The Toula Museum of Australia is an online Museum.
The Toula Museum of Australia Inc. identifies, records and preserves the heritage of the Village of Toula, North Lebanon, as well as Lebanon and the greater Phoenicia. The Museum aims to give new perspectives on Australian history by ensuring that Toulanian, Lebanese and Phoenician heritage are preserved for future generations of Australians. The Toula Museum of Australia Inc. presents not only Permanent Exhibitions online, but also from time to time, Temporary Exhibitions.
The Museum's website serves as a gateway to not only view the Permanent Exhibitions online, but also the Collection of the Museum, also displayed online, so that you can explore fascinating heritage material within Toula - and which the Toula Museum wishes to teach Australians about.
The Toula Museum of Australia has two Permanent Exhibitions. These respectively focus on the village of Toula (as an archetype of the Lebanese rural community located in northern Lebanon) and the cultural legacy of Greater Phoenicia (as the civilisational backdrop to eastern Mediterranean heritage).
The Toulanian exhibition provides a specific and detailed account of the rituals and routine of the typical Lebanese village, while the exhibition concerning the greater Phoenician region gives important historical and geographical context to the extent of ancient Lebanese culture and its contemporary variants.
Both complement each other as each reinforces the other’s mission: to present the broader Australian public with a vehicle through which they can understand and contemplate the history of the Lebanese Diaspora and its contribution to Australian cultural development throughout the twentieth century.
Visitors can read the brief dissertation on various topics relevant to Toula, Lebanon and Phoenician civilization, which are conveniently broken up into subtopics of particular interest. These include academic contributions throughout history such as the development of the alphabet, agricultural traditions and expertise, artistic achievements such as music and the export of essential recourses to neighboring peoples, business innovation and initiative including Mediterranean trade, cultural development, educational achievements through the influence of literature and philosophy, the importance of family tradition, the history and public service of the community, its migration to Australia and religious characteristics that survive to this day.
As far as the Committee of the Toula Museum of Australia is concerned, the Toula Museum of Australia Inc. is the very first Public Museum seeking to exhibit and promote to the Australian Public, the art, history and culture of a Village within Lebanon. The Toula Museum of Australia recognises that it is facing new challenges - and most especially, these challenges include keeping Australians fully appraised and aware of the contribution that Toula and Lebanon and Phoenicia has made to Australia and the entire world. The Toula Museum of Australia seeks to embrace the challenges and to set new horizons in creating history.
We hope that your experience in viewing this webpage and visiting our exhibitions has been informative, educational and stimulating.
We cannot watch history pass us by - we must make history.
The future is our hope.