Eleventh International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

The focus museum for this paper is the Australian War Memorial (AWM) located in Canberra, Australia’s national capital. The museum wing is currently featuring a centenary exhibition commemorating Australia’s involvement in the Great War (GW) of 1914-1918. In the 100 years since the GW, a dominant narrative of post-colonial Australian heritage has developed concerning archetypal Australian traits. What is referred to as the “ANZAC Myth,” has been constructed and perpetuated around particular characteristics of Australia’s fighting forces (AIF) from that war. These include resourcefulness, durability, larrikinism, and “mateship” as defined by the instigator of this myth, Charles Bean. He is single-handedly responsible for the official War History of the AIF and the collection of GW material for the museum. He was the visionary of the memorial and considered by many as having a spiritual custodianship of the site to this day. In my paper I discuss the implication of a perceived colonial inferiority in the construction of the myth/legend heritage. I introduce a counter narrative that includes ex-centric figures for a changing conception of this heritage and I address how my practice as a visual artist within a PhD investigation is contributing to a parallel museum.