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Understanding patient, consumer, and societal values, perceptions and preferences.

Wobbegong - Girls stuffed their blouses up the back of their bras. They dunked their plaits into the bubblers and let water dribble down their necks. At recess they huddled in the arc of shade flung by the chapel steeple. Knucklebone circles were scratched into the dirt, but the plastic jacks burned too hot to close a proper fist around. The score evaporated in the ferocious November sunshine, until the only girl keeping count was Alannah Foot, who had never been invited to join but instead squatted a safe distance away, watching from beneath the classroom.

This report summarises the discussions and outcomes of a roundtable on the Future of Social Connection held at University College London, which brought together recognised UK and Australian expert stakeholders on social connection, including psychiatrists and psychologists, social scientists, community organisers, campaigners, advocates, and policymakers. Together they reflected on the best available academic and community evidence, and collaboratively charted innovative, impactful and sustainable strategies to combat loneliness strengthen social connection into the future.

Posed portraits and scenes have been part of photographic practice since the beginnings of photography. The 19th century experience of visiting a professional photographer in their studio was a theatrical experience, involving staging, scenic backgrounds and props. From this, the idea of exploring the ‘staged photograph’ arose, bringing into focus this performative aspect, involving costumes and staging. This exhibition explores ‘the staged photograph’ through the themes of professional portraits of people in costume and special outfits; home and suburban backyard staging by amateur photographers; and the genre of comic and narrative stereographs, with their staged scenes. The exhibition was able to draw on the museum’s historic photography collection, bringing to public attention unknown and unfamiliar photographs.

In the 19th century photographs were predominantly the work of photographic studios. These businesses ranged from single person to complex operations. The output of the studio was credited to the studio name: only rarely are individual photographers (operators) known. Much of the history of photography is to be found in studio photography, yet the commercial nature of 19th century photography is rarely a focus of study. This exhibition forefronts the business and commerce of photography over the ‘artist photographer’. Here, the lens is turned back to the studio photographers – who were they? It is rare they took their own portraits; rare to leave business records; rare to have images of them at work – however from their works, their marketing and newspaper and other reports, we can explore the 19th century studio. The golden age of the studio lasted until the early 20th century, when the impact of the Kodak camera and the growth of the home amateur photographer brought its demise. This exhibition brings to public attention, and showcases, the Chau Chak Wing Museum’s historic photograph collection in a variety of formats.

"Instrumental: Surveying Instruments" explores a range of specialised tools used for surveying between the early 19th and late 20th centuries. Visitors are introduced to the functions and applications of these varied instruments, particularly in an Australian historical context. Historic photographs are also included in the display, encouraging visitors to imagine the use of instruments in the field. Throughout the display, objects are grouped thematically, helping to illustrate technological changes that have occurred over time. Included are instruments made by both well-known and lesser-known manufacturers, from the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States of America and Australia. This range exposes visitors to variations in design and production techniques, as well as regional preferences and needs. Finally, visible inscriptions on the instruments (added after their initial purchase) are transcribed in labels throughout the display. These encourage visitors to closely investigate the objects and consider their past ‘lives’, including who owned them, who used them, how, and why. This exhibition is part of the series Chau Chak Wing Museum series "Instrumental: Collections from Science"

The histories of Pacific Islander travellers in the city of Sydney are poorly recorded or even remembered today. This exhibition is a response to the lack of recognition and resources for the over 90,000 New South Wales people who claim Pacific heritage and the millions across the region with links to materials in Australian institutions such as the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Structured around eight individuals who travelled to the city, the stories begin with the recollections of Gweagal people of the arrival of HMB Endeavour. A biographical approach was crucial for simplifying the complexities of Pacific peoples’ cultural, linguistic and geographical diversity and to connect on a personal level with visitors. Strategically it supported the work of the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Oceania Working Party along with other truth-telling practices. For each story we invited direct descendants or compatriots to work with us. Each assisted not only in documenting the travels of an ancestor in Sydney, but in ensuring the materials on exhibition were suitable for a wide audience. Our research was also grounded in academic Pacific history-writing that flourished in the 1970s. An outcome of independence movements across the region, Australian academics sought to integrate traditional European research methods with history-making practices in Pacific nations and territories. To further decolonising strategies acquisition histories were not incorporated into labels; these can be found through our on-line catalogue.

Instrumental: Using and Analysing Light explores a broad range of technologies that use and analyse light. Visitors are introduced to the various functions and widespread applications of these optical instruments. Familiar instruments, like the microscope or telescope, are presented alongside less familiar instruments, like the spectroscope or polarimeter, encouraging the audience to investigate what they know and challenging them to learn something new. Dating from the beginning of the 19th century through to the turn of the 21st century, the selection of optical instruments and their thematic groupings in the display illustrate some of the many technological changes that have occurred over time. Similarly, the inclusion of examples made by renowned manufacturers, as well as those constructed by local or University researchers, exposes visitors to an array of instrument production techniques. While many examples are representative of the standard tools employed by scientists across a range of disciplines, others on display — like components of the ring-sight telescope or Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI) — are unique and highly specialised inventions developed here at the University. This exhibition is part of the Chau Chak Wing Museum exhibition series "Instrumental: Collections from Science".

There is a growing popular awareness of the fragility of coastlines and seashores, due largely to an increasing understanding of climate change and habitat loss. Against this background, this exhibition sought to engage audiences with the splendour of the New South Wales coast and expand their understanding of its ecological diversity. It employed glass negatives and photographic prints, supplemented with natural history specimens from the Macleay Collections of the Chau Chak Wing Museum. It explored the work of Professor William J. Dakin, Dr Isobel Bennett, and Elizabeth Pope through the lens of their seminal book, Australian Seashores. Australian Seashores is a classic textbook in marine biology, which was reprinted and revised over a 35-year period between 1952 and 1987. The book’s concentration on Australian environments and organisms was a major departure from the essentially European and laboratory-based textbooks previously available to Australian students. Through Australian Seashores, the authors trained generations of scientists and educated the Australian public about local seashores, laying the foundation for citizen science in our era. The museum’s Historic Photography Collection contains a range of materials relating to the authors’ work. This includes the vast bulk of photographs taken for Australian Seashores, some of which were not chosen for publication, and others that document the authors undertaking fieldwork. This exhibition unveiled material that encapsulated the authors’ research, revealed some technical aspects of the photography and publication processes behind Australian Seashores, and provided insight into the relationship between the scientists and their colleagues. Following in the footsteps of its namesake, the Australian Seashores exhibition invited visitors to appreciate the beauty of our unique coastal environments and reflect on how they have changed, and how people can support their conservation.