WA Museum Boola Bardip — Attraction in Perth

I visited the new museum for the first time today and was incredibly disappointed. I went specifically to see the visiting Ancient Greek exhibit which I thoroughly enjoyed, it was wonderful to see the ancient sculptures and pottery and was of particular interest to me because I have always loved Greek mythology. The Greek exhibit was amazing, I would give that a solid four and a half stars but unfortunately I can't separate my review of it from my review of the rest of the museum. It was wonderfully laid out with a logical flow of categories and information, it was calm and self paced and provided a calm and quiet space to learn and observe the beautiful ancient history before you. I could have spent hours in there, it was wonderful. But I was unbelievably disappointed by the rest of the museum.

The new architecture is sort of impressive from the outside but is bland and uninspiring inside and the buildings are incredibly confusingly laid out. The ground floor is disconnected from anything else and has areas where you have to exit one building and enter a completely new one for no reason and getting from floor to floor is also unnecessarily convoluted.

As for the actual exhibits themselves, they're incredibly boring, have almost no interactive elements, and are mostly poorly made plastic replicas. The original Perth museum had far more genuine specimens and artefacts and it appears as though they've just thrown away most of what made the old museum interesting. Maybe they just threw the actual ancient history in the bin, because none of it is on display in the new museum. I hope not.

There is almost no logical order to the way the exhibits are arranged, as well. I would have expected natural history to be in one area, human history another, etc but it's all jumbled up into incredibly nonsensical categories of "change" and "origin" instead, with displays of almost no connection next to each other. There is almost no flow or logic behind anything.

Also, there is very few staff around. During my visit, I encountered two staff at the front desk and one manning the paid Greek exhibition entrance, and that was it. There should have been staff at each exhibition at the very least.

It was also weirdly inaccessible for people with any sort of disability, particularly neurodivergent people like myself. The exhibitions are all far away from each other and anyone with a mobility issue would struggle to get between areas, and the exhibits themselves are incredibly overwhelming from a sensory perspective. There's too much going on in every area, with lights and sounds and sudden noises but none of it is of any substance and none of it provides any sort of interactivity, either. It's needlessly overwhelming.

Honestly, I wish they had left the old museum as it was. It may have been kitsch and old fashioned but at least the exhibits were interesting and you felt like you had learned something...

Love Boola Bardip Museum, I see a lot of other reviews saying there isn't enough draws or interactive sections but there's plenty! I don't know what museum they visited! There are lots of hands-on displays, both digital and physical. I quite like how the touch screens have been used in place of info cards in some sections. Very kid friendly. I think some people just like to have a winge!

Quite a few old exibits from the previous museum have been re-used or re-worked into this new one. You might have to look for some of it however! Otto the whale is a highlight. I do wish the animals and skeletons from the old galleries were still on display however.

It's huge! you'll probably not get around to everything on the first visit! Only problem I have is the layout does feel very meandering with not the best flow. Lots of elevators making for easy acsess for everyone. The building is beautiful with lots of opportunities to have a seat. The older building have been intergrated wonderfully. great views of the city as well.

It costs about $15 for an adult to enter now, it was very well advertised that the Museum wasn't going to be free forever so I don't understand why people are still complaining.

A few problems I do have is it feels there is an "over" focus on West Australia (Which makes sense for a WA museum!) but I imagine lots of visitors would want to see more items from around the world in the regular galleries.

I also have trouble getting the Gogo app working which was quite dissapointing. I feel it's a missed opportunity to limit the app to only the museum because when it worked I found the extra content it provided wonderful! and it's locked behind the app!

reguardless, would...

The West Australian Museum is actually being renovated at the moment... The finished building looks brilliant from the plans & pics I've seen in James Street Mall... I was disappointed at first with the idea of renovating the Historic Museum, it's already a great looking building...!! Although it is the 21st Century and the new WA MUSEUM will be one of the best, if not, Architecturally Speaking, the best designed building integrating an old historical building, surrounded with steps, museum in the Southern Hemisphere...!! It will certainly open the entire area right up...!! James Street Mall will look incredible.... Today the barricades were removed, the restoration of the Old Museum has been finished off beautifully... Now they only have to build this huge building around it.... It will be a World Class Exhibition Centre.... The outdoor play area for children is still there, but I'm sure they'll be updating the playground as well....!! Opens in 2020, which is only 2 years away... The time will fly by, living locally, it's amazing watching these high rises being built over night practically.... There's a lot of employment opportunities in Perth right now, especially with so many new projects the government have going on at the moment in WA... This is a Great Opportunity for Perth to be able to host some of the best World Class Displays from all around the world....!!

The new building is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, the Architecture is Stunning to say the least and it will really lift the entire James Street Mall... It can do nothing but make our great city look even...