New website showcases stories behind significant Tamworth artifacts and objects in regional museum and gallery collections including Tamworth

Tamworth Regional Council was one of nine local government authorities invited to take part in the project aiming to improve the accessibility of regional collections.

The website will feature pieces by local Gamilaroi woman Amy Hammond as well as storytellers from Wollongong, Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Northern Rivers, said Kate Grahan, Storyplace project manager.

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She said an important phase of building the website was engaging directly with communities associated with each of the collections to gain community based knowledge.

"Thinking about the future and wanting to hold on to these things for the future, it's important to document those stories while the knowledge holders are here to help us understand."

Northern Rivers local, MP Ben Franklin, believes digitizing artifacts could prevent losing historical knowledge to unpredictable events, like natural disasters.

The arts minister told the story of his visit to a museum a week after the floods in his hometown, at the Storyplace launch on Thursday.

"There was an extraordinary collection of war rugs, Afghan war rugs, in the gallery, and we're hopeful that we may be able to save them, but we may not," he said.

"If they'd been digitized, they would still be able to be seen for all time."

Tamworth Regional Gallery, Tamworth Power Station Museum, Australian Country Music Hall of Fame, Rocks, Gems, Minerals and Fossil collections, Moonbi Museums and Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive have all had some objects or artworks receive the digital treatment.

The website aims to encourage visitors to regional museums, galleries and cultural centres.

Visit: https://storyplace.org.au

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