About the event

M&G QLD is running a free Contemporary Collecting workshop in June 2023 in the following local government areas: Somerset, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Southern Downs.

Presenter: Elspeth Hocking, Senior Museum Development Officer – Southern Inland Queensland

The workshop will provide:

• a recap of collection management and documentation principles. This will focus on caring for collection items impacted by natural disasters (for example fire or smoke damage, water damage).

• an overview of contemporary collecting practices during times of crisis: from rapid response collecting, to ephemera, digital and oral recollections. It will aim to equip attendees with sound and practical knowledge about how to collect and document objects, photographs and oral histories of events that have happened in recent times.

• an overview of collection policy, acquisition, and sustainable collecting. 

When/Where

M&G QLD’s Contemporary Collecting Workshop will be held:

• Tuesday, 6 June 2023, 9:00am – 3:00pm, Lockyer Valley Cultural Centre, 34 Lake Apex Dr, Gatton QLD 4343 

• Wednesday, 7 June 2023, 9:00am – 3:00pm, Somerset Civic Centre, 35 Esk Hampton Rd, Esk QLD 4312

• Tuesday, 13 June 2023, 9:00am – 3:00pm, Boonah Cultural Centre, Boonah, 3 High Street, Boonah QLD  4310

• Wednesday, 14 June 2023, 9:00am – 3:00pm, Queensland College of Wine Tourism, 22 Caves Rd, Stanthorpe QLD 4380

Numbers are limited so please RSVP by clicking the link below or contacting us on: (07) 3059 9742. Lunch will be provided. 

About the Presenter

Elspeth Hocking is part of the Queensland Museum Network’s Museum Development Officer (MDO) Program for Southern Inland Queensland, and is based at Cobb+Co Museum in Toowoomba.

Elspeth works with museums, councils, and communities across the southern part of Queensland, from Bundaberg in the north to Birdsville in the west. She has a particular love for storytelling, exhibition design, interpretation of collections and ensuring collection development reflects changing communities. She also loves working with communities to develop skills and confidence in collection management and development, and preventative conservation for collection longevity.

Originally from New Zealand, Elspeth has worked in a variety of museum roles in New Zealand and Ireland, including Exhibitions Curator, Collection Manager and Research Executive for audience development, for institutions such as Auckland War Memorial Museum, Puke Ariki, the Museum of Transport and Technology, and Tandem Design.

This is the third workshop in M&G QLD’s Museum and Gallery Recovery and Preparedness Workshop Series being delivered throughout 2023 in the Somerset, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Southern Downs local government regions. Aimed at staff and volunteers from public museums, galleries and their communities, the Series includes six workshops covering Mental Health & Wellbeing, Collection Management, Contemporary Collecting, Disaster Preparedness, Digitisation & Access, and Volunteer Program Revitalising.

This project is supported by The Australian Government through its Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants Program.

Please subscribe to M&G QLD’s eNewsletter below to receive further information and notifications for these workshops.