Australian Museum: Difference between revisions

The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1

The museum is located at the corner of William Street and College Street in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, and was originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum. The museum was renamed in June 1836 by a sub-committee meeting, when it was resolved during an argument that it should be renamed the "Australian Museum".^[4] The Australian Museum building and its collection was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.^[5]

Its current CEO and Executive Director is

Establishment

The establishment of a museum had first been planned in 1821

The museum was founded in 1827 by Earl Bathurst, then the Secretary of State for the Colonies, who wrote to the Governor of New South Wales of his intention to found a public museum and who provided £200 yearly towards its upkeep.^[7][8] In 1832^{[clarification needed]} George Bennett, curator of the Australian Museum, explained the role of the museum:

"Here, in a public museum, the remains of the arts, etc., as existing among them, may be preserved as lasting memorials of the former races inhabiting the lands, when they have ceased to exist."

— George Bennett, Curator, 1835 – 1841.

From a "beautiful Collection of Australian curiosities", the Museum has grown to an internationally recognised collection of over 21 million cultural and scientific objects. The Museum plays a leading role in taxonomic and systematic research, and at its research station at Lizard Island conducts significant research on coral reef ecology. Through exhibitions and other public programs the Australian Museum continues to inform and amaze generations of visitors about the unique flora, fauna and cultures of Australia and the Pacific.^[9][5]

Building

The heritage-listed^[5] building has evolved to encompass a range of different architectural styles^[10][11] and when its building expanded, it was often in conjunction with an expansion of the collections.

The first location of the museum in 1827 was probably a room in the offices of the Colonial Secretary, although over the following thirty years it had several other locations in Sydney, until it moved into its current home in 1849. The Long Gallery is part of the wing designed by New South Wales Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis, and the earliest building on the site, c. 1846.^[5][2][9] This is a handsome building of Sydney sandstone in the Greek Revival style on the corner of College and William Streets, opposite Hyde Park, designed by the Colonial Architect James Barnet, and it was first opened to the public in May 1857.^[8]

In order to accommodate the expanding collections of the museum, Barnet was responsible for the construction of the neoclassical west wing along William Street in 1868. A third storey was added to the north Lewis wing in 1890, bringing cohesion to the building design.^[12]

In 1963, the floor space of the museum almost doubled when Joseph van der Steen under the Government Architect, Edward Farmer, designed a six-story extension linked to the Lewis building for the scientific and research collections, the reference library and a public restaurant. There were also two basement floors providing workspace for scientific staff. This

In 2015, the museum's carbon-neutral glass box entryway known as the "Crystal Hall" was opened. Designed by Neeson-Murcutt, it returned the entry to William Street and provided access via a suspended walkway.[13]^[14] In December 2016, the Museum made public a $285 million master plan proposing to greatly expand its available exhibition space, by adding a 13-storey building on the block's east, adding a large central glazed atrium space.^[15][5]

2020 upgrade

At the end of 2020, after being closed for 15 months, the 200 year old museum reopened following a major $57.5 million upgrade.^[16] Subsequent to its refurbishment, Museum entry will be free for the public and the building will provide a physical space that "equals the importance of the collection and the scientific research" done there.^[3] This included the new Hintze Hall, and new shop, café, members lounge, and education rooms, along with a expanded exhibition area for temporary exhibitions.^[17]

Administration

The museum was administered directly by the colonial government until June 1836, until the establishment of a Committee of Superintendence of the Australian Museum and Botanical Garden. Sub-committees were established for each institution. Members of these committees were generally the leading members of the political and scientific classes of Sydney; and scions of the Macleay served until 1853, at which point the committee was abolished. In that year, the government enacted the Australian Museum Act, thereby

During the 19th century, galleries had mainly included large display cases overly filled with specimens and artefacts. During the 1920s, museum displays grew to include dioramas showing habitat groups, but otherwise the Museum was largely unchanged during the period beginning with the curatorship of Robert Etheridge Jr (1895–1919), until the appointment of John Evans in 1954, when under his direction, additional buildings were built, several galleries were overhauled, and a new Exhibitions department was created. The size of the education staff was also radically increased. By the end of the 1950s, all of the galleries had been completely overhauled.

The museum's growth in the field of

The Australian Museum Train, an early outreach project, was officially launched on 8 March 1978. The train was described as "a wonderful new concept of the travelling circus! The only difference is that the travelling Museum Train will bring school children and the people of NSW into contact with the wonders of nature, evolution and Wildlife."^{[citation needed]} The two-carriage train was renovated and refurbished at Eveleigh Carriage Works, and fitted out with exhibits by the Australian Museum at a cost of about $100,000. One carriage displayed the evolution of the earth, animals and man. The second carriage was a lecture and visual display area.^[26] The train ceased operations in December 1988 but the museum's outreach work in regional communities continues.

In 1991, the museum established a commercial consulting and project management group, the Australian Museum Business Services (AMBS), now known as Australian Museum Consulting. In 1995, the museum established new research centres in conservation, biodiversity, evolutionary research, geodiversity and "People and Places". These research centres have now been incorporated into the museum's natural science collection programs. In 1998, the djamu gallery opened at Customs House, Circular Quay, the first major new venue for the museum beyond College Street site. A series of exhibitions on Indigenous culture were displayed until the gallery closed at the end of 2000.

21st century

In 2001, two rural associate museums were established,

In 2002, ICAC launched Operation Savoy to investigate thefts of the zoological collections by a museum employee.^[27]

In 2011, the museum launched its first

Established in early 2011 by the Australian Museum and non-profit company The Festivalists, Jurassic Lounge displays contemporary art.^[29] Combining events, live music, art, cultural displays, and new media with standard exhibition space in the museum precinct, Jurassic Lounge is a seasonal display-event held on Tuesdays for two seasons annually.^[30] Jurassic lounge first opened on 1 February 2011.^[31] It is held after-hours at the Australian Museum.^[32] It allows the public to discover Sydney's newest artists, musicians and performers. 2018's event included a burlesque show, a silent disco, live painting, a photobooth, interaction with museum animals (snake and stick insects).^[33]

Australian Museum Research Institute

In September 2013, the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI) was launched. AMRI's purposes are:

• to provide a focal point for the many researchers working in the museum
• to facilitate collaborations with government research agencies, universities, gardens, zoos and other museums
• to showcase the important scientific research that is being done at the museum, focusing on climate change impacts on biodiversity; the detection and biology of pest species; understanding what constitutes and influences effective biodiversity conservation.^[34]

FrogID

In 2017, the museum began a citizen science project called FrogID to help conserve and document the distribution of frog populations throughout Australia.

Exhibitions and permanent galleries

This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Sharks exhibition in 2022-2023, which was curated by the museum and also went on tour internationally afterwards + Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family exhibition in 2020-2021 + Unsettled exhibition in 2021; new permanent galleries since 2020 upgrade: Minerals, Wansolmoana. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2024)

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024)

The museum has hosted exhibitions since 1854 to the present day, including permanent, temporary and touring exhibitions, such as "Dinosaurs from China", "Festival of the Dreaming", "Beauty from Nature: Art of the Scott Sisters" and "Wildlife Photographer of the Year".^[36] In 2012–13, the museum hosted "Alexander the Great: 2000 years of treasures" which exhibited a collection of artefacts from the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.^[37]

In 2008, two new permanent galleries were opened, "Dinosaurs"^[38] and "Surviving Australia".^[39]

In 2012, an exhibition called Sydney Elders was opened. It comprised of photographs by renowned Aboriginal photographer

When the Crystal Hall was opened as the museum's new entrance in August 2015, the former foyer, the Barnet Wing, became the permanent gallery housing "Wild Planet" – a display of over 400 animals that explores and explains evolution and the tree of life.^[43]

In 2015, "Trailblazers: Australia's 50 greatest explorers" opened, honouring the work of Bourke and Wills, Nancy Bird Walton, Dick Smith, Jessica Watson and Tim Jarvis, among others.^{[citation needed]}

In 2017, the permanent exhibition "200 Treasures of the Australian Museum" was reopened, being Australia's first museum gallery, which was previously called the "Long Gallery".^[44]

The museum was due to hold "Tutankhamun: The Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh" in 2021, however this was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.^[45][46] However in late 2023, the museum was the fourth in the world to open "Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs".^[47] It was announced that Ramses' coffin would also be loaned to the Australian Museum, with Sydney being the second city in the world outside of Egypt to display the artefact.^[48]

Heritage listing

As at 14 November 2014, the Australian Museum buildings house the first public museum inaugurated in Australia, one of Australia's oldest scientific and cultural institutions. Conceived and developed initially along the contemporary European model of an encyclopedic warehouse of cultural and natural history, the museum buildings evolved as the institution evolved, partly in response to its visiting public, to pursue and expand knowledge of the natural history of Australia and the nearby pacific region. The museum continues to occupy the site provided, and the building constructed, as its first permanent home, commenced in 1846 and opened to the public in 1857. The extended and enlarged complex of buildings which now provide its principal exhibition, administrative and research accommodation reflect the growth of the institution and its prestige, as well as the evolving attitudes of Australian Government and society to science and research.^[5]

The Museum's various buildings further comprise a unique aggregation of work by successive colonial and Government Architects of New South Wales, exhibiting:

• changes in the philosophy and functional requirements of museum design
• changing stylistic influences and design approaches in architecture from the early 19th century to the present, and
• corresponding developments in building technology, materials and craftsmanship.^[5]

Individually the various elements of the Museum complex remain significantly intact, with potential for enhancement of their cultural significance through conservation techniques, though conflicts exist between conservation of fabric and contemporary use, particularly exhibition techniques. Of special note are the exteriors and principal interiors of the three earliest wings of the complex, which despite varying degrees of alteration, remain in substantial original condition. The interlinked exhibition galleries comprise an important group of 19th and early 20th century public interests.^[5]

Through its development, the Museum complex has assumed a prominent stature in the townscape of Sydney. With its frontage to William and College Street, the Museum commands the eastern reaches of Hyde Park and forms and extension of the principal historic civic and religious precincts adjoining the northern boundaries of the park in Macquarie and College streets. Through recent expansion the museum site includes the former grounds and two surviving buildings of the William Street National School, which, established in 1851, is one of the earlier public schools continued in educational use for almost 100 years.^[5]

Australian Museum was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.^[5]

Controversy

In December 2023, the Museum became the subject of criticism for its controversial decision to reword an exhibition panel that originally read (however, the exhibition was not curated by the museum themselves):^[49] 'In his teens, Ramses was second in command, fighting alongside Seti in Libya and Palestine'. That panel was updated to refer to 'what is today known as Libya and Palestine'.^[50] This was done after the Australian Jewish Association had accused the Museum of 'inaccurate use of the word "Palestine" in an exhibit on Ancient Egypt'.^[50]

According to the president of the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, Nasser Mashni, this incident was another case of 'Palestine, Palestinians, our history, our cultural heritage and stories being invisibilised, minimised, rewritten, if not completely erased, by an Australian institution at the command of a

• 
  Butterflies in a display case
• 
  Human and Horse Skeletons displayed in a lifelike pose (2007)
• 
  A display of African metalwork art, 2007
• 
  A display case of some stuffed Australian bird specimens, 2007
• 
  Display on the skeletal structure of snakes and other reptiles (2007)
• 
  Modern Aboriginal art on show at the Museum in 2007
• 
  Museum at night

See also

• "The New Museum Idea"
• The Lewis Collection
• List of museums in Australia
• National Museum of Australia
• Museum of Sydney

References

Bibliography

• Attraction Homepage (2007). "Australian Museum".
• Chris Bennett of Evolving Picture (2014). Australian Museum Sydney: photographic survey of existing site features December 2014.
• Clive Lucas Stapleton & Partners Pty Ltd (2005). The Australian Museum, Sydney, Conservation Management Plan.
• Cultural Resources Management (2008). The Australian Museum Sydney : archaeological investigation collections & research building.
• Design 5 Architects (2016). Long Gallery, Australian Museum – Exemption from Development Consent – upgrade and repair works.
• Hammond, Gina (2009). 'The Curious Case of the Living Dead', in "History Council of NSW Bulletin" Autumn 2009.
• McDonald McPhee Pty Ltd. (1994). Heritage Assessment, Barnet Wing, Australian Museum.
• Power, Julie (2016). 'Museum's ambitious plan – exclusive: $285m proposal for a grand exhibition space'.
• Strahan, Ronald (1979). Rare and Curious Specimens: An Illustrated History of the Australian Museum 1827–1979. The Australian Museum.
  ISBN 0724015248
  .
• Tourism NSW (2007). "Australian Museum". Archived from the original on 7 September 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2018.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article contains material from Australian Museum, entry number 805 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 13 October 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australian Museum.

Wikispecies has information related to Australian Museum.

• Official website
• Australian Museum – Sydney.com
• Australian Museum at Google Cultural Institute
• Ellmoos, Laila (2008). "Australian Museum". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 8 October 2015. [CC BY-SA]