The rain cleared this morning for my fortnightly hometown excursion, this time a short outing to the Museum of Sydney.
It might have been the most beautiful city in the world. But instead of being planned it just happened.
Arnold Haskell, 1940
With Sydney Living Museums member gold card in hand, it is free entry to the museum, on the site of Sydney’s original Government House, the footprint of which is traced out in the forecourt.
MoS is small, with a couple of temporary exhibition spaces interspersed with permanent displays capturing aspects of historical Sydney: the ships of the First Fleet, life before the British, and the contribution of Seidler and Utzon to the architectural face of the city.
Not every aspect of the museum is a Sydney love-fest. The exhibitions are honest about the flaws of British land-grabbing expansionism, though I feel they don’t pack anywhere near the emotional punch of the new Hyde Park Barracks displays.
Aside from the stories of Sydney, the museum currently hosts a temporary exhibition of Gollings’ architectural photography. It alone is worth the visit, with awe-inspiring images capturing some of Australia and the world’s most remarkable buildings, large and small.
It’s a site that need not take a huge chunk out of the day, though I needed at least double the hour that I had today to explore more fully.
There’s plenty to soak in; in particular, the museum’s two screening rooms, one playing a selection of documentaries about Sydney life over the past century and the other telling the eye-opening story of Windradyne, the Wiradjuri warrior, and the Suttors, a pastoralist family who, through their 17-year old son who learned the local language, forged a seemingly respectful relationship with the Wiradjuri people. It’s a tale I’ve never heard before.
For those films, I’ll definitely be back.
Photo of the Day:
Adam Majsay 