Queensland Museum

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Queensland Museum
Queensland Museum Logo.png
Facade of Queensland Museum 02.jpg
Queensland Museum at South Brisbane
Queensland Museum
Established20 January 1862;162 years ago (1862-01-20)
Location South Brisbane
Coordinates 27°28′24″S153°01′06″E / 27.473412°S 153.018420°E / -27.473412; 153.018420
Collection size1,000,000+
Visitors2,000,000+ [1]
Website www.qm.qld.gov.au

The Queensland Museum is the state museum of Queensland, dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museum in South Brisbane with specialist museums located in North Ipswich in Ipswich, East Toowoomba in Toowoomba, and in Townsville City in Townsville. [2]

Contents

The museum is funded by the Queensland Government.

History

Queensland Museum -- 1862-1869 -- The Old Windmill in Wickham Terrace (Queensland Museum's first home) The Old Windmill, Brisbane, Queensland, April 2020, 01.jpg
Queensland Museum — 1862–1869 — The Old Windmill in Wickham Terrace (Queensland Museum's first home)
Queensland Museum -- 1879-1899
cnr. William Street and Elizabeth Street, Brisbane -- (opposite Queens Gardens) The-old-State-Library-leftside.jpg
Queensland Museum — 1879–1899
cnr. William Street and Elizabeth Street, Brisbane — (opposite Queens Gardens)
Queensland Museum -- 1899-1986
the Old Museum Building in Gregory Terrace, Bowen Hills Old-Queensland-Museum.jpg
Queensland Museum — 1899–1986
the Old Museum Building in Gregory Terrace, Bowen Hills
Queensland Museum (1986-present), a part of the Queensland Cultural Centre. A pedestrian bridge, linking the museum and the Queensland Art Gallery to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, and also to lifts to platforms at the Cultural Centre Busway Station, can be seen on the right. Queensland Museum and Walkway.jpg
Queensland Museum (1986–present), a part of the Queensland Cultural Centre. A pedestrian bridge, linking the museum and the Queensland Art Gallery to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, and also to lifts to platforms at the Cultural Centre Busway Station, can be seen on the right.

The Queensland Museum was founded by the Queensland Philosophical Society on 20 January 1862, [3] one of the principal founders being Charles Coxen, and had several temporary homes in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The temporary homes included: The Old Windmill (1862–1869), [3] Parliament House (1869–1873) [3] and the General Post Office (1873–1879). [3]

The Queensland Government built a home for the museum in William Street (later called the John Oxley State Library), with Queensland Museum moving there in 1879. The museum occupied the William Street location for 20 years. [3]

In 1899, the Queensland Museum moved into the Exhibition Hall (now called the Old Museum), on Gregory Terrace in the Brisbane suburb of Bowen Hills, remaining there for 86 years. [3]

In 1986, the Queensland Museum moved to the Queensland Cultural Centre at South Bank, where the museum is adjacent to the Queensland Art Gallery. [3] Both a tunnel and pedestrian bridge connect the Museum and Art Gallery buildings with the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Three lifts were added to the bridge in 2004 to provide access to the platforms of the Cultural Centre busway station. There is a large sculpture of a Cicada in front of the centre lift.[ citation needed ]

Curators and directors

Museum Network

The Queensland Museum Network now operates at a number of locations.

Queensland Museum

Queensland Museum is located at South Brisbane in the Queensland Cultural Centre alongside the State Library of Queensland, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

Queensland Museum connects visitors to Queensland, its people and their stories of the past, present and future.

Popular exhibitions include travelling shows from Australia and around the world as well as exhibitions revealing the story of Queensland, including its prehistoric past, the cultures of Queensland's Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders and exhibitions revealing Queensland's unique biodiversity.

The museum is also a research facility in the fields of biodiversity, geoscience and cultural history.

Queensland Museum is home to SparkLab, which offers hands-on, interactive activities for kids and grown-ups alike that reveal the science behind our everyday lives.

Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying

The Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying opened in 1982 and is at 317 Edward Street, Brisbane. [8] [9]

Workshops Rail Museum

The Workshops Rail Museum opened in August 2002 and is housed in the North Ipswich Railway Workshops. The collection includes 15 items of rolling stock and thousands of smaller items. Some operational steam locomotives from the Queensland Rail Heritage Fleet are often placed on display within the museum when not required for main line use.

Cobb & Co Museum

In 1987, when the Queensland Museum required more room to display its horse-drawn coaches and carriages, the museum opened its Cobb & Co Museum campus in Toowoomba, Queensland.

Cobb+Co Museum is home to the National Carriage Collection. The museum's collection includes examples of a vast range of vehicles from the horse-drawn era, from farm wagons and delivery carts to the Rolls-Royce of Carriages, the landau.

Cobb+Co Museum run a heritage workshops program. Workshops include blacksmithing, silversmithing, leadlighting and leatherwork.

Museum of Tropical Queensland

The Museum of Tropical Queensland is located in Townsville. The star attraction is the HMS Pandora gallery. Sent to catch the famous HMS Bounty and her mutinous crew, the Pandora sank off the coast of Cape York in 1791. Hundreds of artefacts have been recovered from the wreck and are on display.

The most popular area for kids is the MindZone, an interactive science centre. Other galleries celebrate the rainforest, corals and marine creatures from the deep sea and fossil past.

World Science Festival Brisbane

The Queensland Museum Network holds exclusive licence to host the World Science Festival in the Asia Pacific region. [10] The inaugural World Science Festival Brisbane was held in 2016. The festival runs in March each year, based in Brisbane, with regional satellite events taking place in Toowoomba, Townsville and Chinchilla, Queensland.[ citation needed ]

Special exhibitions

Queensland Museum Medal

The first Queensland Museum Medal was awarded in 1987. Recipients of the Queensland Museum Medal for research include:

Repatriation of human remains and objects

The Museum's program of returning and reburying ancestral remains and cultural property belonging to Indigenous Australians, which had been collected by the museum between 1870 and 1970, has been under way since the 1970s. [14] As of November 2018, the museum had the remains of 660 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people stored in their "secret sacred room" on the fifth floor. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensland</span> North-eastern state of Australia

Queensland is a state situated in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous of the Australian states. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and the Pacific Ocean; to its north is the Torres Strait, separating the Australian mainland from Papua New Guinea, and the Gulf of Carpentaria to the north-west. With an area of 1,852,642 square kilometres (715,309 sq mi), Queensland is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity; it is larger than all but 15 countries. Due to its size, Queensland's geographical features and climates are diverse, including tropical rainforests, rivers, coral reefs, mountain ranges and sandy beaches in its tropical and sub-tropical coastal regions, as well as deserts and savanna in the semi-arid and desert climatic regions of its interior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townsville</span> City in Queensland, Australia

Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 179,011 as of the 2021 census, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Townsville hosts a significant number of governmental, community and major business administrative offices for the northern half of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toowoomba</span> City in Queensland, Australia

Toowoomba is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is 125 km (78 mi) west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 census was 142,163, having grown at an average annual rate of 1.45% over the previous two decades. Toowoomba is the second-most-populous inland city in the country after the nation's capital of Canberra, and hence the largest city on the Darling Downs. It is the second largest regional centre in Queensland, often referred to as the capital of the Darling Downs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Southern Queensland</span> University in Australia

The University of Southern Queensland is a medium-sized, regional university based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, with three university campuses at Toowoomba, Springfield and Ipswich. It offers courses in law, health, engineering, surveying and built environment, the sciences, business, education, and the arts. The institution was established in 1969 as the Darling Downs campus of the Queensland Institute of Technology. In 1970, the institution had provided studying programs for rural Queensland and international communities. In 1971, it became the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education, then the University College of Southern Queensland in 1990 and finally the University of Southern Queensland in 1992. It operates three research institutes and seven research centres which focus on a wide range of business, agricultural, scientific, environmental, and technological issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Queensland University</span> Public university in Australia

Central Queensland University is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus is at Norman Gardens in Rockhampton, however, it also has campuses in Adelaide (Wayville), Brisbane, Bundaberg (Branyan), Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Melbourne, Noosa, Perth, Rockhampton City, Sydney and Townsville. CQUniversity also partners with university centres in several regional areas across Australia.

The Cobb & Co Museum is at 27 Lindsay Street, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensland Cultural Centre</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

The Queensland Cultural Centre is a heritage-listed cultural center on Grey Street, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of the South Bank precinct on the Brisbane River and was built from 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Bank, Queensland</span> Precinct of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

South Bank is a cultural, social, educational and recreational precinct in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The precinct is located in the suburb of South Brisbane, on the southern bank of the Brisbane River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regions of Queensland</span>

The Regions of Queensland refer to the geographic areas of the Australian state of Queensland. Due to its large size and decentralised population, the state is often divided into regions for statistical and administrative purposes. Each region varies somewhat in terms of its economy, population, climate, geography, flora and fauna. Cultural and official perceptions and definitions of the various regions differ somewhat depending on the government agency or popular group by which they are being applied.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Brisbane</span> Overview of the culture of Brisbane (Australia)

The culture of Brisbane derives from Australian culture and incorporates a strong history in the performing arts, music and sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum of Tropical Queensland</span>

Queensland Museum Tropics is located in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Queensland Museum Tropics delivers a snapshot of North Queensland with galleries telling the stories of World Heritage-listed rainforests, reefs and the tragic tale of HMS Pandora, the ship sent to capture the Bounty mutineers.

Kevin John Gilbert was an Aboriginal Australian author, activist, artist, poet, playwright and printmaker. A Wiradjuri man, Gilbert was born on the banks of the Lachlan River in New South Wales. Gilbert was the first Aboriginal playwright and printmaker. He was an active human rights defender and was involved in the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972 as well as various protests to advocate for Aboriginal Australian sovereignty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archibald Meston</span> Australian politician

Archibald Meston was an Australian politician, civil servant, journalist, naturalist and explorer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensland BB18¼ class locomotive</span>

The Queensland Railways BB18¼ class locomotive was a class of 4-6-2 steam locomotives operated by the Queensland Railways.

Frederick William Doolan Jnr, also known as Billy Doo, is an Australian Indigenous artist who lives in Townsville, Queensland but does most of his current artwork in Melbourne, Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Challinor</span> Australian politician

Henry Challinor was a physician and politician in the Colony of Queensland.

Carol McGregor is an Indigenous Australian artist of Wathaurung (Victoria) and Scottish descent, internationally known for her multi media installation pieces bringing together ephemeral natural fibres, metal, and paper. She is also deeply engaged in the creation of and cultural reconnection to possum skin cloaks, a traditional form of dress and important biographical cultural item.

Alan Bartholomai AM (1938-2015) was a geologist and palaeontologist, and Director of the Queensland Museum from 1969-1999.

Shirley Anne Macnamara is an Australian Indigenous artist from the Indjilanji/Alyewarre language group of North West Queensland best known for her woven spinifex sculptures.

Gail Mabo is an Australian visual artist who has had her work exhibited across Australia. She is the daughter of land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo and educator and activist Bonita Mabo. She was formerly a dancer and choreographer.

References

  1. "QUEENSLAND MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19". 22 August 2019. Archived from the original on 10 March 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  2. "About us". Queensland Museum Network. Queensland Museum. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "A Time for a Museum — The History of the Queensland Museum — 1862 to 1986", Patricia Mather, published by the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 2001 (originally published as "Volume 24" of "The Memoirs of the Queensland Museum")
  4. "WEEKLY EPITOME". The Telegraph . No. 53. Queensland, Australia. 30 November 1872. p. 2. Retrieved 24 April 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  5. "DEPARTURE OF DR. HAMLYN-HARRIS". Darling Downs Gazette . Vol. LIII, no. 9130. Queensland, Australia. 30 September 1910. p. 4. Retrieved 24 April 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  6. "Director of the Museum". The Brisbane Courier . No. 16, 449. Queensland, Australia. 30 September 1910. p. 4. Retrieved 24 April 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  7. Gill JCH (1986). 'Longman, Albert Heber (1880–1954)'. In: Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol.10. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  8. "History". Queensland Museum. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  9. "Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying". www.qld.gov.au. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  10. "World Science Festival Brisbane". World Science Festival. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  11. "Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures". Queensland Museum. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  12. "Brisbane hosts Egyptian mummy exhibition". Tony Moore. Brisbane Times. 3 October 2011. Archived from the original on 24 November 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  13. "2012 Queensland Museum Medal". Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  14. "Repatriation of Aboriginal Peoples & Torres Strait Islanders ancestral remains". Queensland Museum. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  15. Stockwell, Stephen (14 November 2018). "The quest to remove Aboriginal remains from museums". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Triple J Hack. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.

Bibliography