Page 40 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sydney

38  INTRODUCING SY DNEY

Exploring Sydney’s Museums and Galleries

Sydney is home to a flourishing arts scene and the country’s
largest cultural institutions, which welcome more than
10 million visitors each year. Among its most popular
attractions are a rich variety of museums and galleries.
As well as examining the cultural, artistic and historical
heritage and future of Australia’s biggest city – and of the
country as a whole – the range of museums covers natural
history, science and antiquities, as well as other areas. From Detail from Window of Dreams at the
the traditional to the cutting edge, there is a museum or Australian National Maritime Museum
gallery to suit every taste.
Technology and
Australian works as well as Natural History
a gallery devoted to Asian The undisputed leader in
art and a collection of con- this area is the Powerhouse,
temporary and photo graphic with traditional and interactive
works. Thematic temporary displays covering fields
exhibitions are also a regular as diverse as space travel,
feature here. silent films and solar energy.
The newer Museum of The Australian National
Contemporary Art (MCA) is Maritime Museum has the
best known for its impressive world’s fastest boat, Spirit of
blockbuster exhibitions. Many Australia, as part of its indoor/
of these take advantage of its outdoor display. Also part of
prime harbour site to create a their fleet are the destroyer
fine sense of spectacle. It also HMAS Vampire, the Onslow (a
has a considerable permanent sub marine), and the James Craig
collection, and hosts literary (1874), a three-masted barque.
readings and talks. The Australian Museum,
The Brett Whiteley Studio, in contrast, emphasizes natural
Collage on one of the internal doors of the housed in the studio of the history with its displays of the
Brett Whiteley Studio late artist, commemorates exotic and extinct: from birds,
the life and works of perhaps insects and rock samples to
the most celebrated and giant Australian megafauna.
Visual Arts contro versial Sydney painter
The Art Gallery of NSW has of the late 20th century. Aboriginal Culture
one of the finest existing The substantial collection
collections of modern of Australian painting and With more than 200 works, both
Australian and Aboriginal art. sculp ture held by the S H Ervin traditional and contem porary,
It also boasts an outstanding Gallery is supplemented by on display, the Art Gallery of
collection of late 19th- and frequent thematic and other NSW’s Yiribana Gallery has the
early 20th-century English and specialized exhibitions. best and most comprehensive

Jabarrgwa Wurrabadalumba’s
Dugong Hunt (1948), Art Gallery of NSW

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