The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1
William Street,
Sydney central business district,
New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest
museum in
Australia,[1][2] and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the world, with an international reputation in the fields of
natural history and
anthropology.[3] It was first conceived and developed along the contemporary European model of an encyclopedic warehouse of cultural and natural history and features collections of
vertebrate and
invertebratezoology, as well as
mineralogy,
palaeontology and
anthropology. Apart from exhibitions, the museum is also involved in Indigenous studies research and community programs. In the museum's early years, collecting was its main priority, and specimens were commonly traded with British and other European institutions. The scientific stature of the museum was established under the curatorship of
Gerard Krefft, himself a published scientist.[4]
Its current CEO and Executive Director is
Kim McKayAO.
Establishment
The establishment of a museum had first been planned in 1821[7] by the Philosophical Society of Australasia, and although specimens were collected, the Society folded in 1822. An
entomologist and fellow of the
Linnean Society of London,
Alexander Macleay, arrived in 1826. After being appointed New South Wales
Colonial Secretary, he began lobbying for a 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."
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.[10][6]
Building
The
heritage-listed[6] building has evolved to encompass a range of different architectural styles[11][12] 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 ArchitectMortimer Lewis, and the earliest building on the site,
c. 1846.[6][2][10] 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.[9]
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.[13]
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
International Style extension became known as the Parkes/Farmer eastern wing. In 1977, to mark the Museum's 150th anniversary, bronze lower case letters were added to the
façade identifying the building as "The Australian Museum".
In 2008, a significant expansion took place on the College Street site with the addition of the new Collection and Research building which added 5000 square metres of office, laboratory and storage areas for scientists.
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.[14][15] 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.[16][6]
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.[17] 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, shop, café, members lounge, and education rooms, along with a expanded exhibition area for temporary exhibitions.[18]
Hyde Park with the Museum under construction in the distance by
John Rae (1842).
The completed Barnet wing of the museum
c. 1870.
The Barnet Wing.
The Australian Museum along William Street.
The Australian Museum, College Street, Sydney.
The Australian Museum; main facade.
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
incorporating it and establishing a
board of trustees consisting of 24 members.
William Sharp Macleay, the former committee chairman, continued to serve as the chairman of this committee.[19]
Curators and directors
The position of "curator" was renamed "director and curator" in 1918 and from, 1921 "director". In 1948, the "scientific assistants" (the scientific staff) were redesignated "curators" and "assistant curators". In 1983, during a period of reorganisation, the position of curator was renamed as "collection manager".
Order
Officeholder
Position title
Start date
End date
Term in office
Notes
1
William Holmes
Custodian
16 June 1829 (1829-06-16)
1835
5–6 years
Holmes accidentally shot himself while collecting specimens at
Moreton Bay in August 1831.[20]
Ramsay greatly increased the recruitment of scientific staff within the institution. The museum's catalogues, first documented by Bennett, were the first scientific publications by the museum, but with the addition of science staff and, thereby, research output, in 1890 Ramsay started the Records of the Australian Museum, a publication which continues to the present.[22]
McKay is the first woman to hold the position.[23][24]
History
20th century
After a run of field collecting activities by the scientific staff in the 1880s and 1890s, field work ceased until after the
First World War. In the 1920s, new expeditions were launched to
New Guinea, the
Kermadec Islands and Santa Cruz in the
Solomon Islands, as well as to many parts of Australia, including the
Capricorn Islands off the coast of Queensland.[25]: 137
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
scientific research continued with a new department of
environmental studies, created in 1968.[26] The museum support society, The Australian Museum Society (TAMS), now known as Museum Members) was formed in 1972, and in 1973 the Lizard Island Research Station (LIRS), was established near
Cairns.
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.[27] 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.
In 2002,
ICAC launched
Operation Savoy to investigate thefts of the zoological collections by a museum employee.[28]
In 2011, the museum launched its first
Mobile App – "DangerOZ"[29] – about Australia's most dangerous animals.
Jurassic Lounge was established in early 2011 by the Australian Museum and non-profit company The Festivalists, a seasonal display event of
contemporary art.[30] 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.[31] Jurassic lounge first opened on 1 February 2011.[32] It is held after-hours at the Australian Museum.[33] 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).[34]
In 2017, museum researchers reassigned a Tasmanian species of semi-slug from the genus Helicarion to Attenborougharion, named after the museum's Lifetime Patron
David Attenborough, hence known as Attenborougharion rubicundus.[35]
Australian Museum Research Institute
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adding to it. (January 2024)
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.[36]
In 2017, the museum began a citizen science project called FrogID to help conserve and document the distribution of frog populations throughout Australia.[37][better source needed]
Exhibitions and permanent galleries
The museum has hosted various 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".[38]
Some exhibitions were directly curated by the museum and have exhibited internationally include "Sharks"[39] and "Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family".[40]
Permanent galleries
In 2008, two permanent galleries were opened, "Dinosaurs"[41] and "Surviving Australia".[42]
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.[44]
In 2017, the permanent exhibition "200 Treasures of the Australian Museum" was reopened as part of the "Westpac Long Gallery", being Australia's first museum gallery, which was previously called the "Long Gallery".[45] Some of the objects on display include the wooden sled used during
Sir Douglas Mawson's expedition to Antarctica, an Egyptian mummy, and a feathered cape given to Captain
James Cook on his arrival to Hawaii.[46] The expanded gallery also contains the Birds of Australia gallery.[47]
In 2022, the permanent minerals gallery was opened.[48]
In late 2023, "Wansolmoana" (
lit.'One Salt Ocean'), a permanent exhibition of hundreds of
Pacific cultural objects opened.[49] This replaced the interim "Pacific Spirit" gallery,[50] which opened in 2015 and was stated to be one of the world's biggest collections of Pacific artwork at the time.[51]
Other notable temporary exhibitions
In 2012, an exhibition called Sydney Elders was opened. It consisted of photographs by renowned Aboriginal photographer
Mervyn Bishop of a selection of local
Elders who have "contributed to the important role of culture, education, health, community or social justice". The collection is accompanied by an essay written by
Djon Mundine, entitled "Growing Old on Eora Country". Elders whose portraits were included in the collection include
Christine Donnelly, founder of the
Aboriginal Dance Theatre Redfern;
Naomi MayersOAM, founder of the Aboriginal Health Service;
Sol BellearAO, member and leader of many Aboriginal organisations; and singer-songwriter
Vic Simms; and activists and leaders
Dulcie FlowerAM,
Paul Coe,[52] and
Lyall Munro Jnr.[53]
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.[54]
In 2014-15, the museum hosted "Aztecs", a collection of 200 artefacts from around 20 Mexican museums, being the first time an
Aztec-themed exhibition was displayed in the Southern Hemisphere.[55][56]
In 2021, "Unsettled" opened, a temporary exhibition on the
colonisation of Australia through Indigenous perspectives.[57]
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.[58][59] However in late 2023, the museum was the fourth in the world to open "
Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs".[60] 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.[61]
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.[6]
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.[6]
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.[6]
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.[6]
In December 2023, the Museum became the subject of criticism for its controversial decision to reword an exhibition panel by World Heritage Exhibitions[62] that originally read: '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'.[63] 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'.[63]
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
Zionist lobby group'.[63] The Australian Friends of Palestine Association added, 'To let this rewriting of history go unchallenged amounts to
cultural genocide, the ideological expunging of cultural identity from history'.[64]
On 3 January 2024, the World Heritage Exhibitions, the creator of the exhibition panel, released a statement that 'the exhibition does not intend to convey any political assertions' and announced that it 'upholds the exhibition's curatorial authenticity and, consequently, has no plans to modify the exhibition's textual content'.[62]
Gallery
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)
^McBride, Laura (2 June 2021).
"Sydney Elders exhibition". The Australian Museum.
Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
^McBride, Laura (7 December 2021).
"Lyall Munro". The Australian Museum.
Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.