Launch, Collections Council of Australia Ltd.

Welcoming speech by Master of Ceremonies, CEO Margaret Birtley

Good evening I am Margaret Birtley, CEO of the Collections Council of Australia, and your Master of Ceremonies for the formal proceedings this evening. Senator Rod Kemp, Chair of the CMC and Minister for the Arts and Sport Sue Nattrass, Chair of the Collections Council of Australia Directors of the Collections Council Distinguished guests, colleagues and friends

Id like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of this land on which we stand the Wurundjeri people and the members of indigenous communities who are with us this evening. Id also like to acknowledge that many of you have travelled from interstate to be with us on this occasion. Welcome to all. In the seven months since commencing my work with the Collections Council, Ive reflected a lot on the meaning and purpose of collections. It has occurred to me that we can draw an interesting parallel to the world of collections from the popular world of magic made famous in a series of recent novels... In J.K.Rowlings world of Hogwarts, a magic wand can borrow a persons memory from their brain, and the marvellous pensieve is a dish in which that memory can be revisited, inspected, and analysed. Through the magical powers of the pensieve, historical details that were once known only to the people who were part of the remembered event can be viewed by others who were not there at the time. In our world, there are no magic wands or pensieves. But thanks to the careful work of our archives, galleries, libraries and museums, the evidence of past events and practices continues to be preserved. In Australias cultural collections reside millions of things that document our past and present. The cultural collections of Australia, distributed nation-wide in diverse organisations, hold the evidence of significant memories relating to who we are, where we have come from, and how we make sense of our natural and cultural environments. Each exhibition in a gallery, museum, library or archive works as a sort of pensieve, giving the visitor insights into the past and present, and stimulating our thoughts about the future. The Collections Council of Australia aims to support the work of each collecting organisation, and to link those memories for all Australians.
1

Tonight we are celebrating the inauguration of this new body. To tell you more about the role of the Collections Council, Id like to introduce its Chair, Ms Sue Nattrass. Speeches and votes of thanks Ms Sue Nattrass AO, Chair of Collections Council of Australia Ltd Mr Andy Muirhead, Host of the ABC TV program, Collectors Senator the Hon Rod Kemp, Chair of the Cultural Ministers Council and Minister for the Arts and Sport Conclusion by the M.C. Its almost time to resume the less formal elements of this evening more music, more food and drink and we hope that you will enjoy these while meeting old and new friends. But first, there are several people to thank:

Staff of the Collections Council Barbara Jenkins Information Officer and Veronica Bullock Development Officer Tailem String Quartet affiliated with the University of Melbourne, and with a repertoire that tonight is almost entirely from the pen of the great Australian composer, Percy Grainger. Id also like to acknowledge the Grainger Museum and its Manager, Brian Allison, who put me in touch with the Quartet. The ABC TV crew that produces Andy Muirheads program, and particularly Scott Gamble who organised the compilation footage that we are enjoying tonight. Andy Muirhead himself, for his stimulating contribution this evening. And finally, Senator Kemp thanks for your gracious launching of the Collections Council, and thanks to you and your colleagues on the CMC for making possible this new organisation.

Thank you all.