Museums And Galleries

Museum of Chinese Australian History

Opened in 1985 to preserve the heritage of Australians of Chinese descent, this museum is in the heart of Chinatown. The subjects of its displays range from the influx of Chinese gold seekers in the 1850s to exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art, thus offering a comprehensive history of the Chinese in Victoria and their cultural background. The second floor holds regular touring exhibitions from China and displays of Chinese art. On the third floor is a permanent exhibition covering many aspects of Chinese-Australian history, including elaborate costumes, furniture and temple regalia.

In the basement, another permanent exhibition traces the experiences of Chinese gold miners – visitors step into a booth which creaks and moves like a transport ship, then view dioramas of gold field life, a Chinese temple and a tent theatre used by Chinese performers to entertain miners. A guided heritage walk through Chinatown is also available.

The museum also houses the beautiful Melbourne Chinese dragon, the head of which is the largest of its kind anywhere in the world.

Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum

Located at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), this museum is currently closed due to redevelopment at the MCG in preparation for the Commonwealth Games in 2006. It is due to reopen by November in that year, but in the meantime, you can still take a tour which includes the Arena, the Great Southern  Stand, the Ponsford Stand, the football and cricket change rooms, heritage artworks and the corporate suites. Tours leave from Light Tower No.4 every half hour between 10am and 3pm, but only on non-event days.

When it reopens, the Olympic Museum will have displays of the history of all summer Olympic meets, reincarnated in Athens in 1896. Australia, Greece and the United Kingdom are the only three countries to have competed at all of the modern summer games.

The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame, which opened with ten Australian players as initial members, includes Sir Donald Bradman. Each player is presented through a comprehensive historical display.