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History Trust SA wins MAGNA award

The Migration Museum won a MAGNA award for the exhibition “In this place: a history of the Migration Museum site”.

Migration Museum wins national award, Migration Museum Media Release

The Migration Museum won a national MAGNA award for the exhibition In this place: a history of the Migration Museum site at the 2017 Museums and Galleries National Awards, held in Brisbane on 15 May. The accolade for the redevelopment of a permanent exhibition was awarded for projects with a value of between $20,000 and $150,000.

The MAGNAs, an initiative of Museums Australia, were first held in 2011 and celebrate outstanding achievements in the Australian museums and galleries sector in the categories of exhibition, audience engagement and learning, and Indigenous programs.

“We are delighted that this new interpretation of the site’s rich history has been recognised in this way” said Migration Museum Director Mandy Paul. “The exhibition is the result of team work: the curatorial team’s research and writing, design by Mulloway Studios, and digital elements by Digitalbarn. It’s great when all the pieces come together in such a successful way.”

In this place is a permanent exhibition that explores the Migration Museum’s site history – as a school for Aboriginal children in the 1840s, part of the Destitute Asylum (from the 1850s to 1918), and home of the Government Chemist until 1978. The exhibition aims to inspire curiosity about other lives and times, make history relevant for visitors, and encourage visitors to explore similarities and differences between the past and the present.

The exhibition tells the stories of the place in a range of innovative ways: visitors are greeted by a Kaurna descendant of a student at the Native School; a large-scale interactive projection enables visitors to explore the development of the site over time; the fabric of the original building is used as part of the exhibition through full scale architectural drawings; layered digital interactives tell family stories; and children can discover hidden drawers, documents and play a specially-developed game. The exhibition also includes a poignant memorial artwork featuring the names of the 1678 babies born in the building between 1880 and 1909.

The Migration Museum offers free entry and is open from 10am-5pm (weekdays and public holidays) and 1pm-5pm (weekends).