Melbourne Museum is preparing for a collection mash up this summer when it unveils Museum Inside Out, a major exhibition that will showcase the museum’s collections like never before and signal a new direction for Australia’s largest museum organisation.
Minister for Youth Affairs Jenny Mikakos was at Melbourne Museum today to get a taste of the exhibition which will be a deep dive into the museum’s collection of more than 17 million items, bringing together some of its oldest, most curious or beloved treasures into playful and immersive displays.
The exhibition, which has brought together the creative talents of Museums Victoria’s team of scientists, researchers and curators, will see thousand year old specimens placed alongside contemporary items in highly theatrical backdrops that will be a feast for the senses.
The exhibition will herald a significant new era for Museums Victoria, the organisation that oversees Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks, the Immigration Museum, IMAX Melbourne and the Royal Exhibition Building.
Ms Mikakos also unveiled Museums Victoria’s 2017-18 program, which shows how the 163-year-old organisation is reimagining the role museums will play in the 21st century and beyond.
Alongside storeroom tours and regular late night music, screenings and soirées across all sites, the year ahead will see Museums Victoria sites host more than 40 exhibitions covering everything from fashion and design to migration to technology, innovation and the wonders of science.
In March Melbourne Museum will present Vikings, a major international exhibition that will bring together the largest collection of Viking artefacts ever displayed in Australia, and in June visitors will have the opportunity to design and virtually fly their own experimental aircraft in an interactive exhibition called Above and Beyond.
Two new permanent exhibitions will open at Scienceworks, one designed for babies and pre-schoolers and the other for teenagers and young adults.
Museum Inside Out will open at Melbourne Museum on 23 December 2017. For more information, and to explore Museums Victoria’s 2017-18 the exhibitions and activities, visit museumsvictoria.com.au
Quotes attributable to Minister for Youth Affairs Jenny Mikakos
“The Museum Inside Out exhibition spells a new era for Australia’s most popular museum, and an exciting new direction for Museums Victoria that reflects Victoria’s reputation as the creative state.”
“The Museums Victoria team has unleashed its creativity with a bumper program of exhibitions, new experiences and plenty of surprises up ahead.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020