The Western Australian Museum is WA’s most exciting cultural asset and includes six museums around the state showcasing hundreds of exhibitions and events every year. Three museums are in Perth including flagship Boola Bardip in the Perth Cultural Centre precinct and WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle – along with sites in Albany, Geraldton, and Kalgoorlie.
The WA Museum Boola Bardip is Western Australia’s award-winning cultural attraction which takes visitors on a spectacular journey through Western Australia's people and places. No matter your age, ability, ethnicity, or interest, Boola Bardip will engage, inform, challenge and inspire all who wander through its stunning permanent exhibitions filled with ancient fossils, life-sized models of dinosaurs and the famous blue whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling. Enjoy everything from bespoke behind-the-scenes experiences (pre-booking required), listening to live music at a special exhibition after-hours bar, or immersing yourself in Aboriginal/Nyoongar culture through song and yarns at the free Nyumbi performance available every Saturday.
The WA Maritime Museum is one of Perth’s top attractions and sits right next door to the popular Gage Roads bar with a massive playground for kids. Standing exhibitions include The Parry Endeavour, the yacht that took solo yachtsman Jon Sanders three times around the globe, and The Australia II, the racing yacht that won the America’s Cup from the United States in 1983. You can also get inside the Oberon Class Submarine HMAS Ovens, an authentic Cold War-era vessel, or visit the ‘Down Under Gallery’ which replicates walking on the ocean floor and seeing some of the rarest marine specimens.
Housed in one of Fremantle’s original buildings, the WA Shipwrecks Museum has some great standing exhibitions, showcasing 100 years of Dutch exploration and the restored remains of the massive VOC ship Batavia. The Batavia is the most famous of the WA shipwrecks and a highlight for kids.
There are three museums in regional WA. The Museum of Geraldton includes a sequence of 3D films installation that mimics exploring the wrecks of HMAS Sydney (II) and HSK Kormoran, which currently lie 2,500m deep off the WA coast. There’s also the shipwrecks gallery featuring artefacts from four local Dutch shipwrecks and the Mid-West Gallery, which explores natural and social history through fossils plus prehistoric artifacts and tales from the local Yamaji people.
The Museum of the Goldfields in Kalgoorlie showcases the region’s mining heritage and in the underground vault, includes the largest display of gold bars and nuggets in WA. You can also explore the museum grounds and ethnobotanic garden, the authentic miner’s cottage and heritage-listed British Arms Hotel, which houses a reconstruction of an Edwardian dental surgery, high-class parlor and Union Banner Display.
The Great Southern Museum is best known for the replica of the 1826 Brig Amity. The Eclipse Building houses long-term exhibition collections, such as the Lighthouse Exhibition, Fishing Collection and the Fish Wall, but the showpiece is the Eclipse Island Optic, consisting of three-metre-high glass lenses rotating silently on a bed of mercury and lighting up the building. There’s also an old one-room, one-teacher school room and the discovery centre, which hosts a range of interactive, hands-on programs for all ages.
Images by Luke Riley Creative
For a complete guide to exhibitions and events, visit the WA Museum website.