Interpretation Australia



Unley’s Own, returning home

PART A – Project Submission

 

1. What is your project?

Project description including purpose (and why it was needed), location, mission, aims and objectives

An exhibition, based on the thesis, Unley's Own - Returning Home, by Sandra Kearney, that explores the personal experiences of soldiers of the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion as they returned home to resume their lives in the suburb of Unley, after service at the front during the Great War.

Through personal accounts and dialogue, collected and passed down memorabilia and keepsakes, the exhibition tells individual life stories of some of these soldiers and examines the circumstances unique to the City of Unley that played a role in what was a positive experience for many.

The exhibition is situated in the main gallery space in Unley Museum (SA). This space is for temporary exhibitions and Unley’s Own will run for 4 months.

 

2.  How does it demonstrate excellence and best practice in heritage interpretation?

Planning

Research, concept planning and methodology:

• Audience – profile, expectations and issues

• Key messages, themes and storylines

• Communication – techniques and channels / choice of interpretive media

• Design – problems solved, appropriateness to setting, aesthetic appeal, cohesive relationship with marketing

• Environmental considerations

Audience

The exhibition is for the general museum visitors that are from the local area and organised school trips and social groups. However, there was interest from local community specifically that were ancestors of the soldiers in the exhibition.

Key messages:

To tell a positive, but honest view of young soldiers that saw service in WW1. All these soldiers returned home to Unley – but not always unscathed, many were physically injured and most of them probably mentally scared. The exhibition communicates their resilience and sense of home and in most cases, being able to carry on with their lives in the local community. Many of their descendants still live locally.

Design

The designated space for the exhibition is in the largest room of the museum which has been repurposed for temporary exhibitions. The room is basically a cube with good high ceilings, however, for a low budget exhibition like this it can become lost, so repetitive, life size silhouettes of the soldiers has an immediate impact. By hanging a army camouflage net from the ceiling it brings the narrative down and increases a feeling of oppressiveness which would have been the similar feeling in the WW1 trenches. It also throws interesting shadows across the room.

The silhouettes of the soldiers are based on the actual heights of the real soldiers, who’s story is told here. It is surprising to a lot of visitors that the soldiers were a lot shorter than the impression they had of the burly digger and average height today.

On, and next to the soldier cut-outs are biographies of the soldiers. Photographs and personal details are designed in a way to look like their official service record, however the adjacent interpretive panel tells the story of their life in Unley after they returned from the war.

Some of the soldiers descendants have a real, close and personal relationship with their ancestors, many of them still live locally. They have donated personal items from the soldiers, including a watch that was lost and found in no-man’s land, as well as medals, letters and personal items. We actually had the son of one of the soldiers, who is in his 90’s donate items and been actively involved in telling the story of his father.

Personal items of the soldiers also include letters and diaries. We commissioned a young actor to dress up in period costume and read some of the diaries and letters as if he was the soldier. This was particularly poignant as the actor would have been the same age as the WW1 soldiers. The film clips were edited and projected onto the wall next to the cut-out soldiers, to give an eerie, ghostly feeling.

The replica of the WW1 trench is based on photographs of the period (however, the trench is constructed above ground for obvious reasons). Visitors are encouraged to climb onto the ‘firing step’ and look through working periscopes to see over the sandbags and barbed wire (both recreated in lightweight and safe materials – barbed wire is actually string). One of the periscopes has a small TV monitor at its top end where you can watch an original movie of soldiers in trenches. Personal items and equipment from the museum collection are attached to the trench.

Environmental considerations

The exhibition has been done on an extremely small budget. Many of the items would be offered to institutions for reuse.

Engagement

• Audiences and method of engagement

• Stakeholders and method of engagement (including consultation with communities and Indigenous representatives).

This exhibition has been envisaged for a number of years with conversations between the curator, researcher and descendants of the soldiers as it is important to tell more positive war based stories.

By using life sized cut-outs of the soldiers it makes the stories of the men, much more personal. You feel like you are standing next to them when you read their profiles.

Implementation

• Stand-alone or multi-stage project

• How project worked in conjunction with other facets of the operation (e.g. marketing)

This project uses the flexible space at Unley Museum which has been repurposed for temporary exhibitions that usually run for 3 to 6 months. There is ongoing desire to make the museum as flexible and changeable as possible - to increase visitor engagement by focussing on short term exhibitions, while still keeping the permanent exhibitions in smaller rooms that tell the social history of the area.

Marketing

Promotion of the exhibition was done through the City of Unley’s websites and the museums social media portals. Also there are ongoing PR activities that get the exhibition featured in local media –websites, local newspapers, radio.

Access (if appropriate)

• Visitors with special needs (e.g. different language groups, low levels of written literacy) or special interests

• Other strategies for improving visitor access

The exhibition is constructed in accordance to accessibility for people with a disability best practices.

The replica trench is solidly and safely constructed so that people can climb onto the step and view through the periscope.

 

Training (if appropriate)

• Training and development programs for staff, volunteers or other stakeholders such as tour operators.

N/A

 

3.  Identify the resources needed for your projects (e.g. staff, materials, money). Demonstrate how you used these resources effectively.

• Detail your project costs as accurately as possible including labour (incl. volunteers), materials and installation.

• Choice of interpretive media for maximum or desired effect

• Cost-effectiveness versus ‘reach’ to intended audience (here you may like to enlarge on project budget/cost)

• Innovative use of resources / sustainability / future proofing

Total budget $7400

$1700 - Design fee, Richard Browning, Synthetic Creative Services

$2500 - Cut-out soldiers and WW1 trench construction  

$2100 - Print and display boxes

$500 – video of soldiers story, includes acting fee, filming and editing

$600 – installation

All design, production and installation by Richard Browning

The exhibition has been done on a very small budget but still has maximum impact because of the use of repetitive, life size cut-outs of the soldiers. As each silhouette is individually cut out they have the feeling of being personal and standing in regimental lines.

Much of the construction will be offered to other institutions in South Australia, for example the Military Museum are interested in the trench replica.

The acrylic wall display boxes will be used again for future exhibitions in the space.

4. How has your project met clear and measurable outcomes for your client/organisation and stakeholders?

• How project meet or exceed the organisation’s expectations (in relation to outcomes)

• How project meet or exceed stakeholder/community expectations (in relation to outcomes)

• How success of the project was measured

• Commercial criteria (e.g. repeat business from your client or an increase in sales that can be directly attributed to your interpretation)

• Environmental criteria (reduced impact in an area that can be directly attributed to your interpretation)

• Pre /post project or audience research, monitoring, evaluation and consultation that has been conducted or is planned, including peer review and client assessment

• Aspects of the project that did and did not work.

• How the project could be improved.

As the exhibition is a relatively new installation at the museum there has been not a lot of recording of audience engagement, however anecdotally there is very positive feedback.

 

Team:

Curator: Karen Paris, Unley Museum

Research: Sandra Kearney

Exhibition design and construction: Richard Browning, Synthetic Creative Services

Construction and installation: Alfred Browning

Acting: Stanley Browning

Video and production: Richard Browning

 

 

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