2020 marks 250 years since Captain James Cook and the HMB Endeavour charted the East Coast of Australia. Encounters 2020 is an Australian National Maritime Museum program designed to recognise both the achievements of Cook’s 1770 scientific voyage, its lasting impact on Australia’s First Peoples, and the nation as a whole.
For the First Peoples of Australia, custodians of the continent for over 60,000 years, Cook’s voyage was the most consequential encounter by early Western explorers as it heralded the beginning of a fundamental change to their way of life.
This anniversary offers a unique opportunity for all Australians to reflect on, discuss and re-evaluate the lasting impact this pivotal event has had on us all and, in particular, the repercussions on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Encounters 2020 will utilise this historic event to examine both its significance in Australian history and its enduring legacy – from the dual perspectives of from the ship and from the shore and will encourage community engagement, discussion and debate about our past and our future.
“In the 250 years since Cook arrived we really have only looked at it from one perspective, that from the ship. We want to take this opportunity to also look at it from the perspective of the First Australians on the shore. We want to separate myth from fact. We can acknowledge Cook’s achievements and impacts, and clarify the role he played in Australian history.” Kevin Sumption PSM – Australian National Maritime Museum Director & CEO
The Program
The aim of Encounters 2020 is to engage all Australians and foster a respectful discussion about our past. The program includes exhibitions and talks at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, new educational resources, film and digital projects, a national travelling exhibition and the sailing of HMB Endeavour around Australia.
Throughout 2020 the museum will host several exhibitions which bring to life differing perspectives from those onboard the ship and those on the shore.
Art and objects from the 18th-century, through to contemporary Indigenous work, will elicit discussion and encourage all Australians to rethink our history.
Read more on Australian National Maritime Museum website…
As part of the Encounters 2020 program, the Museum is developing an extensive new national education resource, one that will have lasting benefit for teachers and students and increase knowledge of our shared Australian history.
When teaching about Endeavour‘s East Coast voyage , all Australian teachers and students will be able to learn the truth of our nation’s history from dual perspectives – with an emphasis on the ‘view from the shore’ complementing (and balancing) the ‘view from the ship’.
Coinciding with the 250th year since Cook charted the East Coast of Australia, the Encounters 2020 program is designed to recognise both the achievements of that voyage and the lasting effect it has had on Australia’s First Peoples and the nation.
Travelling to 38 different locations around Australia by sea and open-road, the Encounters program will bring to life perspectives from the sea and from the shore.
Read more on Australian National Maritime Museum website…
Encounters 2020 film and digital projects will explore a variety of views on the Endeavour and Cook’s 1770 voyage in the Pacific.
Read more on Australian National Maritime Museum website…
Join the voyage of a lifetime and the most bucket-list-worthy adventure on the high seas!
The magnificent replica HMB Endeavour sailed to and from New Zealand in 2019 and will undertake a series of voyages around Australia in 2020-2021 as part of the Encounters 2020 program.
At the wharf, you’re greeted by soaring masts, spars and rigging. At sea, the ship becomes a living being, responsive to wind and weather. Conditions can change dramatically – winds rising, seas raging, and cold rain beating on the rolling and pitching deck.