ACMI (museum) facts for kids
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| Established | 2002 |
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| Location | Federation Square, Melbourne, Australia |
| Visitors | 1,316,000 (2016) |
| Public transit access |  Flinders Street Stop 13 – Federation Square |
ACMI is Australia's national museum for everything you see on a screen! This includes movies, television shows, videogames, and digital art. Located in Federation Square in Melbourne, ACMI opened in 2002.
It's a fun place to explore how moving images are made and how they tell stories. The museum has amazing exhibitions, including a main one called The Story of the Moving Image. You can also watch movies in its cinemas, join cool events, and learn how to create your own screen content.
Contents
A Quick History of ACMI
Before ACMI existed, an organization called the State Film Centre of Victoria was started way back in 1946. Its job was to collect and show important Australian films. It even helped produce some of Australia's first TV shows in the 1950s.
In the 1990s, the government decided to create a brand-new museum for all kinds of moving images. They chose a special spot in the city called Federation Square. ACMI officially opened its doors in 2002 and quickly became a popular place for people to visit. In 2019, the museum closed for a big makeover and reopened in 2021 with fresh new spaces and exhibitions.
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Explore The Story of the Moving Image
This is ACMI's main exhibition, and it's totally free! It's a huge space packed with cool objects and fun activities that tell the story of how movies, TV, and video games came to be. You can explore the history of screen entertainment from the very beginning to what's coming next.
What You'll See
The exhibition is divided into different sections that show you how screen stories are made.
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- Moving Pictures: Discover the amazing inventions and tricks that led to the first movies.
- Moving Worlds: See real costumes, props, and storyboards from famous films and TV shows. This section shows how creators build entire worlds for their stories.
- Moving Australia: This part focuses on Australia's own screen history, including important works by First Nations artists.
- Games Lab: Play a bunch of awesome video games from both big companies and independent creators. You can learn about the history of gaming while you play!
- Moving Minds: Explore how the news, documentaries, and video art have been used to share information and ideas with the world.
Fun Things to Do
The exhibition is full of interactive experiences where you can get hands-on.
The Lens
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When you arrive, you can pick up a free device called The Lens. It's a cardboard disc that lets you "collect" your favorite objects and videos as you walk through the exhibition. Just tap it on the displays you like. When you get home, you can see everything you collected on the ACMI website!
Foley Studio
Have you ever wondered how sound effects are made for movies? In the Foley Studio, you can try it yourself! You can add sounds to scenes from classic Australian TV shows like Round the Twist using different props and objects.
Edit Line
Learn how editing can change a story. You can rearrange blocks with famous movie quotes to create your own unique video clip on a big screen.
Shadow Play
In this fun activity, you can use your body to control virtual puppets on a screen. As you move, the puppets move too, creating a cool shadow performance.
Special Exhibitions
Besides its main exhibition, ACMI also hosts special temporary exhibitions. These change throughout the year and often focus on a famous director, a movie studio, or a special type of art. Some of the most popular past exhibitions have included:
- Tim Burton: The Exhibition: A look at the spooky and creative world of the famous director.
- Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney's Classic Fairy Tales: Showcasing beautiful art from classic Disney movies.
- DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition: A behind-the-scenes look at how movies like Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon were made.
- Wallace & Gromit and Friends: Celebrating the amazing stop-motion animation of Aardman Studios.
- Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion: An exhibition about inspiring women on screen.
Watch Movies at ACMI
ACMI has two cinemas where you can watch all sorts of movies. They show new films, old classics, documentaries, and family-friendly movies. The museum also hosts many film festivals throughout the year, celebrating films from Australia and around the world.
ACMI's Collection
ACMI has a huge collection of over 250,000 items related to screen culture. This includes old films, video games, costumes, posters, and cameras. The museum's job is to protect these items so that people can enjoy and learn from them for years to come.
You can even see the collection team at work in the Blackmagic Design Media Preservation Lab. It's a special glassed-in area where experts work on saving and digitizing old films and videos.
What Was There Before?
Before the big renovation in 2019, ACMI's main exhibition was called Screen Worlds. It was a popular space that also explored the story of film, TV, and games. It had fun interactive displays, including one inspired by the movie The Matrix.
Images for kids
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Some of the games on display in the old Screen Worlds exhibition.
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The Lightwell is the large foyer space at the Flinders Street entrance of ACMI.
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