9 Aug 2024National Science Week. WA Museum’s hunt for new hooded wishbone spiders - part of a national campaign.Spiders are not everyone’s cup-of-tea, but this National Science Week the Western Australian Museum is celebrating the identification of 24 new species of hooded wishbone spiders from WA. What makes these identifications even more exciting is they are from our existing Museum collection and form part of a national research project that aims to discover 100 new species of Australian wishbone spiders.Read more News Flora Perrella
26 Jul 2024Meet our new Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander AdvisorWe are delighted to welcome Leanne Woods as our new Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisor. Leanne is a proud Whadjuk and Wongi woman with connections to the Ballardong people. She brings extensive experience in education, strategy, and partnerships, along with a strong rapport with the local Aboriginal community. Previously, Leanne worked at Water Corporation as the Lead – Cultural Educator. In this role, she led Nyoongar Language Workshops, gave talks for staff, and co-hosted the National Reconciliation Week breakfast.Read more News Ella Winterbottom
8 Jul 2024A fossil so weird it stumped scientists for decades. This is HUGE….Every now and again palaeontologists come across a fossil so weird it takes decades of detective work to finally understand its relationship to other organisms. The 275-million-year-old Helicoprion is one of these enigmas. The first glimpses of this shark-like animal came from the Gascoyne Region in Western Australia; a partial tooth whorl with 14 preserved teeth.Read more News Flora Perrella
2 Jul 2024Plating up Perth’s culinary history: Bernies burger plate in WA Museum’s collection When late-night eatery Bernies opened in 1939, it quickly became a popular Perth nightspot. Owner Bernard Hardwick began by serving ‘finger meals’, including crayfish rolls, from caravans parked along Mounts Bay Road. Later, he built a more permanent structure where the Mount Hospital now stands. US servicemen are credited with introducing the hamburger to Bernies during WWII.Read more News Ella Winterbottom
27 Jun 2024Criminologist and artist brings unique exhibition to AlbanyThe Museum of the Great Southern welcomes Western Australian interdisciplinary artist Tineke Van der Eeckens and her Tributaries exhibition. The exhibition, which opens to the public on Saturday, 5 July, includes jewellery, small fine metal sculptures, and objects formed by corrosion casting, a process by which resin is injected into animal organs and other biological systems to form moulds of internal spaces.Read more News Robyn Ambrosius
17 Jun 2024WA Day 2024 Celebrated with flair at WA Museum Blue skies, big crowds, smiling faces and people from diverse places thronged together at the WA Day 2024 celebrations on the June 3 2024 at the Museum of Geraldton, Museum of the Great Southern, Museum of the Goldfields and Gwoonwardu Mia. WA Museum's regional team brought together regional celebrations that reflected their communities and saw over 12,000 people attend.Read more News Kasper Johansen
13 Jun 2024Museum of the Great Southern heading out of this world for new space focused exhibition A brand-new free exhibition that explores Australia’s role in the space race is set to touch down at the Museum of the Great Southern this Saturday 8 June 2024. A touring exhibition from the National Archives of Australia, Out of This World: Australia in the Space Age looks at exciting times, from the 1950s to the 1970s. Visitors will experience the nation’s enthusiastic response to space exploration, from cutting-edge scientific research to space-inspired design, television and much more.Read more News Kasper Johansen
10 Jun 2024New exhibition Lurrtjurni - Together at Museum of the Goldfields Derived from the language groups of the five artists featured, the word ‘Lurrtjurni’ shared across all, evokes a sense of togetherness and connection to the present.Read more News Kasper Johansen
7 Jun 2024World Ocean Day: International bivalve research project at Gathaagudu/Shark Bay World Heritage area Read more News Kasper Johansen
29 May 2024Deep dives into Rottnest's Ships GraveyardDiving up to 100m into the Indian Ocean west of Perth, a team of elite technical divers are uncovering and identifying shipwrecks in conjunction with the Western Australian Museum. Some of these shipwrecks have been at the bottom of the sea for more than 100 years.Read more News Flora Perrella
27 May 2024Western Australian Museum joins in WA Day celebrations WA Day unites all people young and old, from all ethnicities and cultures, who have made Western Australia such an incredible and unique place to live. It’s a day where we acknowledge the histories, diverse cultures and contributions made by all people who proudly call Western Australia home. Here's how you can celebrate with the Western Australian Museum! WA Museum Boola Bardip: Nyoongar Story Time Where: WA Museum Boola Bardip Read more News Kasper Johansen
23 May 2024National Volunteer Week National Volunteer Week is a time to celebrate volunteers across the country, but at the WA Museum we are grateful for our volunteers every day of the year! If you have visited one of our sites, you've likely been greeted by one of our wonderful volunteers. Knowledgeable, passionate, helpful, and generous, they are always there to ensure visitors have the best experience at any one of WA Museum's seven locations. Here's what they had to say about why they volunteer:Read more News Kasper Johansen
18 May 2024CEO Alec Coles shares his thoughts on International Museum Day 2024May 18 marks the annual International Museum Day, and this year's theme is 'Museums for Education and Research,' For the Western Australian Museum, these could barely be more appropriate themes, with both at the heart of our work.Read more News Robyn Ambrosius
14 May 2024Deep-sea explorer and filmmaker James Cameron visits Fremantle in exclusive WA Museum eventWe were thrilled to bring James Cameron to Western Australia for a public event on Sunday 24 March 2024, to celebrate the launch of JAMES CAMERON – CHALLENGING THE DEEP at the WA Maritime Museum. The In Conversation event, held at the Fremantle Passenger Terminal, saw senior reporter and film critic Ben O’Shea discuss with James Cameron his passion and pursuits in deep ocean scientific and technical innovations, creative achievements, and his relationship between filmmaking and deep ocean exploration.Read more News Ella Winterbottom
6 May 2024Untold Western Australian tales take the spotlight in new documentary seriesA captivating new twelve-part documentary series, Such Was Life, delves into the fascinating and often overlooked stories across Western Australia, spotlighting the people and narratives defining our state's unique character. These five-minute documentary shorts look at stories across regional Western Australia. From the first bride of Coolgardie and Australia’s largest ghost town to a musical tour on the back of an old Army truck and a time when water was more precious than gold, Such Was Life explores how the past has shaped the Western Australia we know today.Read more News Kasper Johansen
29 Apr 2024New study reveals the Kimberley Reefs are a nationally significant reservoir of tropical coral biodiversityCoral reefs in the Kimberley region of northwest Western Australia are home to substantially greater coral diversity than first thought a new Western Australian Museum study finds. A new publication into the reef-building hard coral biodiversity of the Kimberley region has revealed the importance of the Kimberley region as a nationally significant reservoir of tropical coral biodiversity. The study increases previous estimates of reef-building corals in the Kimberley to 438 species, about 20% higher than earlier estimates of coral diversity in the region.Read more News Kasper Johansen
15 Apr 2024WA scientists discover new species of land snail estimated to be around three million years oldScientists at the Western Australian Museum have uncovered a new species of fossil snail in Western Australia's Nullarbor region, estimated to be around three million years old. The groundbreaking palaeontological discovery comes after two comprehensive fieldwork sessions between 2021 and 2023. The project was initiated following the discovery of a small number of Bothriembryon (land snail) specimens in the Museum’s palaeontology collection that did not align with any known species.Read more News Kasper Johansen
12 Apr 2024Lester Prize for Portraiture Youth Awards returns to WA Museum Boola Bardip for 2024 Read more News Kasper Johansen
8 Apr 2024Emerging Curators continue two-way knowledge exchange as part of the Kimberley Reef Connect ProjectA group of Uunguu Rangers from Wunambal Gaambera Country in the North Kimberley have taken part in an Emerging Curators Workshop at Western Australian Museum’s Collection and Research Centre to exchange cultural and scientific knowledge. The Emerging Curators Workshop was the second stage in the learning program following the collection of marine species during an expedition by the group to Wunambal Gaambera Wundaagu (Sea Country) in the North Kimberley Marine Park in November 2023.Read more News Kasper Johansen
8 Apr 2024OOLOGY: A hard boiled tale of obsession, plunder, and rectificationLong before Pokémon GO or Footy Cards existed, the biggest collecting mania was bird eggs! Read more News Flora Perrella