Exhibiting Holden: Best practice and practical problems in a national motor museum

Abstract

Holden is arguably the most important vehicle brand in Australian transport history. As a result, it is intimately tied to the cultural, social and economic history of the nation. This paper discusses the tension that emerges, and the issues faced when trying to bring Holden, and all it represents, into the museum space and tell its complex story to a diverse and changing public audience. The task has been magnified, facilitated and made more urgent since the closure of the last Australian Holden manufacturing plant in 2017. Now that Holden is more realistically identified with a defined historical period, this article explores how the National Motor Museum of Australia (NMM) represents that history through thoughtful and appropriate museological practice.