Dr. Mathew TrincaDirector

Dr. Mathew Trinca AM is the Director of the National Museum of Australia, Chair of ICOM Australia, and Co-Chair of the Australia Singapore Arts Group. Under Dr Trinca’s leadership, the National Museum has developed strongly engaged national and international programs that focus on bringing alive the stories of Australia for audiences around the country and overseas. The Museum has partnerships and programs with a range of cultural institutions abroad, including organisations in Singapore, China, Japan, Vietnam, France and the United Kingdom. A major program of work with the British Museum saw the return of early Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections to Australia in 2015 – marking the first time they had been seen in Australia since their collection.
Mathew’s interests span the 20th century history of Australia, with a focus on the social and cultural relationships between Britain and Australia. He also has a professional interest in the historical and contemporary links between Australia and Asia. His publications include contributions to debates on museum theory and practice, the history of Australian travel to the United Kingdom, on convictism in Western Australia, and on that State’s constitutional history. He has also co-edited two books, Country: Visions of Land and People in Western Australia and Under Suspicion: Citizenship and Internment in Australia during World War II.
Dr Trinca worked as a history curator and manager of the MuseumLink program at the Western Australian Museum, in Perth, and as a consultant historian for public history projects, including work on conservation plans, exhibition developments and short documentary films. He has a PhD in history from the University of Sydney.