Category Archives: Museums

Ayala Reception Hall (National Museum of Natural History, Manila)

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Ayala Reception Hall

The Ayala Reception Hall, an example of adaptive reuse in the National Museum of Natural History, used to be cut in the middle by a floor. It now holds four important exhibits which were launched last May 2019.

Check out “National Museum of Natural History“

Hanging skeleton of Lolong

Upon entry, up in the ceiling is the hanging skeleton of  “Lolong,” the former Guinness World Records holder as the largest saltwater crocodile in captivity from September 3, 2011 until his death on February 10, 2013.  His taxidermied body, on the other hand, is displayed at Gallery I (Philippine Biodiversity) at the fifth floor.

Check out “The Sad Tale of Lolong” and “Gallery I (Philippine Biodiversity)“

Dome of the 57 stone tools excavated from Awidon Mesa Formation in Rizal, Kalinga

Below it is the exhibit of the tooth and four of the 13 bones of the extinct Philippine rhinoceros (Nesorhinus philippinensis) with cut and butcher marks.  These fossilized Pleistocene Age remains, unearthed in 2014 at the Awidon Mesa Formation in Rizal, Kalinga together with stegodon (Stegodon luzonensis), pig (Celebrochoerus cagayanensis), freshwater turtle, monitor lizard and Philippine brown deer and 57 stone tools (6 cores, 49 flakes and 2 possible hammerstones), is a breakthrough in the field of paleoanthropology.

Left humerus of Nesorhinus philippinensis

It proved early human activity around 709,000 years ago, 10 times earlier than previously believed. Researchers believe that early humans used the stone tools to get the marrow at the bones of the ribs, metacarpals and both humeri of the rhinoceros .

Tooth of Nesorhinus philippinensis

Also in the Ayala Hall is the “Ammonite Mollusk” (Cleonicerus sp.), an index fossil, from the Gotuaco Fossil Collection, which is used as a basis in establishing geological periods.  Dating from the Middle Cretaceous Period (about 100 million years old), it was found in Madagascar.

Ammonite Mollusk (Cleoniceras sp.)

The Conus gloriamaris, also known as the “Glory of the Sea Cone,” a type of marine gastropod mollusk that in the  family Conidae was once believed to be one of the rarest types of shell in the world.  Measuring 179 mm. long, it is probably the largest sea cone shell (of its kind) not just in the country, but in the world.

The Glory of the Sea Cone(Conus gloriamaris)

Ayala Reception Hall: 2/F, National Museum of Natural History,  Agrifina Circle, Rizal Park, T.M. Kalaw cor. Gen. Luna Sts., Manila. Open Tuesdays – Sundays,   9 AM to 12 noon (cut off time is 11 AM) and 1 to 4 PM (cut off time is 3 PM). Tel: 82981100 local 3000 and 85277889.  E-mail:  cmvod@nationalmuseum.ph or inquiry@nationalmuseumph.gov.ph. Visitors shall be limited to 100 per museum per session. Visitors are required to pre-book online at https://reservation.nationalmuseum.gov at least a day before the visit. Confirmation of booking will be sent through email. Group reservations are limited to five (5) persons only.  Walk-in visitors will NOT be accommodated.  Coordinates: 14°34′59.9″N 120°58′55.9″E.

National Museum of Natural History (Manila)

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National Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History (Filipino: Pambansang Museo ng Likas na Kasaysayan), the national natural history museum of the Philippines, was constructed in 1940 as the Agriculture and Commerce Building. The building, designed in a Neo-Classical style by Filipino Architect Antonio Toledo in the late 1930s, has the same dimensions and floor plan as the Finance Building, its twin building located at the northern side of the circle.

The chamfered corner entrance

In February 1945, during World War II, both buildings were bombarded with heavy artillery fire by American forces and destroyed in the Battle of Manila.  In 1949, after the war, both were reconstructed according to the original plans.

At some point in time, the building was occupied by the Department of Tourism (DOT).  However, the National Museum Act, which was passed in 1998, mandated the conversion of three civic buildings within Rizal Park, the Legislative Building, the Department of Finance Building, and the Department of Tourism Building, into museums. In 1998, the Finance Building became the first to be repurposed with the building converted into the National Museum of Anthropology.

In 2000, the Legislative Building was converted into the National Museum of Fine Arts and, in 2015, the DOT Building became the National Museum of Natural History when the DOT moved its offices to the nearby city of Makati (it is planning to return to Manila after the completion of its proposed headquarters located in Intramuros).

Atrium

In 2013, in preparation to have the DOT Building host the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the Philippines invited five architects to submit proposals for the retrofitting. The design of the team from Dominic Galicia Architects and interior designer Tina Periquet, involving the maintenance of the building’s facade except for the addition of a glass dome supported by a double helix structure inspired by DNA, was chosen.

Upper Courtyard

The project, estimated to cost around ₱1 billion, was initially scheduled to be completed in 2015 in time for the 2015 APEC Summit but the bidding for prospective contractors for the renovation of the building was only done in September 2015.  On September 30, 2017, the National Museum of Natural History was officially inaugurated and, on May 18, 2018, the museum opened.

Mookaite Stone (Radiolarite), Aptian (Lower Cretaceous), about 113 – 125  million years ago, from the Windalia Radiolarite Formation , Mooka Station, Carnarvon, Western Australia

The articulated façade has Corinthian columns and pilasters that rise, from the second floor, to the height of the three storeys of the museum.  The first storey resembles the one storey high plinth where these columns and pilasters rest.  Columns and pilasters , surrounding the entire wall, support the decorative entablatures.

Noreena Stone (Silicified Pelite  or Mudstaone), Late Archaean, 2,765 – ,687 million years ago, is a semi-precious sone from the Jeerinah Formation, Noreena Downs Station, East Pilbara, Western Australia, some 700 miles north of Perth, the capital.

Ornate grillwork decorates the arched windows on the second storey and the rectangular windows on the rest.  The corners of the building are reinforced by Corinthian columns framing a two storey, high arched window.

Stalagmite (Manlapaz Speleothem Collection)

Like the Department of Finance Building, it has an odd trapezium plan with a chamfer at its southeast obtuse vertex and a concave side on its northwest, fronting the rotunda.  Its halls and rooms are orthogonally arranged around a central courtyard with the same trapezium shape.  The chamfered corner entrance is accentuated by a modest pediment.

The Tree of Life

The striking “Tree of Life” foyer (Introduction to the Museum), the atrium’s centerpiece and main feature that forms the spatial and symbolic fulcrum of the museum, is a commanding architectural structure that covers the courtyard of the six-storey building.

Jandy in front of the Tree of Life

It is composed of two parts.  The aluminum and glass-paneled dome serves as the atrium’s ceiling.  The supporting DNA-like, double helix  structure, linking the dome to the atrium’s ground, broadens near the roof, making it similar to a tree trunks leaves and branches extending in the canopy of the museum.

Ramp

The 10-pax scenic central elevator, itself an attraction, offers a great 270-degree view of the museum’s foyer/atrium. It also leads visitors to the ramp system where visitors can move from one floor to the other with ease. The dome brings in a generous amount of light and, on a sunny day, casts pretty shadow patterns on the floor. Prior to the museum’s public opening, the Tree of Life was unveiled on June 28, 2016.

Historical plaque of Tree of Life

The National Museum of Natural History has six floors with 12 galleries that display zoological, botanical and geological specimens with interactive displays, video guides, diagrams and illustrations integrated.

Juan de Cuellar y Villanueva Corridor

First Floor

  • Lower Entrance Hall
  • Lower Courtyard
  • Education
  • Function Halls
  • Visitor Services.

Marinduque Sperm Whale at the Hyundai Entrance Hall

The Hyundai Entrance Hall houses a prominent highlight of the museum’s osteological collection, the almost completely intact skeleton of the Marinduque Sperm Whale, a toothed whale of the species Physeter macrocephalus hangs from its ceiling. A male, it was found in Torrijos, Marinduque, near Cagpo.    Measuring 13.5 m. (43.5 ft.) long, it was purchased by the National Museum of the Philippines from Mr. Luciano Matienzo who recovered, cleaned, preserved and kept it. It was unveiled on February 16, 2019, World Whale Day.

Richard McGregor Hallway

Displayed at the Richard McGregor Hallway are the petrified wood collection of Larry and Pat Gotuaco, donated to the National Museum of the Philippines in 2018.  The collection includes 88 foreign woods from the USA, Indonesia, India, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, and Greece as well as eight large pieces of petrified wood from Cagayan, Iloilo, and Mindoro.

Cagayan Petrified Wood (Middle Pleistocene)

The wood structures, preserved in detail, are shaded in vivid hues and complex color patterns with the mineral present determining the colors of the wood such as blue-green color from chromium, copper, and cobalt-rich minerals; red-brown, orange, pink and yellow color from manganese and iron-rich minerals; transparent white and gray color from silica-rich mineral; and black color from carbon-rich mineral.

Philippine Eagle named Gemma

Behind glass, you will also see the taxidermied Philippine eagles Gemma (named after former National Museum Director and beauty queen Gemma Cruz-Araneta) and Tinuy-an (named after a waterfalls in Bislig, Surigao del Sur).

Paradise Regained – Ramon Orlina)

At the Lower Courtyard is the large-scale glass sculpture “ARCANUM XIX, Paradise Regained” (1976) by renowned glass sculptor Ramon Orlina.

Gallery XI (Our Natural Inheritance) – Phinma North Exhibition Hall

Second Floor

  • Gallery XI (Our Natural Inheritance): Phinma North Exhibition Hall
  • Gallery XII (Temporary Exhibitions): Phinma South Exhibition Hall
  • Upper Entrance Hall
  • Upper Courtyard
  • Ayala Reception Hall

Replica of Tyrannosaurus rex skull (Late Cretaceous Period)

The Shell Philippines Centennial Upper Courtyard houses four museum-authorized replicas of famous dinosaur fossil discoveries, acquired in 2018 and part of the Larry and Pat Gotuaco Collection, all made to the exact specifications of the original pieces which are under the care of several museums abroad.

Replica of Camarasaurus grandis skull (Late Jurassic Epoch)

The dinosaur skull replicas include the Tyrannosaurus rex (Late Cretaceous Period, 68 to 66 million years ago), the Ceratosaurus nasicornis (Late Jurassic Epoch: 155 to 145 million years ago), and the Camarasaurus grandis (Late Jurassic Epoch, 155 to 145 million years ago). A left hind leg of the Camarasaurus grandis is also part of the exhibition.

Giant tapestry posters along the Shell Philippines Centennial Upper Courtyard feature three unique animals endemic to the Philippine archipelago – the Philippine Eagle, the Tamaraw and the Philippine Tarsier.

Check out “Gallery XI (Our Natural Inheritance),” “Ayala Reception Hall” and “The Sad Tale of Lolong“

Gallery IX (Mangroves, Beaches and Intertidal Zones) – Bloomberry North Exhibition Hall

Third Floor

  • Gallery IX (Mangroves, Beaches and Intertidal Zones) –Bloomberry North Exhibition Hall.
  • Gallery X (The Marine Realm) –Bloomberry South Exhibition Hall.

Gallery X (The Marine Realm) – Bloomberry South Exhibition Hall

The Juan de Cuellar y Villanueva Corridor here houses a series of oil paintings, commissioned by Dr. Edgardo Quisumbing (Father of Philippine Orchidology and one of the museum’s former directors) and executed between 1948 and 1960, documenting the different varieties of orchids around the country.

Check out “Gallery IX (Mangroves, Beaches and Intertidal Zones)” and “Gallery X (The Marine Realm)”

Gallery V (Mossy, Montane and Pine Forests) – Zuellig Family Exhibition Hall

Gallery VI (Lowland Evergreen Rainforests)

Fourth Floor

  • Gallery V (Mossy, Montane and Pine Forests) – Zuellig Family Exhibition Hall
  • Gallery VI (Lowland Evergreen Rainforests)
  • Gallery VII (Ultramafic and Limestone Karst Forests) –First Philippine Holdings Exhibition Hall.·
  • Gallery VIII (Freshwater Wetlands) –Megaworld Exhibition Hall.

Check out “Gallery V (Mossy, Montane and Pine Forests),” “Gallery VI (Lowland Evergreen Rainforests),” “Gallery VII (Ultramafic and Limestone Karst Forests)” and “Gallery VIII (Freshwater Wetlands)”

Gallery VII (Ultramafic and Limestone Karst Forests) – First Philippine Holdings Exhibition Hall

Gallery VIII (Freshwater Wetlands) – Megaworld Exhibition Hall

Fifth Floor

  • Gallery I (Philippine Biodiversity): Sunlife Philippines Exhibition Hall
  • Gallery II (The Geology of the Philippines)
  • Gallery III (Minerals and Energy Resources)
  • Gallery IV (Life Through Time)

Check out “Gallery I (Philippine Biodiversity),””Gallery II (The Geology of the Philippines),” “Gallery III (Minerals and Energy Resources)” and Gallery IV (Life Through Time)”

Gallery I (Philippine Biodiversity) – Sunlife Philippines Exhibition Hall

Gallery II (The Geology of the Philippines)

Sixth Floor

  • Roof Garden
  • Function Halls
  • National Museum Conference Center.

Gallery III (Minerals and Energy Resources)

Gallery IV (Life Through Time)

National Museum of Natural History:  Agrifina Circle, Rizal Park, T.M. Kalaw cor. Gen. Luna Sts., Manila. Open Tuesdays – Sundays,   9 AM to 12 noon (cut off time is 11 AM) and 1 to 4 PM (cut off time is 3 PM). Tel: 82981100 local 3000 and 85277889.  E-mail:  cmvod@nationalmuseum.ph or inquiry@nationalmuseumph.gov.ph. Visitors shall be limited to 100 per museum per session. Visitors are required to pre-book online at https://reservation.nationalmuseum.gov at least a day before the visit. Confirmation of booking will be sent through email.Group reservations are limited to five (5) persons only.  Walk-in visitors will NOT be accommodated.  Coordinates: 14°34′59.9″N 120°58′55.9″E.

Manila Central Post Office Building (Manila)

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Manila Central Post Office Building

The Manila Central Post Office Building (often called the Post Office Building), the center of the Philippine postal services and the headquarters of then-Bureau of Posts (now the Philippine Postal Corporation), houses the main mail sorting-distribution operations of the Philippines. This building hums daily with brisk postal service with letters pouring in daily from every corner of the country.

The Post Office Building as seen from Liwasang Bonifacio

This principal postal hub of today’s modern and efficient Philippine Postal Corporation, still continuing a centuries-old tradition of sorting and distributing letters from Filipinos who still prefer the postal service, houses a mechanized automatic letter-sorting machine, a new Postal Code system, airmail, motorized letter carriers and other facilities.

The Post Office Building from the other bank of the Pasig River

Strategically located along the banks of the Pasig River (part of the Burnham Plan of Manila for easy water transportation of mails), at the foot of Jones Bridge, it lies at the northern end of Liwasang Bonifacio (formerly Plaza Lawton where building’s main entrance faces) in Ermita and  is flanked by the Manila Metropolitan Theater to its northwest. Its central location, with converging avenues, made the building readily accessible from Quiapo, Binondo, Malate and Ermita as well as the Pasig River (used conveniently as an easy route for delivering mail).

Check out “The Revitalized Jones Bridge”

The building’s northeast wing

This official transmitter of mail, money and goods traces its beginnings to the September 15, 1902 Act No. 462 of the Philippine Commission which created the Bureau of Posts. On April 13, 1987, the Bureau of Post was renamed the Postal Service Office (PSO) by the virtue of Executive Order No. 125 signed by then-President Corazon C. Aquino, placing it under the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and, on April 2, 1992, by virtue of the Republic Act No.7354 issued by then-President Fidel V. Ramos, PSO became a government owned and controlled corporation named as the Philippine Postal Corporation (more commonly known today as PhilPost). It is now under the direct supervision of the Office of the President.

The building’s southwest wing

From August 2, 1920 up to January 9, 1922, the foundation of the post office was laid out but the work was put on hold because of the scarcity of funds (it was worth one million pesos) but was reported to be 56% complete towards the end of the year. The plan for the completion of post office building was made public on November 28, 1927 but the awarding of the project only happened a year after, on February 1928, when the completion of the building was continued.   The building was completed in 1931.

The Ionic capitals of the fluted marble columns.  The entablature above is decorated with medallions and lined with dentils

Designed in Neo-Classical style (expressing order and balance) by Filipino architects Juan M. Arellano (considered as his magnum opus) and Tomás Mapúa and American architect Ralph Harrington Doane, it is one of the greatest examples of American Colonial architecture in the Philippines.  The construction of the original building began under the supervision of the architecture firm of Pedro Siochi and Company.

During World War II, it was severely damaged in the Battle of Manila and was, subsequently, rebuilt in 1946 while retaining most of its original design. Considered as the grandest building during its time, the Post Office Building is now considered as one of the dominating landmarks in Metro Manila. On November 23, 2018, because of its architectural significance, it was declared as an Important Cultural Property (ICP) by the National Museum of the Philippines.

In 2012, with more modern ways of communication and advancing technology now widespread and the cost of maintaining the building too much, talks are underway between the Department of Finance and Fullerton Hotels of Singapore to convert the building into a 5-star hotel.

The main body of the huge, colossal rectangular facade, lined by 14 soaring fluted marble columns with Ionic capitals (above the steps just before entering the lobby), is capped by a recessed rectangular attic storey and flanked and buttressed by two semicircular wings or drums. The entablature above the columns are decorated with medallions and lined with dentils. 

The square columns topped by Doric capitals and medallions. The cornice is lined by scroll-like decorations.

At each end of the main lobby are subsidiary halls housed under semicircular spaces roofed with domes. The plain, square columns here are topped by Doric capitals, above which are medallions.  The top of the cornice are lined with scroll-like decorations. 

The big windows with their Grecian-style steel grilles

The big windows of the building are lined with steel grilles with Grecian patterns.  The atrium in the middle of the building  provides natural light and ventilation.

The Postman statue

In front of the building is the Postman Statue, symbolizing the extraordinary level of commitment of the postal force, was erected last September 15, 1975 to coincide with the 73rd anniversary of the establishment of the Bureau of Posts.

On November 23, 2018, a Museum Ceremonial Groundbreaking Marker was mounted to start the construction and retrofitting of Philippine Postal and Philatelic Museum which houses a historical archive of postage stamps, important letters of national personalities and other artifacts.  The MCPO also sells the latest stamp issues from it Philatelic Section as well as other types of different stamps (Mint, Cancelled, se-tenant, Souvenir Sheets and Sheetlets).  Annually, the MCPO also exhibits old stamps and mailing equipment.

AUTHOR’S NOTES

The facade of the Post Office, seemingly impressive along the Liwasang Bonifacio side, is quite depressing when seen, up close and personal, along the Pasig River side.  The grounds at this side have been taken over by some vagrants and, similar to what is happening with many of our old churches, advanced plant growth has taken root over parts of the facade.  The now peeling and fading paint job has also been vandalized by graffiti.  Dangling wires are also an eyesore.

 

Manila Central Post Office Building: Liwasang Bonifacio, Magallanes Drive, Intramuros, Manila. Tel: (02) 8527-0089.

Museo ng Pamana at Kasaysayang Boholano (Loay, Bohol)

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Museo ng Pamana at Kasaysayang Boholano.  The escuela de los Ninos is on the left and the Casa Tribunal on the right

Part of the Panglao Bluewater Resort-sponsored CountrysideTour

After lunch at Panglao Bluewater Resort, we met up with Mr. Christopher “Boyet” Boncales, our guidefor our resort-sponsored Countryside Tour, at the reception area.  Boyet, 43, a tour guide of 25 years, has been guiding VIPs, ambassadors and other high ranking officials to Bohol. We all boarded our Travel Village coaster for the 33-km. (1-hour drive) to Loay’s Holy Trinity Church Compound.

Check out “Resort Review: Panglao Bluewater Resort“

Check out “Church of the Holy Trinity“

Upon arrival, we were welcomed by Ms. Perlina Alo, curator of the Museo ng Pamana at Kasaysayang Boholano (Museum of Boholano Heritage and History).

The 2-storey Casa Tribunal. Notice the non-centering of openings. Above the main entrance is an anagram of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Anagram of the Blessed Virgin Mary above the entrance door of Casa Tribunal

Under the jurisdiction of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), the museum is housed within two buildings at the compound– the 2-storey Casa Tribunal (the old tribunal or municipal building) and the single-storey Escuela de los Ninos (school for boys).

The one-storey Escuela de los Ninos

The former’s solid stone architecture and non-centering of openings probably makes it one of the earliest structures in the compound and the 18th century anagram of Blessed Virgin Mary over main door belies its construction under the supervision of Recollect parish priests.

Ms. Perlita Alo (center) briefing our media group

The latter, one of two schoolhouses (the other one, for girls, faces it from across the plaza), was also built by the Recollects and dates from the last quarter of the 19th century.

Religious paraphernalia and statuary

Paintings of Four Evangelists by Ray Francia

Ms. Alo first toured us inside the Casa Tribunal. The exhibit on the ground floor centers on the materials used in the construction of the church complex – coralstone, limestone, batikuling (Litsea leytensis, wood used for religious images), apitong (Dipterocarpus grandiflorus, a local hardwood), narra (Pterocarpus indicus); bakan (Melia azedarach); etc.

Scaled model of the church compound

Face Value: The Faces of Philippine Numismatics

Also on exhibit are religious statuary and paraphernalia; a scaled model of the church complex and currently being restored paintings (from the spandrels at the church dome ceiling) of the Four Evangelists (Luke, John, Matthew and Mark) done by Ray Francia.

Gallery 1

Gallery II

At the second floor are exhibits on the methods of construction; the evolution of churches in the 1600s; the restoration methodology of the NHCP plus 3 scaled models of Loay’s church.  Also at the second floor is the exhibit entitled:” FACE VALUE: THE FACES OF PHILIPPINE NUMISMATICS” ongoing from October 30 to November 10, 2019.

Scaled Models of Ancestral Houses

Scaled model of Loay Church

Moving on to the Escuela de los Ninos, we watched an audio-visual presentation of the history of Bohol at the foyer.  Exhibits at the two galleries centers on episodes in Bohol’s history – Early Boholano History; Arrival of the Spaniards; Changes Under the Spanish; Tamblot’s Revolt; Dagohoy’s Revolt; The Cantonal Government; Resistance Against the Americans; Change Under the Americans; Resistance Against the Japanese during World War II; and Rehabilitation and Growth.

Copy of Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde’s Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas (1734, A Hydrographical and Chorographical Chart of the Philippine Islands)

Also on display here are scaled models of Bohol’s bahay na bato or stone houses (Zarraga Ancestral House and Clarin Ancestral House in Loay; Rocha Ancestral House and Balili Heritage House in Tagbilaran City; etc.); a copy of Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde’s (1696-1753) Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas (1734, A Hydrographical and Chorographical Chart of the Philippine Islands); a painting of the Blood Compact; a church confessional; seals of the Cantonal Government; and a bust of Pres. Carlos P. Garcia.

Bust of Pres. Carlos P. Garcia, Bohol’s first and, so far, only native-born Philippine president

Painting of the Blood Compact

Check out “Balili Heritage House” and “The Ancestral Houses of Sitio Ubos“

Museo ng Pamana at Kasaysayang Boholano: Holy Trinity Church Compound, Loay, Bohol. Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 8 AM to 4 PM. Admission is free.  Mobile number: (0915) 178-0325.

Bohol Tourism Office: Governor’s Mansion Compound, C.P.G. Ave. North, Tagbilaran City, 6300 Bohol.  Tel: +63 38 501-9186.  E-mail: inquire@boholtourismph.com. 

Panglao Bluewater Resort: Bluewater Rd., Sitio Daurong, Brgy. Danao, Panglao, 6340 Bohol.  Tel: (038) 416-0702 and (038) 416-0695 to 96. Fax: (038) 416-0697.  Email: panglao@bluewater.com.ph. Website: www.bluewaterpanglao.com.ph.  Manila sales office: Rm. 704, Cityland Herrera Tower, Rufino cor. Valera Sts., Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City, Metro Manila.  Tel: (632) 817-5751 and (632) 887-1348.  Fax: (632) 893-5391.

Immigration Museum (Melbourne, Australia)

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Immigration Museum

This museum, founded in 1998, is a division of Museums Victoria which administers the cultural and scientific collections of the State of Victoria.  Its sister museums are Melbourne Museum (including the Royal Exhibition Building) and Scienceworks Museum. The museum’s two floors house temporary and permanent exhibitions. Primarily displaying Australia‘s immigration history, it is located on  in the grand Old Customs House building which originally looked out onto ships tied up at the adjacent Queen’s Wharf.

Check out “Melbourne Museum” and “Royal Exhibition Building“

The building’s Renaissance Revival facade

The 3-storey former Customs House Building, resting on a bluestone foundation, occupies the site of Fawkner’s Hotel, one of the first buildings in the city, built in 1835 by John Pascoe Fawkner, one of the founders of Melbourne.

It is of architectural significance as an example of the work of three of the Victorian Public Works Department‘s most talented and accomplished architects – Scottish immigrant Peter Kerr, who did the initial design, and Arthur E. Johnson and John G. Clark, who prepared the final design, which incorporated the earlier building (but without the projected grand stairs and classical portico).

Historical plaque

Between 1856-58 and 1873-76, it was constructed in two separate stages.  In 1965, the building was converted to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices and, in 1998, became an immigration museum. On September 8, 1994, it was included Victorian Heritage Register.

Jandy, Grace, Kyle, Cheska and Bryan at the steps leading to the museum entrance

One of the finest examples of a customs house in Victoria, it is an extraordinary example of the Italian Renaissance style (with remnants of Greek Revival influence), a style greatly favored for official buildings in Melbourne during the 1860s and 1870s. It has a rusticated ground floor facade while the two upper floors are surmounted by a simple projecting cornice running around the whole building.

Reception counter

A flight of stairs leads up to the entrance doors, above which four Ionic-style columns run through the two upper floors in support of the fascia and cornice. The site is delineated by a fine wrought iron fence with bluestone posts and base.

Second floor lobby

The impressive and opulent former Long Room, one of the grandest and most elegantly proportioned classical interiors in Melbourne, now houses the main exhibition space of the Immigration Museum.  A notable piece of Renaissance Revival architecture, it features giant Ionic colonnades (modeled after the Erechtheion Temple in Athens) and high ceilings.  The hand-laid tessellated tiles, based on fragments of encaustic tile found in floor fill, were made at Stoke-on-Trent in the UK.

The Long Room

The museum facilities and activities include a Discovery Center, community gallery, touring exhibitions and public and educational programs, including community festivals, exhibitions and many community engagement activities.

The museum’s permanent exhibitions explores Victoria’s immigration history through global motivations for leaving homeland, personal stories of immigrants from various countries and time periods, the ship journey over time, and a history of Australia’s immigration policies and processes.

On display are hundreds of objects from the Museum’s collections, some developed through partnerships with families and communities, relating to migration, cultural diversity, transport technology, customs and quarantine, and popular culture. All these subjects are presented in a number of ways – object and image-based displays, audio-visual presentations, immersive experiences (such as a series of recreated ship environments), interactive theater, on-site computer information outlets and the Museum website.

The Migration collection includes over 6,000 objects which document the migration experiences of Victorians since the 1830s and, consequently, the long history of the cultural diversity of the Victorian and broader Australian population.

“Leaving Home” Exhibit

The “Leaving Home” Exhibition, using sound, objects, still and moving images, explores the reasons why people left their countries to come to Australia and what they brought with them. Some of the many reasons include fleeing from the ravages of war, hunger, religious persecution and political repressions while others were lured by a sense of adventure, by the prospect of a new beginning, of owning land, of making a fortune, or to be reunited with love ones.

Many arrive with keepsakes, precious reminders of loved ones or special places. The experiences of arriving in a new country vary from person to person, with stories that are sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always engaging.

“Identity Yours, Mine, Ours” Exhibit

The “Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours” (What does it mean to belong and not belong in Australia?) Exhibition explores how our cultural heritage, languages, beliefs, and family connections influenced our self-perceptions and our perceptions of other people – perceptions that can lead to discovery, confusion, prejudice and understanding.

Visitors are invited to find connections with others, as well as challenge the assumptions we make about each other every day through engaging personal stories, intriguing objects, compelling images and interactive multimedia experiences.  Visitors are also encouraged to share their stories, affirm their identities and celebrate diversity in our community.

“Getting In” Exhibit

The “Getting In” Exhibition, showing how and why Australia’s immigration policies have changed, focuses on four periods – the Gold Rush Days of the 1840s to 1900; Federation to the end of the Second World War;  Post-War to the Early Seventies, and 1973 to the Present Day.  Since 1788, more than 9 million people have migrated to Australia while countless others have tried and failed.

Since the 1800s, various immigration policies have dictated who gets in and photographs, historical objects and personal stories show the effects of these policies on cultural diversity in Victoria. An interactive theater experience, central to the exhibition, finds visitors find themselves in the role of a government official charged with the responsibility of interviewing people applying to migrate to Australia, and discovering whether or not they “get in.”

Customs Gallery

The Customs Gallery shows the story of Customs House, where officials controlled what-and who-could enter Victoria. Customs officers collected import duties, inspected ships for smuggled goods, controlled immigration to Victoria, and prevented the importation of items such as illegal drugs, endangered and contaminated animal products, and banned books and films.

Discovery Center

The Discovery Center, set in the beautifully restored 19th century vaults of the Customs House, is a perfect place to relax in comfy lounges; talk to helpful staff; research family history; explore Australia’s migration history; share personal stories; research contemporary issues; and understand its culturally diverse community.

You can a book from its unique reference library, explore its collections and vast web resources online, or enjoy the screen lounge showcasing stories of cultural celebrations.

“Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Marks”

During our visit, the temporary exhibition Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Marks was ongoing.  It features a suite of exhibitions and experiences that explores the art of tattoo, alongside themes of identity, self-expression, culture and community.

Check out “Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Marks” Exhibition“

Museum Shop

The Immigration Museum Shop offers a wide range of souvenirs, gifts and books while its Museum Café offers coffee, soft drinks, snacks, confectionery and more.

Tribute Garden

The Tribute Garden, located in the northern garden of the museum, is a public artwork that pays tribute to 7,000 people who have made the journey to Victoria.  It features the names of immigrants who came from over 90 countries, from the 1800s to the present day.  The region now known as Victoria is represented by the people of the Kulin Nation as traditional owners of the land, and records the names of languages and dialects spoken by Aboriginal communities. Launched in 1998 and concluded in 2002, Melbourne-based artist Evangelos Sakaris designed the original artwork while Gina Batsakis led the design for the following stages of the project.

The Atrium

The Atrium, a beautiful glass conservatory at the rear of Old Customs House, connects the main building to the Courtyard. It can accommodate long-table dinners running the entire length of the Atrium, or layout more intimate round tables throughout. Sliding double doors open from the glass-walled Atrium into the sun-drenched Festival Courtyard which is utilized to host community festivals which are an amalgamation of food, music and culture.  The wide hallway connecting the Atrium to the rest of the museum is home to changing feature exhibitions, usually hanging art that tells a story.

Festival Courtyard

Immigration Museum: 400-424 Flinders Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000.  Tel: 1311 02.  E-mail: mvbookings@museum.vic.gov.au. Website: www.museumsvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/. Open daily, 10 AM – 5 PM (closed Christmas Day and Good Friday). Admission: adults ($15), children (free).  Entry to the Tribute Garden is free.

Watch House Experience (Melbourne, Australia)

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City Watch House

Our Old Melbourne Gaol ticket – Crime and Justice Experience covered entry to two buildings – the Old Melbourne Gaol (Melbourne’s oldest prison) and the City Watch House.  The two buildings are part of a precinct, the heart of crime, law and order in Melbourne since the 1840’s, that also includes the historic Magistrate’s Court (as it is part of the RMIT complex, it can only be visited during school holidays).

Check out “Old Melbourne Gaol“

Crowd waiting outside the entrance to the Watch House

The Watch House tour ran on a timetable (which vary and are not published, but usually starts every half hour from 10:30 AM) and, at the specified time, we left the Gaol and proceeded to the Watch House, opposite the Russell Street Police Station, for the “Watch House Experience.”

Corridor leading to the holding cells

The former City Watch House, built in 1909, operated between 1913 until its closure in 1994.  The city’s most notorious criminals such as bush ranger Ned Kelly, notorious 1920s gangster Leslie “Squizzy” Taylor, multiple murderer Julian Knight and underworld hitman Victor Peirce have spent time within its walls.  On October 2007, together with the former Magistrates Court, it was opened as a museum and they have been combined as the Old Melbourne Gaol Crime and Justice Experience.

Jandy, Grace and the author at the City Watch House

The Watch House has, for almost a century, operated as Melbourne’s central custody center or “holding place” where felons were brought to face justice, whether arrested in the streets of Melbourne for minor misdemeanors or being brought before the court for significant crimes. The Watch House tour delightfully takes us through the intake process in a fun recreation.

The author inside his holding cell

We all headed out back along Russell Street to now join a large 15 to 20-group of people now gathering together outside for the Watch House Experience.

The stainless steel toilet at the cell’s corner

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be arrested?  Our Watch House Experience, a 30 to 40-min. interactive experience like no other, gave us an opportunity to explore this confronting place and its people from different perspectives, through role-play, multi-media interpretation and self-exploration. The Watch House was to be our first step into the criminal justice system.  Here’s a narrative of our experience and the sharp and witty monologue we received:

The door of the Watch House soon opened, revealing the imposing figure of a stern looking lady “sergeant on duty,” her hands clasped behind her back and feet planted firmly on the floor.  “Right you horrible bunch of criminals,” she snarled at us. “Welcome to your new home until the courts decide what to do with you, you miscreants, you scum of society, you lowest of the low. Follow me! Women to the left, men to the right.”

Shuffling in, with our backs pressed against the damp brick walls, we lined up shoulder to shoulder.  Then our “sergeant on duty,” parading up and down in front of us, told us “No talking. No coughing. No laughing. No spitting. No burping. And absolutely no farting!” When you “upset” the sergeant, you might find your stay “unpleasant.”

We were then led up to the station desk and handed cards detailing the profiles of criminals (car thieves, robbers, people causing public disturbance, drug dealers, drunks, etc.), all based on real people, we had to “act” during processing as we reported our “crime.”  We were then led along another corridor where we had to place our belongings on the floor and then stand, with our arms outstretched and our backs against the wall, all ready for inspection.

Again parading up and down in front of us, our sergeant again issued another command, marching us to the main cell block where “us prisoners” were divided into smaller groups and crammed and locked into dark, grim, cold, damp and mildew-covered cells, “for the night,” hoping that the guard will choose to let us out for good behavior.  The cells were empty save from the original hard narrow benches lining the walls and, in one corner, an exposed stainless-steel toilet,  just as they would have been in 1994 when they were last used.  Only the smallest of windows gave us minimal light.

In these briefest of dark moments, we had enough opportunity to realize that this was not the kind of place anyone would choose to be in (imagine having to use the toilet in front of everyone). Some cells have tissues stuck to the ceiling (prisoners would hang burning twists of toilet paper because matches were banned), explicit drawings of women, graffiti (I Hate Coper C–ts) and political slogans (such as a drawing of an Aboriginal man in chains next to the words “Our Land, Your Law”).  Thus, we were greatly relieved when we heard the sound of the key turning in the lock and opening our cell door.

The exercise yard

Once out, we were then moved to the men’s exercise yard.  This small concrete enclosure, with strips of light only coming from metal ceiling grills, also had a single toilet in the corner, with a small wall on one side to preserve any remaining modesty, plus a row of three equally exposed shower heads attached to the wall.

Mug shot of the author

After this role play, we self guided ourselves through the watch house, taking in sound points and multi-media imagery that was educational and informative. In every respect, the Watch House’s original Minimalist interior hasn’t changed in the 20 years since they were last used, the 25 cells and exercise yard being mostly left as they were.  Truly, it was a unique encounter with the justice system but was also good fun.

Grace

At the end of the tour, we took, free of charge, mug shots of ourselves holding a board with a prisoner number on.   At a mocked-up cell, you can have professional photos taken and have it available for purchase at the exit.  We then walked through the court yard towards the main building.

Jandy

City Watch House: 345 – 355 Russell St., Melbourne (Map). Tel: 03 8663 7228.  Admission: $28 (adults), $23 (concession), $15 (children, 5-15 years), $65 (family, 2 adults + 2 children), $48 (1 adult ++ 2 children) and $5 (extra child on family tickets). *Parents note – adult themes can be confronting for children.

Old Melbourne Gaol (Australia)

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The Old Melbourne Gaol

One of the highlights of our last day in Melbourne was our Old Melbourne Gaol – Crime and Justice Experience (in 2010, it won the heritage and cultural tourism category at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards in Hobart) which included the Watch House Experience. The Old Melbourne Gaol, consisting of a bluestone building and courtyard, is located next to the old City Police Watch House and City Courts buildings.

Exterior of the Old Melbourne Gaol

In 1957, the Old Melbourne Gaol was listed by the National Trust of Australia on its heritage register and, as of 2010, was recognized as Victoria’s oldest surviving penal establishment.  It attracts approximately 140,000 visitors per year.

Check out “Watch House Experience”

Historical plaque

It was first constructed starting in 1839 but the present Melbourne Gaol is the second on the site. Though it was used briefly during World War II (the gaol was used as a military prison for soldiers found to be absent without leave), it formally ceased operating as a prison in 1929 when the conditions were no longer deemed acceptable.

National Trust of Australia (Victoria) plaque

This is the only remaining piece of the cell blocks still standing but other remaining buildings from the prison complex, as well as the original arched jail entry gate (around the corner off of Victoria Street) are now part of the RMIT University complex.

The only penal fortress in the area and an imposing symbol of the city’s unforgiving justice system, the jail became the holding house for everyone from short-term prisoners, mentally ill lunatics to some of the colony’s most notorious and hardened criminals and serial killers.

Scaled Model of Old Melbourne Gaol

It also housed up to twenty children at a time (including those imprisoned for petty theft or vagrancy) or simply those staying with a convicted parent.

The youngest prisoner recorded was the three-year-old Michael Crimmins, who spent 6 months in the prison in 1857 for being idle and disorderly. Babies under twelve months old were allowed to be with their mothers. In 1851, the 13- and 14-year-old O’Dowd sisters were imprisoned because they had nowhere else to go.

Edward “Ned” Kelly, an Australian outlaw, gang leader and convicted police murderer, was one of the last bushrangers and, by far, the most famous. He is best known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armor during his final shootout with the police.

During its operation as a prison from 1842 to 1924, it held and executed (a total of 135 people were executed by hanging) some of Australia’s most notorious criminals, including bushranger Ned Kelly (executed November 11, 1880) and serial killer Frederick Bailey Deeming (executed May 23, 1892).

Frederick Bailey Deeming Exhibit. An English-born Australian gasfitter and murderer, Deeming was convicted and executed for the murder of a woman in Melbourne, Australia. He is also remembered today because he was suspected, by some, of being the notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper.

Along with co-accused Julian Cross and David Gedge, Elizabeth Scott became the first woman to be hanged in Victoria (November 11, 1863).  The last person to be executed was Angus Murray on April 14, 1924, the same year the gaol was closed.

Emma Williams Exhibit. Hanged on November 4, 1895, aged twenty-seven, the anguished Emma drowned her baby son, on August 1895, because he was a “nuisance” and cried when she had clients (she was a prostitute).

The three-storey Old Melbourne Gaol, reopened as a public museum (under the management of the National Trust of Australia, Victoria) On March 2,1972, displays information and various  memorabilia of the prisoners (including death masks, an iron mask and a pair of leather gloves designed to prevent inmates from practicing self-abuse) and staff.

Death masks. A likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person’s face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse.

At one time the museum displayed what was believed, at the time, to be Ned Kelly’s skull, before it was stolen from its glass cabinet in 1978; as well as the pencil used by wrongly convicted Colin Campbell Ross to write a letter protesting his innocence (which he threw over the prison walls), before being executed.

Death Mask of Ned Kelly

Throughout the three floors, we explored a number of cells with displays of various bits of historical information regarding the prison and its inmates on display.

The Lashing Triangle. In the 1800s, the most common form of punishment was the lash where prisoners received 25 lashes for minor infringements and 50 for more serious crimes. They were tied to this 3-beamed triangle (known as being “married to the three sisters”) and dealt the blows which would often strip the flesh from a man’s back. Many became seriously ill or died as a result.

In addition to information, it also includes memorabilia. Notably, it still includes Ned Kelly’s death mask, pistol and replica of his suit of armor.

Locks

While inside the jail, we also took time to look at their gross (some have hairs sticking out of them) and fascinating collection of death masks, plaster casts made from the executed prisoners as part of the phrenological study of hanged felons.

Basilio Bondietti Exhibit. He was executed on December 11, 1876 for the murder of his mate, Carlo Cormisto, at Sandy Creek, near Seymour.

Fatta Chand Exhibit. This 24 year old Indian man was executed on April 27, 1891 for murdering his Hindu partner Juggo Moll near Healesville last November 1890.

Notable for me is the mask of Filipi (Felipe?) Castillo, a Filipino migrant (Filipinos settled in Australia as early as the 1880s). Born in Manila in 1869, he was sentenced to death on September 16, 1889 for the theft and murder of Annie Thornton.

Filipi Castillo Exhibit

The hangman’s beam, which claimed some 133 lives, has a rope dangling eerily above the trap door. You even can try on replicas of Ned Kelly’s famous armor suit, which makes for a fun photo opp.

Replicas of Ned Kelly’s famous armor suit for children to wear

Old Melbourne Gaol: 377 Russell Street (between Victoria Street and La Trobe Street), Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Open daily (closed Christmas Day and Good Friday), 9.30 AM to 5 PM (Last entry suggested at 3:30 PM). Tel: 03 9656 9889 (Mondays – Friday). E-mail: bookings@nattrust.com.au. Website: www.oldmelbournegaol.com.au. Admission: $28 (adults), $23 (concession), $15 (children, 5-15 years), $65 (family, 2 adults + 2 children), $48 (1 adult ++ 2 children) and $5 (extra child on family tickets). A Virtual Reality headset is available for mobility challenged visitors courtesy of the State Trustees Australia Foundation. Note: the old entrance archway sits on the university campus, so please be respectful of the students that may be in class.

How to Get There: For bus, use the Old Melbourne Gaol stop directly in front of the compound. For the City Tram, you can use either the RMIT University stop or the Russell Street stop off of the No. 30 & 35 tram. There is no on-site parking available but paid street parking is offered along La Trobe Street.

Melbourne Chinatown (Australia)

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Melbourne Chinatown

Melbourne’s Chinatown, an ethnic enclave in the Central Business District (CBD), is centered at the eastern end of Little Bourke Street and extends between the corners of Swanston and Spring Streets.

Little Bourke Street

Established in the 1850s during the Victorian gold rush, it consists of numerous laneways, alleys and arcades and is still home to many Chinese restaurants, a number of Asian grocery stores, Chinese medicine and herbalist centers, cultural venues and places of worship. Today, Little Bourke Street is a bustling collection of Asian restaurants and cafes mingled with an eclectic mix of Chinese run businesses, car parks and building sites.

Another entrance arch to Chinatown. The building on the left houses the Da Fu Peking Duck Restaurant

There are also bookstores, fashion boutiques and other retail outlets in arcades such as the Village Center, The Target Centre and Paramount Plaza. A number of nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings, often with recently designed Chinoiserie facades, also still stand. Some of the older clan societies, political societies and Chinese churches are still operational.

The author with grandson Kyle

Here are some interesting trivia regarding Melbourne’s Chinatown:

  • Chinatown is the longest continuous Chinese settlement in the Western World
  • It is the oldest Chinatown in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • Its Chinese Museum is home to Dai Loong and the Millennium Dragon, the largest Chinese dragonin the world.
  • In the 1880s, Tom Roberts, one of the leading figures of Australian Impressionism, created sketches of life in Little Bourke Street.
  • Fergus Hume‘s The Mystery of a Hansom Cab(1886), one of the most famous mystery crime novels of the Victorian era, is based largely on the author’s observations of life in Little Bourke Street, including the Chinese Quarter.
  • Little Bourke Street is featured prominently in Charles Bradley‘s 1891 crime novel The Belgrave Place.
  • Elinor Mordaunt‘s 1919 novel The Ginger Jar, set in Little Bourke Street,  is about a love affair between a Chinese Australian hawker and a European woman.
  • A pivotal scene of the 1911 silent film The Double Event, directed by  J. Lincoln, takes place in Melbourne’s Chinatown.
  • The 1997 Hong Kong action film Nice Guy, starring Jackie Chan, is set in Melbourne, with several scenes shot in Chinatown.

Playing an important role in establishing the culture of Chinese immigrants in Australia, Melbourne’s Chinatown is a major tourist attraction known for its architectural heritage, annual festivals and cuisines of Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Korean origins.

One of Chinatown’s 5 arches

Chinatown’s 5 key arches, which clearly announce the entrance to Chinatown, are an important statement of the City of Melbourne’s commitment to Chinatown.  They have been restored to their former glory with added modern touches including red neon lighting on the columns.

Chinese Museum

The Chinese Museum  or Museum of Chinese Australian History, housed in a 4-storey building built by the Cohen Bros in 1890 and used as a warehouse for the manufacture of furniture, is a history museum  established in 1985 and refurbished in 2010.  It presents the history of Australians of Chinese ancestry and, since 2010, its ground floor has also acted as a visitor centre for Melbourne’s Chinatown.

A pair of fu dogs at the museum entrance

Its extensive collection of Chinese clothing and textiles, photographs, documents and artifacts reflects the social fabric and activities of the Chinese community in Australia from the 1850s.  The museum also has a temporary exhibition space in which local and international artists can present work that engages with the Chinese culture.

Statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen

Outside the Museum’s entrance is a memorial statue of Dr Sun Yat-sen, unveiled in 2011 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China. The traditional Chinese New Year Lion Dance has always ended at this spot, but will now end with a blessing of the statue.

One building of architectural and historical significance in Chinatown is the 2-storey Chinese Mission Church.  Built in 1872 by the Wesleyan Methodists, it is known today as the Chinese Parish Office of the Uniting Church.  This Gothic-style church has simple pointed arch windows and slate roof by architects Crouch and Wilson, and is an early example of polychromatic brickwork incorporating diaper work to the facade and polychromatic voussoirs to the windows.

Chinese Mission Church

Chinatown: Little Bourke St., Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Tel: +61 474 043 600.

Chinese Museum:  22 Cohen Place, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9662 2888

Chinese Mission Church: 196 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne City, Victoria, Australia

 

Federation Square (Melbourne, Australia)

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Federation Square

Federation Square, a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district, covers an area of 3.2 ha (7.9 acres) and was built above busy railway lines and across the road from Flinders Street station.

It incorporates major cultural institutions (Ian Potter Centre, ACMI, Koorie Heritage Trust, etc.) as well as cafes and bars, in a series of buildings centered around a large paved square, and a glass walled atrium.

Check out “Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia“

Melbourne’s central city grid was designed without a central public square, long seen as a missing element. From the 1920s there were proposals to roof the railway yards on the southeast corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets for a public square, with more detailed proposals prepared in the 1950s and 1960s.

In the 1960s, the Melbourne City Council decided that the best place for the City Square was the corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, opposite the town hall. The first temporary square opened in 1968, and a permanent version opened in 1981. It was however not considered a great success, and was redeveloped in the 1990s as a smaller simpler space in front of a new large hotel.

Meanwhile, in the late 1960s, a small part of the railway lines had been partly roofed by the construction of the Princes Gate Towers, known as the Gas & Fuel Buildings after their major tenant, the Gas and Fuel Corporation, over the old Princes Bridge station.

This included a plaza on the corner, which was elevated above the street and little used. Between the plaza and Batman Avenue, which ran along the north bank of the Yarra River, were the extensive Jolimont Railway Yards, and the through train lines running into Flinders Street station under Swanston Street.

This open public square had its beginnings in 1996 when the then Premier Jeff Kennett announced that the Gas & Fuel Buildings would be demolished, the rail yards roofed and a complex including arts facilities and a large public space to be named Federation Square would be built.

Lobby of Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

It was opened in 2001, in time to celebrate the centenary of Australia’s Federation, and included performing arts facilities, a gallery, a cinemedia center, the public space, a glazed winter garden, and ancillary cafe and retail spaces.

Built at a cost of approximately $467 million (over four times the original estimate of between $110 and $128 million), its main funding came primarily from the state government, some from the federal government, $64 million from the City of Melbourne while private operators and sponsors paid for fit outs or naming rights. The square was opened on October 26, 2002.

Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) – Australia’s national museum of film, video games, digital culture and art

In 2006, the vaults under Princes Walk (a former roadway) were redeveloped by Federation Wharf into a large bar, with extensive outdoor areas on the Yarra riverbank, with elevator access to Federation Square.

In October 2011, Elizabeth II visited Federation Square. On October 2018, an interim decision to list Fed Square to the Victorian Heritage Register resulted in the square being formally listed in August 2019.

Occupying roughly a whole urban block bounded by Swanston, Flinders, and Russell Streets and the Yarra River, Federation Square is directly opposite Flinders Street station and St Paul’s Cathedral.

The precinct’s layout was designed to connect Melbourne’s historical central district with the Yarra River and Birrarung Marr, a new park.

Its complex and irregular design had gently angled ‘cranked’ geometries (predominating in both the planning and the facade treatment of the various buildings and the winter gardens that surrounded and defined the open spaces) while a series of ‘shards’ provided vertical accents.

Interconnected laneways and stairways and the winter garden connects Flinders Street to the Yarra River. The open square, arranged as a gently sloping amphitheater, is focused on a large viewing screen for public events, with a secondary sloped plaza area on the main corner.

The 1.3 m. high bronze statue of the Fearless Girl by Kristen Visbal

Federation Square: intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets.

Ian Potter Center: NGV Australia (Melbourne)

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Ian Potter Centre – NGV Australia

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, an  art gallery that houses the Australian part of the art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), is a legacy of the businessman and philanthropist Sir Ian Potter. It presents the story of Australian art through a comprehensive program of temporary exhibitions and extensive displays.

Check out “Federation Square”

Museum entrance

The country’s first public art museum dedicated to Australian art, it houses one of the oldest and most well known art collections in the country and has almost 25,000 Australian artworks, including paintings, sculpture, prints, photography, fashion and textiles.

Museum lobby

At one time, approximately 800 works are displayed in the new building and many of these are rotated frequently to show the full breadth and diversity of Australian art, and to provide visitors with fresh insights. The NGV’s international works are displayed at the NGV International on St Kilda Road.

The author at the museum

The collection, also acknowledging the power, primacy and cultural diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, presents some of Indigenous art’s major historical and contemporary works. The collection includes works in a range of media by male and female artists, including William Barak, Judy Watson, Emily Kngwarray and Uta Uta Tjangala.

Autumn Memories (Frederick McCubbin)

Well-known and superb works featured at the Ian Potter Centre include  non-Indigenous art, from the Colonial period to the present day, including some of the genre’s most iconic paintings such as Frederick McCubbin‘s poignant triptych The Pioneer (1904), Tom Roberts‘ Shearing the Rams (1890), and works from Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Arthur Streeton, John Perceval, Margaret Preston, Bill Henson, Howard Arkley and Fred Williams.

The Bathers (E. Phillips Fox)

The Ian Potter Centre, designed by Lab Architecture Studio in association with Bates Smart of Melbourne, headed by Peter Davidson and Donald Bates, has earned the designers the RAIA National Award for Interior Architecture as well as the Marion Mahony Interior Architecture Award.

Black Sun (Inge King)

There was plenty to see in the normal free exhibitions so, unless you have a particular interest in the special ones, you’ll still see lots and enjoy the visit.

Faun and Nymph (Rayner Hoff, bronze)

As we arrived just a little over an hour before closing time during our visit, we just saw the free exhibits which were Lucy McRae Body Architect, Petrina Hicks: Bleached Gothic, Olympia: Photographs by Polixeni Papapetrou, Marking Time: Indigenous Art from the NGV, Roger Kemp: Visionary Modernist, The Joseph Brown Collection, Civilization: The Way We Live Now, 20th Century Australian Art and Late 20th and 21st Century Australian Art.

Check out “Lucy McRae Body Architect Exhibit,” “Petrina Hicks: Bleached Gothic Exhibit,” “Olympia: Photographs by Polixeni Papapetrou Exhibit,” “Marking Time: Indigenous Art from the NGV Exhibit,” “Roger Kemp: Visionary Modernist Exhibit,” The Joseph Brown Collection Exhibit,” “Civilization: The Way We Live Now Exhibit,” “20th Century Australian Art Exhibit” and “Late 20th and 21st Century Australian Art Exhibit.”

Marking Time: Indigenous Art From the NGV (Level 3, August 17, 20 19 – June 14, 2020) explores drawings and markings of figures, signs or text made on public surfaces across Indigenous Australia, from rock face to now.

Marking Time

Reko Rennie and Brook Andrew translated incisions, on carved trees or shields, into bold neon icons, whereas Josh Muir and Hannah Brontë used video art to communicate voices of dissent, create dialogue between groups and to effect change.

Marking Time

The Joseph Brown Collection (Level 2) displays the outstanding private collection of Australian art of artist, soldier, scholar, connoisseur, successful businessman and art dealer Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE, donated in May 2004, the most generous single gift of works of art ever made to a public gallery in Australia.

The Joseph Brown Collection

The Joseph Brown Collection

Civilization: The Way We Live Now (Ground Level, September 13, 2019 – February 2, 2020), an international photography exhibition of monumental scale, exhibits over 200 original photographs of over 100 contemporary photographers from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe.

Civilization – The Way We Live Now

In this increasingly globalized world, the exhibition explores photographers’ representations of life in cities as its key theme and presents a journey through the shared aspects of life in the urban environment.

Bryan, Cheska and Kyle at the Civilization: The Way We Live Now exhibit

The modern and bright Crossbar Café, on Level 3, has lovely views of the Yarra River.

White Sacred Baboon (Brett Whiteley)

Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia: Federation Square, Flinders St. and Russell St., Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Open daily, 10 AM- 5 PM. Closed Christmas Day and Good Friday. Admission to the permanent collection is free. Fees may apply to special exhibitions, as advertized. Tel: 8620 2222. E-mail: enquiries@ngv.vic.gov.au. Website: www.ngv.vic.gov.au.