Inside the Archive Part I

Rupert Bunnys Melba, back from loan.

For those who have never seen inside a museum storage area, here's a sneak peak of Collections 101.  In the majority of museums only a small percentage of the collection is every on display.  Most of the time items are resting, out of light, out of sight; sleeping yet ready to awaken to the exhibition space.  The Collection Manager's job and the team, is to keep all the collection objects, no matter how big or small, in stasis so that it might be seen as it is now, in hundreds of years to come.

Collection Managers also handle loans, transportation, catalogue databases, digital imaging, pest control, exhibition set up and installation and all manner of other stuff that might vary from museum to museum but at the heart of the job is the care of the collection.

At the Performing Arts Collection the policy covers Australian Drama, Music, Circus... see previous post if you need to play a bit of catch up.  Ranging from opera to pop, gowns to goldfields this is an amazing collection in its own right.