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Siobhan O’Connor is a museum professional and emerging contemporary artist, based on Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri Land (Canberra, ACT). Her art practice incorporates printmaking processes, traditional and experimental methods of drawing as well as multimedia works. She is passionate about Museum Engagement with a focus on engaging young people in democracy.
License to Play: Integrating space for families in exhibitions
A far cry from the plastic and primary colours of children’s play spaces, the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House’s new signature permanent gallery, ‘Democracy DNA: the People, the Prime Ministers and the World’, incorporates opportunities for visitors of all ages to touch, interrogate and play. By working collaboratively with artists, designers and craftspeople, the project team pushed the boundaries of museum engagement in a heritage space to create 18 interactives that reflect the quality and bespoke nature of the exhibition’s objects and context. Setting a new standard for engagement-driven exhibition design, the ‘Democracy DNA’ interactives foster respect for the capability of each visitor, regardless of age, to draw their own conclusions and ask their own questions.