Sachi Kerr is a student of Arts and Science at Monash University. He is interning with the Geoffrey Kaye Museum of Anaesthetic History from March–April 2025.
I have had the incredible opportunity to intern here at the Geoffrey Kaye Museum over fifteen days, which have gone by unbelievably quickly. I admit that I hadn’t heard of the Museum before I was put in touch with Curator Veronica, but I haven’t stopped talking about it to my friends and family since (and anyone else who will listen, really).
While I have been here, I have worked on a few smaller projects, like researching the history of objects such as the spirometer and collaborating with my fellow intern Scarlet Thomas to prepare some posts for the Museum’s Instagram page. However, my main project has been adding records of the Museum’s objects to our page on Victorian Collections, which is a collections management system used by museums and galleries across the state that makes collections available for the public to view online.
The Geoffrey Kaye Museum is, of course, focused on the history of anaesthesia and pain medicine, but we also have an extensive “Corporate Collection” of artworks and commemorative items. After having catalogued so many items from both the Museum and Corporate collections, it was fun to walk through the exhibition space and Ulimaroa, the heritage-listed building that houses the Museum, and point at objects and artworks to say Hey! I catalogued that!
Here, I’d like to highlight a couple of my favourite items from the collection that I have catalogued into Victorian Collections during my time at the Museum:
McKesson Nargraf Machine (VGKM3973)
The McKesson Nargraf Machine
The Nargraf Machine was invented by Dr Elmer McKesson in the United States. The Nargraf Machine can automatically record blood pressure, respiration volume, and percentage of oxygen being delivered to a patient, printing this information for the anaesthetist to use while monitoring a patient. It was the first anaesthetic machine to produce automated records.
Medicine Leaves by Jeannie Petyarre (cc0182)
Medicine Leaves by Jeannie Petyarre
Every time I’ve walked past Medicine Leaves by artist Jeannie Petyarre, I’ve felt the need to stop and stare. This painting is part of ANZCA’s Corporate Collection and hangs on the wall in Ulimaroa, near some of the portraits of past Presidents. The Corporate Collection includes objects like paintings, gifts from Colleges and Academies across the world, beautiful old pieces of furniture, and a surprising number of chandeliers. I learned a lot of new words while working on the Corporate Collection—cloisonné, finial, and saltire, to name a few. You best believe I’m going to be pulling out that vocab next time I’m at an antiques store and have someone around to impress.
It has been a wonderful experience interning at the Geoffrey Kaye Museum. My first foray into the world of museums could not have been better; I’ve learnt so much, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with both a fascinating collection and a lovely, welcoming team of people.