Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
comprehensive collection of
Aboriginal art in the country.
The
Australian Museum
has
displays ranging from rocks
and minerals, birds and insects
to the permanent indigenous
exhibition. In its community
access space, it also presents
performances that celebrate
Aboriginal culture.
The First Australians exhibit
at the
Australian National
Maritime Museum
includes
audio and video material, with
traditional tools made by
Aboriginal communities.
The
Museum of Sydney
uses images, artifacts and oral
histories to evoke the life of
the Eora, the indigenous
people of the Sydney region,
up to the years of first contact
with the European colonists.
The Georgian-style front bedroom in the cottage at Elizabeth Farm
unearthed relics from that
building, some of which are
visible under windows at the
entrance to the museum.
Susannah Place Museum
looks at working-class life in
the 19th century.
Cadman's
Cottage
, also in The Rocks, is
a simple stone dwelling dating
from 1816 and the city's oldest
extant building. Adjacent is the
Sailors' Home
, built in 1864
as lodgings for visiting sailors.
It now houses
permanent exhibitions
detailing the area's
architectural, archaeo-
logical and social
heritage. The important
role of gold in the
history of Australia and
how it determined
patterns of migration
and expansion
are shown at the
Powerhouse Museum.
Hyde Park Barracks
Museum
evokes the
often brutal lives and
times of the convicts who were
housed there in the early 19th
century, while not neglecting
its other place in history as an
immigration depot.
SPECIALIST MUSEUMS
Author May Gibbs' home on
the harbour,
Nutcote
, has
been refurbished in the style
of the 1930s. The
Justice and
Police Museum
examines a far
less comfortable history,
investigating Australian crime
and punishment, while the
Westpac Museum
traces local
financial transactions from first
coins through to credit cards.
Experiences of Jewish migrants
to Australia and the story of the
Holocaust are examined at
the
Sydney Jewish Museum
.
COLONIAL HISTORY
The superb interior of
Elizabeth Bay House
has been
furnished to show early
colonial life at its most elegant,
but while at first the
house may appear to
celebrate a success
story, the enormous
cost of its construction
brought bankruptcy to
its owner. Also built in
grand style,
Vaucluse
House
celebrates the
life and times of WC
Wentworth, explorer
and politician.
Experiment Farm
Cottage, Hambledon
Cottage and
Elizabeth Farm
in and
around Parramatta are
testament to the crucial role
of agriculture in the survival
of a colony that was brought
to the brink of starvation. The
former has been restored as a
gentleman's cottage of the
mid-19th century, while the
latter two have been
furnished to the period of
1820-50. Parramatta's
Old
Government House
was once
the vice-regal “inland”
residence when Parramatta had
more people than Sydney. The
colonial furniture on display
predates 1855.
The
Museum of Sydney
is
built on the site of the first
Government House, close to
Sydney Cove. On display are
FINDING THE
MUSEUMS AND
GALLERIES
Art Gallery of NSW
pp108-11
Australian Museum
pp88-9
Australian National Maritime
Museum
pp94-5
Brett Whiteley Studio
p130
Cadman's Cottage
p68
Elizabeth Bay House
p120
Elizabeth Farm
pp138-9
Experiment Farm Cottage
p139
Hambledon Cottage
p139
Hyde Park Barracks Museum
pp114-15
Justice and Police Museum
p72
Museum of Contemporary Art
p73
Museum of Sydney
p85
Nutcote
pp132-3
Old Government House
p139
Powerhouse Museum
pp100-
101
S.H. Ervin Gallery, National Trust
Centre
p73
Susannah Place Museum
p67
Sydney Jewish Museum
p121
Vaucluse House
p136
Westpac Museum
p68
Water dip
at Experiment
Farm Cottage
Side view of the veranda at
Elizabeth Farm, near Parramatta
