Visit to the Museum (ignore the date posted, this was a while ago)

Today and yesterday I was able to visit the Fiji Museum. Observing how work is carried out in the various departments of the Museum and the institution’s needs needs is crucial to the research I am conducting into a policy, so it was of immense benefit to be given a tour ‘behind the scenes.’ However, I found myself becoming quite depressed the more I noticed the cramped storage conditions the Museum is forced to rely upon. The method of arranging boxes seemed quite haphazard. It was also very difficult to understand the priority system in place for the display of cultural materials; in the storage room, we saw Charles Kingsford-Smith’s goggles in a box on an unremarkable shelf, and, in the other storage room, which lacks temperature and humidity controls, innumerable pieces of 3,000 years old Lapita pottery just exposed to the elements. Artifacts such as this seem to me to be absolutely vital to the ability of the museum to safeguard the history and culture of Fiji.

The Museum also places a great deal of emphasis on capacity building. However, it was interesting to learn that the majority of those working in the Museum were forced to take on work in a variety of departments, due to a lack of sufficient staffing in each. I was also quite surprised to learn that very few members of the Museum staff have completed any formal qualifications. The majority of them have simply learnt ‘on the job.’ Observing the current state of the Museum made me question whether this method of training is sufficient for the Museum to achieve its vision. Although there is undoubtedly invaluable benefit in having years of experience in a particular role or institution, I kept thinking that I would not feel comfortable taking on such an important role as being involved with the safeguarding of archeological artifacts without a degree in a relevant field, such as museum studies. Then again, perhaps this conviction is coming from my awareness of the highly competitive nature of the job market in Australia, and the essentiality of having a degree. Jobs in cultural heritage management in Fiji seem to be not highly desired.

Taking a wander around the rest of the Museum, I was able to see its potential for promoting cross-cultural understanding. There is an entire gallery devoted to Indo-Fijian history, and a large amount of information on the role of the Chinese. Additionally, while driving along the waterfront to return to the Department from the Museum, I saw the sign for a primary school, covered in flags of different nationalities, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, New Zealand, and Australian, emblazoned with the slogan ‘success in unity.’ Institutions with this kind of pluralistic ethos seem so important to me. Something that really stood out for me in Cattermole’s piece was the sentiment of Tikotani, government spokesman for the Ministry of Information, expressed in his piece published after the 2005 World Cup win; ‘too often we think too hard to try and understand each other.’ To me, institutions such as museums and schools offer the perfect way for Fijians to get to know individuals from other ethnicities, without trying too hard to do so. Through reading and looking at images and artifacts, and through spending long periods of time with other cultures, acceptance is almost subconsciously transmitted, and national unity becomes a somewhat less impossible goal.

It was also heartening to see the work that had been done on the Thurston Gardens which adjoin the Museum. As Emelyn, who accompanied Cami and myself, told us, up until about three years’ ago, the Gardens were heavily overgrown, so much so that it was not even possible to see the Museum behind the greenery. Now, even though not perfectly maintained, the Gardens provide a scenic walkway up to the Museum and are a national landmark. The conscious decision by the Suva City Council to invest in maintenance to these Gardens shows the government is recognizing the need to give grants to cultural institutions (such as the Museum), and the landmarks associated with them. The importance of this cannot be overstated; the Fijian government must recognize the importance of developing cultural assets to overall economic development, namely through the potential of tourism. The tourism sector is vital to the future of the Pacific states.