About the Powerhouse Museum

The Powerhouse Museum, Australia's largest and most popular museum, is located in Darling Harbour, Sydney. Its unique and diverse collection of 385,000 objects spans history, science, technology, design, industry, decorative arts, music, transport and space exploration.

The Museum has an ever-changing program of exhibitions covering approximately 20,000 square metres (equivalent to three international competition soccer fields). It presents 22 permanent exhibitions and several temporary exhibitions, complemented by more than 250 interactives.

views of the Powerhouse Museum

A visit to the Powerhouse Museum can include touch screen computers, audio phones, science experiments, virtual reality 3D theatres, extraordinary performances, films, highlight tours, fascinating lectures and public programs. The Museum has a range of education services and a members organisation.

The Museum opened to the public in 1988 in a new building constructed from the shell of an old power station in Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney. But our history goes back much further than that. Built up since 1880, our vast collection includes an extraordinary array of treasures, oddities and innovations.

Statement of Purpose
To discover and be inspired by human ingenuity

 We conceive exhibitions and programs around the primary theme of ‘human ingenuity’
We base our exhibitions and programs on the ideas and technologies that have changed our world, and the stories of the people who create and inspire them.  The Museum’s unique collection informs these experiences.

Vision
From its foundation in 1879, the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences exhibited and interpreted the wonders of the Industrial Age.

As a twenty first century museum we will reinterpret the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences to engage with contemporary technologies to showcase Australian innovation in the creative industries, developments in science and ecologically sustainable technologies.  These will be interpreted alongside the Museum’s rich collection, which contains the diverse narratives of our moveable heritage.

Values
We will –

  • Be an 'open' Museum – open to rich engagement, to new conversations about the collection and transparent in how we work and make decisions
  • Offer visitors diverse ways to interact with the museum
  • Present programs and exhibitions that reflect the spirit of the times and explore new ways to engage with audiences that may challenge, involve experimentation or generate controversy
  • Support new kinds of learning and knowledge creation inside and outside the Museum
  • Develop a comprehensive customer service ethos throughout the Museum
  • Promote an internal culture of dialogue, experimentation, transparency and individual accountability

Sydney Observatory and Powerhouse Discovery Centre

The Museum also includes the historic Sydney Observatory and the Powerhouse Discovery Centre: collection stores at Castle Hill. The two make up the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, a New South Wales Government cultural institution.

 

Sydney Observatory
Sydney Observatory