Archive for the ‘Latest News’ Category
Opening of the Caroline Tennant-Kelly exhibition
The opening of the Caroline Tennant-Kelly exhibition Day was one of our special NAIDOC events at the Ration Shed Museum. It was a beautiful sunny day and the Cherbourg Historical Precinct was sparkling – thanks to all the hard work of our local workers. Guests arrived with lots of positive energy and the Murgon State High School Mentors, looking “deadly” in their Ration Shed t-shirts, where in attendance – ready to assist anyone that needed help.
Anthropologists Kim de Rijke & Tony Jefferies
University of Queensland anthropologists Kim de Rijke, Tony Jefferies and their families, as well as the Goodings, Jim Kelly and other invited guests came up especially for the opening day. MC Bruce Simpson made sure the day ran smoothly. Beryl Gambrill, welcomed everyone to country and Sandra Morgan gave the welcoming speech. Ada Simpson spoke about the history and then introduced anthropologists Kim and Tony. We heard the inspiring story of Caroline Tennant-Kelly, anthropologist and activist, whose field work in Cherbourg in the 1930s and her protests to the Queensland Government about the treatment of people there led to her banning from all Queensland reserves. They also gave us a demonstration of how to use the CD-rom they had put together of Caroline’s Tennant-Kelly’s material.
Bevan Costello, deputy chairperson of the Ration Shed Museum announced that the Ration Shed was honouring some special friends of the Ration Shed and series of plaques were unveiled on the side of the Ration Shed wall. (see story about becoming a friend of the Ration Shed)
Bevan Costello honours Friends of the Ration Shed with plaques
Aunty Eva Collins opened the exhibition and people flooded into the Ration Shed to view the photographs. Peter Trail designed the exhibition complete with magnifying glasses and chalk for community members to write on the blackboard any of the names of people they recognised in her photos from the 1930s. It was very moving to see Elders engage with the material – there were tears and laughter as some people recognised family members and friends. Sylvia Bond and family graciously loaned a special series of photographs and a breastplate of her great, great Grandfather Fred Embrey, who also features in some of Caroline Tennant- Kelly’s photographs.
Aunty Eva Collins opened the exhibition
The exhibition will be on display all year if you would like to look at it. We are also hoping to develop a series of worksheets for school students. The original research materials of Caroline Tennant-Kelly are now preserved in the Fryer Library at the University of Queensland and digital copies are being distributed to the Aboriginal communities she worked with in Queensland and New South Wales in the 1930s. Copies of the Cherbourg material are available at the Ration Shed on CD-ROM . The CD-ROMs costs $15 plus postage.
The Caroline Tennant-Kelly exhibition and our NAIDOC Day celebrations were made possible by funding from the Aboriginal Community Interest Consultative Committee (ACICC) and the Australian Government Indigenous Co-ordination Centre (ICC). The Smith Family are funding the mentoring group project and The Indigenous Regional Arts Development Fund (IRADF) funded the banner project.
Carlijn & Kim de Rijke, Sandra Morgan, Jeanette Brown, Graham Gooding
Commonwealth Bank funding
The Commowealth Bank donated $20,000 to help us out with the damage that occurred to the Boys Dormitory from the heavy rains in January. We will use the money to repair the roof and fix the floor in the Art studio.
With a new-look art studio, we look forward to having more students participating in the art workshops run by our local Yidding artists. Schools and youth groups are welcome to make bookings through our front office. Telephone – 07 41695753
Jen Maybon from the Commonwealth Bank hands some members of the Ration Shed Management committee a cheque to repair sections of The Boys Dormitory.
Ration Shed film a winner!
Our film “The Ration Shed” won best Queensland short film at the Gympie International Heart of Gold Film Festival. The film is 26 minutes long and tells the story of the Ration Shed – it has many moving interviews with Elders who have now past on. We are selling DVD copies for $22 each and will post them to you. Postage is an extra $4. If you want to see the film – come and visit us at the Ration Shed Museum, watch the film and we will answer questions you might have.
Closed over Christmas & New Year
The Ration Shed team wish everyone a merry and peaceful Festive Season.
Please note – we are closed until the 10th January. If you have any urgent enquiries, please contact us via our e-mail address.
We look forward to you visiting us in 2011.
Launch of Budburra films and book
On Wed 17th November, the Ration Shed Museum hosted the launch of the new Budburra Books release “Where’s Nana?”.
The artwork for “Where’s Nana?” was created in a collaborative workshop with students from Cherbourg State School, Murgon State School and St Josephs Primary School (also hosted by the Ration Shed back in May).
All the participating students were invited back to the launch, and were thrilled to see their finished work, when it was read to a captive audience by two Cherbourg State School students.
The students were all gifted a copy of the book to take home with them, and each school received a class set.
The day also saw the premiere of two new films: “Budburra Books: a Cherbourg Literacy Project,” which shows the journey of the creation of the books over the last 3 years, and the movie adaptation of the Budburra’s Alphabet book, again starring students of all 3 schools. There were a lot of laughs!
Books and films are available for sale at the Ration Shed, or via the order form at http://www.budburrabooks.com.au/
Premiere of “Budburra Books: a Cherbourg Literacy Project,”
Launch of new book - “Where’s Nana?”.
Exhibition of students artwork
Minister Desley Boyle pays a visit
Minister Desley Boyle recently paid a visit to the Ration Shed Museum. 
Ada Simpson gave her a tour of the Precinct.
Ada Simpson, Minister Desley Boyle, Sandra Morgan
Ration Shed film in finals of Film Festival
The film “The Ration Shed” is in the finals of the Queensland short film competition. The film was made by Sandra Morgan and Robyn Hofmeyr and is about the story of the Ration Shed. It is 20 minutes long and contains interviews with Elders, archival footage and photographs. (DVD copies are for sale at $22 each plus postage)
Here is the link to the voting site on the Brisbane Times website to vote for “The Ration Shed” film in the QLD Short Film Competition, as a part of the Brisbane International Film Festival: The competition closes on the 14th of November.
It only takes a moment to click on the link and cast a vote – your time would be much appreciated!
The competition ends on the 14th of November 2010
Artists plan exhibition
Artists discuss painting camps
Some of our Cherbourg artists are working with the Ratartat artists from Ballarat and planning an exhibition at the Cairns Arts Festival for next year. Regular painting camps are being organized every few months and artists are exploring different ways of telling their stories. If you would like to become part of this please contact Rocko Langton at the Ration Shed Museum. We support a strong and thriving art centre in Cherbourg.
Meeting with Council to create a thriving tourist venue and conference centre
Discussing opportunities with the local Council
The Management committee recently invited all the Council members and the Mayor to a meeting at the Ration Shed Museum. At the meeting the committee discussed working with council to turn part of the Boys Dormitory into a conference centre and a thriving Art Studio.
The first conference is being planned in mid October. The Stronger Smarter Leadership Institute has booked the venue for a week. Cherbourg workers, Elders and artists have been busy preparing. Volunteers are needed to help us clean and prepare the building. In the long term we hope to create employment opportunities for members of our community.