Page 89 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sydney

CIT Y CENTRE  87

8 Museum of History of Sydney
Sydney Outside the museum, a paving
pattern outlines the site of
Cnr Bridge & Phillip Sts. Map 1 B3. the first Government House.
Tel 9251 5988.  Circular Quay, Original foundations, lost under
Martin Place. Open 10am–5pm daily. street level for many years,
Closed Good Fri, 25 Dec. & - 0 can be seen here through a
8 7 ∑ sydneylivingmuseums. window. Inside the entrance
com.au/museum-of-sydney
a viewing floor reveals more
Situated at the base of Gover nor foundations. A segment of wall
Phillip Tower, the Museum of has been reconstructed using
Sydney is on the site of the first sandstone excavated during
Government House, the home, archaeologi cal exploration of
office and seat of authority for The Viewing Cube, Level 2, over looking the the site.
the first nine governors of NSW piazza to Circular Quay The Colony display on Level 1
from 1788 until its demolition focuses on Sydney during the
in 1846. The design assimilates from a contemporary perspec­ critical decade of the 1840s when
a valuable archaeological site tive. In the square at the front convict transportation ended,
into a modern office block. of the complex, the acclaimed the town officially became a
The museum itself traces the Edge of the Trees sculpture, a city and suffered an economic
city’s turbulent history, from collection of 29 sandstone, steel depression. There is also a set of
the 1788 arrival of the British and wooden pillars, sym bolizes scale models of the 11 First Fleet
colonists until the present day. the first contact ships. The museum
between the presents stories
Indigenous Peoples Aboriginal peoples of the Fleet’s
The museum sits on Cadigal and Euro peans. journey, arrival,
land. A gallery explores the Haunting voices first contacts
culture, history, continuity in the Eora tongue with indigenous
and place of Sydney’s original fill the space. people and the
Aboriginal inhabitants, and the Inscribed in the survival challenges
“turning point” of colonization/ wood are signa­ faced by those on
invasion. Collectors’ chests tures of the First The Trade Wall display board. On Level 2,
hold items of daily use such Fleeters and names on Level 1 20th­century Sydney
as flint and ochre, each piece of botanical species is explored, with
painstakingly catalogued and in both the indigenous language panoramic images of the
evocatively interpreted. and Latin. Incisions made in the developing city providing a
There are two audiovisual pillars are filled with organic vivid backdrop. The Museum of
exhibits which explore the materials such as ash, feathers, Sydney has a regular changing
history of indigenous peoples bone, shells and human hair. exhibition programme.

Edge of the Trees sculptural installation, by Janet Laurence and Fiona Foley (1995)

086-087_EW_Sydney.indd 87 29/05/17 12:19 pm