Listen here!

The Friends of TMAG AGM for 2015 was held on Thursday 24 September at TMAG.

At the meeting, a special resolution was carried, implementing the proposed updates to the Friends' Constitution. The documentation is being finalised, and a copy of the revised Constitution is available here.

A new committee (with some familiar faces) was elected. The office bearers are Julie Hawkins, President, Christopher Thomas,  Vice President, Andrew Ross, Secretary and Noel Harper, Treasurer. 

We are delighted that Suzy Cooper has agreed to join our committee. Suzy brings experience as a communications professional along with roles as a Hobart City Council Alderman and the TMAGgots to the team. She joins committee members Jean Boughey, David Coleman, Digby Longhurst and Matthew Spencer. 

After what we understand is a record-breaking six year tenure as President, John Sexton is currently enjoying some overseas travel, but he tells us he will be exercising his option (as provided in the Constitution) to join the Committee as Immediate Past President, to which we look forward.

Following the formal business of the meeting, TMAG Director Janet Carding gave members a review of TMAG's highlights for the past year and a preview of some exciting forthcoming activities.

On a very cold and wet Winter’s afternoon 32 keen members of the Friends of TMAG battled the elements to attend a guided tour of the Theatre Royal.

We were told how the theatre started its life and the various uses including being used for boxing competitions. Also the dubious ‘goings-on’ in the theatre and the conditions at the time of both what happened in the theatre and its surrounds. The history and the tenuous times that the theatre endured  continue to the present day.

The technical procedures of how an event is staged and how equipment and props are delivered on stage were of interest.

Looking back into the auditorium is a magical experience that few had experienced and the difference of the opulence of the auditorium compared to the basic conditions backstage for the cast of productions was commented on.

The dressing room used by Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh was of interest and one member shared her memories of having seen them when they performed at the theatre in 1948.

A lovely afternoon tea was enjoyed after the tours with much chat about the experience.

At the AGM of the Friends of TMAG in September, there will be a motion presented to amend certain parts of the Friends' Constitution. 

The Constitution hasn't been amended since 1999 and, as you can imagine, there are some aspects that are now somewhat out-of-date. For example, the Constitution (Paragraph 9) allows onloy one method of payment of bills; that is, by cheque. As you will be aware, cheques are becoming an endangered speicies in commercial life, and your Committee needs the freedom to operate financially in other ways.

Similarly, the Constitution (Paragraph 6) prescribes what the membership fees are, and they similarly haven't changed since 1999. The current Committee isn't proposing a change to annual membership fees, but rather the constitutional ability to change them should there be a reason to do so.

Another area that the Committee feels needs amendment relates to our connections with our sister organisations, the Foundation and the TMAGots. The Friends are the senior of the three, in terms of their formation date, but where there were clear inter-connections between us and each of the other two in previous times, we now see a situation where the three organisations have become quite independent of each other, and the links between the Friends and the Foundation that are referred to in our Constitution (Paragraphs 2 and 5) no longer seem appropriate, particularly as the TMAGots have never had any such constitutional connection to the Friends. The Committee is proposing that those historical and restrictive links be severed by the removal of all reference to the Foundation in the Constitution.

There is no proposal to alter the basic meanings, values and purposes of the Friends as established in the Constitution; all the amendments we are proposing are either to reflect current practice, to ease restrictions (particularly in financial matters), to remove historical anomalies and/or to amend minor wording issues. The changes do not in any way affect the fundamental principles, values and intent of the Friends of TMAG, and they affect only five of the 35 paragraphs in the Constitution.

The amendments can be viewed in the document available for download below. The sections to be removed are shown as being struck out, with the proposed replacements indicated with highlighting (track changes for those familiar with word processing parlance).

If any member has any queries about the proposed amendments, please get in touch with us by emailing friends@tmag.tas.gov.au or by speaking directly with a member of your Committee. 

FTMAG Constiution 2015 with proposed ammendments.pdf

Friends of TMAG members are warmly invited to attend this special book launch, to be performed by TMAG Director Janet Carding. The launch will take place in the midst of the exhibition featuring the book's subject, Patrick's stunning work When My Heart Stops Beating (2011). 

Patrick will read from the book, which is limited to just 100 individually signed and numbered copies. 

The launch will also be one of the final opportunities to enjoy the wonderful exhibition Things I Once Knew: The Art of Patrick Hall, which closes on 30 August 2015.

2.00pm Saturday 22 August 2015

Venue: Argyle Gallery 3, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

Numbers for the launch are limited; please RSVP by Friday, 21 August on (03) 6165 7001(03) 6165 7001(03) 6165 7001(03) 6165 7001 or tmagmail@tmag.tas.gov.au

Secure your copy

If you'd like to secure your copy of this limited edition publication, the Museum shop is taking pre-orders (with payment)  and members will receive their 10% discount.

The RRP is $235.00. Contact the shop directly, via the above phone number, more more details.

Our website and online payments system is fully operational and we are asking members to visit the website and make use of the online payments system.

This will help to reduce the substantial workload borne by your committee to manually administer membership renewals and other transactions and communications, and will save the association significant amounts of money currently spent on postage. These funds can then be used for our fundamental purpose - supporting the work of TMAG. 

To assist members, we have prepared detailed, step-by step instructions on how to log on, setup or reset passwords, and make online payments. 

Read the instructions

Our Members’ event for July was an illustrated talk by Zoe Rimmer entitled Indigenous Culture, Here and Overseas.

Zoe Rimmer is TMAG’s Acting Senior Curator Indigenous Culture and her very informative and beautifully illustrated talk was appreciated by around 50 Members.

After an acknowledgment of the traditional owners of the land where TMAG now stands, Friends’ President John Sexton welcomed Members to a talk which, as he said, was in many ways overdue: it had been some time since the Friends had heard of the latest developments at TMAG in Indigenous Culture.

Guest speaker Zoe Rimmer told Members of her trip to North America and Europe last year on a Churchill Fellowship. She had visited a number of museums in several countries where items of great importance to Tasmanian indigenous culture were held, including several items that were, to the best of her knowledge, unique.

She also reported on her recent discussions in London and Paris regarding the latest round of repatriation talks with several major museums. She was able to report on the success of some of these talks with several museums, but also reported that there was a need for further discussion with some others. Overall, however, Members were left with the impression that considerable advances had been made in matters of repatriation, and that more success could be expected in the future.

We're delighted to advise that payments for Friends of TMAG memberships, renewals, events and donations can now be made directly online on our website using Paypal.

You can use your credit card or funds directly from your bank account. Next time you are on the website and need to make a payment, you'll see 'Pay Online' as an option. Click on that and the system will step you through the process - it's very easy and secure.

Of course, you can still make payment by our other methods too - cheiques and direct deposit into our account. And the good people at the TMAG shop can accept cash payments for membership renewals and donations - just pop in and take your membership renewal form with you.

Find out more about using Paypal

On June 10 2015 Members enjoyed an event with a slightly different format from the usual: a walk and talk by the artist Patrick Hall around his exhibition Things I Once Knew.

After the usual refreshments, around 50 Members were welcomed by Friends’ Vice-President Chris Thomas, on behalf of President John Sexton who was interstate. Chris briefly introduced Patrick Hall with reference to Patrick’s career as well as some personal anecdotes, and then Patrick led Members off for a walk around the exhibition, explaining different items in terms of their conception, production and with reference to some hidden aspects of some of the displayed pieces.

Because of the usual museum rules of not touching art-works, a number of Patrick’s pieces can only normally be seen from the outside, as it were. The artist, however, was able to show members how several of the pieces opened up or had other inner hidden aspects which viewers are usually not able to see. This revealed a whole new area of understanding which even those Members who were familiar with the exhibition found interesting and informative, adding greatly to their enjoyment and appreciation of the exhibition.

A number of Members reported that they particularly enjoyed this format and felt it was one of the best Members’ Functions they had been to. Our sincere thanks go to Patrick Hall for his generosity in taking part in this event and for leading such an entertaining and informative discussion.

On May 21, around 60 Members enjoyed a visit to the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts. The Allport, as it is usually known, is one of those places that we all know about but keep forgetting to visit – or at least that is what a number of our Members said to us on the night. So for many people this was a very welcome chance to catch up with one of the lesser-known glories of Hobart’s cultural scene.

After refreshments and then a welcome from Friends’ President John Sexton, we heard from the Allport’s Curator Caitlin Sutton who gave us an illustrated talk about the Allport family and the story behind their bequest to the people of Tasmania, a bequest made up of fine and rare books, colonial works of art and early nineteenth century furniture, silver, glass and fine china.

We were then privileged to hear from artist Lauren Black who spoke to us about the current temporary exhibition at the Allport, Memento Mori: Art, Medicine and the  Body.  Lauren Black’s work explores both Western and Eastern medical traditions, and her explanation, again accompanied by illustrations, was fascinating.

After the talks, Members had the opportunity to wander through both the permanent exhibition and the temporary Memento Mori exhibition. Several Members commented upon both contrasts and parallels they found between the two very different exhibitions, and many also mentioned how much they enjoyed the chance to have an informed  guide to this delightful museum and gallery.

Our April event for Members was a talk and walk through the exhibition The Suspense is Awful.  About 50 Members were able to enjoy this event, beginning as usual with refreshments and a social chat before President John Sexton introduced two speakers: firstly, the newly appointed Director of TMAG, Janet Carding; and then TMAG’s Senior Curator of History, Ian Terry.

Members were delighted to hear first-hand from our new Director as she explained something of her extensive background and experience as a museum professional with stints in several museums, including the London Science Museum, as Assistant Director at the Australian Museum in Sydney, and as Director of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Ms Carding explained that she couldn’t yet claim to have a clear and defined vision for TMAG, because, having been in the job for only a few weeks, she was finding there was still much to learn about TMAG’s operations, and she was looking for the chance to find out more from the various stake-holders, including the Friends of TMAG, before formalizing hew views on the museum’s future.

We then heard from Senior Curator of History, Ian Terry, who gave us a very informative and interesting talk about the current exhibition, The Suspense is Awful, which presents a fascinating view into the lives of those who were left at home when many Tasmanians went off to become participants in various ways in the campaigns of the First World War. Many of those who went off to war kept diaries, sent postcards home and in various other ways recorded their experiences for those at home, and many of these artifacts have survived to become a part of this exhibition. With many of the Members who attended having personal connections to the War, the exhibition and Ian Terry’s explanation of it was a fascinating and engrossing event which many Members told us they enjoyed very much.