Jump to content

Melbourne Museum

Coordinates: 37°48′12″S 144°58′17″E / 37.803337°S 144.971445°E / -37.803337; 144.971445
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Melbourne Museum
Melbourne Museum in Carlton Gardens.
Melbourne Museum in the Carlton Gardens
Map
Established1854 (1854)
LocationCarlton, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates37°48′12″S 144°58′17″E / 37.803337°S 144.971445°E / -37.803337; 144.971445
TypeNatural and cultural history museum
OwnerMuseums Victoria
Public transit accessTram routes 86, 96
Websitemuseumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/

Positioned centrally in Carlton Gardens and surrounded by 64 acres of lush greenery, Melbourne Museum is a rich, multifaceted window into the natural environment, First Peoples’ living cultures and knowledge, the history of Victoria and beyond. It features eight main galleries and temporary exhibitions across three levels, making it the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere.

First established in 1854 in the Government Assay Office on La Trobe Street, Melbourne Museum moved into an award-winning building designed by Denton Corker Marshall in 2000.

Melbourne Museum is part of Museums Victoria, which encompasses the heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building, Immigration Museum and Scienceworks. The world's second largest IMAX theatre screen is also part of the museum complex, showing movies and documentary films in large-screen 3-D format.

Through its permanent collections and a comprehensive program of temporary exhibitions and after-dark events, Melbourne Museum is a true catalyst for change, enabling visitors to make meaning of the world through enriched experiences that encourage deeper learning and a better understanding of planet Earth.

In 2023 Museums Victoria won Australian Museums and Galleries Awards in two categories: for Medium Project of the Year for More Than a Tarrang (tree): Memory, Material, Cultural Agency - a ground-breaking exhibition which celebrated the profound significance of trees in the cultures of the south-eastern First Peoples – and Large Project of the year for Tyama: A deeper sense of knowing - a first-of-its-kind, multi-sensory digital exhibition.

Melbourne Museum houses a range of experiences to inspire and entertain visitors of all ages. In the Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs exhibition, come face-to-face with Horridus, one of the world’s most complete and finely preserved Triceratops fossils dating back 67 million years. At the entrance to the Science and Life gallery, a massive Blue Whale skeleton welcomes visitors inside, where the colossal creatures of the Dinosaur Walk meet the comparatively miniscule insects, snails and other invertebrates of the Bugs Alive! exhibition. Nearby, the verdant Forest Gallery brings the eucalypts, ferns, rare plants and wildlife of Victoria’s mountain landscapes to the heart of the museum, while the Gandel Gondwana Garden explores the region’s biodiversity from the prehistoric era to today.

Melbourne Museum is home to the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, which shares the knowledge, traditions and stories of First Peoples from the region. The permanent First Peoples exhibition – co-curated with the Yulendj Group of Elders and community representatives from across Victoria and Museums Victoria – tells the stories of First Peoples of south-eastern Australia from Creation to today, reckoning with colonial histories and celebrating stories of strength, resilience and survival.

Other permanent highlights include Te Vainui O Pasifika, an exhibition elevating the voices, stories and cultural objects of Pacific communities; the historic Australian racehorse Phar Lap, one of the Museum’s most popular exhibits for more than 80 years; The Melbourne Story, starring icons of Melbourne’s past and present; and the Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery, designed to inspire wonder and curiosity in visitors aged five years and under.


Architecture

[edit]
Melbourne Museum from Nicholson Street approach

The Melbourne Museum is a post-modernist building designed by Denton Corker Marshall architects. Construction at the current address was managed by Baulderstone Hornibrook and completed in 2001, with the museum's official opening in 2000.[1]

The building can be dissected into different spaces so an individual can navigate the building in an orthogonal manner. It is designed as both a single building and a network of individual buildings integrated into the landscape of the Carlton Gardens.[2]

The museum is axially aligned with the adjacent Italianate Royal Exhibition Building and references it, along with the skyscrapers of Melbourne's central business district. The sticks and blades that make up the Melbourne Museum are hallmarks of Denton Corker Marshall's architecture.

The most prominent element of the building is the two very long, very high, sloping canopies (or blades) that rise up from the centrally placed entrance opposite the north door of the Royal Exhibition Building; each act to guide visitors from the street into the museum. On the northern side of the building, another larger blade-like roof rises up from the centre to the north, on a similar scale to the central Florentine dome of the Royal Exhibition building.

The Melbourne Museum is situated in a precinct adjacent to a large local landmark within a large public park. Contrasted against the neo-classical Royal Exhibition centre, the museum is separated by an events plaza, yet the two are connected underground with a car park.[3] The museum refers to Melbourne's city grid in its planning, and integrates the landscape of Carlton Gardens, housing a Forest Gallery which is situated within the building, and also providing areas of exterior circulation around the building.

History

[edit]

1854–2000: La Trobe Street

[edit]
Vertebrate display, McCoy Hall; now the State Library of Victoria's Redmond Barry Reading Room

The museum had its earliest beginnings in the Government Assay Office, which on 9 March 1854, opened some displays in La Trobe Street. In 1858, Prof. Frederick McCoy (Sir Frederick from 1891), who was a professor of natural history at the University of Melbourne, was appointed Director of the National Museum.[4]

Melbourne Museum was originally located (along with the State Library and the old state gallery) in the city block between La Trobe, Swanston, Little Lonsdale and Russell Streets - the nearby Museum underground railway station was originally named after it, although following the move, the station was renamed Melbourne Central. The State Library now uses all the space in that building, the gallery also having moved to the National Gallery of Victoria site on St Kilda Road.

The period in which the Victorian government was led by Rupert Hamer (1972–1981) was one of policy development for museums in Victoria. Hamer's Arts Minister Norman Lacy established a Museums Development Committee consisting of representatives of the Science Museum of Victoria, the National Museum of Victoria and the Ministry for the Arts. It considered such matters as the development of a single City Museum complex (leading eventually to the establishment of the new Melbourne Museum in Carlton) and programs in fields such as social history. The committee also joined with a working party of the Victorian Council of the Arts to develop a comprehensive museums policy for Victoria.[2] Lacy also began the establishment of the Heide Museum of Modern Art with the acquisition of the property Heide II (in Bulleen, east of Melbourne) and a collection of 113 art works from John and Sunday Reed in August 1980. It was officially opened in November 1981. He also developed a proposal for a Museum of Social and Political History [3] at the Old Treasury Building for the Executive Committee of Victoria's 150th Anniversary Celebrations in July 1981 which led to the establishment of the City Museum.

2000–present: Carlton Gardens

[edit]

The current Melbourne Museum is located in Carlton Gardens, alongside the Exhibition Building, on the site of the former Melbourne Exhibition Speedway, which operated from 5 November 1928 until 7 March 1936. The museum was constructed during the period of the Kennett government (1992–1999) and was opened on 21 October 2000 by the Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks. The new Melbourne Museum included some living organisms within the galleries. The centrepiece of the new building houses the Forest Gallery, an exhibition portraying the temperate forests of eastern Victoria. The Forest Gallery is home to the ongoing Forest Secrets exhibition, which examines the agents of change within the forests.

The Melbourne Museum was one of the venues of Festival Melbourne 2006, a citywide art festival held in conjunction of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which was held in Melbourne. Among the exhibitions held in the museum were 'Common Goods:Cultures Meet Through Craft', a project of the South Project. It featured crafts made by artists from various Commonwealth countries and 'CARVE:Indigenous carving practices', a series of demonstrations of traditional indigenous carving practices and techniques from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. There was also a producers' market, 'Victorian Producers' Market', where produces from regional Victoria such as wine, cheese and others were sold. A cooking competition, 'Culinary Pro Am of the Commonwealth' was also held between Melbourne chefs, each representing a Commonwealth country. Live actions of the Games were also shown on a large screen on the museum grounds.

Main exhibits

[edit]
A Triceratops fossil on display, lit by blue and yellow light.
‘Horridus’, the most complete Triceratops fossil known, on display at the Melbourne Museum
Natural history exhibit at Melbourne Museum (center specimen is an orange roughy)

The main exhibits include:

  • Science and Life Gallery – the museum's natural history wing
  • Melbourne Gallery – includes the mounted hide of champion racehorse Phar Lap
  • The Melbourne Story – history of Melbourne from the early 19th century through to present day
  • Mind and Body Gallery – A gallery regarding the human body. It also features a world first exhibition about the mind called 'Mind: enter the labyrinth'. This gallery closed in 2021.
  • Forest Gallery – a living temperate Victorian forest environment, complete with live birds, reptiles, and other fauna
  • Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre – including galleries with exhibitions by and about the Aboriginal peoples of Victoria
  • Te Vainui O Pasifika Gallery – an exhibition which highlights the history and watercraft of Pacific Islanders
  • The Pauline Gandel Children's Gallery – hands-on exhibits and learning through play aimed at 0 to 5 year olds
  • Touring Hall – showcases international touring exhibitions. Tutankhamun and the golden age of the Pharaohs which was on display at Melbourne Museum from April 2011 to January 2012 was Melbourne Museum's most popular temporary exhibition. Past Touring Hall exhibitions include Titanic: the Artefact Exhibition (18 December 2023 to 14 April 2024), Fantastic Beasts (19 May - 8 October 2023), Tyama (22 July 2022 to 29 January 2023), Revolutions: Records + Rebels (27 April to 25 August 2019), Mandela, My Life (22 September 2018 to 3 March 2019), Vikings: Beyond the Legend (23 March to 26 August 2018),Hatching the Past: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies (30 May 2008 to 24 August 2008), The Great Wall of China: Dynasties, Dragons and Warriors (23 March 2007 to 22 July 2007), Spirit of the Games: the Opening Ceremony revealed (18 March to 23 July 2006) and Dinosaurs from China (2005).


IMAX Melbourne

[edit]
Main article: IMAX Melbourne
IMAX Melbourne Museum was the world's largest screen until the opening of the Traumpalast IMAX in Leonberg in 2021.

Located eight-storeys beneath Melbourne Museum, IMAX Melbourne opened in 1998 with the world's largest screen measuring 31 m × 28 m (102 ft × 92 ft). It has been owned and operated by Museums Victoria since 2004. The cinema was closed for a month in 2013 to oversee renovations. A new a dual 4K Laser projection system, the only of its kind in Australia was installed, its sound system upgraded and screen enlarged to 32 m × 23 m (105 ft × 75 ft).[8][9][10][11] When IMAX Sydney was demolished 2016, IMAX Melbourne became the largest operating IMAX screen in the world. It held the title until the Traumpalast IMAX in Leonberg, Germany was completed in 2021.[12] With the new Sydney IMAX now completed, IMAX Melbourne still remains the largest IMAX in the Southern Hemisphere by screen size and capacity, with seating for 461 patrons (including seating for 25 Premium VIPs[9]) verses 430 seats in Sydney.[13]

Awards

[edit]

The Melbourne Museum was one of Denton Corker Marshall's award-winning projects. It won the RACV Award for major tourist attraction, where it received 1,428,238 visitors during the years 2010–2011. In March 2012, the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards was held in Cairns, where the Melbourne Museum was represented for Victoria on a national level.[14] Melbourne Museum's Science and Life gallery was honoured with the Large Permanent Exhibition Award during 2010–2011.[15] They have also received awards from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) for their contributions to Australian architecture.[16]

See also

[edit]
[edit]
  • Front entrance
    Front entrance
  • Children's area
    Children's area
  • Museum hall
    Museum hall
  • Exhibition space
    Exhibition space
  • CSIRAC, Australia's first digital computer
    CSIRAC, Australia's first digital computer

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Unknown. (2002). Denton Corker Marshall: Melbourne Museum, Melbourne, Australia.. GA document. 69, 88
  2. ^ "Melbourne Museum". ArchitectureAU. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  3. ^ Denton Corker Marshall Pty Ltd , Denton Corker Marshall – architecture and urban design,"Denton Corker Marshall - Profile". Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2012. 04/04/12
  4. ^ [1] Archived 31 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Museums Victoria acquires the world's most complete and most finely preserved Triceratops". Museums Victoria. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  6. ^ Convery, Stephanie (2 December 2020). "Melbourne Museum acquires world's most complete triceratops skeleton in 'immense' dinosaur deal". The Guardian.
  7. ^ Dowse, Nicola (13 January 2021). "Melbourne Museum's popular taxidermy room is closing permanently". Time Out Melbourne.
  8. ^ "About Us: IMAX Melbourne". imaxmelbourne.com.au.
  9. ^ a b "IMAX Melbourne Spaces for Hire". museumspaces.com.au.
  10. ^ Quinn, Karl (11 March 2013). "Biggest screen gets maximum upgrade". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  11. ^ "IMAX Melbourne home to the largest cinema screen on the planet". prodijee.com.
  12. ^ Dager, Nick (10 April 2021). "Strong Builds World's Largest IMAX Screen in Germany". digitalcinemareport.com. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  13. ^ Spears, Miya. "WE'RE GETTING A MAKE-OVER!". imax.com.au. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  14. ^ Unknown author, (16/11/11) Melbourne Museum wins Tourism Award
  15. ^ Unknown author, (21/11/11) Museum Victoria, , 17/04/12
  16. ^ "Melbourne Museum - Architecture Gallery - Australian Institute of Architects, The Voice of Australian Architecture". Architecture.com.au. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melbourne Museum.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Melbourne_Museum&oldid=1246477463"