The Marson Collection Revealed is a two-part series. Listen to part one with Dr Kirsty Gillespie.
Music is significant to all cultures across history. The breadth of the 830 traditional musical instruments that make up Marson Collection demonstrates the wide diversity of ways in which different cultures have made music. You’re listening to part two of Marson Collection Revealed. Discover more fascinating details of this significant collection with me, Laura Cantrell, museum graphic designer and sometimes podcast host and Queensland Museum Anthropology Collection Manager Karen Kindt.
Karen Kindt holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts Photography and Diploma Law & Collection Management, Institute of Art & Law, UK. In 2009, she made a career change from photojournalism to working as an Assistant Strategic Collection Manager at Queensland Museum. The project work involved assisting with the implementation of a series of comprehensive collections storage upgrades. She then obtained a permanent position as Collection Manager, Anthropology. She has a strong focus and research interest in artefacts held in the museum’s Photography and World Cultures collections.
Her current research project focuses on mapping the history of registration methods and technologies applied to the Anthropology collections, throughout the museum’s 159 year history. In her downtime, Karen has a strong interest in Decorative Arts & Design, and she spends her time reading, researching and trawling antique establishments and fairs, in search of objects of interest. She also enjoys trekking – her last trekking adventure pre-COVID in 2019, took her through the Berber communities living in the Middle Atlas Mountains, of Morocco. In May this year Karen embarked on another trekking adventure as a participant, of an ecological and anthropology research expedition, into the Simpson Desert. Her cameleering skills were put into action, as she trekked the dunes alongside a string of camels that carried all the necessary equipment, food and water supplies for the journey.
In 2002 Charles and Kati Marson donated more than 800 musical instruments to Queensland Museum in partnership with the Queensland Conservatorium at Griffith University. This unique collection was donated with the intention that the instruments would be available to be accessed and played by musicians with the appropriate knowledge.
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