Submerged:
stories of Australia’s shipwrecks
Graphic panel display produced by Australian Maritime Museums Council (AMMC) and the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM)
The ANMM is producing a display that highlights Australian shipwrecks and increases public outreach. This collaborative project supports the AMMC in forging strong links with its current membership and extending its outreach to include additional members.
In an innovative international first, content for the display will be developed by the AMMC Membership, and merged into a nationally touring display by the ANMM. AMMC Members were introduced to the project at a series of workshops and given instruction on how to submit stories via the AMMC website for review.
The ANMM submitted an application to the Visions of Australia-Development program in October of 2016. A number of AMMC Member institutions contributed letters of support for the application. The application was successful and provided for development of the project in 2017. Please see Submerged Presentation of project development results.
Workshops
The project kicked off with a series of seven exhibition development workshops. Workshops were hosted by the Maritime Museum of Tasmania, Mannum Dock Museum, Queensland Maritime Museum, Bass Strait Maritime Centre, Queenscliffe Maritime Museum, Western Australian Museum-Fremantle and the Australian National Maritime Museum.
In addition to providing context for the Submerged project, and tips and tricks of the trade for exhibition development, each workshop had presentations from local maritime archaeologists and marine conservators. The day’s program concluded with practical sessions where all participants wrote and presented a group ‘shipwreck story’. These workshops were an excellent means of engaging with national maritime museums and maritime heritage organisations, sharing stories and making new connections.
The workshops were attended by 195 individuals from 88 unique museums and organisations with maritime collections.
Story Submissions
Sixty-eight shipwreck stories from 46 organisations across Australia were submitted to Submerged: stories of Australia’s shipwrecks and uploaded to the AMMC website. AMMC Members were invited to take part in the selection of stories for the final banner exhibition.
Submerged graphic display