Sydney's museums and galleries: where past, present and future meet

By CATHRIN SCHAER

The biggest museums and galleries in Sydney offer something for everyone - from educational video games for the kids and deep-and-meaningful artworks for the adults to miniature models of the Olympic village.

The Powerhouse Museum

Built into an old power station, it's like a giant pinball machine and, crowded with lights, colours and ideas, is just as much fun. It's the largest museum in Sydney, with 380,000 items. The Powerhouse prides itself on the interactivity of its exhibits and is great for the young and young-at-heart.

Technology, decorative arts and cultural history abound and plenty of the exhibits deal with contemporary and historical Australian culture.

In the modern product-design section, check out Marc Newson's legendary Lockheed Lounge, the invention of Vegemite, an exhibition on beer-brewing and Australian fashion, from an 1887 ivory silk wedding dress to the Olympic uniforms.

The science section has internet-connected computers, robots, virtual reality displays and chemistry sets to try. Helicopters, planes and cars are suspended from the ceilings, a steam train runs through the middle and a video of space shuttle flights plays in the nose cone of a model shuttle.

Highlight: In the science section, watching adults fascinated by a robotic mop that dances to the Bee Gees, Mozart and the Beastie Boys.

Location: 500 Harris St, Ultimo. Catch the Light Rail from Central Station to Haymarket, walk up the steps to the Monorail station, then use the pedestrian bridge to the front door. Ph 0061 2 9217 0111.

Cost: $A9 plus more for special events.

Special events: 1000 years of the Olympics; Treasures of Ancient Greece (from July 19 to November 15); Leonardo Da Vinci (Sept 6-Nov 5).

Museum of Contemporary Art

The Museum of Contemporary Art (or MCA) offers four white-walled floors of modern art.

The exhibitions usually include a mix of Australian and international art and a combination of radical and more accessible art. Often there's a mix of painting, sculpture and installation work and some more interactive elements will be included in the next few exhibitions.

As part of one of the latest exhibitions, Urban Dingo, a full-scale replica of the artist Lin Onus' studio has been constructed in a corner of the gallery.

In Sporting Life, an exhibition of Australian sporting images, a trophy room has been set up and members of the public have given items such as the local kids' soccer team trophies and bowling cups as a reflection of Australians' obsession with sport.

The MCA's shop, besides selling gallery publications and posters, also has a great range of design objects for sale.

Highlight: The gallery makes you think seriously about local culture.

Location: 140 George St, the Rocks. Catch a bus, train or ferry to Circular Quay and head out to the waterfront. The MCA is that big brown building on your left. Ph 0061 2 9252 4033

Cost: Now free.

Special events: Sporting Life (Aug 16-Nov 5); Urban Dingo - the Art of Lin Onus (Aug 11-Oct 29); Primavera - Belinda Jackson exhibition of young artists (Sept 2-Nov 19).

Custom House

There are several exhibition spaces in the Custom House. The Object Store - the Australian Centre for Craft and Design - is a good one for design junkies. In large, white-walled rooms they display the best of contemporary local and international design and craft. Also on the ground floor is the Djamu shop, one of the best purveyors of aboriginal art and artefacts.

Take the escalator up one floor to the City Exhibition Space, a small museum-cum-gallery which explores topical issues about Sydney and its future. The Sydney 2000 Olympic Design exhibition is fascinating. It contains a miniature working model of the city and a room-size model of the Olympic Centre at Homebush Bay. All this is accompanied by multimedia and video displays, computers for research, plans, news clippings and historical information.

Highlight: Having an aerial view of the Olympic centre and the new buildings without having to go there.

Location: 31 Alfred St, Circular Quay. Catch a bus, train or ferry to Circular Quay and exit on to the city side. The Custom House is the large, brown building almost directly opposite, to the left of McDonald's. City Exhibition Space ph 0061 2 9242 8555; Object Gallery, ph 0061 2 9247 9126

Cost: Free

Special events: Gray St Workshop (July 29-Oct 8); Sydney 2000 Olympic Design (July 29-Nov 12); Designing Minds (Aug 5-Oct 1).

The Museum of Sydney

This relatively new museum should be your first stop if you want to get a feel of the flavour of Sydney. It was completed in 1995 and built on the remains of the house built by Governor Phillip in 1788. As such, it has a historical feel but the interiors are modern and beautifully put together and contain interactive components, videos and views.

History comes in the shape of old maps and artefacts, including stone-age rocks, pencil-pictures of a kangaroo dating from 1790 and a genuine boomerang.

Modern Sydney is presented in a gallery of black and white photos of the city's inhabitants which surround a room-length map of the city and landmarks.

Local modern art is mixed with 1842 landscapes and model boats from the 40s.

In the Bond Store, a darkened hole is built to resemble the bowels of a wooden ship where pioneers tell their tales on a three-dimensional video screen.

Highlights: Sitting in a glass-walled eyrie overlooking the city streets and harbour gives a real feel for the city.

Location: 37 Phillip St. Walk up towards the city from Circular Quay to get to the corner of Phillip and Bridge Sts and you can't miss it. Ph 0061 2 9251 5988

Cost: $6.50

Special events: Exhibits are static

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Boasting a huge Greco-Roman facade with lots of marble and pillars, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is the biggest in the country and an imposing sight perching on the edge of the grassy Domain.

Inside, giant halls of art are spread over four levels so plan on spending at least half a day to explore everything properly..

The present exhibition, Australian Icons, features 20 local artists from the 20th century and includes everything from landscapes and classical portraits to modern art using river rocks .

On other floors are Aboriginal and Asian specialist art galleries, as well as more modern works and a special exhibition of remnants of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Free tours of the gallery take place every few hours.

Highlights: A 1984 work by Ken Unsworth, in which 103 river stones were suspended from the ceiling by wire, part of the Australian Icons show.

Location: Art Gallery Rd, central Sydney. Walk across the Domain from MacQuarie St or along Art Gallery Rd from College St. Ph 061 2 9225-1700

Cost: Free except for special events.

Special events: Dead Sea Scrolls (until Oct 15); Australian Icons (Aug 4-Oct 29); Papunya Tula - Aboriginal art (Aug 18-Nov 12).

The Australian Museum

This is more of a natural history museum than anything else and you'll be greeted by stuffed snakes, crocodiles, fossils, dinosaurs and skeletons.

An interactive section is practically a video-games arcade for the scientifically minded and includes robots, computer games and the Bionic Beast, an elephant model you can move by pushing buttons and turning levers. Another area looks at the spirituality and stories of indigenous Australians who tell their tales on video and tape. You can even take a seat in an imitation cave and listen to Dreamtime stories being told. Aboriginal artworks and artefacts are also on display.

Highlights: A stuffed model of Australia's largest marsupial, which looks like a giant wombat and is about the size of a person.

Location: 6 College St, central Sydney. Cut across Hyde Park from either the St James or Museum train stations to the corner of College and William Sts. Ph: 0061 2 9320 6000

Cost: $8, with extra charges for special exhibitions.

Special events: Landmarks for the 21st Century, black and white photography (Aug 11-Oct 29); Australia's Lost Kingdoms (Aug 26-April 29, 2001).

All museums mentioned are open from 9.30 am to 5 pm daily, except the Art Gallery of NSW which opens at 10 am and the MCA which closes at 4 pm during winter.

Other museums and galleries around Sydney

Australian National Maritime Museum, 2 Murray St, Darling Harbour

Australian Tennis Museum, 30 Alma St

Paddington Bus and Truck Museum of NSW, 1b Gannon St

Tempe Colonial House Museum, 53 Lower Fort St, The Rocks

Hyde Park Barracks Museum, Queens Square, Macquarie St

Harris St Motor Museum, 320 Harris St, Pyrmont

Justice and Police Museum, cnr Albert and Phillip Sts

Museum of Fire, off Castlereagh Rd

Penrith Pylon Lookout and Museum, Sydney Harbour Bridge

State Library of New South Wales, Macquarie St

Sydney Children's Museum, Pitt and Walpole Sts, Merrylands

Sydney Jewish Museum, 148 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst

Call the Historic Houses Trust of NSW (ph 0061 2 9692 8366) for information on about nine houses you can tour.