10 May 2010Explore the past with National Archaeology Week at the WA MuseumThe WA Museum – Maritime, the WA Museum – Shipwreck Galleries and the WA Museum - Albany are offering an exciting selection of archaeological events for budding adventurers to celebrate National Archaeology Week from the 17th – 23rd May.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Changes to opening hours at the Western Australian MuseumAs of Wednesday August 5, 2009 the Western Australian Museum will begin operating on a six-day week with all seven public sites. As with all the State's government agencies, the Museum faces a difficult financial climate, including tight public sector fiscal policies as well as pressure on its private funding partners.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Fremantle History Museum ClosureOn July 31, 2009, the Fremantle History Museum closed and the objects and artefacts on display moved to the WA Museum's Welshpool collections and research centre for assessment and curatorial conservation work. Following this work, the objects relevant to the Fremantle region will be relocated for exhibition in the WA Museum’s two other sites in the area, WA Museum Shipwrecks and WA Museum – Maritime.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Edward Burtynsky's Minescapes available nowAustralian Minescapes features a series of compelling and tactile large scale photographs of Australian mine sites taken from the air. From this perspective – through the eye of a master photographer – what some see as scars upon the landscape become extraordinary images of beauty and sensuality. This sumptuous, large format, casebound book also features a series of accessible and insightful essays on Burtynsky’s work, on photography and Australian landscape and art. These writers and critics include Ric Spencer, Michael Mitchell, Helen Ennis and Alasdair Foster.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Mr Ken Colbung, Fellow of the Western Australian MuseumMr Ken Colbung, MBE, JP, AM has been appointed as a Fellow of the Western Australian Museum. Mr Tim Unger, Chair of the Board of Trustees expressed the Board’s pleasure at this appointment that acknowledges Mr Colbung’s long-standing commitment to Aboriginal heritage values, and the assistance he has provided to the Western Australian Museum. Mr Colbung is a foundation member of the WA Museum Aboriginal Advisory Committee and for over 30 years he has guided the Museum in its representations of Aboriginal issues to the Western Australian public.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Museum exhibition to celebrate people who shaped KalgoorlieThe Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie Boulder is marking the 20th anniversary of its new museum building with the opening of an exhibition about iconic people who have helped make the Goldfields what it is today. In Kalgoorlie today to launch the exhibition Diggers, dealers and doers – 20 people who made Kalgoorlie great, Culture and the Arts Minister John Day said the exhibition featured 20 stories of individuals who had lived, worked and changed Kalgoorlie over the past 116 years.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010WA Museum special opening to honour our heroes Victoria Cross medals from Gallipoli on displayThe Western Australian Museum – Perth will open specially this ANZAC Day, Sunday 25 April, from 1.00pm to 5.00pm and on the ANZAC Day public holiday, Monday 26 April from 9.30am – 5.00pm, so that people can visit the exhibition This company of brave men; the Gallipoli VCs. Chief Executive Officer of the WA Museum Alec Coles said it was important for the Museum to be open on ANZAC Day so visitors attending the parade and services could also visit the Museum to see first hand the extraordinary stories associated with the nine Gallipoli Victoria Cross medals.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Earthquake rattled collections assessed by conservation experts Conservation staff from the Western Australian Museum will be in Kalgoorlie-Boulder this Thursday, April 29 to provide advice to local heritage organisations on collections that were damaged in last week’s earthquake. Ulli Broeze-Hoernemann and Richard Garcia will be running a free seminar looking at the range and type of damage sustained by collections in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder area. The seminar will also include advice for conservation treatments for damaged objects and repacking and storing artefacts that may have been moved during the tremors.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010A Day in Pompeii to erupt in Western AustraliaWestern Australians will have a unique opportunity to experience one of the world's most fascinating cities in a new exhibition at the Western Australian Museum – Perth. Tourism Minister Liz Constable and Culture and the Arts Minister John Day today announced today announced that the Museum would host the highly successful exhibition A Day in Pompeii from May 21 to September 12, 2010.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Victoria Cross medals from Gallipoli go on show Media are invited to attend a preview of the special touring exhibition This company of brave men; the Gallipoli VCs, at the Western Australian Museum – Perth this Friday 19 March 2010, at 10.30am. The Gallipoli VCs is presented by the Australian War Memorial and made possible through the generous support of Mr Kerry Stokes AC and Seven Network Limited.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Sea Week at the WA Museum – GeraldtonIt’s there every day and very much a part of life in Geraldton. But what do we really know about the Indian Ocean and its incredible biodiversity? To celebrate International Year of Biodiversity and Sea Week, the WA Museum – Geraldton will be diving into a program of activities aimed at putting the spotlight on the unique marine environment of the Mid West. Sea Week will kick off on March 2, with the launch of Mini Muses and the adventures of Wendy the Whiting.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Clever camouflage helps bearded fish avoid detection Fish curators Sue Morrison from the Western Australian Museum and Jeff Johnson from the Queensland Museum have identified a new species of fish as a result of the recent field work they undertook in the far north Kimberley. The team of scientists, led by the WA Museum and partnered by Woodside, travelled to Adele Island and Montgomery Reef to collect and document the marine flora and fauna of the area. Over both locations they found a total of nine specimens of the previously unidentified Bearded Velvetfish.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010The rise of super predatory sharksAs part of the Western Australian Museum’s International Year of Biodiversity lecture series, Museum curator of palaeontology Dr Mikael Siversson will present a fascinating public lecture on the rise and subsequent decline in diversity of super predatory lamniform sharks. Specialising in fossil sharks and rays, Dr Siversson has also co-authored several publications on extinct marine reptiles and dinosaurs and is considered by his peers as a leading authority on Cretaceous lamniform sharks (an order of shark from the latter part of the Age of Dinosaurs).Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Spiders. Friends or Foe?To mark the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, Dr Mark Harvey Senior Curator and Head of Department of Terrestrial Zoology at the Western Australian Museum will present a public lecture on how to determine whether a spider is a friend or foe. Dr Harvey’s lecture on Spectacular spider stories: a guide to our eight-legged friends will provide a light-hearted and insightful approach on arachnids and their important role in maintaining a healthy environment.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Western Australian Museum welcomes new CEOThe Western Australian Museum Board of Trustees and staff have welcomed the announcement of a new director for the Museum. Culture and the Arts Minister John Day today announced the successful candidate as Mr Alec Coles, Director of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums in the United Kingdom. Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the WA Museum Tim Ungar said the Museum looked forward to welcoming Mr Coles to Western Australia. “Mr Coles’ experience with museum development, major exhibitions and public engagement strategies will significantly benefit the Museum.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Eleven new species named in honour of Charles DarwinScientists from the Western Australian Museum have led a team of Australian researchers in naming 11 new species after the founder of the theory of natural selection, Charles Darwin. To mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of the Species and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Darwin, the WA Museum has published a special edition of the Records of the Western Australian Museum which includes 16 newly named species from Australia, 11 of which are named darwini.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Equilibrium, WA Museum and Nick Cave website dominate the Australian Web AwardsPerth web development company, Equilibrium, in partnership with the Western Australian Museum scooped the pool at the Australian Web Awards on Friday night winning four major awards for ‘Nick Cave – the exhibition’, including Fast Hit Most Outstanding website. The site stood out from more than 200 national entries winning the awards for Best Government website, Best Not for Profit website, Best Arts and Events website and Most Outstanding website in Australia.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Australian museums collaborate to uncover the mysteries of Kimberley coast marine life A new project led by the Western Australian Museum and partnered by Woodside Energy, is set to extensively add to our understanding of the marine biodiversity of Australia’s remote north-west. The Marine Life of North Western Australia Project has a high likelihood of discovering species in the region for the first time and is a collaborative work involving the WA Museum along with four other Australian museums in a three-year research program.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010The original Boxing Kangaroo flag heads homeAfter 26 years on American soil the original Boxing Kangaroo flag, made famous by Australia II when it won the historic 1983 America’s Cup, today returned home to Fremantle. Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships Event Director John Longley and Perth 2011 Board Member Skip Lissiman, two of the original crew members from Australia II, presented the famous Boxing Kangaroo flag to the Western Australian Museum.Read more News Western Australian Museum
10 May 2010Duncan Merrilees 1922 to 2009Duncan Merrilees was born in 1922 and spent his childhood years in Sydney. He graduated from the University of Sydney in 1942 with a degree in chemistry. Like many chemists in Australia during WWII, his services were put to use in industry and he was transferred to Tasmania were he worked at a paper mill. At this time he had already developed a fascination for geology and in particular the chemistry and physics of igneous rocks. After the war Duncan pursued a career as science teacher as a means of supporting himself and his wife.Read more News Western Australian Museum