TasPorts supports Tasmania’s Maritime Heritage through Community Grant Program
TasPorts supports the Furneaux Museum and celebrates the broader impact of its community grant program in preserving Tasmania’s maritime heritage.
Posted
26 July 2024
TasPorts continues to play a crucial role in supporting, promoting, and conserving Tasmania’s maritime heritage through its Community Grant Program. In the latest round of funding, a notable application was received from the Furneaux Museum, marking the first grant application received from Flinders Island.
TasPorts operates the Port of Lady Barron on Flinders Island, which serves as the primary commercial port, offering vessel services, home porting facilities, and slip yard services. This all-tides port also includes recreational and community wharf facilities.
The Furneaux Museum was initially established by Iola and Richard Fowler in 1965. Over the years, it has been further developed by local committees and community members and continues to evolve. The museum comprises a collection of buildings housing a diverse range of exhibits.
Denise Hooke from the Furneaux Museum expressed gratitude for the TasPorts Community Grant, stating, “With the support of the TasPorts Community Grant, our ‘Custodians’ Project is a celebration of who we are and the role we have with our artefacts. Many exhibits donated to the museum have been researched and written up using appropriate museum guidelines.”
The ‘Custodians’ Exhibition, which opened in May 2024, features significant artefacts representing the maritime, social, and cultural heritage of the 52 islands comprising the Furneaux Island Group. The exhibition will narrate the region’s maritime heritage story, starting with Captain Tobias Furneaux’s voyage on HMAS Adventure in 1773 and the wreck of the ‘Sydney Cove’ in 1797. These events and others have profoundly shaped the lives and history of those living in the remote Furneaux Islands Group.
Denise continued, “This year, we have also received a grant from Arts Tasmania’s Roving Curators Program. We have been allocated 19 days to work with Roving Curator Melissa Smith to develop the Significance Assessment of our overall collection.”
The Roving Curator program provides museums, galleries, and collections with access to Arts Tasmania’s team of skilled and knowledgeable museum and cultural heritage professionals. Through this collaboration, the museum volunteers have gained a deeper understanding of the collection and will produce a nationally recognised document that will assist in securing conservation and restoration grants for the specialist care of significant exhibits.
The Furneaux Museum is fully operated by volunteers, showcasing the strong community commitment to preserving their heritage and welcoming approximately 3,000 visitors annually.
TasPorts’ support for the Furneaux Museum is just one example of its dedication to preserving Tasmania’s rich maritime history. Through its community grant program, TasPorts continues to foster partnerships that ensure the preservation of the region’s cultural and historical treasures.
For more information on TasPorts’ community engagement and partnerships, visit TasPorts Community Engagement and Partnerships.