‘Our museum is world class’
The Queensland Holocaust Museum's online experience won gold in the virtual experience category and the physical museum won silver in the cause events category.
The Queensland Holocaust Museum has capped off its first anniversary by winning two prestigious international awards.
Eventex recently announced its 2024 global awards selected from 1207 entries from 62 countries across six continents. The Queensland Holocaust Museum’s online experience won gold in the virtual experience category and the physical museum won silver in the cause events category.
Museum chairman Jason Steinberg said the international recognition for Queensland and its creative agency, Alive X, was an acknowledgement of being able to take a subject like the Holocaust and then implement something that had never been done before.
“Our multifaceted physical and online spaces tell the story of the Holocaust in a way that it has never been told – through the voices, stories and artefacts from Queensland survivors,” Steinberg said.
“The fact that we were up against this global field of amazing facilities and online projects, simply getting recognised is an achievement, but winning a gold and silver is testament to the fact that our Queensland Holocaust Museum is world class.”
Since opening to the public for three days a week in July last year, the Queensland Holocaust Museum has had more than 6600 visitors, including 3000-plus school students from more than 70 schools.
Steinberg said both the attendance and award recognition were encouraging, particularly given the rise in hatred against Jews in Queensland and the resurgence of Holocaust denial.
“Engagement with school students about the Holocaust has never been more important and every person who comes through our doors gets to hear Queenslander survivor stories,” he said.
“92 per cent of students visiting the physical museum have heard the testimonies directly from some of our amazing Queensland Holocaust survivors – we know that this personal interaction changes people’s mindset and empowers them to make a difference – to stand up against hatred.”
Alive X founder Ant Hampel said his team wanted to focus on providing deep, powerful, sensory journeys to build strong and unbreakable emotional connections with visitors using the Holocaust content in remarkable new ways.
“It was a privilege to have the opportunity to create both the physical and online environment in a way that embraced the very best of meaningful storytelling, engagement, technology and collaboration,” he said.
“The positive global reaction to the online experience has been astonishing because the content is evocative and memorable and includes more than 200 pieces of factual material, historical footage, and interviews with Queensland survivors whose stories are riveting eye-witness accounts.”
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