MUSING ON newMUSING

It needs to be said that in a smallish way this outcome represents something of a significant paradigm shift in the ways musingplaces engage with their Communities of Ownership and Interest. 

Arguably for far too long, strategically, 'public musingplaces' have been imagined as 'corporate entities' and/or 'cost centres' and in ways that are careless of their cultural 'purposefulness'. Bureaucratic administrations are essentially the enforcers of strategies and policies determined by their governing authorities.

Launceston's Queen Victoria Museum andv Art Gallery (QVMAG)has been collecting since 1842 and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) was founded in 1843 by the  Royal Society of Tasmania (RST)and unambiguously the purposefulness in their foundation was "the advancement of knowledge".

The TMAG currently articulates it's purpose as being "To collect, conserve, research and create to enrich lives through meaningful encounters with our collections." While the QVMAG appears to be unclear about its purposefulness.

Nonetheless the QVMAG has "five clear strategic directions for the Council:

• To respect Aboriginal Culture
• To realise the potential of our cultural places and assets
• To foster creative practices
• Reveal our cultural stories, and
• Build and extend partnerships"

However, that's the City of Launceston's Council's 'strategic directions' not the QVMAG's statement of purpose as an institution and something against which Key Performance Indicators can be assessed and understood.

While the TMAG's purposefulness is unambiguous, the QVMAG's is quite ambiguous and the trickle-downs from that tend to mean that the QVMAG currently is not overly concerned about "the advancement of knowledge". So when the QVMAG is characterised as an 'entertainment venue' it understandable albeit that is at odds with musingplaces' purposefulness in the broad context.

YES,YES, that is a contestable idea but in the 21st C musingplaces have a role as places where contentious ideas can be contested. They should not be places where uncontestable understandings are handed down from on high. An especially not by corporate administrators seeking to maintain the status quo given that the status quo sustains them. 

All this if it finds its way into the script writing for Tonight At The Museum might well become an interesting comedic subtext to other musing. It is just a thought in passing as 'musing' can take one down all kinds burrows.

It is not drawing too long a bow to suggest that corporate administrators have a conflict of interest and yes that is yet another contestable idea.                                      

The QVMAG represents collecting activities from 1842  unambiguously it can be understood that the TMAG and the QVMAG's collective purposefulness then was .... To collect, conserve, research and create to enrich lives through meaningful encounters with our collections.

Founded in 1843, the Royal Society of Tasmania is Australia's oldest Royal Society and the first established outside the United Kingdom. For over 180 years, the Society has been dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through monthly public lectures, peer-reviewed scholarly publications, awards recognising academic excellence, and support for Tasmania's research community. From establishing the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens t

TMAG is Australia's second-oldest museum and has its origins in the collections of Australia's oldest scientific society, the Royal Society of Tasmania, established in 1843.  The first permanent home of the museum opened on the corner of Argyle and Macquarie streets in 1863 and the museum has gradually expanded from this corner to occupy the entire city block.

The Cultural Strategy has five clear strategic directions for "the Council:

• To respect Aboriginal Culture
• To realise the potential of our cultural places and assets
• To foster creative practices
• Reveal our cultural stories, and
• Build and extend partnerships."

Given that QVMAG costs Launceston ratepayers millions of dollars every year, and currently there are fears that reform has hit a wall. To call all this as a can of worms, it might well be an understatement.

By way of backgrounding Shane Fitzgerald stepped down as director of the QVMAG in early July 2025 to "pursue new opportunities". Hired in 2021, he was tasked with finding financial solutions for the institution, leading to the development of a Futures Plan for the City of Launceston.

The ABC's Hayden Smith – the ABC'D Libraries, Museums and Galleries commentator – reported on this "WALL HITTING" Dec 7 2025 and since then there has been deathly silence. Presumably the CoL CEO is acting as the QVMAG's 'default director' and aside from that he is in the news for other reasons.

However, in all of this 'the Councillors' have also been silent and seemingly they are playing their cards close to their chests as what might be well be called a series of fiscal debacles are being played out at Launceston's Town Hall – and apparently for the most part behind close doors.

While Tonight At The Museum might well not touch upon any of this it is more than interesting that the TMAG is its venue. Perhaps it is more significant that the TMAG's Trustees and Mary Mulcahy, the Director, are facilitating this initiative. It might not be as audacious as David Walsh's exploits at MONA given his deep pockets, but it can be chalked up as being something of a 'game changer' for musing in public musingplaces.

This television initiative might well be a trailblazer for other machinations of musing relevant to interrogating musingplace's collections and programming. That is 'musings' facilitated by the evolving and expanding communication technologies.

It might also be alarming for status quo corporate managerialists as they speculate on the possibilities and wonder how they might adapt IF they cannot stifle change.It is said that if want to find out about how something works, try to change it!