When we last lived in Australia, the National Museum of Australia hadn't really been properly launched... in fact, it was still a point of multiple controversies... from the construction phase, where an accident killed a child during the implosion of the previous building on the site, to the controversial design of the building that was "at odds" with the national monuments surrounding Lake Burley Griffon... through to the actual launch, where there was a bit of a cultural war on what was to be exhibited and what stories were to be told.
However, over time, I think the objections to the design and content have passed and it is now accepted as a national treasure and monument alongside the rest of the older style monuments and national buildings that line our capital.
Coming in from the carpark is the favourite of all kids... this wavelike mirror wall. What is it about distorted vision that drives kids nuts?
For the adults, the interest starts early... with the garden being full of labelled native plants, that really start to give you ideas about what to plant in your garden that gets away from the European-centric that tend not to survive well in the Australian extremes of weather. I mean, shouldn't you plant the things that have survived and evolved for millennia in the same location instead of trying import and fight a losing battle keeping plants from the other side of the planet alive?
As we enter the large atrium area... which tends to be a holding pen on the weekdays for large school groups, we already see that this is not really a normal museum. It is a museum that is devoted to telling the cultural stories and lifestyles of ALL of Australia... from the contemporary, indigenous, and the colonial. All aspects are displayed and told... and the intiial problem was that this approach to storytelling was a deviation from the regular stuffy museum exhibits of dead artifacts, academic scripts, and a highly biased perspective.
Actually, I could stand in the atrium for ever! It has such an interesting sense of space, and despite lots of groups in the area... it never sounded hideously loud!
I wonder if they do concerts here? Speaking of which, there is a very very nice cafe here if you are interested in having a pitstop in the middle of the day... or just looking to have a quiet coffee with a picturesque view that is just far enough away from the town to stop large crowds visiting.
Yes, every museum has to have a dinosaur... even this one!
But from this point, I will leave off the narration as I show off the various photos that show off the main collection. What was really interesting was that each area had a sort of loose "theme", which really allowed multiple narratives and viewpoints to come into their own. For instance, the disasters exhibits had the contemporary and colonial historical artifacts of fires, from old newspaper clippings through to melted phone booths.... video accounts of survivors and all of that... all tied in with First Nations stories and techniques about how they handled land and fire management before settlement.
This would all be tied in with contemporary "artifacts" that all had a interesting but very personal story behind them... sometimes mundane things like tea pots or a soft toy... but the realisation was that it wasn't the object that made it an artifact and an important piece of history, but the story and history that was tied to the physical form.
This is a great museum to visit both as an adult or a kid... there is so much to see and learn, and it is all presented in a captivating and engaging manner. Just leave your cultural warrior persona at home, and be prepared to learn about viewpoints that are far divorced from your own! After all, this is what museums are supposed to be for... not just a celebration of a nationalistic identity that not all subscribe to (and if you know your history, that sort of thing was a late 19th century form of government control to help with military conscription...).
