Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Australia Adelaide South Australian Museum

South Australian Museum

The largest collection of Indigenous Australian artifacts in the world, and the rare museum where wood-and-glass cabinets have trumped interactive exhibits.

Adelaide, Australia

Added By
meanie
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Barnacle’s penis (fully extended)  
Pickled baby Echidna  
Mummy’s foot (with painted toenails)  
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael40001/...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/wynnie/776683...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/theshadowknow...
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

In 2003 the Smithsonian quietly renovated their animal dioramas. They removed the taxidermied gazelles, elephants, giraffes, and put in a series of interactive exhibits aimed at 10-year-olds with a short attention span.

The dioramas themselves were dismantled, a patch of skin was kept for DNA testing purposes, and 100-year-old dioramas were broken down in a hazmat tent and thrown away. An 89 foot model of a blue whale was quietly destroyed and thrown in the trash.

There is an ever increasing pressure among natural history museums to "get modern" and trade in their dioramas and handmade exhibits in favor of info video games, and interactive video clips. Thankfully the South Australian Museum has not succumbed to this pressure.

The history of the museum begins with the South Australian Literary Association in 1834, who's goal was to class up the rough and tumble colony of Australia with some arts and literature. The museum opened in 1861, along with a library, and over the next 150 years has amassed one of the best natural history and anthropology collections in Australia.The museum has over 3000 aboriginal items on display, considered the largest and best collection in the world. Among the permanent exhibits are a biodiversity gallery, a Pacific Cultures Gallery, and an exhibit following the adventures of Australian Arctic-explorer Douglas Mawson. A family favorite is the life-sized giant squid displayed over four floors in an old elevator shaft.

Overall the museum has maintained a wonderful and enchanting aesthetic. In the words of one visitor "If you long for the days when museums were stuffed full of barely-connected wonders in beautiful wood-and-glass vitrines with hardly any inter-actives and interpretive panels, then this is the museum for you. There are things in jars, mummies' feet (with painted toenails), a breathtakingly beautiful Pacific Cultures gallery, a radioactive cloud chamber, barnacle penises. . . A gem of a museum."

Related Tags

Wonder Cabinets Museums Ethnographic Natural History

Community Contributors

Added By

meanie

Edited By

capturingme, Blindcolour, MB11

  • capturingme
  • Blindcolour
  • MB11

Published

April 28, 2010

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
South Australian Museum
221 North Terrace
Adelaide, 5000
Australia
-34.920849, 138.603142
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

'A Day Out'

Adelaide, Australia

miles away

Rundle Lantern

Adelaide, Australia

miles away

Adelaide's Oldest Morris & Co. Stained Glass Window

Adelaide, Australia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Adelaide

Adelaide

Australia

Places 9

Nearby Places

'A Day Out'

Adelaide, Australia

miles away

Rundle Lantern

Adelaide, Australia

miles away

Adelaide's Oldest Morris & Co. Stained Glass Window

Adelaide, Australia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Adelaide

Adelaide

Australia

Places 9

Related Places

  • The museum exterior.

    Colmar, France

    Museum of Natural History and Ethnography

    A charming little museum founded by the designer of the Statue of Liberty.

  • One of the museum’s dioramas of animals staged in their natural habitats.

    Birchington-on-Sea, England

    Powell-Cotton Dioramas

    An English explorer's vast natural history collection has the first realistic dioramas of animals staged in their natural habitats.

  • The Buckhorn Saloon and Museum.

    San Antonio, Texas

    Buckhorn Saloon and Museum

    A 131-year-old wunderkammer of Texas history.

  • Hanoi, Vietnam

    Bao tang Dong vat (Hanoi Zoological Museum)

    A French-Colonial era collection of taxidermy and wet specimens, secreted away in the National University of Hanoi.

  • Brightly Colored Display Cases

    London, England

    Horniman Museum and Gardens

    A Victorian natural history and ethnographic museum with wonderful turn-of-the-century, science-book-esque evolution displays.

  • Hartford, Connecticut

    Museum of Natural and Other Curiosities

    A wunderkammer hidden on the top floor of the Hartford statehouse.

  • Infant Wax Moulage

    Helsinki, Finland

    Helsinki University Museum

    A collection of collections ranging from dentistry to minerals.

  • Montreal, Québec

    Redpath Museum

    One of Canada's oldest museums, the beautiful Redpath has been serving up Natural History and Ethnography since 1882.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.