According to art critic Jerry Saltz, museums are “wormholes to other worlds”. “Follow your eyes to wherever they lead you,” he says, “and the world should begin to change for you.”
And so we celebrate some of the world’s greatest museum and gallery spaces, and chat with some of the passionate people behind them.
Melbourne Museum
Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne Museum Melbourne, Australia The incredible Melbourne Museum precinct is home to the renowned Museums Victoria Research Institute, the UNESCO World Heritage listed, Victorian-era Royal Exhibition Building, and IMAX Melbourne – with the largest screen in the southern hemisphere! Positioned in Carlton Gardens, Melbourne Museum showcases an array of exhibits including natural history, First Peoples cultures, science, and technology.
New Zealand-born Lynley Crosswell is the CEO and director of the parent body Museums Victoria. “Across our museums, we had 3.7 million visitors last year,” she tells Verve. “That puts us around number 11 in the world for museums. Today, you really need to give people an experience.”
Standout experiences at Melbourne Museum, Australia’s home of dinosaurs, include Horridus the Triceratops, Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, and innovative exhibitions such as the upcoming Antopia that reveals the hidden world beneath our feet by allowing guests to ‘shrink’ to the size of an ant!
Is technology playing an ever-greater role in the museum and exhibition space?
Technology is there to enhance the narrative, it’s really important to remember that. These digital, immersive experiences are ubiquitous around the world now. It’s all about working out how to combine the science, the research, the collections, the history, and the culture in ways that are innovative and creative. Within Victoria, our organisation is the largest provider of education outside of the Education Department. We engage with every local government area across the state.
Can you tell us about the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre?
First Peoples’ living history and culture is very much at the heart of our practice. I’m genuinely humbled by – and appreciative of – the support and guidance from the community and the elders – we also have the board subcommittee the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee. The centre itself is all about Aboriginal Australian culture here in Victoria, and beyond. Mid-next year we’ll be opening a new exhibition – our largest, permanent exhibition ever staged – that will be a multi-sensory experience that celebrates biodiversity with a First Peoples’ narrative which will offer a whole new dimension to give a more holistic insight.
As well as community collaboration, do you also work with other Australian and international museums?
Yes, frequently. We work really closely with the Natural History Museum in London – we’ve had a couple of exhibitions out from them recently. We’re also in the initial stages of co-development of an exhibition with them and soon we’re hosting one from Auckland. These collaborations are really important because we’re at the bottom of the planet!
Presumably the IMAX isn’t just for Hollywood movies?!
You can visit IMAX Melbourne or have a joint IMAX-museum experience. During Covid, we acquired a glorious Triceratops fossil, whom we’ve called Horridus. It’s the world’s most complete and finely preserved Triceratops, so well preserved that the contents of its last meal were still in there! We’ve been able to scan the skull cavity and then 3D-print the brain – which is really very small! So, researchers have finally been able to understand how it walked and moved and other interesting things. Horridus is in one of the galleries on the ground floor, and you can then go and see an IMAX movie about how this creature roamed the Earth.
A highlight is heading to the top of the dome – which you reach via a gallery that tells the history of the building with some beautiful objects from the first exhibition of 1880.
And you even have a UNESCO World Heritage site by way of the Royal Exhibition Building?
That is just such a wonderful experience. A highlight is heading to the top of the dome – which you reach via a gallery that tells the history of the building with some beautiful objects from the first exhibition of 1880. The height of the dome is around eight stories, with a lovely perspective of the gardens and all the way out to Port Phillip Bay. And afterwards you can have a Devonshire tea. During the warmer months, there’s the opportunity for sunset viewings.
What’s your favourite part of the museum?
That’s like picking a favourite child! But there is a really special place in the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre that is Bunjil’s Nest. Inside there is a kinetic sculpture of Bunjil, who is an eagle-like Creation ancestor, and you can hear about Bunjil’s story as you watch the beautiful image gently moving. It’s incredibly profound and moving.
And finally, what are you most looking forward to for next year?
As well as Antopia, we have a major new permanent exhibition opening which I think will be the one of the finest examples of a contemporary natural history gallery anywhere. The other one that we’re really excited about is LEGO® Star Wars: The Exhibition. We have over eight million LEGO bricks and there will be some incredible objects from the movie. The world-first premiere will be right here in Melbourne, and we will of course utilise the moment to talk about galaxies and star systems and engage with science and the natural world.
Need we ask when that one starts?
May the fourth, of course!
Museums Victoria offers guided tours of Melbourne Museum and the Royal Exhibition Building, where you can find out more about iconic collection items, the history of Victoria, and the history of the museum itself. Find out more at museumsvictoria.com.au/museums-victoria-tours.
National Museum of Anthropology
Mexico City, Mexico
Mexico’s most visited museum, the National Museum of Anthropology was built in 1964 to showcase the nation’s ancient works. Within the museum’s 23 permanent exhibit halls shine iconic artefacts such as the Sun Stone – or Calendar Stone – which depicts the five consecutive worlds of the sun from Aztec Mythology, and the enormous Olmec heads which are believed to represent the rulers of Olmec – Mexico’s first major civilisation.
Natural History
Museum London, UK
Millions of years’ worth of history awaits by way of 80 million specimens at the Natural History Museum, one of the most prestigious institutes in the world. Opened in 1881 in a purpose-built Romanesque cathedral, unmissable attractions include a huge diving Blue Whale skeleton named Hope; prehistoric fossils, volcanic simulations and artefacts explaining human evolution; the Darwin Centre; and a tropical butterfly house. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year is among its most popular regular exhibitions.
Van Gogh Museum
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dedicated to the life and works of the great Vincent van Gogh, this museum houses the world’s largest collection of his letters, paintings, and drawings. Pieces range from his early, unrefined portraits of peasants in his homeland through to his later years in France. Among the most famous paintings on display are ‘Sunflowers’ and ‘Wheatfield with Crows’, finished shortly before his suicide. There are also works by contemporaries like Gauguin and Monet.
Museum of Memory and Human Rights
Santiago, Chile
Positioned in the Chilean capital, the Museum of Memory and Human Rights honours the thousands of victims that suffered imprisonment, torture, and death under the appalling dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet which stretched from 1973 to 1990. The museum, which aims also aims to promote human rights and democracy, is a striking piece of architecture, most notably its glorious copper facade.
Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina
This iconic institution, usually referred to as Malba, is dedicated to contemporary Latin American art, including paintings, sculptures, and drawings, as well as a substantial film and photography archive. Prominent permanent collections include works by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahola, and the modern, airy building also hosts regular world-class exhibitions from overseas, too.
Museum of Egyptian Antiquities
Cairo, Egypt
Usually simply referred to as the Egyptian Museum, this is truly one of the world’s most magical attractions, housing a host of ancient artefacts including treasures of Tutankhamun. The museum opened in 1902 in the heart of Tahrir Square, designed by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon, and is home to the world’s oldest and largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities. An extraordinary journey through Egypt’s rich history.
The Pretoria Art Museum
Pretoria, South Africa
Opened in 1964 at a time when other regional museums were working to assemble European art, the Pretoria Art Museum’s sole focus is to promote local art. Its permanent collection ranges from 17th-century pieces to contemporary works by legendary South African artists like Pieter Wenning, Henk Pierneef, Frans Oerder, Anton van Wouw and Gerard Sekoto. The museum also offers educational programmes and receives plenty of visiting exhibits including urban art, sculptures, prints, and ceramics.
The Palace Museum
Beijing, China
In terms of sheer scale at least, this one’s by far the most impressive on the list. The Unesco-listed Palace Museum, more commonly referred to as the Forbidden City, sits within 3.5km of citadel walls within China’s capital, and is the country’s largest and best-preserved collection of ancient buildings and artefacts – bigger than both the Vatican and the Kremlin. It’s history spans six centuries, and it was home to 24 emperors.
Hakone Open-Air Museum
Hakone, Japan
Positioned in Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, this open-air museum’s purpose is to promote sculpture to the public. The scenic, undulating surroundings – dotted with streams, trees and ponds, and with panoramic sea and mountain views – serve as the ideal, immersive backdrop to admire abstract works by local and international artists. The contemporary museum also houses both sculptures and paintings, including a hall dedicated to Picasso.
The Met
New York, USA
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, commonly referred to as The Met, is among the most revered museums in the world. Established in 1870, it’s the largest art museum in the Americas, home to a two-million-strong collection and welcoming more than six million visitors a year. Some of its pieces are 5,000 years old, a timeline than spans from Ancient Egypt to Picasso.
Dr Maia Nuku is the first indigenous Pacific person to hold a curatorial position at The Met, overseeing 2,800 works of Māori and Pacific art which comprises taonga from 20,000 islands and around 1,800 different cultures and language groups. “The artworks range from ancestral treasures created three to four hundred years ago, to contemporary artworks produced just last year,” she tells Verve.
Can you tell us how Pacific artifacts and art are curated and presented at The Met?
Highlights of our Oceania collection include monumental architecture from the diverse cultural groups of New Guinea and a spectacular range of ceremonial sculpture from the coastal archipelagos that surround it. These exceptional artworks tell a wealth of stories relating to origins and ancestral power, performance and initiation.
The collection covers such a deep tranche of Oceania – in terms of space, and ancestral or historical time – that we can present the collection within an overarching conceptual framework grounded in Indigenous perspectives. I hope our international visitors come away with a deepened understanding of Oceania, using the art as a key to unlock the unique coordinates of Pacific cultures and unpack its political and colonial histories.
How do you see the role of museums like The Met in fostering cultural exchange between New Zealand and other countries?
We offer an important international platform to showcase the arts of Oceania – and profile the narratives that are at the center of the Pacific experience. That is meaningful in a city like New York where the United Nations and Forum for Indigenous Peoples convene regularly. The museum receives over six million visitors a year, many of whom have never encountered Māori or Pacific art before, so the Oceania collections play a huge role in leveraging interest in the region, and raising the profile of our arts and cultures which has exponential economic and political impact. I also believe the taonga heighten the opportunity to lead a global conversation about stewardship of resources, of the ocean and its islands.
What kind of feedback have you had regarding Māori exhibits?
Audiences find the art dynamic and engaging. It is a delight to see artists, scholars, historians, and schoolkids engaging with Māori and Pacific art in a very direct, unfiltered way. In 2023, we organised a touring exhibition of 130 highlights from our collection of Oceanic art ‘The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’. The artworks travelled to China and the Gulf – and audiences were completely intrigued by the art acknowledging that it was completely unfamiliar to them. They were captivated and keen to understand and learn more.
Three Māori friends accompanied me to open the exhibition. The response to their participation in the opening ceremonies and workshops was phenomenal. These artworks were amazing cultural ambassadors for Aotearoa and the Pacific, and it was incredible to witness.
Are there any upcoming exhibitions or events that you can share?
In spring 2025, we will unveil new galleries for the arts of Oceania within a 40,000-sq-ft wing in the southwest corner of the museum. It’s the culmination of almost 10 years of planning and development so it’s an incredible feeling to be in the final stages of this major renovation project and I’m really excited for the opening! Our collection of Oceanic art is newly presented in a light and uplifting setting with refreshed displays that are exciting and engaging. The monumental scale and soaring ceilings of the newly designed space feels majestic. It is light due to an impressive threshold window that looks out onto Central Park. The art feels dynamic and fresh, reflecting the rich history of creative expression and innovation that is emblematic of the region. Even the 18th and 19th century artworks look and feel contemporary!
The galleries will be animated with the voices of Māori and Pacific artists and cultural practitioners who have shared their knowledge with us, recording stories, chants, poems and songs pertinent to specific works in the collection. As curator, I have chosen to foreground Indigenous perspectives throughout the galleries – so that visitors can get a sense of the unique ways that Māori and Pacific peoples navigate the world and think about life.
This mahi is a continuation of Te Maori – the landmark exhibition that The Met hosted in 1984 which established significant new precedents for consultation and shared decision-making between Indigenous communities and museums. I’m always thinking of the importance of this legacy, ever since I joined the museum.
Maia was the recipient of the 2023 Kea World Class New Zealand Supreme Award. Her book, Oceania: The Shape of Time, is out now.
