Buried behind the trees lining the Maribyrnong river, The Living Museum of the West thrives. This is Australia’s first Ecomuseum (a museum focused on the identity of a place), an important community welfare and development hub which preserves the social, industrial, environmental history and untold stories of Melbourne’s Western Suburbs.
The Museum does something quite different to regular museums, they collect people’s stories told through their own voices. The Museum allows public access to these archives where people can view and contribute to them. Despite the museums close involvement with its community, the majority of the people who live there aren’t aware of its existence. This piece explores how the Museum and it’s dedicated volunteers have dealt with content that provides remarkable insight into the region and evolution of Melbourne.
Our reasons for making this film are influenced by how much potential we believe the museum has to offer – by communicating its cultural importance and telling the museum’s story we hope to attract newcomers and visitors who can sustain the life of the Living Museum. We want this project to encourage conversation and interest around the Museum and further, the West’s rich and extensive history and how it’s all documented in Melbourne’s backyard. We are further influenced by the team who run the museum – their passion and efforts to awaken a sense of community and sustain a culturally significant space are reflective of the Museum’s importance and room for change and growth within its impact. We aim to present these important people to the public and add a personal connection to what we make – moving away from corporate publicity videos – we want people to watch the video and come to the Museum for the resources it provides through its archive as well as through the members who have so much knowledge to share. In our own way its a form of giving back to the museum team who have done so much for our group but broader than that, have done such important and vital work within their community that seems to largely go unnoticed.
