Congratulations to Mary Koolhof OAM
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
In addition to core business, major preoccupations for the Society during 2023 were the RST Art
Collection, a new RST medal, engagement of the Society with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, and a
review of the RST Library Collections at UTAS.
There has been significant progress in management of the RST Art Collection. Using a Cultural Heritage Grant from the National Library of Australia, the Society commissioned a Significance Assessment by Mr Warwick Oakman (Fine Art Assessor), a Preservation Needs Assessment by Ms Amy Bartlett (Art Conservator) and invested in an eHive account for the purpose of creating an online catalogue of the collection. Mr Oakman supported the significance of the collection and concluded that it “is rare and unique to Australia”.
During 2023, the RST was engaged in a dispute with the TMAG Board of Trustees over the ownership of 44 artworks by Louisa Anne Meredith known as the ‘Fish Illustrations’. These artworks were to be considered during the November 2021 mediation between RST and TMAG but had to be set aside because of time constraints. Discussions between the RST and TMAG reached an impasse early in 2023, and during formal mediation on 19 December 2023, the matter was still not resolved. The next step will be decided by the RST Council in early 2024.
Louisa Anne Meredith was an artist, author, conservationist, social commentator and highly respected
member of the RST. Her life and achievements were celebrated at a very successful fundraising event
organised by Julie Rimes, Ross Large and Mary Koolhof, and hosted by RST Patron, the Honourable Barbara Baker AC and Professor Chalmers AO at Government House in September. The proceeds will be used for conservation of the RST Art Collection. Further, the Society has created a new medal, the ‘Louisa Anne Meredith Medal’ as a lasting tribute. The medal is intended for a senior scholar who has made an
outstanding contribution to the arts or humanities or both and will be offered for the first time in 2024.
2023 will be remembered as the year of the Voice Referendum, when Australians voted on the Federal
Government proposal to create a ‘Voice to Parliament’ advisory body to promote the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Society hosted lectures by two Tasmanian Aboriginal leaders, Mr Michael Mansell and Ms Kerry Sculthorpe, in July. Both lectures were intensely engaging and were followed by discussion that allowed the audience to express diverse views around the proposal. Recordings of these two lectures received the highest number of views by far of all RST lectures in 2023.
In addition to presenting their lectures in person, Michael and Kerry provided their transcripts for publication in the Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania (Vol. 157, 2023). This volume also includes a transcript of the December 2022 RST lecture by Rodney Gibbins in which he explored the concept of a treaty between the Tasmanian Aboriginal people and the state government. The Society continued to publicly support removal of the statue of William Crowther from Franklin Square,
giving a deputation at the Hobart City Council Planning Committee meeting in August. The Society also
committed to funding a permanent marker to the 2021 Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people so that
future generations know of the event and the history that led to it.
The RST Library Collections are held in the Morris Miller Library at UTAS and managed by the University
Librarian, Janette Burke, and Historical Collections Co-ordinator, Katrina Ross. Janette and Katrina undertook a comprehensive review of the RST Library Collections in August 2023 that led to several recommendations for action and/or change. An inventory of the rare books in the RST Library Collections is underway and when complete, will be used to inform a new valuation, as well as to improve accessibility.
At the end of 2023, the Society embarked on writing a Collections Development Policy for both the RST Art Collection and the RST Library Collections. The RST and UTAS have a Deed of Agreement in relation to the RST Library Collections but UTAS now also requires that a formal Loan Agreement be put in place. The
Society is also considering making the RST Library Collections available online through the Biodiversity
Heritage Library Australia website. All these Library-related projects will occupy much of 2024.
This year the Society presented 11 events in Hobart and 11 events in Launceston. The events in Launceston were lectures at QVMAG and attracted large audiences. Six of the events in Hobart were stand-alone lectures. Three of these lectures were reasonably well attended but attendance at the other three lectures was disappointing (less than 15 attendees, 5-6 of whom were RST volunteers involved in organising the lecture). Regardless of attendance, the RST lectures have been universally excellent and views of the recordings on the RST YouTube channel since the channel began in 2020 now number more than 30,600.
Annual Report
The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.
On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal Apology to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people. Read more
