The woman and the farm

If you’re in Melbourne on Wednesday 8^th June you might want to check out this talk - ‘Securing the History of Australian Farming Women’ at Museum Victoria.

Women in Australia play a vital role in agriculture and farming, contributing over 49% of the total value of the output of farming communities. The woman’s contribution to farming has largely been ignored, unrecognised and rendered invisible. Historically, farming women have been excluded from censuses and official documentation and stereotyped as ‘housewives’, ‘helpmates’ or ‘domestics’ despite their significant contributions to the farm economy.

Museum Victoria’s ‘Invisible Farmer Project’ is an ambitious project that seeks to redress the ongoing invisibility of Australian farm women in cultural, historical and contemporary narratives. The Project explores and documents of the contributions of women to agricultural production.

‘Securing the History of Australian Farming Women’ speakers - Catherine Forge and Liza Dale-Hallett will highlight the importance of Australian farm women’s history and provide an overview of the key issues that the ‘Invisible Farmer Project’ aims to address. Catherine Forge will share excerpts from the oral history interviews that she conducted with key women involved in the Rural Women’s Movement in Australia.

Catherine Forge was Curator of the 'Invisible Farmer Project' in 2015 and wrote her thesis on the 'Victorian Women on Farms Gathering Collection' in 2007. She has since worked as a Research Associate on the Collection as well as conducting oral history interviews with rural women across Victoria.

Liza Dale-Hallett is Senior Curator of Sustainable Futures at Museum Victoria. She has been involved in preserving the history of farming women since the 1980s and was instrumental in establishing the 'Victorian Women on Farms Gathering Collection' at Museum Victoria in the early 2000s.

‘Securing the History of Australian Farming Women’ is in the Theatre at Melbourne Museum from 1-2pm. Entry is free, but booking to reserve a seat at rsvphumanities@museum.vic.gov.au is necessary.