Melbourne Museum facts for kids
Melbourne Museum in the Carlton Gardens
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| Established | 1854 |
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| Location | Carlton, Victoria, Australia |
| Type | Natural and cultural history museum |
| Owner | Museums Victoria |
| Public transit access | Tram routes 86, 96 |
The Melbourne Museum is a natural and cultural history museum located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. It is right next to the Royal Exhibition Building.
The museum opened in 2000. It was a project by the Government of Victoria. Museums Victoria manages the museum. In 2011, the museum won the award for Best Tourist Attraction at the Australian Tourism Awards.
Besides its main galleries, the museum has special areas. One is Curious?, where you can meet staff and learn about the museum's collections and research. There is also a cafe and a gift shop. The museum stores over 17 million items behind the scenes. These items are part of Victoria's State Collections. They include objects from Indigenous Australian and Pacific Islander cultures. You can also find items about geology, history, palaeontology, technology, and animals. The museum complex also has the world's second largest IMAX theatre screen. It shows movies and documentary films in huge 3-D.
Contents
Museum Design: A Modern Look
The Melbourne Museum is a modern building. It was designed by Denton Corker Marshall architects. The building was finished in 2001. The museum officially opened in 2000.
The building has different sections. This helps visitors find their way around easily. It feels like one big building, but also like several smaller ones. These parts fit into the Carlton Gardens landscape.
The museum lines up with the nearby Royal Exhibition Building. It also connects to Melbourne's tall city buildings. The museum's unique "sticks and blades" are a special part of its design. These are common in Denton Corker Marshall's work.
The most noticeable parts are two long, high, sloping roofs. They rise from the main entrance. This entrance faces the Royal Exhibition Building. These roofs guide visitors from the street into the museum. On the north side, another large roof rises up. It is similar in size to the Royal Exhibition Building's dome.
The Melbourne Museum is in a large public park. It is next to a famous landmark. The museum looks very different from the old-style Royal Exhibition Centre. An open plaza separates them. But they are connected underground by a car park. The museum's design uses Melbourne's city layout. It also includes the Carlton Gardens. Inside, there is a Forest Gallery. This gallery has a real forest environment. There are also outdoor paths around the building.
Museum History
Early Days: La Trobe Street (1854–2000)
The museum started small. It began at the Government Assay Office. On March 9, 1854, it opened some displays on La Trobe Street. In 1858, Prof. Frederick McCoy became the Director. He was a natural history professor at the University of Melbourne.
The Melbourne Museum was first located in the city center. It shared a block with the State Library. The nearby Museum train station was named after it. After the museum moved, the station became Melbourne Central. The State Library now uses all the space in that old building.
In the 1970s, the Victorian government focused on museums. Arts Minister Norman Lacy created a committee. This group looked at combining museums into one big complex. This idea later led to the new Melbourne Museum in Carlton. The committee also helped create a plan for all museums in Victoria.
New Home: Carlton Gardens (2000–Present)
The current Melbourne Museum is in Carlton Gardens. It is next to the Exhibition Building. This spot used to be the Melbourne Exhibition Speedway. That speedway operated from 1928 to 1936.
The museum was built in the 1990s. It was opened on October 21, 2000. The Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks, opened it. The new museum included living things in its exhibits. The main part of the new building is the Forest Gallery. This gallery shows the cool forests of eastern Victoria. The Forest Gallery has an ongoing exhibit called Forest Secrets. It explores how forests change over time.
The Melbourne Museum was a venue for Festival Melbourne 2006. This was an art festival held during the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The museum hosted exhibits like 'Common Goods: Cultures Meet Through Craft'. This project showed crafts from different Commonwealth countries. Another exhibit was 'CARVE: Indigenous carving practices'. It showed traditional carving from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. There was also a market selling local Victorian products. A cooking competition was held too. Live Games events were shown on a big screen outside.
Main Exhibits to Explore
The Melbourne Museum has many exciting exhibits. Here are some of the main ones:
- Science and Life Gallery – This part of the museum focuses on natural history.
- Dinosaur Walk – See amazing dinosaur fossils. These include Tarbosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, and Triceratops.
- 600 Million Years: Victoria Evolves – Discover prehistoric animals from Victoria. This includes creatures like Anomalocaris.
- Dynamic Earth – Learn about geology and how our planet changes.
- Bugs Alive! – See live and preserved insects and other invertebrates.
- Marine Life: Exploring our Seas – Explore the wonders of ocean life.
- A huge skeleton of a pygmy blue whale.
- Horridus – This exhibit features the most complete Triceratops fossil ever found. It opened in 2022.
- Melbourne Gallery – This gallery tells the story of Melbourne. It includes the mounted hide of the famous racehorse Phar Lap.
- The Melbourne Story – Learn about Melbourne's history. It covers from the early 1800s to today.
- Forest Gallery – Step into a living Victorian forest. You can see live birds, reptiles, and other animals here.
- Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre – This center has exhibits by and about the Aboriginal peoples of Victoria.
- Te Vainui O Pasifika Gallery – This exhibit highlights the history and boats of Pacific Islanders.
- The Pauline Gandel Children's Gallery – This area is for younger children (0 to 5 years old). It has hands-on exhibits and encourages learning through play.
- Touring Hall – This is where special international exhibits are shown. A Day In Pompeii was very popular in 2009. Other past exhibits include Dinosaurs from China.
- Public Spaces – Around the main galleries, you can find other displays. These include CSIRAC, an early Australian computer.
IMAX Melbourne: A Giant Screen Experience
IMAX Melbourne is located eight stories below the Melbourne Museum. It opened in 1998. At that time, it had the world's largest screen. The screen measured 31 by 28 meters (102 by 92 feet). Museums Victoria has owned and operated it since 2004.
In 2013, the cinema closed for a month for upgrades. A new dual 4K Laser projection system was installed. This was the only one of its kind in Australia. The sound system was also improved. The screen was made even bigger, to 32 by 23 meters (105 by 75 feet).
When IMAX Sydney was taken down in 2016, IMAX Melbourne became the largest operating IMAX screen in the world. It held this title until 2021. That's when the Traumpalast IMAX in Leonberg, Germany was completed.
Even with the new Sydney IMAX, IMAX Melbourne is still the largest IMAX in the Southern Hemisphere. It has more seats, with space for 461 people. This includes 25 special VIP seats.
Awards and Recognition
The Melbourne Museum has won many awards. It is one of Denton Corker Marshall's award-winning designs. It won the RACV Award for major tourist attraction. Over 1.4 million people visited the museum in 2010–2011.
In March 2012, the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards were held. The Melbourne Museum represented Victoria at this national event. The museum's Science and Life gallery won the Large Permanent Exhibition Award in 2010–2011. The museum has also received awards from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA). These awards recognize its important contributions to Australian architecture.
See also
- H. L. White Collection
Gallery
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Front entrance
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Children's area
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Museum hall
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Exhibition space
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CSIRAC, Australia's first digital computer
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