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The Melbourne Museum is a natural and cultural history
museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
located in the
Carlton Gardens The Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, in Melbourne, Australia. A popular picnic and barbecue area, the heritage-listed Carlton Gardens are home t ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Located adjacent to the
Royal Exhibition Building The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage-listed building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1879–1880 as part of the international exhibition movement, which presented over 50 exhibitions between 1851 and 1915 around the glo ...
, the museum was opened in 2000 as a project of the
Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...
, on behalf of
Museums Victoria Museums Victoria is an organisation which operates three major state-owned museums in Melbourne, Victoria: the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum. It also manages the Royal Exhibition Building and a storage facil ...
which administers the venue. The museum won Best Tourist Attraction at the Australian Tourism Awards in 2011. In addition to its galleries, the museum features spaces such as ''Curious?'', which is a place to meet staff and find answers relating to the collections, research, and behind-the-scenes work of
Museums Victoria Museums Victoria is an organisation which operates three major state-owned museums in Melbourne, Victoria: the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum. It also manages the Royal Exhibition Building and a storage facil ...
; as well as a cafe and a gift shop. The back-of-house area houses some of the Victoria's State Collections, which holds over 17 million items, including objects relating to
Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
and
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
cultures, geology, historical studies,
palaeontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
, technology and society, and zoology, as well as a library collection that holds 18th and 19th century scientific monographs and serials. The world's largest
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...
theatre screen, which is also part of the museum complex, shows movies and
documentary films A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
in large-screen 3-D format.


Architecture

The Melbourne Museum is a post-modernist building designed by
Denton Corker Marshall Denton Corker Marshall is an international architecture practice based in Melbourne, Australia. History Denton Corker Marshall was established in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1972. It was founded by architects John Denton, Bill Corker, and Barrie ...
architects. Construction at the current address was managed by
Baulderstone Hornibrook Baulderstone, formerly Baulderstone Hornibrook, was an Australian construction company. History MR Hornibrook In 1926, Manuel Hornibrook founded a construction company in Brisbane. Amongst its notable projects were the Story Bridge and William Jo ...
and completed in 2001, with the museum's official opening in 2000. 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. The museum is axially aligned with the adjacent
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
Royal Exhibition Building The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage-listed building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1879–1880 as part of the international exhibition movement, which presented over 50 exhibitions between 1851 and 1915 around the glo ...
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 are 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. 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


1854–2000: La Trobe Street

The museum had its earliest beginnings in the Government Assay Office, which on 9 March 1854, opened some displays in
La Trobe Street La Trobe Street (also Latrobe Street) is a major street and thoroughfare in the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly east–west and forms the northern boundary of Melbourne's central business district. The street wa ...
. In 1858,
Prof. Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
Frederick McCoy Sir Frederick McCoy (1817 – 13 May 1899), was an Irish palaeontologist, zoologist, and museum administrator, active in Australia. He is noted for founding the Botanic Garden of the University of Melbourne in 1856. Early life McCoy was the so ...
(
Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
Frederick from 1891), who was a professor of natural history at the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
, was appointed Director of the National Museum. Melbourne Museum was originally located (along with the
State Library A national library is established by the government of a nation to serve as the pre-eminent repository of information for that country. Unlike public libraries, they rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuab ...
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 The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...
site on
St Kilda Road St Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004, and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city. St Kilda Road begins at Flinders Street, in ...
. The period in which the Victorian government was led by
Rupert Hamer Sir Rupert James Hamer, (29 July 1916 – 23 March 2004), generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer, was an Australian Liberal Party politician who served as the 39th Premier of Victoria from 1972 to 1981. Early years Hamer ...
(1972–1981) was one of policy development for museums in Victoria. Hamer's Arts Minister
Norman Lacy Norman Henry Lacy (born 25 October 1941) is a former Australian politician, who was a Victorian Government Minister from May 1979 to April 1982 who grew up in Richmond, Victoria and three times represented his state at national under age basket ...
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 Victori

Lacy also began the establishment of the
Heide Museum of Modern Art The Heide Museum of Modern Art, also known as Heide, is an art museum in Bulleen, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1981, the museum houses modern and contemporary art across three distinct exhibition buildings and is set ...
with the acquisition of the property Heide II (in
Bulleen Bulleen ( ) is an eastern suburb in Melbourne, Australia, 13 km north-east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Bulleen recorded a population of 11,219 at the 2021 census. ...
, 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 Histor

at the Old Treasury Building, Melbourne, 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

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 The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...
,
Steve Bracks Stephen Phillip Bracks (born 15 October 1954) is a former Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Labor Party and was party leader and premier from 1999 ...
. The new Melbourne Museum included some living organisms within the galleries. The centerpiece 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 The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...
, which was held in Melbourne. Among the exhibitions held in the museum were 'Common Goods:Cultures Meet Through Craft', which featured crafts made by artists from various
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
countries and 'CARVE:Indigenous carving practices', a series of demonstrations of traditional indigenous carving practices and techniques from Australia,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. 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

The main exhibits include: * Science and Life Gallery – the museum's natural history wing :* ''Dinosaur Walk'' – features fossil mounts including: ''
Tarbosaurus ''Tarbosaurus'' ( ; meaning "alarming lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that flourished in Asia about 70 million years ago, at the end of the Late Cretaceous Period, considered to contain a single known species, ''Tarbosaurus bataa ...
'', ''
Mamenchisaurus ''Mamenchisaurus'' (or spelling pronunciation ) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known for their remarkably long necks which made up nearly half the total body length. Numerous species have been assigned to the genus; however, many of these might ...
'', ''
Tsintaosaurus ''Tsintaosaurus'' (; meaning "Qingdao lizard", after the old transliteration "Tsingtao") is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur from China. It was about long and weighed . The type species is ''Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus'', first described by Chine ...
'', ''
Deinonychus ''Deinonychus'' ( ; ) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur with one described species, ''Deinonychus antirrhopus''. This species, which could grow up to long, lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million ye ...
'', ''
Pteranodon ''Pteranodon'' (); from Ancient Greek (''pteron'', "wing") and (''anodon'', "toothless") is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of . They lived during the late Cr ...
'', ''
Gallimimus ''Gallimimus'' ( ) is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous period, about seventy million years ago (mya). Several fossils in various stages of growth were discovered by Polish-Mongolian exped ...
'', ''
Hypsilophodon ''Hypsilophodon'' (; meaning "''Hypsilophus''-tooth") is a neornithischian dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous period of England. It has traditionally been considered an early member of the group Ornithopoda, but recent research has put this ...
'', ''
Protoceratops ''Protoceratops'' (; ) is a genus of small protoceratopsid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, around 75 to 71 million years ago. The genus ''Protoceratops'' includes two species: ''P. andrewsi'' and the larger ''P. hellenik ...
'', ''
Megalania Megalania (''Varanus priscus'') is an extinct species of giant monitor lizard, part of the megafaunal assemblage that inhabited Australia during the Pleistocene. It is the largest terrestrial lizard known to have existed, reaching an estimated ...
'', ''
Diprotodon ''Diprotodon'' (Ancient Greek: "two protruding front teeth") is an extinct genus of marsupial from the Pleistocene of Australia, containing one species, ''D. optatum''. The earliest finds date to 1.77 million to 780,000 years ago, but most speci ...
'', ''
Genyornis ''Genyornis newtoni'', also known as thunder bird and mihirung paringmal (meaning "giant bird"), is an extinct species of large, flightless bird that lived in Australia during the Pleistocene epoch until around 50,000 years ago. Over two met ...
'' :* ''600 Million Years: Victoria Evolves'' – more prehistoric animals, all native to Victoria, such as ''
Anomalocaris ''Anomalocaris'' ("unlike other shrimp", or "abnormal shrimp") is an extinct genus of Radiodonta, radiodont, an Order (biology), order of early-diverging stem-group arthropods. The first fossils of ''Anomalocaris'' were discovered in the ''Ogygop ...
'' and ''
Muttaburrasaurus ''Muttaburrasaurus'' was a genus of herbivorous iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur, which lived in what is now northeastern Australia sometime between 110 and 103 million years agoHoltz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-D ...
'' (opened 2010) :* ''Dynamic Earth'' – geology :* ''Bugs Alive!'' – live and preserved invertebrate displays (opened 2004) :* ''Marine Life: Exploring our Seas'' – marine biology :* A large skeleton of a
pygmy blue whale The pygmy blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda'') is a subspecies of the blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') found in the Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean. Reaching lengths of up to 24 metres (79 ft) it is small ...
:* ''Wild: Amazing Animals in a Changing World'' – Taxidermy gallery (open 2009–2021). In 2012, the website ''Bad Taxidermy'' featured a
giant otter The giant otter or giant river otter (''Pteronura brasiliensis'') is a South American carnivorous mammal. It is the longest member of the weasel family, Mustelidae, a globally successful group of predators, reaching up to . Atypical of musteli ...
specimen in it, which brought it much fame, the museum then selling plush toys of it. :* ''Horridus'' – Includes the most complete known specimen of ''
Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivore, herbivorous Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsidae, ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 m ...
'' (opened 2022). The exhibit occupies the space held by ''Wild'', which closed on January 26, 2021, with the specimens going back into storage for maintenance. :* Evolution Gallery – Featured the exhibition 'Darwin to DNA'. This gallery closed in 2021 to make way for the ''Horridus'' exhibition. * Melbourne Gallery – includes the mounted hide of champion racehorse
Phar Lap Phar Lap (4 October 1926 – 5 April 1932) was a champion New Zealand–bred Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as New Zealand's greatest racehorse ever. Achieving incredible success during his distinguished career, his initial ...
* 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 Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of Victoria * Te Vainui O Pasifika Gallery – an exhibition which highlights the history and watercraft of Pacific Islanders * The
Pauline Gandel Pauline Gandel is an Australian philanthropist. She is known as the "matriarch" of the billionaire Gandel family, who own a number of shopping centres. She began her charity work by running an op shop at Chadstone Shopping Centre for Jewish Museu ...
Children's Gallery – hands-on exhibits and learning through play aimed at 0 to 5 year olds * Touring Hall – is where international touring exhibitions are displayed. ''A Day In Pompeii'' which was on display at Melbourne Museum from 26 June to 25 October 2009 was Melbourne Museum's most popular temporary exhibition. Past Touring Hall exhibitions include ''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). * Public spaces – outside the main galleries are various displays relating to Victoria's and Australia's history, including
CSIRAC CSIRAC (; ''Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Automatic Computer''), originally known as CSIR Mk 1, was Australia's first digital computer, and the fifth stored program computer in the world. It is the oldest surviving first-gene ...
(an early computer built in Australia)


IMAX Melbourne

Located eight-storeys beneath Melbourne Museum, IMAX Melbourne opened in 1998 with the world's largest screen measuring . 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 . 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. Once the new Sydney IMAX is completed, it will become the largest screen in the Southern Hemisphere, however IMAX Melbourne will remain the largest IMAX in the Southern Hemisphere by capacity, with seating for 461 patrons (including seating for 25 Premium VIPs) verses 430 seats in Sydney.


Awards

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. Melbourne Museum's Science and Life gallery was honoured with the Large Permanent Exhibition Award during 2010–2011. They have also received awards from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) for their contributions to Australian architecture.


See also

* H. L. White Collection


Gallery

Image:Melbourne Museum (Modern Architecture).jpg, Front entrance File:Childrens area Melbourne Museum 2012.JPG, Children's area Image:Melbourne Museum interior.jpg, Museum hall Image:melb_museum.jpg, Exhibition space Image:CSIRAC-Pano,-Melb.-Museum,-12.8.2008.jpg, CSIRAC, Australia's first digital computer


References


External links


Denton Corker Marshall Architects

Australian Institute of Architects

RACV Tourism Awards

Melbourne Museum



Melbourne Food and Wine during the 2006 Commonwealth Games


{{Authority control Museums in Melbourne IMAX venues Natural history museums in Australia Museums established in 2000 1854 establishments in Australia Tourist attractions in Victoria (Australia) Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)