Queensland Museum

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Queensland Museum
Facade of Queensland Museum 02.jpg
Queensland Museum at South Brisbane
Queensland Museum
Former name
Queensland Museum
Established20 January 1862;163 years ago (1862-01-20)
Location
Coordinates 27°28′24″S153°01′06″E / 27.473412°S 153.018420°E / -27.473412; 153.018420
Collection size15,200,000+
Visitors2,000,000+ (2019) [1]
Websitemuseum.qld.gov.au

The Queensland Museum is the state museum of Queensland, funded by the Queensland Government, of natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. [2] The museum, operating under the Queensland Museum Act 1970, has custody of over 15.2 million items relating to the State's natural and cultural heritage, including those from the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Pacific Indigenous cultures. [3] : 4, 5 

Contents

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 and Elizabeth Streets, Brisbane -- (opposite Queens Gardens) The-old-State-Library-leftside.jpg
Queensland Museum — 1879–1899
cnr William and Elizabeth Streets, 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, [4] 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), [4] Parliament House (1869–1873) [4] and the General Post Office (1873–1879). [4] In 1875 alone, the museum saw over 25,500 visitors over its 310 days open to the zoological, mineralogical, ethnological, mechanical, literary, and artistic exhibitions. [5] At this time, exhibits totalled 6,027.

The government built a home for the museum in William Street, Brisbane City (later called the John Oxley State Library), with the Queensland Museum moving there in 1879. The museum occupied the William Street location for 20 years. [4]

In 1899, the Queensland Museum moved into the Exhibition Hall (now called the Old Museum), Gregory Terrace, Bowen Hills, Brisbane, remaining there for 86 years. [4]

In 1986, the Queensland Museum moved to the Queensland Cultural Centre, South Bank, where the museum is adjacent to the Queensland Art Gallery. [4] 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. A large sculpture of a cicada was located in front of the centre lift, but was removed in 2022 to make way for construction of the Brisbane Metro. [6]

In 1987, the Queensland Museum Medal was created to recognise recipients for major contributions in research and other works. [7] [8] Awardees include palaeontologist Professor Mike Archer, Professor Don Nicklin, palaeontologist Dr Mary Wade, Dr Alan Bartholomai, Steve Irwin, Dr Steve Van Dyck, Anne Jones, Sir David Attenborough, Dr John Hooper, and Professor Peter Andrews.

Curators and directors

Sites

The museum operates from its headquarters and general museum in South Brisbane ("Kurilpa") with specialist museums elsewhere in the state. [18]

A separate collections and research centre is based at Hendra. [3]

South Brisbane ("Kurilpa")

Queensland Museum Kurilpa at South Brisbane is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre complex, alongside the State Library of Queensland, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. It was opened at this site in 1986, and features several permanent exhibitions: [3] : 5 

In 2023, "Kurilpa" was added to the museum's name. [20]

Ipswich ("Rail Workshops")

Queensland Museum Rail Workshops, located in North Ipswich, was added to the network in 2002. [3] : 5  Based in its birthplace, the Workshops' exhibitions explore the evolution of Queensland Rail, with over 17 000 State Collection items. Hosting community events, the annual Day out with Thomas is popular with visitors.

Toowoomba ("Cobb+Co")

Queensland Museum Cobb+Co, located in East Toowoomba, was added to the network in 1986. [3] From the efforts of businessman Bill Bolton (1905–1973), Cobb+Co is the home of the National Carriage Collection of near fifty horse-drawn vehicles including stagecoaches.

Townsville ("Tropics")

Queensland Museum Tropics, located in the Townsville City central business district, was added to the network in 1986. [3] The exhibitions focus more on the Queensland's cultures, customs, and environments of the north, including an extensive maritime heritage collection surrounding the HMS Pandora (1779) which was wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef in 1791.

Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying

The museum opened in 1982 and is in Edward Street, Brisbane. [21] [22] In 1988 the Queensland Museum became its custodian. [23]

Exhibitions

World Science Festival Brisbane

The Queensland Museum Network holds exclusive licence to host the World Science Festival in the Asia Pacific region. [24] The inaugural World Science Festival Brisbane was held in 2016. The festival runs in March each year, based at QM Kurilpa, with regional satellite events having taken place in Toowoomba, Townsville and Chinchilla, Queensland. [25]

Changing exhibitions

The various sites host exhibitions and may rotate exhibitions between sites. Over the years these have included:

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. [31] As of November 2018, the Museum had the remains of 660 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people stored in a "secret sacred room" at the QM Kurilpa site. [32]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Queensland Museum Annual Report 2018–19". 22 August 2019. Archived from the original on 10 March 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "Queensland Museum Kurilpa". www.museum.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Annual Report 2023-24". Queensland Museum. The State of Queensland (Queensland Museum). Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  4. 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")
  5. ↑ "The Museum". The Telegraph (Brisbane) . No. 1, 042. Queensland, Australia. 7 February 1876. p. 3. Retrieved 27 August 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ Sato, Kenji; Feeney, Katherine (11 October 2024). "Brisbane's big cicada to be installed at Queen's Wharf after two years in storage". ABC News Online. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  7. ↑ "Queensland Museum Medal". Queensland Museum. The State of Queensland (Queensland Museum). Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "Museum honours for Queensland naturalist and surveyor". Media statements. The State of Queensland (Department of the Premier and Cabinet). 19 January 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  9. ↑ "Weekly epitome". The Telegraph . No. 53. Queensland, Australia. 30 November 1872. p. 2. Retrieved 24 April 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "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.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. 1 2 "The week at a glance". The Queenslander . No. 2697. Queensland, Australia. 4 May 1918. p. 10. Retrieved 27 August 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ "Queensland Museum". Daily Mail (Brisbane) . No. 4779. Queensland, Australia. 25 April 1918. p. 4. Retrieved 27 August 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  15. ↑ "Museum head to retire Dec. 31". The Courier-Mail . No. 2828. Queensland, Australia. 14 December 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 27 August 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ "New museum head". The Courier-Mail . No. 2887. Queensland, Australia. 22 February 1946. p. 2. Retrieved 27 August 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  17. ↑ "New director for museum". The Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette. Queensland, Australia. 14 February 1964. p. 7. Retrieved 27 August 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  18. ↑ "About us". Queensland Museum Network. Queensland Museum. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  19. ↑ "Mephisto". Queensland Museum. The State of Queensland (Queensland Museum). Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  20. ↑ "Board of the Queensland Museum Annual Report 2023–24" (PDF). Queensland Museum. 21 August 2024. p. 4. ISSN   1837-3089 . Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  21. ↑ "History". Queensland Museum. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  22. ↑ "Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying". www.qld.gov.au. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  23. ↑ "Museum history". Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy. Queensland Government. 13 March 2018. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  24. ↑ "World Science Festival Brisbane". World Science Festival. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  25. ↑ "New Model for Next Year's Science Festival". Arts Queensland. 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  26. ↑ "Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures". Queensland Museum. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  27. ↑ "Brisbane hosts Egyptian mummy exhibition". Tony Moore. Brisbane Times. 3 October 2011. Archived from the original on 24 November 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  28. ↑ SLOAN, Jodie (3 July 2017). "We explore the expansive exhibition Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum at Brisbane's Queensland Museum". The AU Review. Heath Media. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  29. ↑ "Queensland Museum gets mummified". Arts Queensland. The State of Queensland. March 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  30. ↑ "Discovering Ancient Egypt". Queensland Museum. The State of Queensland (Queensland Museum). Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  31. ↑ "Repatriation of Aboriginal Peoples & Torres Strait Islanders ancestral remains". Queensland Museum. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  32. ↑ 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

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