Ann Kreger, Cairns and District Chinese Association Inc. Walking and Talking: Chinese Culture in Cairns presentation at Opening Doors: 2019 Museums & Galleries Queensland Conference.
1. Walking and Talking Chinese Heritage
Ann Kreger
Heritage Group
Cairns & District Chinese Association Inc
2. Context
Culturally diverse region with significant tourist visitation
CADCAI
Custodianship of the nationally significant Lit Sung Goong
collection
limited knowledge about Northern Australia’s Chinese history
Pre demolition Lit Sung Goong
1960’s
Chinatown Precinct 2019 – Tour
volunteer
3. donated temporary
premises in a storage
shed in Cairns
Chinatown precinct
Lit Sung Goong
Collection in storage
250 + temple objects
4. CADCAI Museum & Cultural Centre
CCC-01
Chinese Cultural Centre
November 2018
Museum Entry
Cairns Cultural
Precinct
Opposite
Chinese
Gardens
5. Partnerships
Central to public exhibitions and development of
community awareness of Chinese history in NQ
Individual artists and/or heritage, arts and performance
organisations – local, national & overseas
Regional Art Gallery 2006 William Yang & Kick Arts 2016
6. Community Engagement
Active festival, heritage, arts and performance program
Heritage: exhibitions, Chinatown Tours, family history
contemporary and historic perspectives
Festivals: Cairns, Mareeba Multicultural, CNY, Cooktown
Discovery
Lion dancers
Heritage Stall-Street Festival CNY Street Festival
7. Chinese history organisations & conferences
University & academic collaborations
Visits by appointment: stakeholders,
schools, families, interested
community
Visiting artist & cultural exchange
programs
Weekly activities
8. Developing interpretations
Broad and regular
engagement, informal and
formal feedback
Engage with
different audiences
Iterative
processes
Access
community
expertise
10. Case Study – Deep Roots
Cairns Museum
Planning &
evolution
Museum curator &
MDO
Researchers
In depth
opportunities
Evaluation: Guides
and formal
feedback
11. Case study- Chinatown Tours
Cairns Museum
approach to CADCAI
interest in acting
Scripts, workshops
& rehearsals
3 x 1 ½ hour events
reenactments -events and
characters
LSG collection tour
Informal Evaluation
12. Response to CADCAI Heritage engagement
increasing interest &
engagement
Expressed interest in
learning more
Sharing their
memories of people
& experiences
Organisations
seeking
collaborations
Support for CADCAI
Centre and more
exhibitions
13. Next?
• 2020 CNY Collaboration with Cairns Museum
contemporary social history using oral history
and photography
• Virtual/on line exhibition?
Notes de l'éditeur
Introduction
Acknowledgement
Context
Partnerships
Community engagement
Development og interpretations
Case studies
a celebratory, active, culturally diverse community with regional, national and international visitors
CADCAI 30 year + respected volunteer-run community charity aiming to advance North Queensland’s Chinese history and culture
Custodianship of the nationally significant Lit Sung Goong collection– direct community connection & provenance since 1870s
limited knowledge about Northern Australia’s Chinese history
CADCAI
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contemporary chinese community directly connect to the early cairns
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CADCAI’s active festival, heritage, arts and performance program
Weekly activities : Lion & Dragon, Language, Dancing, Heritage
Festivals: Cairns, Mareeba Multicultural, Cooktown Discovery
Lion team 35 community performances during CNY 20,000 & 12 annually in region with 200-500 participants
Heritage group: exhibitions of objects, videos, photos, performance, chinatown tours family history – contemporary and historic perspectives
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format space
Chinese History organisations & conferences China Inc Dragontails, Bendigo Chinese association Golden Dragon
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add heritage group photo
Broad and regular engagement, informal and formal feedback from volunteers, audiences, partners & community stakeholders
Iterative processes
Engage with different audiences: exhibitions, talks, tours, festivals, conferences, workshops
access community expertise: MDO, experienced curators, training opportunities, generous supporters
Reflective workshops - oral history, promotional materials creation, exhibitions and tour rehearsals
Cairns Museum & CADCAI
Planning & evolution from focus on symbolism to community social life through workshop and email exchange with Museum curator & MDO
Researchers
In depth Opportunity: Launch, Symbolism talk & Chinatown Tour
Free admission CNY street festival
Evaluation: Attendee engagement with Guides and evaluation form
Cairns Museum approached CADCAI in response to Museum visitor and guide requests
13 volunteers
5 x scripts and presentation Workshops
3 x rehearsals
Sold out 16 p x 3 x 1 ½ hour events
General and specific history in Chinatown hey day
Reenactments events and people in character
Mythbusting
Easy engagement with tour guides / characters
Personalized CADCAI visit & collection tour
Informal Evaluation
increasing interest , interaction and engagement about LSG & Cairns Chinese history by CADCAI members and wider community
Expressed interest in learning more about Chinese history of Cairns
Visitor encourage to share their memories of people, experiences and memorabilia of the Cairns Chinese community
Organisations seeking collaborations Cairns Museum & regional tourism guide training content
In principle support for our Centre and more exhibitions
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