The Pacific Islands Museums Association (PIMA) held its 8th Training Workshop for museum professionals from around the Pacific region at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, in Port Vila, Vanuatu, from the 27-30 June 2006. The workshop entitled ‘Building for the Future: Designing New Museums for the Pacific’ focussed on designing appropriate museums and cultural centres for the Pacific Island countries and territories.
Cultural Centre and Museum staff attended the workshop from the following countries: Kiribati, New Caledonia, Niue, Samoa, Yap (Federated States of Micronesia) and Vanuatu.
In all countries, museums and cultural centres provide a crucial public service. As well as caring for the tangible heritage collections of a community, museums and cultural centres often function as a meeting place or community centre. Museums provide a performance space or forum for the enactment of traditions and ceremonies that keep local languages, songs, dances and stories alive. They are a provider of educational services and entertainment venues and museum shops provide an outlet for the sale of locally made handicrafts – providing a source of income for local artisans and craftspeople.
In order to provide these functions and services, museum and cultural centre buildings need to be well designed and architecturally suited to the environments and cultures in which they are situated. It is for this reason that PIMA identified this important issue as the topic for this workshop. PIMA training courses have since 1993 empowered many museum staff across the Pacific with knowledge and skills within a variety of areas that help museum staff deal with challenges and opportunities that come with heritage management in a changing environment. This workshop was the first time that the issue of museum design and architecture was discussed at a PIMA training workshop.
Countries in the Pacific face unique problems in preserving their heritage collections – problems attributable to a combination of extreme relative humidity, excessive salt levels, voracious tropical insects and ubiquitous mould. In addition, each nation experiences an average of one devastating cyclone every five years. The emphasis of the workshop was on training participants to understand the various issues affecting a museum building and to equip them to be able to design/retrofit any building for the long term preservation of their collections. Three building categories were discussed as part of the case studies: large museums (including those with climate control systems), small museums with limited resources, and historic buildings adapted as museums.
Topics covered through both lectures and practical activities included:
· Analysing risks to collections
· Learning to use Environmental monitoring equipment
· Building design and air-conditioning issues
· Building orientation and site issues
· Disaster and Pest Management
· Project Management
· Understanding Architectural Drawings, and
· Managing the Building Process
Participants learned how to construct buildings that will better protect their collections and serve the functions of their cultural centres.
Feedback from participants was that they valued:
“The opportunity to share and learn from established Pacific Islands Museums and Cultural Centres” and to “Work all together on the same problems”
P appreciated the:
“Access to and discussions with facilitators with expert knowledge” and the: “Chance to build the network of museum professionals in the Pacific.”
The training team was led by Mr Vinod Daniel, Head of Collection and Research Resources at the Australian Museum, Sydney. Mr Steve King, a chartered architect in NSW and Deputy Director of the Centre for a Sustainable Built Environment (CSBE) at the University of New South Wales, Mr Ian Cook, Managing Director 3CS Asia Pacific, and Ms Jocelyn Cuming, National Preservation Officer at the National Library of New Zealand, completed the training team.
During an evening event at the Cultural Centre on Wednesday 28th June, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between PIMA and the Australian Museum. The MOU concerns the protection, preservation and promotion of Pacific cultural heritage by providing training, carrying out collaborative projects and resource sharing. Dr Les Christidis, Deputy Director of the Australian Museum, personally signed the MOU on behalf of the Australian Museum.
Other highlights of the week’s activities included celebrations coinciding with the opening of the new “Lapita People” exhibition at the Cultural Centre including:
· A public talk sponsored by the Friends of the Vanuatu Museum by Hallie R. Buckley from Otago University entitled “The people of Teouma: an update on research findings concerning their health and disease” and
· A field trip to the site of the archaeological excavations at Teouma.
The workshop was made possible thanks to the generous financial assistance from the Canadian High Commission in Canberra, Australia, through its Canada Fund Program. The Australian Museum in Sydney generously provided expert trainers for the workshop.
