Museum

B

3

Southeast Asia

In Singapore, the government’s National Heritage Board administers the Singapore Art Museum, housed in a colonial building once known as the Raffles Museum, a museum of Asian cultures, and a museum devoted to Singapore history. The Singapore Science Center is a well-known interactive museum of science and technology.

The two major museums in the Philippines are both in Manila. The National Museum of the Philippines has collections in anthropology, botany, geology, zoology, and art. The Museum of Arts and Sciences has collections documenting the natural history, ethnography, and art of the Philippines.

Indonesia’s National Museum in Jakarta houses treasures from the 19th-century courts of Indonesia as well as historical, archaeological, and ethnographic collections. Museums in Thailand include the National Museum, a history museum, and the Science Museum, both in Bangkok.

In Vietnam, the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts in Hanoi traces the evolution of Vietnamese architecture, sculpture, drawing, and fine arts. The Army Museum, also in Hanoi, includes weaponry and aircraft from the Vietnam War.

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C

Australia and New Zealand

C

1

Australia

Australia has a variety of museums that reflect its unique natural history, its Aboriginal heritage, and its art (see Aboriginal Art). The nation’s first museum, the Australian Museum (1827) in Sydney, is devoted to the natural history of the Australian continent and has a collection of materials related to Aboriginal Australians. The Queensland Museum in Brisbane also focuses on the natural history and ethnology of the Australian region. Museum Victoria in Melbourne is a complex including the Melbourne Museum, a cultural and natural history museum; Scienceworks, a science and technology museum; and the Immigration Museum and Hellenic Antiquities Museum.

History museums in Australia include the Old Melbourne Gaol in Melbourne, the first permanent prison complex in Australia; the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, which focuses on colonial exploration, ships and shipwrecks, and Australian naval services; and the Museum of Sydney, which portrays life in early Australia. The National Museum of Australia in Canberra, which opened in 2001, interprets the complex origins of the continent and nation.

Outstanding art museums are found throughout Australia. The Australian National Gallery in Canberra is the home of the national art collection. The emphasis is on Australian and Aboriginal art, with additional material from Asia, Africa, and the Pacific Islands. The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne includes European and Australian paintings and drawings, decorative arts, sculpture, Asian art, antiquities, and primitive art. Other important art museums are located in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide.

C

2

New Zealand

New Zealand’s museums have strong collections that show the country’s rich natural and artistic heritage. The Auckland Museum, or Te Papa Whakahiku, was founded in 1852, only 12 years after the first large European migration to New Zealand. Its collections of Maori and Pacific Islands art and treasures are among the finest in the world. The museum building also serves as a war memorial honoring fallen New Zealand soldiers. Other museums in Auckland include the Auckland City Art Gallery, with a collection of contemporary art; the Museum of Transport, Technology, and Social History; and the National Maritime Museum. In Wellington, the national museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, explores the nation’s cultural identity and natural environment. The Waikato Museum of Art and History (Te Whare Taonga o Waikato), on the Waikato River near Hamilton, focuses on New Zealand and Waikato region art, the cultural history of the Tainui Maori group, and Australasian art, sculpture, and ceramics. In Christchurch, the Canterbury Museum is a major regional museum with diverse archaeological and ethnological collections. The Robert MacDougall Art Gallery in Christchurch has a comprehensive collection of 19th- and 20th-century New Zealand art. See also Oceanian Art and Architecture.

D

Europe

Although Europe is the birthplace of the museum movement and its museums are the inheritors of so much of the cultural wealth of the Western world, the European public museum is only a little older than such institutions in other parts of the globe. The range of museum types and sizes varies as it does elsewhere, from large encyclopedic art and natural history museums to participatory science centers to outdoor museums.

D

1

Science and Natural History Museums

Britain’s national museum of life and earth sciences—with a collection of some 70 million specimens—is the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, which is known for its innovative exhibits and educational programs. The National Museum of Science and Industry explains the history and development of science, technology, medicine, and industry. This museum incorporates the Science Museum in London, the National Railway Museum in York, and the National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television in Bradford.

In Munich, Germany, the Deutsches Museum is a major museum of natural sciences, technology, and industry. It pioneered participatory interpretation techniques that have influenced contemporary museums of all types. The Technisches Museum in Vienna, Austria, also emphasizes visitor participation, with exhibits on transportation, maritime history, industrial history, and science. Other museums with a hands-on approach to science include the City of Arts and Science in Valencia, Spain; newMetropolis science and technology center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; the Evoluon Museum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands; the Museum of Science and Industry in Mannheim, Germany; and the Teknorama National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. France’s national museum of science, technology, and industry, the City of Science and Industry in Paris, is one of the world’s largest and most-visited science museums, featuring the latest in exhibit design and technology.

Another important science museum is the Polytechnical Museum in Moscow, Russia, which shows the history and contemporary achievements of Russian science and technology. Created in 1872, it was the first museum in Russia established for the purpose of education.

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