‘This is the new reality’: a year on from the Lismore floods, the history of the region sits hidden

Lismore Regional Gallery director, Ashleigh Ralph, and volunteers for the NSW town’s museum are working to restore works affected by last year’s floods. Photograph: David Maurice Smith/Oculi

High above Lismore’s centre sits the history of the northern rivers region of New South Wales, hidden inside shipping containers.

These metal boxes aren’t temperature or moisture controlled, nor are they open to the public. But their elevation is letting the city’s museum director, Robert Smith, sleep a little easier.