WHEN Valla-based futures academic Claire Marshall created her ‘Museum of Futures: Our Shared Futures’ exhibition, currently on show at NSW Parliament House in Sydney, she did not expect the exhibition to make national newspaper headlines through an MP helping himself to the exhibits.

Having toured internationally, the exhibition sat in storage at Claire’s Valla home for the past year before being installed at Parliament House.

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In early June, with the exhibition set up and generating interest, three items – a possum skin, a book and a poster – went missing and were alleged to be in the possession of One Nation leader Mark Latham, who had taken them to the Upper House.

Parliamentary officers then returned the missing items to the exhibition.

“The sole purpose of the Museum of Futures is to spark conversations about the futures we want and the ones we are creating,” said Claire.

“In one way I am thrilled that Mr Latham wants to have conversations about this artwork, however we shouldn’t have to say – please leave the art where it is.

“If you want to show someone the art to spark a conversation, we have a full website accessible by QR codes and a virtual gallery.”

Museum of Futures is an international award-winning exhibition which turns the idea of museums upside down, inviting visitors to step inside 2050 and beyond and not just look at artworks, but actively take part in co-creating them, and invites visitors to actively contribute to shaping what futures emerge.

Having toured internationally, this is the Museum of Futures’ first full Australian exhibition.

On display are a number of exhibits, with the hero exhibition being ‘Pandemic Pivots’, a collection of artworks made in collaboration between ten communities and eleven artists during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Also premiering is the stunning new work, ‘Yadingji’, created by First Nations artists Michael Robinson and Nicole Smede.

Yadingji explores time from a First Nations perspective.

The exhibition is being hosted at NSW Parliament by the Member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich MP, who describes the exhibition as “full of thought-provoking, challenging and inspiring ideas about what the post-pandemic future could hold”.

Describing the impact of the exhibition, Claire told News Of The Area, “I’ve heard hundreds of people share the futures they imagine, and you might be surprised to find out they are not filled with flying cars and robots, but strong communities that care for each other.

“We hope that viewing Museum of Futures will be a powerful and uplifting experience in seeing what others imagine,” said Claire.

“The Museum of Futures utilises the power of art by combining collaborative foresight with the creative arts to create tangible experiences of the future, and allows communities to be part of shaping futures,” said Mel Rumble, co-curator of Museum of Futures: Pandemic Pivots.

When questioned as to why Mr Latham had helped himself to the exhibit items, the MP’s office directed News Of The Area to comments made by Mr Latham on The Chris Smith Show on 8 June 2023.

During the radio chat, Mr Latham commented that he thought it was comical that the possum skin “was supposed to be issuing a welcome to country”.

He called the exhibition an embarrassment to the NSW Parliament, describing it as a “collection of junk”.

Mr Latham said the issue was not about his taking the exhibits and showing them to his colleagues for a laugh, but instead about what should happen to them.

“Pick them up and permanently put them in the bin,” Mr Latham said on the radio show.

You can make up your own mind by checking out the works online at www.MuseumofFutures.com and visiting the virtual gallery.

By Andrea FERRARI