Multimedia display in the Immigrant Stories gallery, Immigration Museum.
Image: Peter Carroll
Source: Museum Victoria
Question: Does Immigration Museum play films?
Answer: Exhibitions at Immigration Museum deploy a range of tools to present Museum Victoria’s collections, including object displays, interactive touch-screens and immersive 3D technology. Short films play an important role in these displays, and can be seen throughout the museum in both permanent and temporary exhibitions.
Film is a great medium for storytelling, and many of Immigration Museum’s films focus on individual stories of migration. Others explore more general topics, like the motives that drive people to leave their home country, or the history of Melbourne’s Station Pier.
Currently, on weekends, the museum is screening the work of students from Victoria University who took part in a special project called Narratives Across Cultures. This project was a collaboration between first year Certificate IV Liberal Arts students and final-year multimedia students in which they explored stories of migration and attended classes at the museum. The students were then required to explore themes of immigration and cultural diversity through the medium of film; three of the resulting films can be viewed on the big screen of the museum’s theatrette each weekend. These reflective and engaging works have proven extremely popular with visitors.
Another set of films is viewable on demand at the Immigration Discovery Centre’s Screen Lounge. This facility contains a wide range of material from Museum Victoria’s collection, as well as films linked to temporary exhibitions on the ground floor. Highly popular are the films made at Immigration Museum’s Community Festivals, at which a particular Victorian migrant group celebrates its cultural identity through music, dance, talk and food.
Immigration Museum’s website gives detailed information about its current exhibitions, many of which have film as an integral component. As the Museum’s displays change and develop, you can expect even more fascinating films to be viewable during your visit. In addition, there are a growing number of films that can be watched online.