WTF Happened to the QLD MUSEUM?  

I like that the architecture of the Museum is still pretty much unchanged. It is a wonderful structure from its era and worth preserving as is.

Hi Rob, I remember going to the museum on Gregory terrace as a kid, I was amazed and scared, it was a true museum and the huge staircase to the second level was fantastic. Keep up us informed on our modern history. Great stuff!

I love the Brutalist architecture. Always enjoy visiting the museum, even if only for the vibe.

The best item there is the A7V 'Mephisto' tank. Also that's the problem with post modern architecture, it goes out of style every decade and needs remodelling. Where as the arcitecture of the old museum/exhibition centre will forever be a timeless beauty, it's a piece of art within itself.

Your outfit is very Fear And Loathing In Brisvegas for this episode Rob.

The old museum building is one of my favourites in Brisbane.

I loved the old museum near the ekka

I like Brutalism! This building is modern. It has been saved from having a post-modern skirt put on it. Instead: Maybe just move the storage to another site to expand the exhibit space into the upper floors.

I personally loved the old Exhibition building Museum-the building itself was a gothic adventure and 'felt' like time traveling

i love the architecture of the creative precinct, it’s my fave set of buildings in Brisbane. the concrete and plants and water and spacious tall rooms all feel so lovely together and the brutalism is very nice to me. of course that is simply personal taste! I totally agree it’s outgrown itself somewhat, but i feel like it’s more of a poor use of space than a lack of it. i adore visiting the museum but i am a huge fan of the taxidermy collection :’D it’s been my favourite ever since i was a kid and still is to this day. the cabinet of skulls on the staircase has always held my interest. TBH, i think the reason that MOQ doesn’t have much in the way of anthro exhibits is because of the nature of their origins. a great number of the Indigenous objects held by the museum are stolen and like you mentioned, MOQ is in the process of repatriating some remains, but it’s clearly a very slow process, and I think it’s simply easier for them to keep the public exhibit focus on flora and fauna instead of diving into a costly, time intensive and emotionally charged process of sorting the whole private collection to figure out what needs repatriation and what can go on display. i’ve gone down rabbit holes of some of the people who’ve curated assorted (state) museums and collections of Indigenous peoples’ objects and have been stunned and repulsed by the way these objects are treated (selling on the fb marketplace!) and the total lack of provenance, or provenance that shows they are stolen. There’s a rightful lack of trust in museums at the moment and I don’t imagine MOQ wants to go looking for trouble. though, they did just have an exhibition with a bunch of stuff from Egypt so maybe i’m assigning a bit too much thoughtfulness. I think a separate natural history museum or something of that kind might be worth entertaining as an idea. having gone to the smithsonian and a few other natural history museums through america, those huge halls full of world class taxidermy and fossil replicas are just so grand and memorable. (i’m going to daydream now) there’d space for an expanded exhibit on Australian megafauna and dinosaurs, perhaps something like that lovely Great Barrier Reef room they used to have where you could learn about the different turtles and walk around under them (i was so enthralled by that as a kid no matter how many times we visited) plus information on reef health and keeping oceans clean (chuck the preserved shark and squid in there lol). There could be a section for international plants and animals with taxidermy or bones of them, not just Australian ones, but i think the Australian bird, fish and reptile taxidermy collection is awesome and deserves its place. And of course the dinosaurs :) I don’t want to get rid of them, they’re a reminder of scientific history,but the kids area around them kind of sucks and I think it would do well to become a place to explain to kids how our understanding of things changes through time, like how we learn more about dinosaurs and change how we see them. My cat is laying on my hands so I can’t finish my little essay of a comment but I really liked this video even if I didn’t aheee with all of it. cheers!

Imagine the influx of international tourists during Olympics who think it'll be a good idea to visit the museum in 2032...

Well, at least no other museum in the world can say they have the only surviving German A7V tank from World War I. How Mephisto came to be housed at The Queensland Museum is a story unto itself.

I love the brutalist architecture in that area there. Similar the South Bank in London. It has really grown into itself. I hated it as a kid.

It’s a very poorly set out Museum. A Museum is a place where you never have enough time to see everything and are left wanting to return and discover more. You are right in your thoughts.

That is some of Brisbanes best modernist architecture. I love it

I for one really like the architecture of that precinct. A lot of people once would’ve thought the last museum building at RNA was an eye sore for many years. If we replace it with some modern crap it will be a constant cycle of 20-30yr face lifts. Furthermore, it’s a great reminder of arguably the most transformational time of Southbank, ney Brisbane. Once we loose that there will be no “historical” buildings in that area of the 80s in Brisbane.

love the architecture!! don't change a thing!

I Agree, I Love the old museum Building over at Bowen bridge..

Right on point, Rob. I was a huge fan of the QLD museum back in the early 2000s, my partner and I would take hours wandering through. I hadn't been there since about 2014, do when I took my 7 year old a few weeks back I was shocked by how crap it is now I think they have ceded too much space to the Science Centre (which is an excellent offering) and the temporary display area. The displays are sparse, disjointed, and uninteresting. The hiding away of the anthropological displays was very disappointing, especially when they wasted such a huge space on the emu and some poles exhibit... The dioramas are just boring minimalist shelves, which is a huge shame as I have fond memories of the old diprotodon Vs a giant goanna display. The diprotodon skull doesn't even superimpose the flesh on anymore. Just low energy, low effort, and boring. I have spent countless hours in that museum, but my son and I barely made it an hour before we ran out of interest. Thanks for covering this, maybe they will pick up their game one day and it will be worth the trip, rather than being a glorified waiting room for the (fantastic) Science Centre and the stupid Lego branded nonsense.

I like the mid century architecture, they should lean into the style rather then try forcibly update it with a sea of glass panels.

Does the building’s outside need to be renovated? If we took this approach on every building there would be no diverse architecture as everything would be modernised. I think I’d rather it stay true to its brutalist architectural form.

If we keep 'upgrading' the architecture of decades past we will erase history. Brisbane is a lovely city but so many historical buildings have already been lost. You may not like its aesthetics but the museum is a part of Brisbane's heritage. Keep refreshing everything and the whole city will look like a giant shopping arcade , utterly souless.

The museum has become a museum

I remember going to the museum at Gregory Terrace when I was a kid.

Great video mate! We need ppl like you 👍

The design should stay the same as a musuem of the 1980s architecture which is unique in itself plus my father was the formwork Foreman during its construction .Most of the labourers and carpenters who defined the shape of the Building are by now no longer with us

I remembered as a kid going to the museum when it was near the RNA showgrounds before the whole Expo thing and south bank

Absolutely nothing wrong with the aesthetic. It is a beautiful example of mid-century architecture and it would be a travesty to change it.

I was disappointed when I first took my family there and they had taken away the cornerstone exhibits that I grew up visiting there, like the animatronic megafauna exhibit with the moving giant lizard or the large cat that sat on top of the rock flicking its tail randomly.

Id like to ad its great to see your qld content. Keep it up.

Adults like dinosaur Lego too, Rob ;) It would be great to see more of Queensland's human history at the museum though. I know next to nothing about the First Nations history of my area, and all the colonial history I was taught in school focused on Sydney. My favourite museums are the Berlin Natural History Museum and the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico.

Finally someone said what needed to be said. The Queensland museum is provincial in nature, it is anti-intellectual, it is anything but a museum in its current state. You summarized it best as a "playdate for children". Perhaps it was fine for the 80s, but Brisbane has grown a lot since then, but the "museum" has continued masquerading as "childrens entertainment" and not what a museum should be educational and informative. I really think the Queensland Art Gallery needs its own space, its just tacked onto the side of the museum in an almost forgotten way so that neither the museum or gallery really gets to shine. I would love to see the Treasury Building transformed as the new Queensland Art Gallery for the historical Australian and International collections and the current QAG building would be incorporated into an expanded Queensland Museum floorspace that allows for a cohesive narrative to be told; natural history, Indigenous history, first settlers, and into contemporary Australia.

You’re spot on. QM has always had a big place in my heart since Dad used to take us there as a young children, we clambered around Mephisto that used to sit out rusting in the rain and then went inside to listen & watch as birds calls were displayed on an oscilloscope. Nowadays, I like to take my children there but it really doesn’t have much of a message beyond natural history curios. If you went there to understand the human history of Queensland, you’d really leave none the wiser. Every subject should be presentable to multiple audiences, to both children and adults with different levels of explanation.

Without objection to my masters at QM. However I will say in anonymity along with many staff: South Brisbane has significantly outgrown its location. It is cramped, flood prone, the exhibits are dated, the museum is less about education but rather treated as a glorified playground and merchandising. Successive Managements past have treated the Museum like a dumping ground with half the collection split between Hendra repository & in the Catacombs below. The general public receive comment, what has changed? And why come back. For years, there was talk since 2011 floods of moving the museum to a purpose built modern building but successive governments have stalled on it and past QM management. It has got better with leadership, but the old guard hangers on make it difficult for people to do their jobs and improve the quality of the museum

Hey Rob, love your videos. I'm not sure if you are aware but the photo of the windmill you depict as the Old Windmill in Brisbane at 1m:21s is actually of the windmill in Mt. Gilead NSW. There is a post on Old Brisbane Album on Facebook a few years back where this was discovered. The most likely reason it has been incorrectly attributed to the Old Windmill seems to have been newspapers and brochures in the early 20th century incorrectly captioning the photo as they could find no actual photo of the Old Windmill for the time period depicted and it was a similar design. I'd send you the link to the post but YT won't let me post the comment with the link. If you search for 'Old Windmill David Dart' in Old Brisbane Album you will find the post. The date of the post is June 21st, 2020.

I love the "outdated" buildings, it was always great to wonder around the empty outside hallways drunk at around 1am... such a liminal relaxing experience.

Not enough general seating. The expo 88 event there was fantastic 🎉

I fondly remember going in the 70s when it was in the exhibition building. Last I heard it was being used for the Conservatorium of Music. I’m surprised it’s still standing lol

Great video - I think Walk About with Rob should be on repeat there... your videos have taught me so much about a place I have spent much of my life in yet knew so little about :)

To be honest, I think that the old Museum in the Exhibition Building had more magic. This one has that strange phenomenon where you end up viewing what you have already seen whilst trying to find something new. I have never liked the bland and dated Robin Gibson architecture either. Cheers.

These were my exact reactions the first time I visited... 20 years ago when I was a kid. It's beyond time for an update, I literally took my kids there and almost everything was exactly the same as when I was a kid, which is just crazy!

I love the brutalist architecture! 😍😍

I think the ecobrutalist design of the cultural centre suits brisbane. But again suffers from being too cramped and having a bus station in the center.

So glad you made this Rob.. I thought I was going nuts last time I went there with my young Daughter.. bouncing off the walls trying to find "the rest of the museum " , before realising there is none.. Do you know if the public accessible floor space has changed since the 90s/00s? I was certain there used to be areas that included some early aircraft and what not. Either way it's extremely limited in it's subject mater as it stands. There's just a mind boggling number of things a major museum in a capital city should cover, from the human story as you say, but also industrial history, wartime of course, there's heaps of local stories to tell . Thankfully there's a lot of smaller museums littered around the city that might be worth exploring? . Only thing i'd disagree with is the Aesthetics. 10 yr's ago my opinion would be different but I think the Brutalist style is really holding its own, albeit a bit haphazard i/ bit of a rabbit warren in layout.. there's certainly some 'odd' and wasteful use of space in some areas of that entire complex , which is exactly what it doesn't need :(

I remember the huge redback above the escalators as a kid. Terrified me haha. The spark lab was also a rort. I loved the old science centre more. And it too was so crowded and geared towards children, forgetting about adults who want to go to learn or just to be stimulated while the kids play.

Great video Rob, I tried going there with my kids last year and found just trying to get into a parking space close by was confusing let alone wandering around for a few hours looking at some boring stuff for my adult brain. I also wasn't prepared to pay the "gullible adult prices" foe the Lego display, so we ended up just going to the lagoon for a swim and then back home. Honestly speaking, Southwark and Brisbane are highly overrated for places to visit for entertainment. Parking is difficult, the roads are difficult, entry prices are expensive...the list goes on. I'd much rather go and visit a museum overseas that has easy access, direct parking on-site, reasonable entry fees and reasonably priced on-site food places with interactive displays....or a prehistoric forest and go exploring with my kids.

I would think we’d need embrace the ‘70’s vibe to it. In 50 years time it would be a great example of that era, when so many other building have been modernised. How about moving the stores collection off site, so there’s more room to open up for the public?

Beautifully said.

I miss the mummy that was on display at the old museum. And yeah it is just for the kids.

Hi Rob, love the videos. I went there recently with a group of seniors. The place was full of school kids who were respectful and well behaved. We had 4 hour to fill and, having been to the museum before, knew that 2 hours was more than enough, so off to the cafe. The cafe is excellent and the coffee is excellent. We came to Brisbane after experiencing the Sydney museums, and yes Brisbane museum was disappointing in comparison.

They definitely need to change out the displays more often. It’s really sad that every time you go there the displays are the same. It’s all well and good if they have a massive number of items in there storage area, but the public should be able to see something different every few months.

All those flat surfaces on the street would be perfect for a series of flat informative bronzes. We do it for war memorials so why not museums?

The last time I visited the Queensland Museum was in early 2000. They had a great exhibition showcasing life as Early Settlers and the tools they made do with. I visited it a couple of times. In 2010, I encouraged a friend to see it, but unfortunately, it was no longer there. It is always disheartening when these human interest displays disappear.

As a Brisbane local all my life the qld museum has been poor for a long time. Everytime a good exhibition comes the mongrels who run it charge exorbitant prices pushing it out of reach of everyday aussies. There is probably heaps of cool stuff stored away, get off your backsides and start rotating what’s on display.

You've been caught out by probably the most common, mislabelled historic photo of "Brisbane." Despite many, many photos of it purporting to be Brisbane's Old Windmill, that windmill photo you've used is not our Old Windmill at all - it is the old windmill at Mt. Gilead, Campbelltown NSW. The different positioning of the doors/windows is the giveaway.

I totally agree. I went through the museum two days ago. I have not been there for about six years and even though there has been some upgrades and it looks a little more modern it can be a lot better, I remember the shop part of the museum being better 15 years ago to what it is now, hardly any books just cheap kids stuff.

I was stoked about the update to the free dinosaur exhibit they did before the Dinosaurs of Patagonia came, its much more enjoyable and immersive now. But I agree that a lot of the rest of it isn't as engaging as it could be. But I hope they continue to leave a good portion of it free or a "pay what you want" model, its so important to have equitable access to resources like this

It should also involve curating a photographic exhibit showcasing Brisbane from 1900 to 2000. This exhibit would feature a collection of historical photographs depicting various aspects of daily life, landmark events, and the evolution of the cityscape over a century. The goal is to provide a visual journey through time that offers both educational value and nostalgic appeal.

South Brisbane local here... been saying this for years loved hearing your well articulated points

I agree with many of your points. The museum, if you've been before, is pretty easy do in an hour, just see whats changed. Its a bit sparse. The dinosaurs out the front are old inaccurate, and are an example of how the museum can feel a bit sub par. But I totally disagree about the architecture. I love the brutalist architecture. I was a student at QUT and sometimes I would walk through the cultural centre to South Brisbane for no reason other than to enjoy these monolithic structures. Some of the most peaceful spots along the river in the CBD can be found in their folds. They are a symbol of a burgeoning Brisbane which was embracing modernity as it approached expo, the bicentenary, and the twenty first century. I was not there to see the industrial buildings get torn down, and I never saw these buildings in their glory days. I was born long after expo88 and all that. But I am still aware of what a transformative that time was in the city. I am truly concerned, in fact, by the continued upgrades and renewals taking away from what was a very coherent and clear vision of the precinct at its inception. I am not saying they should be frozen in time. But, messing with the concrete exteriors or the spacious and open interiors (which I love, and didn't realise were as polarising as the exteriors) feels wrong, and I think Queensladers may regret it. The particular architectural style aside, these buildings were meant to look and feel alike, all part of the one whole. I think the problem may not be that the museum looks old or tired, it just looks that way by comparison. These buildings are only forty years old after all. I think they deserve the opportunity to mature. That means not messing with them too much. The cultural precinct is a very unique space with a lot of character. Lets not hasten to change it so soon. Finally, I was disheartened to read in the comments how many people have not visited the museum in a decade or longer. I stated above that I can see where you're coming from in your overall assessment of the exhibits on display. But it would be totally wrong to write off the museum as not worthwhile altogether. The temporary exhibitions are what keep me coming back. I guarantee, if you enjoy museums, there will be something for you there at least once a year. We once went in on a whim and decided to cough up the admission for the history of undergarments exhibition on loan from the V&A. It remains a personal highlight. So check out the website occasionally at least, to see if something grabs you.

Just my opinion (and i respect yours too!), just some of us have found memories of this museum when we were younger we would visit it all the time! And in an ever changing world where I'm sad that most of childhood memories in Brisbane have all been ruined (e.g. The Ekka, regent theatre and McDonalds underneath, Tops, the old David Jones, the old Coles next door, southbank (the original version with the boats and Gondwana).. well, I'd feel better if some things actually dont change! Or if they must expand then can we perhaps add on somehow to the building? (Maybe they can somehow build over it with a new building within or on top of a building, or build another building like they did with Goma closeby and build an underground tunnel walkway to and from the two buildings with exibits underneight also. (im not an architect so im just talking out my A** but surely there is ways to get creative and maintain history which is what a museum is about after all), there has to be other ways that tearing everything down! Anyways, can we please leave this one alone from being pulled down? I beg of you!!! 😅😊

I loved going to sydney museum as a child.. Ill be taking my kids to the Queensland museum too.. Just wish it was more set out like sydneys as you mentioned

A few years ago my family and I went to the state library. AND COULDN'T FIND THE BOOKS!!

Great video! I pass it every single day on my way to my college, I am only 20 but I remember the museum being a lot more engaging and interesting when I was younger but maybe it was just a bias that there were more interactive exhibits which of course draw in a child.. I specifically remember some sort of fake excavation site where we could uncover dinosaur bones. It makes me happy to see that even a decade later some of the preserved animals in fluid I saw back then are still there, seeming to even be upkept with new fluid as it slowly gets more cloudy. There ability to upkeep exhibits is nothing to discount but I do feel sadness watching the amount of exhibits and their complexity slowly diminish.. I was absolutely SHOCKED to see how much the paid science exhibit has shrunk, it kind of feels insulting how little it has now.. But I will remain hopeful for the future that things will be ever changing and it can again change for the better

Every major city has a real museum with major exhibits that are permanently on display. The real museum ive seen around Brisbane is the Caboolture historical society

That was a really well thought out and presented video. Thoughts that alot of people would have but do nothing about. Good work Rob. Another super interesting video 👍🏻

I like the 70's asthetics, but the Dinosaurs do look dated.

I just want to know what they did with the old firetrucks and the aeroplanes that used to be there.

Great video I 100% agree we need more of qld and Brisbane's history told

We went through the museum last year. It was good, and I enjoyed it. But you're right, it's needs more. It most definitely needs a facelift, and an expansion. I think building a few more floors up, and tell a story from beginning to end. Start from QLD and Australia being part of Gondwanaland, right through to present day QLD. There is definitely a story to tell, so why not tell it.

Growing up in the 90s and early 2000s, I used to love the top floor dinosaur exhibit, and I believe there was an animatronic of a prehistoric wombat, although my memory is a bit fuzzy there. The old turtle exhibit also used to be a highlight, I really wish they’d maintained or updated that one, at the very least. All this consumerism bleeding into exhibits just stole the magic of the museum for me.

Sorry it’s not what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside, update the inside, that will be bring the people, but the outside let that be part of the museum experience

You’re right, about all of it. The displays rarely change, the whole place has a childish feel, I don’t bother with it much. Whoever runs the art gallery and goma are doing a much better job. I hate the building too, but even some fresh landscaping and some sculptures outside (more, new) would improve it a thousand fold. I feel like it’s run by someone who denies history, or is afraid of it 🤷

It was very underwhelming..the old museum of the 70’s had so much interactive and and never disappointed even going there nearly every year for primary school.. took my children to the new one and omg…boring..

spot on fair summation of Qld. museum devolution from quite sophisticated when we moved to Brisbane but regrettably declined noticeably with each underwhelming exhibition extravaganza as you point out here from experience and evident in it's current disappointingly dire stuffed dinosaur dystopia profiteering marketplace miasma , regardless building appearance. appreciate your effort all the same thanx

I would very much disagree with the sentiment that the Museum looks outdated. To me it is a timeless and inspiring design.

Visited it last August really to see the military exhibit downstairs which I thought was quite good. The buildings reminded me of a fortified WW2 installation. I remember the old museum which I visited in 1972 as twelve year old and found it fascinating the bonus was the German tank outside to explore. ( now restored )

Only surviving German World War I A7V tank captured and brought back to Australia by Diggers ! Mephisto!

I also don’t have a problem with the buildings aesthetics. I was there last week and was impressed with how clean and tidy the outside appeared. I do agree most of it is geared to children with very little on display anymore. It’s beginning to feel redundant as my son gets older.

The architect of the current building was very defensive of any change to his work. Seen the previous building. Remember well the stuffed sun fish. Glad the outdated dinosaurs are still sitting there on their new building engineered footings. 😉I might have had something to do with that. Needed to get the old German tank under full cover. It is the last example left. Great story behind it. And was effectively sitting under no more than a car port. Glad you put this video and its insights out there.

The irony of calling the MUSEUM “old fashioned”! What’s wrong with preserving some 1970s architecture (and even 1980s architecture) as is? We dismiss all these buildings as “old fashioned”, but we wouldn’t say that of an 1870s building today. I’m sad we’re losing all this architecture.

I always found these things interesting: 1. The skeletons of large wombats and other marsupials. 2. The insect collection (especially those coloured beetles they bring out occasionally) 3. The special events they put on like the space race. That said, the building was dated and ugly on opening day - something well covered by the papers and news footage at the time. The lack of Queensland pioneer and Aboriginal history was actually okay with me and yet this is desperately missing in Brisbane. The Charleville secret air base and regional museums do far better jobs of this.

Looking for my daughter and I in the background as we went to the museum the same day as you 😂 I found it mostly depressing. I hate the pinned insects and stuffed animals. Agree with everything you said. Good video!

only point i kinda disagree with is the exterior redesign. i really enjoy brutalist architecture, and seeing it kind fade into the backdrop of steel and glass would be disappointing. other than that, i 100% agree, that the museum is lacklustre. (also, i go to uni right across the road from it lmao)

It’s a shame that a building would feel outdated so quickly but I think it’s more about the contents. When I think of whats in there I imagine a fairly limited floor plan. Why do they have the stored collection split between there and some other location. I can see that they would need some degree of stored artefacts related to the exhibits so they can be updated and rotated throughout the year to keep it fresh and interesting but it seems like it would be more sensible to keep everything that that isn’t needed for the exhibits, together at another location. It doesn’t seem like the Oakland museum has undergone any major facelifts and as you stated, it’s substantially older. If Australians visit the Oakland museum do they feel like it’s outdated or does it add to a museums prestige that it’s building is from another time, that is after all what the museum is about. I think they could implement some minor cosmetic changes and expand the exhibits by moving the unrequired artefacts to another site. If the experience inside was more significant then I don’t think people would care about the superficial aspects. Once the Qpac upgrades are complete they might turn their attention to the museum but hopefully they don’t waste the budget on superficial things and actual add to the function of the building for the purpose it’s intended.

The Qld Museum lost it's Soul when it was moved from the old Expedition Building. As a kid (1960's) I once found a large basalt flat rock on our farm that had a human foot print pushed into it that fitted my 10 year old foot near perfectly. Dad and I drove up to share the information with the Museums Archeologists. Sadly they laughed at us, stated that such a thing couldn't possibly exist. (without bothering to check it out themselves) That was the day I lost all respect for that museum.

What a nostalgic trip down memory lane. I loved the museum as a kid when it was a new building. I was enthralled. Such happy memories, tinged with sadness as the public walkways around the building were where I spent my first days and nights as a scared 12yo homeless kid that led into a decade of horror. I just remember it felt safe.

I just cant beleive how busy and built up south Brisbane has become, not to mention the dirty and grubby streets!!

The row upon row of glass cases that were on show at the old museum, I found to be fascinating. I think the "new" museum is too curated and boring for us adults. I think in the rush to be classy and trendy the museum lost something. The something was hours and hours of fascination. Agree too geared towards children. The architecture does not bother me so much, but I would appreciate, if possible, another level being added with a lot more items from the entire collection being on display. I quite enjoyed the "jumbled" presentation of the old museum, surprises were much more likely

I actually quite like the building design, but i tend to like older, more outdated things. kind of fitting for a museum, i suppose

You are correct on all accounts. My mother worked there for decades so I kind of grew up there. They do have the anthropological artifacts they just aren’t on display. Major issue is both lack of funding and misuse of funding. I have been in the archives and non-public areas and they have incredible items. It is just a shame these aren’t visible for most visiting unless you’re a researcher looking at specific items in the collection. It needs a new vision.

I completely agree with literally everything youve said here (except the changing it to more modern architecture) though id also say this building is the best brutalist architecture in queensland atleast (though i dont have much experience with brutalist architecture outside Queensland) but saying that it still looks like a giant cuboid turd compared to the old museum

The Commissariat Store Museum has all the human stories and more history of Brisbane etc. It’s such a great museum if you haven’t been.

I do like the Museum, but you made some really great points. It's not for me to comment on where and what money is spend on and I can see from some comments, people don't even understand what is funded by the state or the city. It's not relevant.... fact is, you made a great summary that should be considered by whoever is responsible to provide the funds. Well done.

2:16 if it didn't have Oakland on its sign i'd have thought that photo was of the qld museum! i'm sure brutalism can be done well but i find it so damn ugly. especially when the original building was so beautiful. i agree with your ideas to improve it. last time i went was at least 5 years ago, with an international friend; all the permanent exhibits looked exactly like they did when i visited it in my early teens. it was very disappointing.

Love you Rob 😂, I love the architecture too 😆 I saw a really good exhibition about middens and pottery a while back. As I left I got that feeling I could have spent longer,,, I’ll leave those pesky kids at home next time. I agree with a lot of what youve said, Leave the architecture tho,,, it looks cool and if they ‘spruce it up’ it will eat millions of dollars and do nothing , maybe just build another bridge to it 😆😆😆

There has been some unique exhibitions there over years - Egyptian mummies kept at special room temperature so not to destroy the artifact. Also went to one everything made out of ancient gold. The silk road??? Also another interstate one with Sir Don Bradman cricket bat. Maybe because of covid the place has got stuck in a rut. A museum in the city hall Ann Street had a exhibition of photos of indigenous people who lived in the city centre before all the building sprouted up. The building is easy to get to by train and bus.

What a great review, intelligence, thoughtful and insightful. I could do with more of that!

I miss Mephisto that WW1 tank was incredible and Ausie WW1 soldiers got it back to Queensland. Where is It

It’s a beautiful example of brutalism architecture. ❤❤❤