Jun 5
This time last year, I travelled into Rome by train while having a conversation with Tim Sherratt in Canberra. Tim had built a Twitter bot enabling the Trove historic newspaper database to talk. Finally, I could have a conversation with a collection.
During my brief return to Australia, I’ve repeatedly explained how strongly my journeys have been shaped by social media. Many times, my path has been directed by social media connections and at other times, they’ve had a significant role in helping me process places and experiences.
I’ve taken my social media relationships on the road with me this year and long-term travel has accelerated their development. Some people I’ve connected with have become important to me.
I had a wondrous museum experience at the Venice Biennale. It felt like walking through another world built by collective imagination. It played in my mind for a week afterwards. Read more
I often feel held at a distance when viewing objects in museums. I want to step into a painting and experience a space or the company of an interesting person, but can only stand transfixed, trying to get inside by looking and imagining. In Rome, I was relieved to step into an artwork, experience it, participate by standing in the artist’s shoes.
Ancient history interrupts everyday life everywhere in Rome, sitting alongside roadways, holding up construction of new train lines, tangled in the foundations of Renaissance buildings. Read more
I have a strong sense of home and it’s unsettling to be constantly on the road without a base in Australia. I’m finding museums comforting, like a known reference point from which I explore new places. I’ve been thinking around the idea of the museum as a home, where the two functions are equally important. Read more
I’m still processing all the museums I visited in Florence. One thing that stood out was the popularity of in-gallery videos, explaining how a type of work was created or conserved. Read more
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Museum in a Bottle