WA Maritime Museum

Drop into the WA Shipwrecks Museum to explore a treasure trove of free activities these school holidays! ⚓️☠️

We need your help to find the treasure trail and take home a pirates share of the loot! While you're here keeping an eye out for scallywags, create your treasure chest and listen to some swashbuckling pirate tales in our storytelling sessions.

Details here: https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/shipwrecks/2024-01/treasure-golden-dragon

📸Felicity and Bunsita, visiting from Queensland.

Sail into these school holidays with us and discover boat loads of programs and events to keep your 40th America's Cup Celebrations going. ⛵

Introduce your kids to your old favourites with our 80s Classic Family Movies or get your kids designing like Ben Lexcen with our Speed and Sail kite making activity.

Whether you're up for learning, creating or taking a trip back in time, we have something for everyone. 🏆

Discover more https://bit.ly/WAMM_SchoolHolidaysDec24

There are so many reasons to visit the WA Maritime Museum this week! ⛵️⚓️😍

Daily submarine tours of HMAS Ovens
Current exhibition: II: 40 years On
Back to the 80s: Family Quiz Show: 11am & 1pm
VR: Beyond the Milky Way & The Antarctica Experience
School holidays program: Speed-and-Sail
Sailing On Screen Film Festival: Opening Night - Friday 12 Jan

Details here: https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/maritime

OPENING TOMORROW 🎧

Our newest exhibitions, 'The Antarctica Experience' and 'Beyond the Milky Way' officially open tomorrow, and take you through the natural wonders of our world (and beyond) with captivating VR technology...

❄️ The Antarctica Experience ❄️
Transport yourself to a world of ice and snow through the wonder of virtual reality and explore a day in the life of Australian Antarctic scientists as they research Antarctica from Davis Research Station.

🌌 Beyond the Milky Way 🌌
Experience one of the greatest international scientific endeavours in history as you step onto Australia’s future site of the incredible SKA telescope in an immersive 25-minute, 360° virtual reality cinema experience.

Head to https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/maritime for more info on both

School holidays are well and truly here!

A family day out in wouldn't be complete without a trip to visit us - why not stop in at our 'Australia II: 40 Years On' exhibition, where we have loads of school holiday programs and events on offer.

Some of our top picks 👀 ⤵️

⭐ Back To The 80s: Family Quiz Show
Celebrating Australia II's historic win with a fun retro 80s quiz!
7 - 21 Jan | 11am & 1pm

⭐ 80s Classic Family Movies: E.T. (1982)
Experience the magic of Spielberg's classic tale of adventure and connection across worlds.
7 Jan | 3pm - 5pm

⭐ Speed and Sail
We celebrate the wonders of sailing during these summer school holidays.
4 – 21 Jan | 10am – 2pm

Discover more ➡️ https://bit.ly/WAMM_SchoolHolidaysDec23

We are happy to share we have wrapped up the consultation and reporting phase for the proposed amendments to the WA Maritime Archaeology Act 1973 ⚓.

From April to August 2023, we worked with the WA Gov. to invite stakeholders and maritime enthusiasts from all over WA to share their thoughts on updating this landmark legislation.

Did you know? The original act made WA a pioneer in safeguarding historic shipwrecks and maritime archaeological sites globally. However, times have changed, and it's time for our legislation to evolve. The proposed amendments aim to align with international standards, national laws, and best practices, ensuring a contemporary and consistent approach to protecting our precious maritime heritage.

The overwhelming support received during this consultation process highlighted the community's commitment to preserving our maritime history, with all the proposed amendments supported.

The consultation also identified the need to continue discussions with other regulatory agencies to manage compliance activities, helping to streamline processes and avoid duplication for the community.

Learn more ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g898tuDx

International Volunteer Day is a time to celebrate and promote volunteering. Please join us in thanking all of our volunteers for their amazing contribution to Fremantle Museums.

This year we celebrated with a behind-the-scenes tour of WA Shipwrecks Museum, where our archaeology and conservation staff shared some of their work with our volunteers, giving them a unique perspective into the inner workings of the museum.

If you are interested in volunteering, we’d love to hear from you. To find out more and apply, visit our website:
https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/maritime/volunteer?utm_content=sitemenu&utm_source=visit

Unveiling History - "SS Xantho: Unlocking Hidden Stories of our State" opens this Saturday 2 Dec at the WA Shipwrecks Museum!

Explore the late 1800s and dive into the intertwined tales of WA's first coastal steamship and one pioneering family, and their impact on WA's social, economic, and cultural landscape.

The gallery’s centrepiece is SS Xantho’s steam engine which spent 100 years on the sea floor before being recovered from the wreck in 1985, as well as the extensive restoration works to conserve it, and life in WA during this time period.

Thanks to the Foundation for the WA Museum for their support in refurbishing the gallery space and exhibition!

📸 (1) Patrick Baker, WA Museum
(2) This two-masted steamship, possibly Charles Broadhurst’s Xantho, is one of several European ships depicted at old Inthanoona Station, on Ngarluma country. Alistair Paterson University of Western Australia, with permission of Ngarluma Traditional Owners
(3) An artist’s representation of SS Xantho, Watercolour by Ian Warne

The Fremantle Christmas Festival is coming back! 🎄🌟

Get into the spirit between 4 – 17 December with Visit Fremantle's FREE program of festive events happening in the heart of Perth's port city.

🧝 Elf on the Shelf
🎵 Community Christmas Carols
🍿 Classic Christmas Movies
🎅 PLUS spot Santa on his visits to Fremantle

🔗 Explore the full program: https://bit.ly/fremantle-christmas-festival

Look out for Elf on the Shelf at WA Maritime Museum and WA Shipwrecks Museum🧜‍♂️

Sunday Seminars: For the Love of Sailing ⛵

Walk through the history of one of Australia’s most significant sporting moments in this special “behind-the-scenes” curator’s tour.

In developing Australia II: 40 Years On, WA Museum curators were eager to capture the achievement of winning the America’s Cup in 1983, and what the 1987 Cup Defence meant for Fremantle.

WA Museum’s Fred Saunders delved into the archives, images and collections, and met with the people at the centre of the action in order to bring you this exhibition.

Join Fred and discover the stories and characters that made the America’s Cup races in the 1980’s such special moments in Australia’s sporting history, and learn about the behind-the-scenes work that went into developing this new exhibition.

📅 Sunday 19 November 2023, 2pm - 3pm

Bookings essential > https://bit.ly/WAMM_SundaySeminar

📸 Louis Vuitton Cup. Courtesy Roger Garwood

WA Maritime Museum The WA Maritime Museum houses several unique galleries that explore WA's maritime relationship with

Enjoy a lively walking tour of Fremantle with an 80s flavour of the America's Cup! 🚶‍♂️

Join legendary local storyteller Mike Lefroy for a walking tour that brings to life the local story of the America’s Cup in Fremantle and unpack how Australia won and lost it.

Starting from the heart of the Australia II: 40 Years On exhibition here at the WA Maritime Museum, Mike will take you on a journey through the excitement of the 1983 Cup win by Australia II to the energetic changes that the 1987 Cup defence held for Fremantle.

Thrust into international prominence, the tired face of old Fremantle town was reinvigorated and re-built, with boat harbours, town centre and tourist resources found in need of an urgent ‘place-lift’. Take a walk around Challenger and Fishing Boat harbours and visit the sites of the visiting syndicates that battled Australia for the Cup in 1987.

Close to the action at the time, Mike will regale you with the unofficial version of some of the exploits, celebrations and impact of this key sporting history in Fremantle.

This is a walking tour. We recommend you wear appropriate attire, sun protection and bring a drink bottle.

Grab your ticket ➡️ https://bit.ly/WAMM_AusIIWalkingTour

📸 Louis Vuitton Cup race. Courtesy Roger Garwood.

Join the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour and WA Shipwrecks Museum in celebrating Grandies Big Day Out this Sunday!

To celebrate Seniors Week, bring your grandparents or favourite adult to the WA Shipwrecks Museum and have some great FREE family fun with Fairy Sandie, from Ladybird Entertainment, in her 'Under the Sea' grotto.

If your favourite adult loves cars, then they’ll love the display of corvettes on the grounds of the WA Shipwrecks Museum this weekend – presented by Social Corvettes WA!

And while you’re there, why not take in a fascinating free guided tour of the WA Shipwrecks Museum at 10.30am or 2.30pm.

📆 Sunday 12 November, 11.00am - 3.30pm

More info > https://bit.ly/WAMM_GrandiesBigDayOut

Join us this Saturday in honouring the legacy of fallen service people in a moving Remembrance Day Memorial Service conducted by the West Australian Branch of the Submarines Association Australia.

The Service will be held in the forecourt of the WA Maritime Museum, and we urge you to please come prepared with a hat, water, and sunscreen and allow time for travel.

Plan your journey ahead of time and consider public transport as there are limited paid parking options in Victoria Quay.

📆 Saturday 11 November | 10.50am - 11.20am
📌 WA Maritime Museum forecourt

In the world of sailing, few events are as iconic and prestigious as the America’s Cup 🏆.

Australia's 1983 victory over the Americans was a truly historic moment for all Aussie sports fans. Just 4 years later, Australia hosting the 1987 America's Cup race catapulted Fremantle onto the world stage.

Thanks to Perth Now for their recent feature on our latest exhibition; Australia II: 40 Years On, and a deep dive into how hosting the race put Freo on the global map.

Read the full story ⤵️

The transformative impact of the America’s Cup on Fremantle No single event has done more to transform a West Australian city or put the State on the map, than when the America’s Cup came to town.

Opening tomorrow, Capturing Starlight is an exploration of time and space through the 1922 Wallal solar eclipse expedition in Western Australia.

The State Library of Western Australia houses an insightful collection connected to the 1922 Wallal solar eclipse expedition. This exhibition saw a delegation of international scientists and astronomers journey to the north-west of Western Australia to witness a solar eclipse, capture starlight and verify Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.

Inspired by the collection, Capturing Starlight explores the tension between the photographic image as art and evidence through archival photography, fieldwork, and artefacts.

Be taken on a journey through time where art and archive intersect and uncover the past in new ways.

This exhibition is curated by Chloe Bartram, an award-winning photographic artist, visual narrator and PhD candidate at Murdoch University.

Open from Saturday 4 November 2023 – Sunday 17 March 2024. Free with Maritime Museum entry.

Image © Chloe Bartram 'Creation of Light'

If you are heading into Freo today look out for the Fremantle Blessing of the Fleet procession!

The procession commences at 2pm from St Patrick's Basilica finishing at the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour and at 4pm there'll be daytime fireworks at the Esplanade Park.

It's back in black! ⛴️

Our much-loved HMAS Ovens submarine officially re-opens today, Saturday 21 October, here in .

In the 2022-2023 budget, the State Government committed $3.5 million to complete the maintenance works on the former Royal Australian Navy Oberon class submarine, and associated heritage restoration works at Victoria Quay, and it has been closed to the public since 9 January.

Looking resplendent with a refreshed black paintwork after conservation and repairs this year, HMAS Ovens is ready for action again.

The remaining heritage works on the slipway, including maintenance on the historic cranes, are expected to be completed in 2024, however the submarine is now open to the public again for tours.

📸 Deprimo Photography

John Curtin College of the Arts
David Templeman MLA

It’s your last chance to vote in this year’s prestigious Fremantle Chamber of Commerce Business Awards! 🙌

If you love what we do to share WA’s maritime history - such as tours of HMAS Ovens and exhibitions like Fremantle Then and Now, Australia II 40 Years On and Sea Monsters - please take a few seconds to vote 🙏💙⚓️

Voting closes at 12 noon tomorrow and you can find the link here ➡️ https://bit.ly/3r4AVuB

It takes less than 30 seconds and enters you in a draw to win a share in $45,000 worth of prizes!

Ever wondered about the history behind Australia's iconic boxing Kangaroo flag? 🦘 🥊

This emblematic symbol traces its roots back to a 1981 match race in England between yachts owned by Australia's Alan Bond and England's Peter de Savary.

Before the race, de Savary hoisted a battle flag featuring a cigar-smoking bulldog named Winston. The Aussies weren't about to back down and responded with the first version of the, now iconic, kangaroo emblem complete with red boxing gloves, ready to take on the bulldog.

As the lead-up to the historic 1983 America’s Cup challenge heated up, the flag was further refined into the version we all know and love today by Steve Castledine, a 23-year-old graphic designer from Perth.

Steve received an unexpected call from Bond’s Syndicate Executive Director, Warren Jones, with the urgent task of designing a new boxing kangaroo for a battle flag. He dove into library records, seeking inspiration from past representations.

His goal was to create a design that was not only easy to reproduce but also fun and formidable, ready to take on a 'bald eagle or British bulldog'. Little did he know that this design would transcend its origins, evolving into an informal national emblem.

Now, this historic flag has found its home at the WA Museum, where it features prominently in our latest exhibition, Australia II: 40 Years On.

If you're as intrigued by this piece of Australian history as we are, head down to Fremantle and witness this iconic memorabilia and much more from that era on display.

Help shape the Western Australian Museum’s new Disability Access and Inclusion Plan (DAIP)! 🙌

We are excited to collaborate with the State Library of Western Australia and The Art Gallery of Western Australia - AGWA to undertake joint public consultation to help make our State’s cultural institutions more accessible and inclusive for all.

Here is how you can take part in the consultation and provide feedback to inform the WA Museum’s new DAIP.

In-Person and Online Forums:
📍 WA Museum Boola Bardip, Perth on Saturday 7 October, 10am - 12pm.
📍 Museum of the Great Southern, Albany on Saturday 14 October, 1pm – 3pm.
🖥️ Online forum on Tuesday 10 October, 5.30pm – 7pm

To learn more about the WA Museum’s DAIP, access the online forum, or fill out the survey, please visit https://bit.ly/46rtah3.

Have you SAILED in to see our Australia II: 40 Years On exhibition yet?

The exhibition explores the legendary story behind Australia's 1983 America's Cup yachting victory.

Take it back to the 80s with us, tickets available here ➡️ https://bit.ly/WAMM_AustraliaII

Channel Some 80’s Nostalgia With Freo’s Latest Australia II Beachside Exhibit The WA Maritime Museum is giving visitors the opportunity to transport back to a time of big hair and even bigger celebrations, sharing the tale of 26 September 1983—the day yacht Australia II made global history winning the world’s oldest sporting trophy, ripping it out of the hands of the Amer...

School holiday fun in Freo! Superhero Secret Mission Trail, 2-6 October 💥

Searching for a perfect family day out? 🏆

Be inspired by our Australia II: 40 Years On exhibition - there's something for everyone in the family!

Reminisce about where you were when Australia II won the America's Cup in 1983, while the kids can be inspired by the 16,500-piece Lego replica of Australia II or feel what it's like to skipper a yacht in an interactive video display.

We also have a range of kids programs and events for little ones to enjoy every day!

Sail in these school holidays ➡️ https://bit.ly/WAMM_AustraliaII

LAST DAYS! ⛵

Our collaboration with Theatre 180, TAKING LIBERTY by Ingle Knight, closes this Sunday 1 October here at the WA Maritime Museum.

Don't miss this special production that celebrates one of the greatest moments in Australian sporting history - the defeat of Liberty by Australia II in the 1983 America's Cup.

In an epic, against-the-odds finish to a best-of-seven yachting race, Skipper John Bertrand led his crew to turn the tide from a 3-1 deficit in race five and claim victory in a nail-biting decider, one of the biggest comebacks in sporting history.

Tickets to the performance also give FREE access to the WA Maritime Museum and the Australia II: 40 Years on exhibition!

Tickets available here ➡️ https://bit.ly/WAMM_TakingLiberty

Thanks to ArtsHub for the fantastic review below! ⤵️

Theatre review: Taking Liberty, WA Maritime Museum Taking Liberty is a celebration of Australia's 1983 America’s Cup sailing win.

40 years ago today the yacht Australia II made global history when the Aussie team triumphed over all and the oldest sporting trophy in the world, the America’s Cup, was wrested from the Americans after 132 years ⛵.

To celebrate this iconic moment in Australian history, we were delighted to host the original crew and team of the Australia II 1983 America's Cup win for a 40th-anniversary reunion breakfast under their famous yacht this morning.

Entry to the Museum will also be by donation today only to celebrate!

Our newest exhibition Australia II: 40 Years On delves deeper into the story behind the Australia II victory. The exhibition gives great insight into the elements of grit, determination, engineering and team spirit that resulted in a win that united a nation and put Fremantle on the international map.

Sail back in time to the exhibition ➡️ https://bit.ly/WAMM_AustraliaII

📸 Luke Riley Creative

Today’s the day!😍

Come down to Victoria Quay to enjoy the celebrations, including free entry to the WA Maritime Museum from 9.30am to 7.30pm 💙