It may still be closed to the public, but there's a definite buzz building over at the Museum of Australian Democracy.
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The date is nearing for the beloved building's grand re-opening, following the destruction of its doors in a protest fire late last year.
And, if all goes according to plan, scores of us will be turning up at the historic building to vote in the next Federal Election.
It's a buzz that's bittersweet for director Daryl Karp, as she prepares to step down as director and prepare for her next role.
Ms Karp has just been named the next director of the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney.
She'll remain in Canberra until the end of June, long enough to oversee the building's re-opening and see the corridors full of visitors once more.
"I really want to have everybody buzzing around in the way it used to be, see the new exhibition, Democracy DNA, reopen Play Up - all of those sorts of things that just made MOAD the heartbeat that sits between the War Memorial and New Parliament House," she said.
Appointed to head up MOAD in 2013, she is now leaving before the end of her two-term contract, due to expire next year.
She said jobs in the museum sector were hard to come by, and the timing was right to move into a new institution.
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"There aren't that many other jobs that are tied into the sorts of things that I'm passionately interested in. But the Maritime Museum is definitely one of them," she said.
Ms Karp will be returning to Sydney where her elderly parents and one of her adult children live.
But she said she will miss Canberra.
"The timing is good ... but I have to say, Canberra is one of those places that just gets its little hook in you and just burrows and burrows," she said.
Ms Karp is the also Chair of the Canberra Writers Festival, and served as Chair of the Council of Australasian Museum Directors from 2017 to 2021.
Her previous positions include managing director of Film Australia, and she has also served on the Boards of the Sydney Jewish Museum and the Australian Children's Television Foundation.
The Museum of Australian Democracy is set to reopen on April 28, though work will continue throughout the year to repair the front doors and original entrance damaged in the fire.
Sally Pryor
As features editor at The Canberra Times, I love telling people things they didn't know - or even things they've always known - about the city we live in.
As features editor at The Canberra Times, I love telling people things they didn't know - or even things they've always known - about the city we live in.
