Carolyn Laffan

Carolyn ‘Caz’ Laffan, 26 October 1969–9 April 2024

Caz and Australian Music Vault

Caz Laffan was a passionate advocate of Australia’s performing arts history and contemporary music. Among her many legacies are the Australian Music Vault, exhibitions, digital experiences, collection acquisitions and the national leadership role now held by the Australian Performing Arts Collection.

Beginning hercuratorial career at Performing Arts Museum, Arts Centre Melbourne (now Australian Performing Arts Collection) in 1990, Caz’s adventurous spirit saw her hold five positions, and build enduring relationships with the performing arts community and the music industry. In 2017 she achieved her dream role of Senior Curator of the Australian Music Vault.

Caz completed a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts & Archaeology (Hons) from University of Melbourne in 1989. She went onto undertake a Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies which connected her interest in making history accessible in new ways. Her MA thesis ‘When a boy from Alabama meets a girl from Gundagai: social dancing in Melbourne 1942-1943’, Australian Centre, University of Melbourne brought popular culture to life as well as showcasing Caz’s love of words. Caz also relished new experiences and took on roles associated with documentation and online access, and was the leader of the Museum’s first ever computer cataloguing project.

Caz became Project Curator of the Victorian Cultural Network, a State government initiative, working with colleagues in Arts Centre Melbourne’s Education team to produce ‘Revolutions: Australian Music Timeline’ and ‘Page to Stage: The ultimate performance making toolkit’ which introduced students to the wonder of the performing arts.

In 1993, Caz curated her first exhibition ‘Time Warp: the seventies exhibition’. This popular exhibition was followed by 19 others, many developed in partnership with performing arts companies. ‘A Dream of Passion: The Bell Shakespeare Company, 2001, was linked to a major acquisition. Other major exhibitions included ‘Bel Canto: the story of Italian Opera in Australia’, 2000, and ‘Director’s Cut: Roger Hodgman at Melbourne Theatre Company’, 1999.

A thoughtful and intelligent collaborator and curator Caz worked with artists and other cultural institutions to produce nationally significant exhibitions. She worked with photographer Tim Webster Caz to present ‘Corroboree. Sights and Sounds’, 1994, and later, ‘Rehearsing Rites’, 1997, looking at the work of Bangarra Dance Theatre and The Australian Ballet.

Caz was coordinating curator for ‘Rarely Everage: the lives of Barry Humphries’ with the National Portrait Gallery in 2003, and in 2014 she was co-curator of ‘Beatles in Australia’, developed with Peter Cox of Powerhouse Museum, saying “This is really about Australia in 1964. It’s a moment in time exhibition.”

Caz loved collaborating with her colleagues on curatorial projects. ‘Theatres of War: Wartime entertainment and the Australian experience’, 2014 was 10 years in the dreaming, saying of her co-curator Margaret Marshall “We’ve been waiting for an anniversary and opportunity to work on it together.”

A brilliant and insightful writer, Caz wrote catalogue essays for co-curated stage design and art collection exhibitions, and was an astute editor of text for exhibitions and publications, mentoring and supporting others. Caz extended her knowledge to write entries for Encyclopedia of Melbourne and Currency’s Companion to Music and Dance in Australia, and was commissioned to prepare significance assessments for La Mama Theatre and Australian Jazz Museum. But it was her work in acquisitions where Caz shone brightly. She commented “We don’t actually have an acquisition budget, so we put a lot of work into relationships with people.”

Exhibition flyer for A Dream of Passion: The Bell Shakespeare Company, 2001; Caz and Australian Performing Arts Collection storage facility, 2017. Photo: Mark Gambino.

Caz embedded herself in the life of performing arts companies. Once she was invited by Ashton’s Circus to stay with them in their caravans over a weekend gaining the lived experience of a circus family. When Caz was acquiring the Bell Shakespeare Company archive she worked at the Sydney office with the company to attain a deep understanding of their work.

Caz developed long lasting relationships with the performing arts community with many major acquisitions positioning the Collection nationally. She worked with Australia’s major producers to acquire The Gordon Frost Collection and Clifford Hocking, David Vigo Archives. Caz fostered the work of the small to medium sector securing the Handspan Archive, Chamber Made Opera Collection, and Nigel Triffitt’s stage designs. This work resulted in ongoing deposit arrangements with contemporary companies ensuring the Collection remained up to date and relevant.

Caz also loved working with individuals to preserve their stories such as theatre and opera director, Barrie Kosky, and vaudeville artiste Valantyne Napier known for her “Spider” routine. Echoing what was to come, Caz acquired the Sunbury Music Festival Collection, and material documenting Hunters & Collectors.

In her role as Senior Curator of the Australia Music Vault, Caz made a major contribution to the contemporary music sector. It was Caz who developed the compelling themes that continue to provide a platform for displays, and digital experiences and the stories she commissioned for the Amplifier space entertains audiences with content about Sunbury, and Countdown. Just one of Caz’s enduring legacies for future generations are the ‘Long Play’, a series of interviews with Australia’s musicians, producers and managers.

Caz is missed deeply by her Australian Performing Arts Collection colleagues and friends, the performing arts community and contemporary music sector.

Although Caz has left the stage, her legacy will shine bright.