Tuesday 19 February 2008
Two days out from the official opening of the Cabinets of Wonder at Beechworth’s Burke Museum, an astonishing assortment of privately owned artefacts and collections from the local community are still coming to light.
A portable writing desk owned by Charles Dickens is one of the many treasures individuals and organisations have loaned to the Burke for the six-month exhibition.
An amazing collection of skulls of small native mammals, cranial instruments from the Beechworth Hospital, book marks, Egyptian artefacts, egg cups, brooches, a rock collection and a 100 year-old Chilean bird-eating spider have recently found their way into the Burke’s Cabinets of Wonder.
Burke Museum Collections Officer, Linda Peacock, says response has been overwhelming: “Once word got out about the exhibition we were inundated with offers of objects for display. And what’s been really surprising is the variety and quality of artefacts that have come in. We could fill the entire museum with community collections alone!”
The Hon. Tim Fischer, the Patron of the Indigo Tourism Board, officially opens Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community this Thursday 21 February. The exhibition runs until 30 June.
With its extraordinary collection of Aboriginal artefacts from the early to mid-19th century, an amazing natural history collection including an extremely rare stuffed Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) as well as thousands of artefacts, journals and photographs Beechworth’s historic Burke Museum could be described as a Wunderkammer (Cabinet of Wonder) in its own right.
Named in honour of the ill-fated explorer, Robert O’Hara Burke who was Police Superintendent during Beechworth’s heady gold rush days of 1854 – 1858, the Burke Museum is part of the town’s nationally significant Historic & Cultural Precinct, which this year celebrates its sesquicentenary.
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Second Magical Mystery Tour planned
Following the unprecedented success of its Magical Mystery Tour conducted last year, the Friends of the Robert O'Hara Burke Memorial Museum have planned another twilight walk, this time with a different twist.
Over 100 locals and visitors turned up on December 12 to be shown around some of Beechworth's oldest and least publicly accessible buildings before enjoying a light supper with wine on the balcony of the former Star Hotel. The demand for another such event was clear.
This time the theme is of an historic religious flavour and celebrates the many delightful buildings of great character built over the past 150 years in the town.
Adam Jenkins serves on the committee of the Friends and was the initiator of the Magical Mystery Tour idea.
"This time there will be improvements in organisation with groups limited to 20, tickets to be bought before the event, and expert tour guides will be present at each site of interest to tell the history of the building, show people inside, and to give out written summaries", he said.
Tickets for the second Magical Mystery Tour on Saturday 8 March 2008 (Labour Day weekend) are $10 each and are available at the Burke Museum up to 6 March. The groups will meet at 6pm at the Burke Museum and return there after the tour for a light supper in its "Street of Shops".
Funds raised from the tour will be used to further improve the Burke Museum, one of Australia's finest regional museums.
by Gaynor Matthew
SEE DIGITAL PHOTO: Adam Jenkins and Uniting Church member Dorn Hawking on the steps of Beechworth Uniting Church, one of the many churches on the second Magical Mystery Tour.
Friday, 8 February 2008
Burke Museum uncovers hidden Beechworth treasure Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community 21 February – 30 June
Thursday 7 February 2008
Oak souvenired from the hull of Nelson’s ship HMS Victory, a prison-made knuckle-duster, perfume bottles and a collection of beer coasters are among the dozens of weird and wonderful artefacts to be shown in the Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community exhibition officially opening at the Burke Museum on Thursday 21 February.
Visitors will be able to peek into the drawers, cupboards, nooks and crannies to view the private collections – from the everyday to the bizarre – of individuals and local organisations who responded enthusiastically to the Burke’s invitation to offer their treasured possessions for public display.
“The exhibition offers fascinating insights into the nature of collecting as well as the community from which the collections have come to light,” says Burke Museum Collections Officer, Linda Peacock. “It’s very much about reflecting the interests and passions of local people and gives them the chance to involve themselves directly in the process of curating their own exhibition.”
Highlights of the Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community exhibition include:
-A collection of ingeniously crafted contraband made by inmates of the Beechworth Prison
-From the eminent historian, Ian Jones, a Beechworth local, a collection of HMS Victory memorabilia from his great-grandfather, a naval man who trained on the ship in the 1840s
-Historic trophies from the Beechworth Football Club
-A collection of postmarked letters from Beechworth and Stanley dated between 1855 and 1875
-A collection of porcelain containers and bottles unearthed from the Chinese camp area of Beechworth’s Spring Creek goldfields
-Historic items from Beechworth’s Lodge of St. John
The idea of Cabinets of Wonder is centuries old. The original Wunderkammers – Cabinets of Wonder or wonder-rooms boasted intriguing collections belonging to those aristocrats, monarchs or merchants who could afford to create and maintain them. They were usually made from exotic and expensive materials and often filled with contents and ornamental details intended to reflect the entire cosmos on a miniature scale.
Beechworth’s historic Burke Museum could be described as a Wunderkammer in its own right, with its extraordinary collection of Aboriginal artefacts from the early to mid-19th century, an amazing natural history collection including an extremely rare stuffed Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) as well as thousands of artefacts, journals and photographs from Beechworth’s heady gold rush days to the present.
The Patron of the Indigo Tourism Board, Hon. Tim Fischer, will officially launch Beechworth’s own Wunderkammers at 6pm on Thursday 21 February. The Cabinets of Wonder exhibition runs until June.
For more information, please contact Indigo Shire Tourism Officer, Sue Couttie,
phone (03) 5728 8061 or scouttie@indigoshire.vic.gov.au
Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community
Where: Robert O’Hara Burke Memorial Museum
Address: Loch St, Beechworth
Dates: 21 February – 30 June 2008
Oak souvenired from the hull of Nelson’s ship HMS Victory, a prison-made knuckle-duster, perfume bottles and a collection of beer coasters are among the dozens of weird and wonderful artefacts to be shown in the Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community exhibition officially opening at the Burke Museum on Thursday 21 February.
Visitors will be able to peek into the drawers, cupboards, nooks and crannies to view the private collections – from the everyday to the bizarre – of individuals and local organisations who responded enthusiastically to the Burke’s invitation to offer their treasured possessions for public display.
“The exhibition offers fascinating insights into the nature of collecting as well as the community from which the collections have come to light,” says Burke Museum Collections Officer, Linda Peacock. “It’s very much about reflecting the interests and passions of local people and gives them the chance to involve themselves directly in the process of curating their own exhibition.”
Highlights of the Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community exhibition include:
-A collection of ingeniously crafted contraband made by inmates of the Beechworth Prison
-From the eminent historian, Ian Jones, a Beechworth local, a collection of HMS Victory memorabilia from his great-grandfather, a naval man who trained on the ship in the 1840s
-Historic trophies from the Beechworth Football Club
-A collection of postmarked letters from Beechworth and Stanley dated between 1855 and 1875
-A collection of porcelain containers and bottles unearthed from the Chinese camp area of Beechworth’s Spring Creek goldfields
-Historic items from Beechworth’s Lodge of St. John
The idea of Cabinets of Wonder is centuries old. The original Wunderkammers – Cabinets of Wonder or wonder-rooms boasted intriguing collections belonging to those aristocrats, monarchs or merchants who could afford to create and maintain them. They were usually made from exotic and expensive materials and often filled with contents and ornamental details intended to reflect the entire cosmos on a miniature scale.
Beechworth’s historic Burke Museum could be described as a Wunderkammer in its own right, with its extraordinary collection of Aboriginal artefacts from the early to mid-19th century, an amazing natural history collection including an extremely rare stuffed Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) as well as thousands of artefacts, journals and photographs from Beechworth’s heady gold rush days to the present.
The Patron of the Indigo Tourism Board, Hon. Tim Fischer, will officially launch Beechworth’s own Wunderkammers at 6pm on Thursday 21 February. The Cabinets of Wonder exhibition runs until June.
For more information, please contact Indigo Shire Tourism Officer, Sue Couttie,
phone (03) 5728 8061 or scouttie@indigoshire.vic.gov.au
Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community
Where: Robert O’Hara Burke Memorial Museum
Address: Loch St, Beechworth
Dates: 21 February – 30 June 2008
HISTORY, MUSIC & FUN! Beechworth gets set for bumper 2008 Golden Horseshoes Festival
The countdown is on for the return of Beechworth’s biggest annual celebration, the Golden Horseshoes Festival, over the Easter weekend from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 March.
With a theme of History, Music & Fun! the 2008 program will see the return of old favourites including the Grand Parade, the re-enactment of Daniel Cameron’s famous ride through Beechworth on a horse shod with golden shoes and a massive Children’s Easter Egg hunt on Easter Sunday, as well as a host of exciting new events including displays, markets, performances and competitions.
A focus on multiculturalism as well as a strong music line-up will put some extra Fiesta into the Festival with a packed program of events for all ages.
This year for the first time, an incorporated community committee has taken on responsibility for planning and producing the Beechworth Golden Horseshoes Festival.
Committee Chairman, Leo Nette, says the event is well on track to be even bigger and better than the highly successful Festival of 2007 which attracted estimated crowds of 20,000.
“But the success of any event lies with the support it gets from its local community, so we’re still keen to hear from anyone interested in **volunteering their time over Easter to help us with Parade marshalling, public information assistance, setting up and manning displays.”
He added that there was still time to **enter a float for the Grand Parade and urged local groups and individuals to get into the spirit of what is shaping up to be another sensational Golden Horseshoes Festival in Beechworth.
Full details of this year’s Beechworth Golden Horseshoes Festival will be available with the release of the official program later this month. Leo Nette is available for interview and hi-res images from the 2007 event are available on request.
Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Leo Nette, Chairman of the Beechworth Golden Horseshoes Committee on (03) 5728-1873 or 0429 606 439. To enter a float in the Grand Parade, contact Kathryn Osmond on (03) 5728 2866 or 0428 282 968
With a theme of History, Music & Fun! the 2008 program will see the return of old favourites including the Grand Parade, the re-enactment of Daniel Cameron’s famous ride through Beechworth on a horse shod with golden shoes and a massive Children’s Easter Egg hunt on Easter Sunday, as well as a host of exciting new events including displays, markets, performances and competitions.
A focus on multiculturalism as well as a strong music line-up will put some extra Fiesta into the Festival with a packed program of events for all ages.
This year for the first time, an incorporated community committee has taken on responsibility for planning and producing the Beechworth Golden Horseshoes Festival.
Committee Chairman, Leo Nette, says the event is well on track to be even bigger and better than the highly successful Festival of 2007 which attracted estimated crowds of 20,000.
“But the success of any event lies with the support it gets from its local community, so we’re still keen to hear from anyone interested in **volunteering their time over Easter to help us with Parade marshalling, public information assistance, setting up and manning displays.”
He added that there was still time to **enter a float for the Grand Parade and urged local groups and individuals to get into the spirit of what is shaping up to be another sensational Golden Horseshoes Festival in Beechworth.
Full details of this year’s Beechworth Golden Horseshoes Festival will be available with the release of the official program later this month. Leo Nette is available for interview and hi-res images from the 2007 event are available on request.
Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Leo Nette, Chairman of the Beechworth Golden Horseshoes Committee on (03) 5728-1873 or 0429 606 439. To enter a float in the Grand Parade, contact Kathryn Osmond on (03) 5728 2866 or 0428 282 968
Employees of the month January 08 Beechworth VIC Team
Anne Wilson and the VIC team, Barbara Carne, Jeff Yeomans and volunteers
James Toole, Martin Thomas and Anne Bell were at the frontline in the BVIC for
Opera in the Alps enquiries on 19 January, which as a result of the heavy
rain had to be changed from an out door event to four indoor concerts.
Between them they handled over 1000 phone calls and gave out information to
994 customers.
This gave their patience, ingenuity and customer service skills a real work out, as
the majority of their customers were both disappointed and frustrated. They
all did a spectacular job under difficult circumstances and I have been
receiving very good feed back from visitors who came into the centre.
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
January Operator Of The Month
Congratulations to our January Operator of the Month: Inglebrae, Lake Sambell Caravan Park, The Stone Cottage, Serena Cottages and Crystal Creek. Our operators of the month have their brochure in prime position with in the VIC and their image and link on the home page of www.beechworthonline.com.au
Artists bring new life to historic Beechworth schoolhouse
School’s in for a group of talented artists and artisans from the Beechworth area who have joined forces on an exciting new venture launched this month.
The Old Schoolhouse Gallery is a fascinating new showcase of jewellery, paintings, ceramics and textiles as well as second hand books and collectibles housed in the 1863 Common School in Loch Street, one of Beechworth’s many notable historic buildings.
The initiative is the brainchild of Sandra and Robert Godfrey who lovingly restored the building five years ago as an exhibition space for Sandra’s silk painting.
More recently, their idea of using the building to house a retail gallery for a variety of local artists from the Beechworth area was enthusiastically embraced and within a few short weeks The Old Schoolhouse Gallery was open for business.
“We wanted to have something for everyone to enjoy and at the same time provide encouragement for local artisans to keep creating,” Sandra Godfrey said.
Indigo Shire Mayor, Cr Vic Issell, will officially launch the co-operative venture on 25 January.
Joining forces with Sandra Godfrey are:
• Jan Clements (felting, leather and metal)
• North East Yarns (natural coloured wool and woollen garments)
• Tania Magennis and Janine Delves (artists specialising in quirkiness and colour)
• Wendy Stephens (visual artist)
• Frances Macdonald (potter)
• Ali Rowe (textile artist)
• Robyn White (glass bead jewellery)
• Claire Shearman and Ken Young (second hand books specialising in arts, crafts and local history)
• Schoolhouse Collectables
• Judy Hawking-Burnett (paintings, jewellery and cards)
Celebrating its 145th anniversary this year, the Common School No. 36, known as the Beechworth Academy, was the town’s first school. The first Australian-born Governor General, Sir Isaac Isaacs, taught there from 1872 to 1874, and for 100 years of its history the building housed the office and press of the Ovens & Murray Advertiser.
The Old Schoolhouse Gallery, 17 Loch St, Beechworth.
Phone (03) 5725 1342. Email wandanagallery@bigpond.com
Open seven days a week from 10am to 4pm.
The Old Schoolhouse Gallery is a fascinating new showcase of jewellery, paintings, ceramics and textiles as well as second hand books and collectibles housed in the 1863 Common School in Loch Street, one of Beechworth’s many notable historic buildings.
The initiative is the brainchild of Sandra and Robert Godfrey who lovingly restored the building five years ago as an exhibition space for Sandra’s silk painting.
More recently, their idea of using the building to house a retail gallery for a variety of local artists from the Beechworth area was enthusiastically embraced and within a few short weeks The Old Schoolhouse Gallery was open for business.
“We wanted to have something for everyone to enjoy and at the same time provide encouragement for local artisans to keep creating,” Sandra Godfrey said.
Indigo Shire Mayor, Cr Vic Issell, will officially launch the co-operative venture on 25 January.
Joining forces with Sandra Godfrey are:
• Jan Clements (felting, leather and metal)
• North East Yarns (natural coloured wool and woollen garments)
• Tania Magennis and Janine Delves (artists specialising in quirkiness and colour)
• Wendy Stephens (visual artist)
• Frances Macdonald (potter)
• Ali Rowe (textile artist)
• Robyn White (glass bead jewellery)
• Claire Shearman and Ken Young (second hand books specialising in arts, crafts and local history)
• Schoolhouse Collectables
• Judy Hawking-Burnett (paintings, jewellery and cards)
Celebrating its 145th anniversary this year, the Common School No. 36, known as the Beechworth Academy, was the town’s first school. The first Australian-born Governor General, Sir Isaac Isaacs, taught there from 1872 to 1874, and for 100 years of its history the building housed the office and press of the Ovens & Murray Advertiser.
The Old Schoolhouse Gallery, 17 Loch St, Beechworth.
Phone (03) 5725 1342. Email wandanagallery@bigpond.com
Open seven days a week from 10am to 4pm.
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