will sustain the museum's relevance and purpose.”
On acceptance of the award, LOVE lead curator Moya McFadzean acknowledged the community participants in the exhibition, “The exhibition’s power lay in the authentic and honest voices of these people who provided such real and emotional touchstones for us and our visitors.”
“It is one of those exhibitions that will hold a special place in the hearts of all of our Museum team, and hopefully give our collaborators and our visitors, an experience of hope, collective humanity and positivity that felt like a much-needed message in these chaotic times.”
This is the second museum award for LOVE, which received the MAGNA award for Temporary or Travelling Exhibition (Level 3) in April 2019.
See the LOVE announcement media release.
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