National Museum of Australia facts for kids
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| Established | 1980 |
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| Location | Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia () |
The National Museum of Australia is a super cool place in Canberra, Australia's capital city. It's all about telling the amazing stories of Australia's past. The museum helps us understand the important people, events, and ideas that have made Australia what it is today.
This museum was officially started in 1980. But it didn't have its own special building until March 11, 2001. That's when its custom-built home finally opened!
Inside, you can explore 50,000 years of Australia's First Peoples history. You'll also learn about European settlement since 1788. Plus, it covers big moments like when Australia became a nation and the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
The museum has some really unique items. It has the world's biggest collection of Aboriginal bark paintings and stone tools. You can also see the heart of the famous racehorse Phar Lap and the very first Holden car ever made!
The museum also creates and sends out exhibitions to other places. These shows cover all sorts of topics, from bushrangers (old-time outlaws) to surf lifesaving. The museum even publishes books and magazines. Its research team helps keep the museum a lively place for new ideas about Australia's past, present, and future.
The museum uses cool new technology to share its stories, especially with communities outside the big cities. From 2003 to 2008, it even hosted Talkback Classroom, a special forum where students could discuss politics.
You can find the museum on Acton Peninsula, right next to the Australian National University. This area on Lake Burley Griffin used to be where the Royal Canberra Hospital was. The hospital was taken down on July 13, 1997, to make way for the museum.
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What Does the Museum Look Like?
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The museum building was designed by an architect named Howard Raggatt. He based the design on the idea of knotted ropes. This is meant to show how all the different stories of Australians are tangled together. The architects wanted the building to feel like a puzzle, not just one simple story.
The building is supposed to be the center of a knot. Long "ropes" or "strips" stretch out from it. One of the most noticeable parts is a huge loop that becomes a walkway. It ends in a big curl, like a giant ribbon unrolling. This part is called the "Uluru Axis." It lines up with the famous Uluru rock in central Australia. This connection links the museum to Canberra's city plan and the spiritual heart of Indigenous Australia.
Even the main entrance hall looks like a knot that almost didn't fit inside the building. The museum isn't perfectly symmetrical. It uses surprising colors, angles, and textures. It's designed to look different from a typical museum.
The building's design uses many ideas, including:
- The idea of a "tangled vision."
- The famous painting "Blue Poles" by Jackson Pollock.
- The Aboriginal Dreamtime story of the Rainbow Serpent shaping the land.
So, the building's look suggests that Australia's story isn't just one tale, but many stories woven together. The building also has parts that remind you of other famous buildings, like the Sydney Opera House.
One interesting detail is that the museum's design includes a zigzag shape. This shape is similar to one found in the Jewish Museum Berlin in Germany. The architect, Howard Raggatt, said it was a "quotation" (a reference) rather than a copy.
The outside of the museum is covered in special anodised aluminium panels. Many of these panels have words written in braille (a system of raised dots for blind people) and other decorations. Some of the words include "mate" and "she'll be right." There were also some more sensitive messages, but these have been covered up with silver discs.
One of the braille phrases is "Resurrection city." This might refer to the old hospital being taken down to build the museum. Or it could be about bringing together Indigenous Australians and European settlers.
The museum was built by Bovis Lend Lease and finished in 2001.
Storm Damage to the Museum
On December 29, 2006, a big thunderstorm hit Canberra. It damaged the roof of the museum's office section. The ceiling fell because of the heavy hail. This caused water to flood the floor and exposed electrical wires. Some paintings for an exhibition about Australian lifesavers were also damaged.
Luckily, the main part of the museum and its collection were safe! The museum reopened to visitors just one day later. Repairs were expected to cost at least A$500,000.
New Buildings in 2012-2013
In 2012, the museum started building a new cafe and an extra office wing.
The new cafe opened in late 2012. It has great views of Lake Burley Griffin and offers both indoor and outdoor seating. Moving the cafe meant the huge entry hall could now be used to display large items from the museum's collection, like vehicles!
The new office wing connects the main museum building to the older office building. It was finished in mid-2013. This new building is covered in bright, colorful tiles that look like a QR code pattern.
What Can You See in the Collection?
The museum's collection is called the National Historical Collection. It has over 210,000 objects! The collection focuses on three main ideas:
- The culture and history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- Australian history and culture since Europeans settled in 1788.
- How people have interacted with the Australian environment.
Some cool and important objects you might see include:
- Items connected to the famous case of death of Azaria Chamberlain, including a yellow Holden Torana car.
- Bicycles owned by Australian cyclist Cadel Evans, who won the Tour de France in 2011.
- Navigational instruments used by Captain James Cook.
- Medical equipment used by eye doctor Fred Hollows.
- A Holey Dollar, which was the first type of money made in Australia.
- Netball items from star player Liz Ellis.
- Olympic medals won by swimmer John Konrads at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
- Props from the popular children's TV show Play School.
- An Australian flag found after the September 11 attacks in New York.
- The fleece (wool coat) of Chris the sheep, who became famous for having a huge amount of wool.
The museum also helps return the remains of Indigenous Australians to their home communities. These remains were often held in museums around the world. As of March 2019, over 1,400 remains have been returned.
Cool Exhibitions You Might Have Missed
The National Museum of Australia often has special exhibitions that explore Australia's land, nation, and people.
Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters
In 2017, the museum launched a special exhibition called Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters. This show was about a famous creation story of the Seven Sisters. This story is important to many Indigenous groups in Australia's Western and Central Deserts.
The exhibition was started by anangu people. It was a team effort with Aboriginal elders who are the keepers of this Dreamtime story. One amazing part was a huge painting called Yarrkalpa — Hunting Ground. It showed the area around Parnngurr in Western Australia, including the seasons and how Indigenous people manage the land. In 2022, this painting was even projected onto the Sydney Opera House during the Vivid Sydney festival!
This exhibition ran until February 2018. It then traveled to Berlin, Germany, in 2022 and is planned for Paris, France, in 2023.
Other Past Exhibitions
The museum has hosted many other interesting exhibitions, such as:
- Museum Workshop: This show looked at what happens behind the scenes to care for the museum's objects (2012-2013).
- Inside: Life in Children's Homes and Institutions: This exhibition shared the stories of people who grew up in institutional care (2011-2012).
- Not Just Ned: A true history of the Irish in Australia: This show explored the big influence of Irish people in Australia, from 1788 onwards (2011).
- Behind the Lines: This is a regular exhibition that showcases the best Australian political cartoons from the past year.
- A Fine Yarn: Innovations in Australia's Wool Industry: This exhibition looked at Australia's fine wool industry and its history (2009).
- Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye: This show told the story of a very important contemporary Indigenous artist (2008).
- Great Railway Journeys of Australia: This exhibition explored Australia's train network and famous train trips (2007).
- Miss Australia: A Nation's Quest: This show traced the history of the Miss Australia competition from 1907 to 2000 (2007).
- Between the Flags: 100 Years of Surf Lifesaving: This exhibition celebrated a century of surf lifesaving in Australia (2006-2007).
- Nation: Symbols of Australia: This exhibition explored Australian history through everyday symbols, from clotheslines to the ANZAC legend (2001-2010).
- Horizons: The Peopling of Australia since 1788: This show looked at how migration has shaped Australia (2001-2007).
Awards for Tourism
The National Museum of Australia has won some big awards! It was named Australia's Major Tourist Attraction in both 2005 and 2006. It also won the Canberra and Capital Region's Tourism Award for Major Tourist Attraction for five years in a row, from 2003 to 2007.
See also
In Spanish: Museo Nacional de Australia para niños
- HMS Investigator (1798) Anchors
- PS Enterprise, an 1878 paddle steamer owned and operated by the Museum
