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Australia ICOMOS 2011 AGM
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Vale George Chaloupka
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Review of NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
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History Week in Victoria – 23-30 October 2011
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Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific – Cultural Heritage Seminar Series, October – November 2011
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Significance International Workshops, Canberra
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APT Technical Seminar and Workshop, Melbourne
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Contributions invited for The World Heritage Capacity Building Newsletter
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Latest Global Heritage Review (GHR) bulletin available online
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‘Remote Access to World Heritage Sites from St Kilda to Uluru’ – A UNESCO Conference
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1st International Conference on Best Practices in World Heritage: Archaeology – call for papers
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International Institute for Restoration & Preservation Studies
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ICOMOS New Zealand latest newsletter
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SITUATION VACANT Assistant Manager – Heritage, Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House
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SITUATION VACANT Deputy Director – Interpretation and Programs, Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House
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1. Australia ICOMOS 2011 AGM
2011 Australia ICOMOS Annual General Meeting
5 – 6pm, Thursday 27 October
Polly Woodside, Duke’s and Orr’s Dry Dock
2A Clarendon Street, South Wharf, VICTORIA
(Just outside Door 5, Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre)
Members and guests who are not already attending the Watermarks conference are invited to join the Executive Committee from 6pm at the Conference Welcome Reception, to be held at the same venue as the AGM. Tickets to the Welcome Reception are $35 per person, payable by cash (only) at the door.
Apologies for the AGM should be emailed to the Australia ICOMOS Secretariat by COB Tuesday 25 October.
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2. Vale George Chaloupka
Dr. George Chaloupka’s contribution to cultural heritage work in Australia and the Northern Territory was considerable. He carried out valuable research into the rock art of Australia and contributed an enormous amount to Indigenous cultural heritage research in the Top End, as well as being a highly respected and well published authority on Aboriginal Art.
Our thoughts are with his family at this time.
Australia ICOMOS
Remembering George
There can be little doubt that George Chaloupka (1932–2011) – the doyen of western Arnhem Land rock art – made a major contribution to the field. He established the importance and beauty of the region’s rock art and drew it to public attention. Along the way, he shaped a milieu in which rock art is an important part of cultural heritage, and where rock art studies are a major field of research.
I first met him in March 1980 when I joined the Northern Territory Museum as the Museum’s field archaeologist. By then George at 48 was in full stride. Within weeks, I was dropped by helicopter on Mt Brockman, with George and Mick Alderson, to complete a rock art survey that George had begun the previous year. It was late in the wet season and the country was an unbelievable emerald green with running-water almost everywhere you looked, and just to the east loomed the magic of the Arnhem Land escarpment. The following year, this time in August at the end of the dry, I returned to the same plateau with George, Nipper Kapirrigi and Rhys Jones, to excavate an archaeological site called Yiboiog as part of the ANU Kakadu archaeological project. I remember Nipper burning the Umbinik forest, with clouds of smoke billowing around the dig site – and then the long walk out to Barolba Springs with packs filled with samples. Much of my subsequent work hinged on the desert – but for me these trips were a glimpse of George’s world.
The man I knew had the trademark beard that was de-rigueur for an old Darwin hand (did George ever not have a beard?). He had a twinkle in his eyes, middle-European manners and charm, a sense of decency, a rogue-ish eye for women, and was clearly a man of strong passions. Born in Tynste in Soviet-controlled Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, in 1932 he slipped across the border at 16 and escaped to the West, reaching Australia in 1950. Thirty years later, he retained a thick Czech accent. One day at the Museum’s offices in Bishop Street, I was momentarily impressed when George announced that ‘some bankers from Melbourne are coming to see me’, but of course he hadn’t said ‘bankers’. A later film on the rock art was memorable for the fact that Nipper (whose English was perfect) was subtitled, while George’s muffled heavily accented speech was not.
George’s twenty years as a government hydrologist in the Water Resources Branch, installing gauging stations on remote NT rivers, made him a lean indefatigable fieldworker. In the course of this work he saw his first Aboriginal rock art at East Alligator River in 1958. “ I looked up in the ceiling,’ he later recalled, ‘and I was mesmerised by a spell that has never left me”. He joined the Northern Territory Museum when it was formed in 1973 and by the time I met him he’d had seven years to focus on rock art research (six if you exclude destruction of the Museum by Cyclone Tracey in 1974).
It was the 1980’s that saw George really scale up his research, extending his rock art recording from the more accessible parts of the escarpment into really remote and inaccessible areas – often on foot, but also clocking up an impressive amount of time in little Bell-47 helicopters. He survived at least one forced landing, bush fires, and embraces by lepers. On one occasion, when I arrived back at the Bishop Street offices, muddy and dishevelled after a particularly disastrous fieldtrip of my own, George took one look and nodded knowingly. ‘You know, it always takes the first trip of the year to shake things out’, he said.
His interest in the rock art of Arnhem Land was irrepressible and not to be crossed – and he was notoriously unforgiving of other rock art researchers. It was immediately obvious that there were no shades of gray in George’s universe. He found cabals and conspiracies wherever he looked. If the NLC was ‘too lazy to get out and talk to blackfellas’, it was Pancon and Ranger that attracted his most implacable bile. His outspoken opposition to uranium mining in the region was one of the factors that stalled Pancon’s plans to develop the Jabiluka mine. In 1978, he nominated the Djawumbu massif for the Register of the National Estate. The Aboriginal Land Claim that culminated in declaration of Kakadu National Park (Stage 1) in 1979 drew on his anthropological notes. And when his friend, Nipper Kapirrigi died in 1987, George organised a platform burial near Djuwarr waterhole, effectively closing off Deaf Adder Gorge for several years, and making a strong statement about this being Aboriginal land. I can almost see the twinkle in George’s eye when Energy Resources Australia funded the 2011 ‘George Chaloupka Fellowship’ for rock art research.
Looking back over this work, George did everything we could expect of a dedicated rock art researcher. He established the distribution, extent and richness of a regional corpus of rock art, recording perhaps 2000-3000 art sites. He produced a series of research papers, a monograph and lavishly illustrated reports documenting the art. In films and books, he promoted the beauty and significance of the art – especially of the exquisite dynamic style figures – and fought passionately for its conservation. Over the course of several decades of fieldwork, he built up a nationally important archive of images, field notes and uniquely important records of Bininj accounts of the rock art. Famously, he also worked out a sequence of phases and changing styles over time, arguing for the deep antiquity of Kakadu rock art.
His style sequence was widely criticised. And it did not help that George eschewed quantitative analysis, arguing that style and form should not be reduced to numbers (this was the artist in him). But it is important to realise just how innovative his work in this area was. He set out the first version of his rock art sequence at an AIAS conference in Canberra in 1974 at a time when detailed regional studies of style and sequence were unusual and before Lesley Maynard’s seminal work put rock art studies on a new footing.
Despite all the internecine feuding, most rock art researchers will see something of themselves in George: an intimate and intuitive knowledge of local rock art based on years of fieldwork, a keen eye for detail, an astounding memory for relocating sites in broken country amidst a 3D maze of rock surfaces, and an intuitive grasp of sequence and style based on the accumulated records of thousands of art sites. George supported the archaeological excavations at Malakunanja in 1989 by ANU. Our dates of 50,000 years for Aboriginal settlement went some way towards vindicating his views on the depth of Aboriginal history in western Arnhem Land.
George’s contribution to rock art research was recognised during his lifetime. He was inaugural president of the Australian Rock Art Research Association; won a Churchill Fellowship in 1983; received an Order of Australia in 1990; was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences in 1997; received a Doctor of Letters from NTU (now Charles Darwin University) in 1998; and was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2001. Despite being stalked by cancer for a decade or more, George seemed indestructible. On the prospect of dying he commented ‘I want to carry on doing what I’m doing, I wish there was a return ticket, I’d sell my soul to the devil for another lifetime. There are thousands of sites still out there that I will never see.’
Dr Mike Smith FAHA FSA
Senior Research Fellow
Centre for Historical Research
National Museum of Australia
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3. Review of NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
The NSW Government has decided that, given the length of time since the EP&A Act and its associated planning system were introduced, a comprehensive review is required. The government has established an independent panel to review the Act, along with the broader NSW planning system. The stated aim of the review is to ‘create a new planning system that meets today’s needs and priorities’. The Minister has appointed Tim Moore, former Minister for the Environment and Senior Commissioner of the Land and Environment Court, and Ron Dyer, former Minister for Community Services, Aged Services and Disability Services and Public Works and Services, to co-chair the review.
Australia ICOMOS intends to prepare a submission to the review, and would appreciate any input or comments from members who have views about the current Act and its effectiveness in facilitating the management of our shared heritage. Please email Peter Romey in the first instance or contact him at (02) 9319 4811. The deadline for submissions is 4 November 2011.
Further information on the review can be found here.
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4. History Week in Victoria – 23-30 October 2011
GET READY TO DISCOVER THE WONDERS OF VICTORIA’S PAST
Victoria’s wide and wonderful past looks set to come alive this month thanks to the many events in store for History Week.
To be held from the 23 – 30 October 2011, Victorians can:
- take a fascinating walking tour around Melbourne’s forgotten past, revealing its hidden histories of health and hygiene, right through to crime and punishment
- watch an exquisite feature length documentary that recounts memories of Melbourne’s fashionable Collins Street through the perspective of its long gone couture houses and boutiques
- see St Kilda’s picture palaces of the past in a photographic exhibition that will take you back to the golden days of The Astor, The George, Paradise, The Lyric and Palais Pictures
- visit the unique Bear’s Castle and discover why the building has kept historians mystified for years
- don your hiking boots and unearth the history of the Melbourne Walking Club at an exhibition illustrated with hand drawn maps, lantern slides and old notes of its members
- take a rare tour of our heritage listed Supreme Court building, hearing stories from the archives and discovering judicial robes and wigs
- enjoy a guided tour of Mandeville Hall, unveiling the lavish interiors, history and architecture of one of Melbourne’s most significant nineteenth century mansions
- hear about the people and stories that make up the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s fascinating 163-year history
- and much, much more!
“Victoria has such a rich and wonderful history, so we are delighted to once again be able to pull together a whole host of reasons to get out there and explore it,” said Kate Prinsley from the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
“From fascinating walking tours and engaging discussions, to exhibitions and ‘history in the making’ events – there is something in store for everyone to enjoy.”
History Week is generously supported by the Vera Moore Foundation and is being coordinated by the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
Event supporters include the History Council of Victoria, Museums Australia Victoria, History Teachers’ Association of Victoria, State Library of Victoria, Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne Museum, Immigration Museum, Scienceworks, Public Record Office Victoria, Koorie Heritage Trust Inc and the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies among others.
For more details, visit the History Week website.
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5. Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific – Cultural Heritage Seminar Series, October – November 2011
The Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific is pleased to announce a new seminar series to be held at DeakinPrime, in the city on the last Wednesday of every month.
Location
DeakinPrime
Deakin University Melbourne City Centre
Meeting Room 2
Level 3, 550 Bourke St
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia
Date & Time
Last Wednesday of every month, from 5.30 to 6.30pm
Program
26 October 2011, 5.30 – 6.30 pm
Presenter: Prof. Christoph Antons, School of Law, Deakin University
Title: At the crossroads: The Legal Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions and Cultural Heritage in Asia
30 November 2011, 5.30 – 6.30 pm
Presenters: Professor William Logan and A/Prof. Andrea Witcomb, Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific
Title: Long Tan, Vietnam: memorialisation and atonement
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6. Significance International Workshops, Canberra
Significance International is delighted to announce TWO upcoming workshops in Canberra, Australia:
Significance Assessment of Collections, 28 – 29 November 2011
Risk Management for Collecting Organisations, 9 – 10 February 2012
For those who are interested in attending please complete the registration form and make payments via the webpages as above.
Book soon as participant numbers are limited to 15 for each workshop!
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7. APT Technical Seminar and Workshop, Melbourne
How should we benchmark sustainable conservation works?
Association for Preservation Technology (APT) International Australasia Chapter members, Australia ICOMOS members and colleagues are invited to participate in an informal discussion on the development of sustainable quality measures for conservation works.
Date & Time: Thursday 27 October 2011, 9.30 am – 4.30 pm
Cost: $45 including lunch and refreshments, payable by cash
Venue: Mission to Seafarers, 717 Flinders Street, Melbourne
Refer to the Watermarks APT Workshop Notice flier for further information and registration details.
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8. Contributions invited for The World Heritage Capacity Building Newsletter
The World Heritage Capacity Building Newsletter offers an opportunity to report on activities undertaken to promote capacity building for World Heritage. The newsletter is part of the joint IUCN/ICCROM Capacity Building project, financed by the Swiss government. The first issue of the newsletter was distributed in June 2011 and the second issue is scheduled for December 2011/January 2012.
Those who are involved in or developing capacity building activities related to World Heritage and would like to contribute to the second issue of the newsletter are requested to indicate their interest in writing an article by submitting the title and short abstract of the intended article by 4 November 2011.
Please send enquiries and article proposals directly to Leticia Leitao by email.
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9. Latest Global Heritage Review (GHR) bulletin available online
To view the latest issue of the GHR bulletin, click here.
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10. ‘Remote Access to World Heritage Sites from St Kilda to Uluru’ – A UNESCO Conference
I Know Where I’m Going
Remote Access to World Heritage Sites from St Kilda to Uluru
23-24 November 2011
Edinburgh (UK)
At a time of economic crisis and environmental threat, countries everywhere are seeking to address the dual challenges of maximising the economic value of their natural and cultural heritage while protecting and preserving that heritage.
This international conference will focus on the potential created by new technologies for creating high-quality, remote-access visitor experiences for World Heritage Sites and other sites of cultural, historical and natural significance where physical access must be restricted, and to explore the benefits for conservation, education, interpretation and cultural tourism.
The main aims of this Conference are to showcase some of the new technologies available (3D/4D scanning, mobile technologies, GPS/GIS, satellite technologies, apps and social media) & discuss their applications and to debate policy issues these new technologies present for sites preservation, conservation, and interpretation worldwide.
To view the full program and to register, click here.
Download PDFs of the ‘I Know Where I’m Going’ brochure and ‘I Know Where I’m Going’ program.
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11. 1st International Conference on Best Practices in World Heritage: Archaeology – call for papers
1st International Conference on Best Practices in World Heritage – Archaeology
Menorca, Balearic Islands (Spain)
9-13 April 2012
Deadline extension for abstracts submission: 10 November 2011
The Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), together with the Consell Insular de Menorca (Spain) are organizing this international conference to generate a reflexion on the Management of Archaeology World Heritage properties
The main aim of the Conference is to draw up and publish a “Guide of Best Practices in World Heritage: Archaeology“. To this end, six sessions will be organized about the following topics:
- Social action and Archaeology in World Heritage properties
- ICT, Archaeology and World Heritage
- Architecture, World Heritage and Archaeology
- Land planning, Archaeology and World Heritage
- Preventive Archaeology and World Heritage
- Education, dissemination of knowledge, World Heritage and Archaeology
CALL FOR PAPERS IS NOW OPEN
Send your abstract (300-400 words) as as an email attachment in WORD or PDF to the conference committee.
For further information, visit the conference website.
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12. International Institute for Restoration & Preservation Studies
ATHENS: HERITAGE AND MODERNITY
5 – 15 January 2012
An eleven (11) day visit of Athens focusing on the preservation and conservation issues facing the city. The program involves a series of lectures and visits lead by Athenian architects, historians, conservators and planners who have been grappling with the problem of preserving monuments and culture in the midst of a bustling modern city.
For further details, click here.
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13. ICOMOS New Zealand latest newsletter
Download the ICOMOS NZ News 20 October 2011 newsletter.
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14. SITUATION VACANT Assistant Manager – Heritage, Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House
Assistant Manager, Heritage
Classification: EL1
Reference number: 31104
Employment type: non-ongoing (with the possibility of becoming ongoing)
Salary: $86,000 – $97,218
Closing date: 27 October 2011
Contact Name: Edwina Jans on (02) 6270 8234
The Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD) at Old Parliament House is looking for an experienced cultural heritage professional for the role of Assistant Manager, Heritage. The role is integral to the operations of MoAD and plays a key role in managing the heritage values of the place and its collections.
Old Parliament House is on the Commonwealth and National Heritage lists and is protected under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
Selection documentation may be obtained from the employment section of the MoAD website. Further queries about the position should be directed to the Contact Officer.
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15. SITUATION VACANT Deputy Director – Interpretation and Programs, Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House
Position Title: Deputy Director, Interpretation and Programs
Classification: SES Band 1
Reference number: 20001
Employment type: ongoing
Closing date: 6 November 2011
Contact Name: Andrew Harper on (02) 6270 8170
Housed in one of Australia’s most significant heritage-listed buildings, the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD) at Old Parliament House tells the story of our democracy’s long journey and unique traditions. It delivers innovative exhibitions, tours, interpretive and learning programs—on site, online and across Australia—that inspire visitors to explore democracy from its ancient roots to the present day, and which look to the possible futures of democracy in Australia.
The Museum is seeking a dynamic and committed individual to provide strategic leadership to deliver inspiring and engaging interpretive programs to the Museum’s diverse audiences through both physical and online environments. It also manages relationships with key stakeholders across the cultural, tourism, academic and museum sectors.
Selection documentation may be obtained from the employment section of the MoAD website. Further queries about the position should be directed to the Contact Officer.
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If you would like to suggest an event, story, course etc for the Australia ICOMOS e-mail news or submit an article, or you wish to be removed from the distribution list, please e-mail the Australia ICOMOS Secretariat. Please note that as the office is not staffed full-time it may take a few days to deal with your request.
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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in the Australia ICOMOS Email News are not necessarily those of Australia ICOMOS Inc. or its Executive Committee. The text of Australia ICOMOS Email news is drawn from various sources including organizations other than Australia ICOMOS Inc. The Australia ICOMOS Email news serves solely as an information source and aims to present a wide range of opinions which may be of interest to readers. Articles submitted for inclusion may be edited.
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Australia ICOMOS Secretariat
Georgia Meros, Secretariat Officer
Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific
Deakin University
221 Burwood Highway
Burwood VIC 3125
Telephone: (03) 9251 7131
Facsimile: (03) 9251 7158
Email: austicomos@deakin.edu.au
http://www.icomos.org/australia
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