Melbourne cultural ‘siblings’ – a museum and a university

Last August the Melbourne Museum attracted large crowds to its special exhibition A Day in Pompeii. It was also kind enough to arrange a viewing for the friends and alumni of the University of Melbourne. At this viewing Dr Robin Hirst provided some insight into the long and close relationship between the two institutions, and we here at Science Matters have been lucky enough to obtain a copy of his speech. Here it is ‘from the vault’! Many thanks to Dr Hirst for his kind permission in reproducing this speech.

Speech of Dr Robin Hirst, Director, Collections Research and Exhibitions

University of Melbourne viewing of A Day in Pompeii

Melbourne Museum
6.30pm, Wednesday 19 August 2009

I’d like to acknowledge the people of the Kulin Nation, the original owners of the land on which we stand, and pay my respects to their elders, past and present.

Vice Chancellor, distinguished guests. It a great pleasure to talk with you this evening. I am always delighted to assist the University of Melbourne which provided me with such wonderful opportunities as a student.

Museum Victoria and the University of Melbourne, shared so much in their first few years.  In the mid 1850’s the University and the Museum were founded within a year of each other. One of the Universities four inaugural professors was the Professor of Natural History, Frederick McCoy from Dublin. He was recruited to teach in chemistry, mineralogy, botany, zoology, comparative anatomy, geology and palaeontology. Because of the scope of his duties was described as the ‘Professor of Creation’.

Professor McCoy was also convinced of the importance of museums in both scientific and public life. He managed to have himself appointed as the first director of the new Museum. He wanted, in his own words a ‘world class’ museum. He was inspired by the great museums of Britain and Europe. Indeed he was so passionate that in 1856 he took it upon himself to move the total contents of the fledgling museum from its original home in Latrobe Street to the University of Melbourne in Parkville, where it remained for the next forty years.

McCoy was interested in a world class museum.  Around this time Pompeii was becoming a magnet for wealthy tourists. He acquired geological samples from each of the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. He too shared the world’s fascination with the gradual unfolding of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. McCoy’s specimens are in the remarkable exhibition, A Day in Pompeii, that you will see this evening. I think McCoy would be pleased with what we have presented in this exhibition. It is the result of a depth of scholarship which not only relates to archaeology but also to modern museology.

I think what makes the subject of Pompeii so compelling to us today is both the horrific nature of the natural disaster and the vivid insights it gives us into what daily life was like in the Roman world 2,000 years ago. The eruption which engulfed Pompeii and all the surrounding area also sealed the city in a time capsule. Today we know an immense amount about the city and its inhabitants – where they lived and shopped, what they ate, how they worshipped, even their fashion and medical practices. These have all been captured in remarkable detail.

Let me tell you a little of how we put the exhibition together, I should at the outset acknowledge the assistance of the University’s Professor Frank Sear. We managed to negotiate the loan of 270 artefacts through Professor Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, current Superintendent of Naples and Pompeii. These are like 270 characters in search of an author. This is where the curatorial team began to devise the plot. It was our task to build an exhibition. To tell a three dimensional story based on good scholarship with also broad audience appeal. We chose to have seven chapters. In these seven chapters we have produced two which are deliberately designed to engage our visitors both emotionally as well as intellectually as they proceed through the exhibition.

We begin in the courtyard of a Villa with a small beautiful marble statue of Venus, and we set the scene.

We arrive in the market place. Make sure you call at the Thermopolium where you can chose to dine in or take away your meal.

Proceed into the homes of the citizens of Pompeii. You can navigate through their villas using the touch screen interactive multimedia we developed especially for the exhibition.  See their possessions, furniture and exquisite jewellery.

“The final hours” is the fourth chapter; a 3D multimedia piece which I think sets a new benchmark for exhibitions. It brings home to us all the horror of that fateful August day in 79 AD. Our visitors tell us this is a highlight.

The geology of Vesuvius is next and it is here that you will find the specimens that our Professor McCoy purchased.

When the archaeologists excavating Pompeii found hollows in the solid ash they poured in plaster. What they achieved were casts of human and animal forms, captured at the moment of death. The body castes are a poignant reminder that whilst this was a tragedy for the city it was made up of thousands of personal stories.

Finally we emerge to the on going archaeology of Pompeii.

In A Day in Pompeii you’ll find yourself thoroughly immersed in the story of the city and its people in what I believe is a compelling and unforgettable experience.

Finally I would like to say that our association with the University continues – we share seven ARC linkage projects, we have 11 University of Melbourne post graduate students located with us we have a common interest in internationally important collections. I have no doubt that if Professor McCoy could be here tonight he would be very pleased to see the results of his collecting on display, his dream of a ‘world class’ museum for the people being fulfilled, and the close association of enjoyed by our two institutions continuing. I trust you enjoy the exhibition.