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WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM

WA Museum Boola Bardip

Boorloo, Whadjuk Nyoongar land

Perth

The WA Museum Boola Bardip opened in November 2020 and is located in the heart of the Perth Cultural Centre. In 2019, global news network CNN identified the project as ‘one of the ten most anticipated buildings set to shape the world’. With eight new permanent exhibition galleries, a special exhibition gallery, learning studios, retail, café and public spaces, the award-winning museum is where visitors can discover the many stories of Western Australian people, places and global connections.

The Indian Ocean World display, located in the Connections Gallery, presents objects and stories from Batavia. The natural environment of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, including the unique biodiversity of the Leeuwin Current, is displayed in the Wildlife Gallery. Visitors will find the history of the Abrolhos Islands fishing industry in the Changes Gallery.

WA Shipwrecks Museum

Walyalup, Whadjuk Nyoongar land

Fremantle

Located in the convict-built Commissariat buildings in Fremantle, the WA Shipwrecks Museum is home to thousands of artefacts recovered from Batavia and other historic shipwrecks discovered along the Western Australian coast.

The Batavia Gallery is home to the ship’s original timbers, which were excavated from the wreck site in the early 1970s. Painstakingly conserved and reconstructed, the surviving hull section led to the creation of the museum, which opened to the public in September 1979.

Batavia’s shipboard objects and cargo, alongside everyday personal items, provide a unique insight into seventeenth century life in Europe. Visitors can see examples of these objects on display, such as cannon, beardman jugs, and preserved lace.

With archaeological collections from three other VOC vessels: Vergulde Draeck (1656), Zuytdorp (1712) and Zeewijk (1727), and eighteenth and nineteenth century colonial wrecks, the Shipwrecks Museum has an international reputation as the foremost maritime archaeology museum in the southern hemisphere.

Museum of Geraldton

Jambinu, Yamatji land

Geraldton

The Museum of Geraldton overlooks the Indian Ocean, with the Houtman Abrolhos Islands approximately 65 kilometres to the west of the city. Visitors can explore Yamatji history and culture, the region’s ancient landforms and environment, and the social history of Geraldton and the wider Midwest region.

There is a strong focus on the region’s maritime heritage. In the large and atmospheric Shipwrecks Gallery, visitors will discover objects recovered from the Batavia wreck site and survivors’ camps, including the stone portico blocks destined for Dutch East Indies. This impressive gallery centrepiece is surrounded by other stories and collections from Vergulde Draeck (1656), Zuytdorp (1712) and Zeewijk (1727). Guided tours featuring the Batavia story are available daily.

Visitors can also witness the World War Two wrecks of HMAS Sydney (II) and HSK Kormoran as they currently lie, 2,500 metres deep on the ocean floor, in From Great Depths, a moving exhibit and 3D film with regular screenings.

Connections Gallery, WA Museum Boola Bardip.

Credit: WA Museum

Entrance Gallery, WA Shipwrecks Museum, Fremantle.

Credit: Red Eclectic

Shipwrecks Gallery, Museum of Geraldton.

Credit: I. Brodie