British Museum partnership with WA Museum and exciting progress with other CHOGM events

The Premier visits the Australian Garden created by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew for Australian Season at the British Museum.

 

‘Extraordinary Stories – Commonwealth Objects from the British Museum’ exhibition has been announced to coincide with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth in October. Premier Colin Barnett on behalf of the Western Australian Museum has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the British Museum that signals the beginning of a five year link between the two organisations.

The special exhibition will comprise of artefacts sourced from the collections of the British Museum and the WA Museum to represent most of the 54 Commonwealth countries.

The exhibition “will open in October at the WA Museum, Perth, as part of the cultural programme for CHOGM and will be on display until February to ensure the people of WA will have plenty of opportunity to see these important objects,” the Premier said.

“This exhibition will offer highlights of the British Museum’s collection from the Commonwealth, filled with unexpected stories and will take visitors on a 1.6 million year journey around the world.”

Mr Barnett announced the partnership while visiting the British Museum in London in early June as part of preparation for planning for a new museum in Perth.

Alec Coles, WA Museum CEO said, “We are excited to announce this first phase of a powerful partnership with the British Museum which will offer Western Australians a unique opportunity to experience the very best of this world-class Museum right here in Perth.

“This first exhibition, as the name suggests, will be extraordinary, not least because this will be the first time any of these objects have been seen in Australia.

“We look forward to this exhibition and to the next five years of research, exhibition and collaboration.”

British Museum Director Neil MacGregor said, “We are thrilled to be working with the Western Australian Museum on this exhibition which will be an important celebration of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth. We admire the ambition of the WA Museum and are delighted that it will become part of a network of international museums that we are working with around the Indian Ocean.”

The exhibition will open on October 22, 2011 and will run through until February 5, 2012. For more information about the exhibition go to www.museum.wa.gov.au/bm-exhibition

In other CHOGM developments the planning group for the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF) met for the first time in Fremantle, to set the agenda for the CYF. The group made up of nine young Australians and eight young people from the Commonwealth nations, developed the event program for the CYF and decided on the theme: Our Commonwealth, Our Future.

Ellie Seckold, chair of the group said, “we really want to look at what has been achieved by the previous forums, and then focus our attention on key youth issues for the Commonwealth today and our goals for the future,” she said. The CYF 2011 will be attended by up to 130 delegates who it is hoped will represent every nation of the Commonwealth attending CHOGM. The delegates will produce a communiqué which will be circulated at CHOGM in 2011, giving the young people of the Commonwealth a chance to have their opinions heard by the Heads of Government. CYF 2011 takes place from 23-27 October in Fremantle.

Plans for the Commonwealth People's Forum 2011 have also been announced and it will be a platform for discussion and debate on key issues facing Commonwealth people. Held every two years in the run up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the CPF is the single biggest opportunity for civil society to engage with Commonwealth leaders on global development issues.

Commonwealth People's Forum 2011 takes place from 25 to 27 October 2011.

For information about CHOGM, CYF2011 and the Commonwealth People's Forum 2011 please visit www.chogm2011.org