Annual Report 2001-2002 - Western Australian Museum - The ...

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Western Australian Maritime Museum
The construction of the new world-class Maritime Museum at Victoria Quay was completed in
May 2002. The six-month fit-out was completed on time, on budget, and the facility was opened
to the public by Premier Dr Geoff Gallop on 1 December 2002.
The completion of this facility—the biggest project in inner Fremantle since the 1890s construction
of the shipping harbour—is a milestone for the Maritime Museum, which is now the leading
agency in the cultural development of the Fremantle Waterfront Precinct. The new building
houses six ‘permanent’ exhibition galleries, a travelling exhibitions gallery, a function centre
and a theatre. The Museum also has A Shed on the east side of the new facility for the use of
staff, and the historic slipways complex on the south side.
The new venue has proved very popular as a cultural tourism destination. Visitors to the Victoria
Quay sites (the new building and the Oberon submarine Ovens) since 1 December totalled
202,992, with the overall number for the Maritime Museum during 2002–03 being 403,921.
VIPs who visited the Maritime Museum included HRH Prince Edward, Dr Hans Sondaal, Royal
Netherlands Ambassador, Dr Antun Vujic, the Republic of Croatia’s Minister of Culture, M. Jean
Poncet, Cultural and Scientific Counsellor of the French Embassy, and Mr Jose Vieira Branco,
Ambassador of Portugal.
COLLECTION MANAGEMENT
Maritime Archaeology
Susan Cox is continuing to catalogue the Richard McKenna collection, assisted by World Ship
Society Volunteers Martin Navarro and Jeff Thompson. They are entering books, journals and
pamphlets onto the Maritime Archaeology database, identifying and registering ships photos,
and sorting newspaper cuttings and memorabilia. They are also finalising the sorting of the Ian
Stewart/R. Packer collection, purchased in 2000. A quantity of Lloyd’s Registers, duplicate to
the McKenna and museum collections, were donated to the Geraldton Museum.
One significant loan from the collection was the Zeewijk die cut from bone, which went on loan
to The Gay Museum exhibition from 22 January to 30 May. A photographic feature on the die
appeared in the State of the Arts magazine and in the exhibition catalogue.
Thirty-one new objects were registered and entered onto the database, including:
• Keel bolts from Katinka wreck—donated by Andrew Froude
• A wooden swivel chair from Lygnern—donated by Ron Kenworthy
• Ceramic fragments and copper pieces from Zuytdorp—donated by St Vincent de Paul,
Rockingham
The remaining artefacts registered were from the sites of Sepia and Redemptora.
Work on the numismatic collection involved maintaining the database, monitoring and recording
all coin movements. Database editing was finalised for presentation on the web. Preparations
were made for database entry of information on coins held in private collections.
Fifty-two objects were prepared for display at the new Maritime Museum, including those from
the wrecks Batavia, Vergulde Draeck, Carlisle Castle, City of York, Elizabeth, Emden, Kormoron,
Lygnern, HMAS Perth, HMAS Sydney and SS Xantho. Abbott collection artefacts were also
displayed.
Maritime History
A major icon—a Catalina flying boat—was catalogued into the Boat collection. Currently stored
at the Midland Railway Workshops, it is destined for exhibition in a World War II memorial
building planned for Pelican Point at Crawley. The Catalina was located in the USA by the
Australian-American Catalina Memorial Foundation Inc. Fully restored, it was transported to
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT 2002–2003