24 Jan 2011New exhibition to portray the life of Heath LedgerCulture and Arts Minister John Day has announced a partnership between the Western Australian Museum and the family of Perth-born film and television star Heath Ledger to create a world-class exhibition about his life. The exhibition is in the early planning stages and the Museum is working closely with Heath Ledger’s father Kim Ledger regarding content.Read more News Western Australian Museum
17 Jan 2011New bee species discovered in ForrestdaleA new species of bee has been discovered in the outer suburb of Forrestdale by Western Australian Museum scientists. WA Museum curator of insects Dr Terry Houston and Museum volunteer Otto Mueller spotted the new species in bushland in December 2010. An authority on Australian native bees, Dr Houston said he was surprised to discover a moderately large and unusual new species of insect so close to the city. Read more News Western Australian Museum
11 Jan 2011Interview with Museum CEO Alec ColesThe following interview was taken with Alec Coles, CEO of the Western Australian Museum on 22 December 2010. The interview was taken by City of Perth and will feature on the Northbridge Piazza screen.Read more News Western Australian Museum
16 Dec 2010Catch a falling starScientists are celebrating the discovery of a second meteorite in the Western Australian desert using ‘star gazing’ cameras. The images from the cameras will reveal the space rock’s original orbit in the Solar System.Read more News
10 Dec 2010Opening our eyes to Australia's Natural HeritageAustralians will be able to help researchers protect the amazing array of plants and animals in their local area, thanks to a new online information portal. Read more News Western Australian Museum
26 Nov 2010WA Museum – Geraldton takes silver in 2010 Tourism AwardsStaff at the Western Australian Museum – Geraldton are celebrating a silver award in the 2010 WA Tourism awards, announced at the Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth on Saturday. The Museum was an entry in the Tourist Attractions, one of the most heavily contested categories. WA Museum chief executive officer Alec Coles said he was delighted with the award. Read more News Western Australian Museum
26 Nov 2010New exhibition a different take on wild womenA new exhibition that took the Goldfields by storm will open at the Western Australian Museum - Geraldton on Saturday, 4 December.Femme Fatale: The female criminal, which offers a rare insight into some of Australia’s wildest women, attracted about 10,000 visitors while on display at the WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder.Not for the faint-hearted, Femme Fatale explores criminology, the justice system, religion and myth, popular culture and case studies of some of Australia’s most notorious female criminals.Read more News Western Australian Museum
17 Nov 2010Perth Palaeontologist wins Prime Minister’s Prize A Perth palaeontologist will receive one of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science for her work in the preservation of fossilised soft tissue of ancient fish. Dr Katherine Trinajstic’s work has found muscles and internal organs of ancient fish preserved along with fossilised bones, and has led to a series of discoveries including the oldest known fossilised vertebrates with soft tissue and discovery of the ‘first womb’. Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 Nov 2010Western Australian Museum welcomes Dutch shipwreck collectionThe Western Australian Museum is to receive a significant collection of artefacts recovered from four Dutch shipwrecks found off the Western Australian coast.Until now the collections of the Zuytdorp (1712), Batavia (1629), Vergulde Draeck (1656) and the Zeewyk (1727) have been shared between the Netherlands and the Commonwealth Government as agreed under the Australian and Netherlands Committee on Old Dutch Shipwrecks (ANCODS) established in 1972.Read more News Western Australian Museum
4 Nov 2010WA Museum – Geraldton 2010 WA Tourism Award finalistsThe Western Australian Museum Geraldton is a finalist in the Tourist Attractions category of the 2010 WA Tourism Awards which were announced at events in Perth and Margaret River last week. The Tourist Attractions category is open to attractions of State importance which market primarily to intrastate and interstate visitors and significantly contribute to the tourism experience within their area. Read more News Western Australian Museum
19 Oct 2010WA Museum links web audience to remote Kimberley field workFrom today, the Western Australian Museum’s world-wide online audience will be able to follow the discoveries of its scientists and their colleagues as they work in remote locations such as the Kimberley. The first footage from a new research project along the Kimberley coast is about to go up on the WA Museum’s website this morning. The technology also enables ‘in the field’ documentaries to be created about the new research in a matter of hours after any significant research findings. WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said the project would bring little known aspects of scientific fieldwork within reach of anyone with a computer. “The remote field streaming project involves a satellite dish being set up on Cassin Island off the Kimberley coast which will beam back footage to the website,” Mr Coles said. “A team of scientists from a number of Australian museums are now in this remote part of the State to begin the next stage of an ongoing partnership with Woodside Energy that has been documenting the region’s marine biodiversity for some years now. “Normally this sort of fieldwork is inaccessible to the public and we have to wait until the scientists return to tell people about their findings.” A team member will film the work on the boats and, once a day, returning to Cassin Island to upload it to the web through the satellite link. The Woodside Four project will continue until October 28 and the daily updates will document its progress. “This means the public will be able to see the team at work on the research vessel and see what they are finding, including new discoveries.” Mr Coles said. The WA Museum is leading a team that includes scientists from the Queensland Museum, Australian Museum, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and the WA Herbarium. Woodside Four follows on from previous fieldwork last October that looked at offshore atolls over two trips, using historical data provided by the Museums involved that dates back to 1976. “The Kimberley one of the last frontiers on earth – it is truly exceptional by global standards: no-one would question the ecological importance of the Amazon rainforest and yet here in WA, just like in the Amazon, we are discovering new species every year,” Mr Coles said. “Considering the increasing pressure this region is coming under from visitors and industry, it is vital that as much as possible is known about its biodiversity and ecosystems.” Mr Coles said the achievements from the enduring partnership between Woodside and the WA Museum were impressive, with more than 6,700 marine species documented, 4,500 of which were now in the Museum's Woodside Collections and accessible to a global audience through the website. “About 90 international scientists from 25 countries have been involved in this work and the remote field streaming project would now allow the Museum and its partners to share their findings and work with a much greater audience.” To see the scientific team at work, visit: http://www.museum.wa.gov.au.Read more News Western Australian Museum
14 Oct 2010WA Museum scientists awarded for guide to State’s sea stingersTwo members of the Western Australian Museum’s scientific staff have received a commendation in this year’s prestigious 2010 Whitley Awards, which recognise outstanding publications dealing with the promotion and conservation of Australasian fauna. The authors - Marine Invertebrates Emeritus Curator Loisette Marsh, and Curator of Molluscs Shirley Slack-Smith - received the commendation for their new edition of Field Guide to Sea Stingers and other Venomous and Poisonous Marine Invertebrates of Western Australia. Read more News Western Australian Museum
21 Sep 2010School holidays announced The Western Australian Museum has announced a range of exciting school holiday programs at its six public sites. The programs and workshops will be held between 25 September 2010 and 10 October 2010. Please read below for details, or go to www.museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/school-holidays/ to see all scheduled programs. Western Australian Museum - Perth Giant sharks, gardens and tiny beetles at the WA Museum – Perth these school holidays Read more News Western Australian Museum
8 Sep 2010Record visitors prompt extended opening hours for PompeiiThe Western Australian Museum in Perth will stay open late this weekend to accommodate the unprecedented demand for A Day in Pompeii which closes on September 12, 2010. The WA Museum in Perth is extending its opening hours to 9.00pm this Friday and Saturday (September 10 and 11, 2010) and 6.00pm on Sunday (September 12, 2010), giving visitors an extended last chance to witness A Day in Pompeii before it draws to a close and heads to its next stop in Singapore.Read more News Western Australian Museum
6 Sep 2010Bunbury family helps break new record for WA MuseumA Bunbury mother has become the 100,000th visitor to A Day in Pompeii – now officially the WA Museum’s most popular exhibition!Annie Hutton and her husband Curtis packed their three children into the car and made the trip from Bunbury, specifically to see the exhibition and take in some city shopping.Read more News Western Australian Museum
25 Aug 2010'Volcano erupts' in the Perth Cultural Centre The Day in Pompeii experience starts early for evening visitors to the WA Museum – they will now be crossing a sea of ‘bubbling lava’ thanks to cinematic technology and the same techniques used in animated video games like Shrek.A unique animated display on the Museum steps will set the Perth Cultural Centre ablaze with ‘lava’, providing a new dimension to the extraordinary exhibition. Commencing this Friday (27 August 2010), the projections will appear daily from 4.00pm to 7.30pm and from 4.00pm to 9.30pm on Fridays.Read more News Western Australian Museum
23 Aug 2010August 24 anniversary of Mt Vesuvius eruption Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD and buried the ancient Roman town of Pompeii and its neighbour Herculaneum, killing about 2,000 people.The blockbuster exhibition A Day in Pompeii at the Western Australian Museum - Perth provides a vivid account of this event and WA Museum chief executive officer Alec Coles said that people booking tickets to see the exhibition tomorrow would be given a free ticket for every one purchased.Read more News Western Australian Museum
13 Aug 2010West Australians offered special rate for rare exhibition duo In the last two weeks of August a joint ticket deal is being offered for the Western Australian Museum’s A Day in Pompeii and the Art Gallery of Western Australia’s upcoming exhibition event, Peggy Guggenheim: A Collection in Venice.Joint tickets for the two exhibitions are on sale at a special discounted rate of $30.00 and can be purchased through BOCS Ticketing or at the A Day in Pompeii ticketing desk at the WA Museum.Read more News Western Australian Museum
9 Aug 2010WA Museum pays tribute to maritime enthusiastGeraldton historian Max Cramer was one of the driving forces behind the push for a suitable museum in which to house the relics from early shipwrecks off the Mid West coast.WA Museum – Geraldton advisory committee chair Malcolm Smith said Mr Cramer had been keenly interested in maritime history, particularly the history surrounding the Dutch East India Company wrecks in the Geraldton and Abrolhos areas.Read more News Western Australian Museum
2 Aug 2010Historic Samson House to come under National Trust umbrella The Western Australian Museum and the National Trust of Australia (WA) have successfully negotiated the transfer of the historic home of Fremantle’s longest serving Mayor, Sir Frederick Samson.WA Museum Chief Executive Officer Alec Coles said he was delighted that Samson House was now in the care of the Trust.“There are many benefits for Sir Frederick’s former home by placing it with the National Trust of Australia (WA) whose core business is the conservation and interpretation of historic properties,” Mr Coles said.Read more News Western Australian Museum