About
Musculoskeletal Australia (or MSK) is the consumer organisation working with, and advocating on behalf of, people with arthritis, osteoporosis, back pain, gout and over 150 other musculoskeletal conditions.
Our collection
Musculoskeletal Australia (MSK) holds an analogue photograph collection. This collection is a valuable pictorial record of the organisation's growth, from its grassroots, volunteer led beginnings in the late 1960s/early 1970s as the Rheumatism and Arthritis Association of Victoria (RAAV) to its current status as a national leader in promoting musculoskeletal health and research into musculoskeletal conditions.
The analogue photographic collection predominantly consists of black & white and colour photographs from the late 1960s to circa 2010s, which is when MSK switched to digital photography to record its activities and events. This collection is a valuable visual record of MSK's activities, programs, and celebrations over a period of almost fifty years. These include, but are not limited to: exercise programs (warm water exercise, Active For Life, Move It Or Lose It, Tai Chi for Arthritis etc) and events promoting various sports for a healthy lifestyle, including demonstrations by our very own Joint Action Group (JAG) and Parliamentary Bowling Club events; educational seminars, workshops, and expos for both consumers and health professionals (in both Melbourne metro and regional/rural locations); annual National Arthritis Week events such as Joint Walks and Tai Chi demonstrations; camps for families, youth, and children; a wide range of fundraising activities (including art exhibitions, fashion parades, ballroom dancing, car raffles, and our opportunity shops); activities by Self-Help Groups, including Culturally And Linguistically Diverse (CALD) groups; book launches; displays of arthritis aids; and member awards and celebrations.
