The collections began with the Nicholson Collection of antiquities in 1860 and continued to grow to include the Macleay Collections of natural history, ethnography, science and historic photography, and the University Art Collection.[3] The three collections were brought together under Sydney University Museums in 2003.[3]
In September 2023 it hosted theInternational Council of Museums Committee for University Museums and Collections Conference, "Truth-telling through university museums and collections".[9]
The building is located on Camperdown Campus of the University of Sydney, opposite theMain Quadrangle andFisher Library.[6] The building was designed by Johnson Pilton Walker.[14] The building is five-storey, with four levels of exhibition space with six main galleries: Ian Potter Gallery, Macleay Gallery, Nicholson Gallery, Penelope Gallery, Power Gallery, and the China Gallery.Indigenous Australian design features were incorporated design and landscaping of the building.[15] The forecourt incorporates a replica of apre-invasion Aboriginalpetroglyph of twowallabies originally located inWestleigh and the foyer prominently displays aWelcome to Country in theSydney language.[15]
Construction of the new museum was completed in 2020.[6]
The Macleay Collection is the oldest natural history collection in Australia, originating in the cabinets ofAlexander Macleay, and expanding through the collecting networks of the Macleay family fromCharles Darwin toSir Stamford Raffles.[16]
It contains historically rich collections ofAboriginal,Torres Strait andPacific Islanders' cultural material, including objects collected on the early scientific expedition, theChevert, and those collected in the early years of anthropology at the University of Sydney.[16]
The work of University of Sydney scientists is reflected in the collection of scientific instruments and apparatus used in research and teaching, and is part of the story of scientific practice in Australia.[16]
The Historic Photograph Collection records life in Australia and the Pacific region, from the late 1840s to the 1960s, as captured by both commercial and amateur photographers. It includes a wide range of photographic formats, reflecting the changing technology of photography.[16]
In addition, the Macleay Collections holds material reflecting the museum's history, including a significant library, furniture, documents and ephemera relating to the major collectors.[16]
The Nicholson Collection contains nearly 30,000 artefacts representing ancient cultures from theMediterranean,North Africa, theMiddle East andEurope.[17] Spanning from thePalaeolithic to the latemedieval period, these artefacts hold intimate stories of people's everyday lives, ancient environments, and cultural activity for over more than 10,000 years.[18]
The collection was founded in 1860 bySir Charles Nicholson with a donation ofEtruscan,Greek,Roman andEgyptian antiquities acquired to establish a museum, "calculated materially to promote the object[ives] for which the [University of Sydney] was founded."[17] By 1870, the University of Sydney's Museum of Antiquities included over 3,000 artefacts and had been nicknamed theNicholsonian Museum.[17]
Over the past 160 years, the Nicholson Collection has expanded through ambitious acquisition programs, generous donation and private bequests. International excavations inEgypt,Cyprus and the Middle East, partly sponsored by the University of Sydney have also contributed significant objects to the collection.[17]
The collection contains more than 8000 works including paintings, sculptures, photography and ceramics.[19] Among the first donors was one of its founders, Sir Charles Nicholson, who gave some 30 European paintings, tapestries and sculptures in 1865.[19] The strength of the collection lies inAustralian painting – includingIndigenous art – as well as significant holdings in European and Asian art.[18]
In 2021, CCWM won theMuseums and Galleries National Award (MAGNA) and two Museums Australasia Multimedia and Publication Design Awards (MAPDA).[74] CCWM won the 2023 UMAC Award for its object-based learning program.[75] It is the first time the UMAC Award has been won by an Australian university.
CCWM's object-based learning program aims to provide access to the collections to university students.[3][76] This has including increasingcross-disciplinary collaborations with parts of the university that did not traditionally engage with the collections, such as theUniversity of Sydney Business School and Medical Sciences.[3][6][77]
In 2022 the curators of the Nicholson Collection and our research partners from the Egypt's Dispersed Heritage Project, Heba Abd Al-Gawad andAlice Stevenson, invited members of theEgyptian-Australian community to a weekend long focus group to discuss the ways in which Egyptian heritage is interpreted and ways forward for participation.[78][20]
This interdisciplinary project examines 20 ancient Egyptianstelae, made from limestone, pottery and wood that were produced and decorated between theNew Kingdom (c.1500–1069 BCE) and thePtolemaic Period (c.332–30 BCE).[79]
The firstAdministrator ofBritish New Guinea,William MacGregor, made a significant collection of objects between 1888 and 1898, specifically for its future citizens. The aim of the project is to re-assemble and re-connect this material by 'excavating' its private and official components, focusing on the makers and traders to disentangle the social relationships embedded in the objects.[80]
This research project seeks to understand better different public attitudes and responses to the display of human remains with a particular focus on museum visitors andEgyptian communities in Australia's diaspora, inEgypt, and elsewhere.[81][82]
An ongoing research project to investigate the museum's holdings fromJericho in theWest Bank.[83] The collection was obtained as the Nicholson Museum was one of the financial sponsors forKathleen Kenyon's archaeological research in the region.[83]
In July 2017, the museum launched acrowdsourcing project to help identify and catalogue the Woodhouse Photographic Archive ofglass-plate negatives taken in Greece during the 1890s and early 1900s.[90][91]
^abcdeSimpson, Andrew (2023).The museums and collections of higher education. London; New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.ISBN978-1-003-18653-3.
^ab"Benefactors".The University of Sydney. Retrieved24 November 2023.
^abMalouf, David; Philp, Jude; Stephen, Ann; Turner, Michael; Myers, Michael; University of Sydney, eds. (2010).Into the light: 150 years of cultural treasures at the University of Sydney. Carlton, Vic: Miegunyah Press.ISBN978-0-522-85812-9.
^Wardak, Dewa; Razeed, Abdul; Thogersen, Jane; Guerry, Eve (2021). "Collaborating on a creative solution to teach creativity to Business students".Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education (Special Issue 22: Compendium of Innovative Practice):1–6.
