A truly disastrous collection

By Seth Hynes
ON 1 September, The Yarra Ranges Regional Museum will host ‘Collecting Here and Now: Objects from Natural Disasters’, the latest in the museum’s ongoing ‘And The Rest Is History’ luncheon-lecture series.
These monthly one-hour luncheons invite a senior member of staff or an outside speaker to deliver a lecture relating to the month’s topic. The guest speaker for September’s luncheon is Peg Frazer, a Curator for the Victorian Bushfire Collection at Museum Victoria. The $15 entrance fee also covers lunch by the Museum Harvest Café.
These events are designed, according to Patrick Fisher, the Curator of Public Programs at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum, so that “people on their lunch-break (can) participate in the museum program, have lunch and leave.”
Fisher explains that the focus of this coming luncheon is “how museums collect objects from the communities that are affected by disasters.” The aim of the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum, Fisher said, is to “preserve and tell the story of the region”, and the objects from the museum document the Black Saturday bushfires.
“Museums are looked at as entities that only collect big things from the past,” Fisher said, but “as a cultural heritage museum for this community, we are very much interested in contemporary collecting.”
The luncheon-lecture is from 12 noon – 1pm on 1 September at 35-37 Castella Street in Lilydale. Bookings (9294 6313) are recommended.