Latest news with #WAMuseumBoolaBardip
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Breathtaking Kimberley VR experience now showing in Freo
Fresh off the Great Kimberley Wilderness success at the WA Museum Boola Bardip earlier this year, the VR experience is making its way to the port city. The 35-minute immersive VR experience narrated by Luke Hemsworth, older brother to fellow Hollywood stars Chris and Liam, and produced by award-winning WA filmmaker Briege Whitehead will show at the WA Maritime Museum for three weeks from this weekend. In a custom-built gallery, with surround sound and large-scale digital projections across all wall surfaces, audiences will have a 360-degree view of some of the planet's most ancient landscapes in a guided tour of places that few outside the traditional owners have ever seen in person. Your local paper, whenever you want it. Whitehead said that included transporting viewers over the edge of waterfalls, across stunning coastlines and into the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park. 'There are so many locations I know, or as far as we've been told, that we're the first people to capture them on camera,' Whitehead said. The film was shot and produced in 8K format using drones capable of capturing 3D footage and with Dolby Atmos sound. 'I call it story-living, rather than the storytelling,' Whitehead said. 'That's what the ability of 360 degrees in a VR headset provides, because everywhere you look, it's like you're literally standing there, or flying over the waterfalls or hanging out of the helicopter with Luke next to you.' Fremantle Labor MP and Creative Industries Minister Simone McGurk said the exhibition was leading the way in digital immersive storytelling by combining technology with authentic storytelling. 'We are proud to extend this experience to the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle, supporting an initiative that highlights WA's rich cultural heritage, deep Indigenous knowledge, and awe-inspiring landscapes,' she said.
Time Out
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Australia's largest-ever Terracotta Warriors exhibition is headed to Perth this year
Right up there with the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City, the Qin dynasty's Terracotta Warriors aren't just one of China's greatest cultural treasures – they're a wonder of the world. Now, Aussies have a chance to see part of the 8,000-strong army in an exclusive exhibition at Perth 's WA Museum Boola Bardip. Running from June 28, 2025 to February 22, 2026, Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Empire is set to make history as the largest museum exhibition Western Australia has ever seen – and you'll want to catch it before it marches home to China. For more than 2,000 years, this life-sized army stood guard at the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in Shaanxi province. Their existence remained a secret until 1974, when unsuspecting farmers digging a well struck archaeological gold. A rare delegation of eight Terracotta Army figures is marching into Perth for this exclusive exhibition – including a general, an armoured infantryman, a charioteer officer and a kneeling archer – plus a seated attendant and a saddled horse. Sure, eight out of 8,000 warriors feels a little measly, but ten is the maximum number of Terracotta figures China loans internationally at any one time – so we should feel pretty lucky! Joining the warriors are a whopping 225-odd treasures from ancient China, the majority of which have never been seen in Australia before. Almost half of these artefacts have never left China, with highlights including a lifelike bronze swan crafted using ancient lost-wax casting techniques, a 50-kilogram ceremonial bell and four recently excavated gold ornaments that will make their global debut in Perth. Enhanced with brand-new immersive multimedia experiences, Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor will be unlike any Terracotta Warrior exhibition the world has ever seen. It will be on display at the WA Museum Boola Bardip from June 28, 2025 to February 22, 2026, in what is being billed as the boldest museum exhibition Western Australia has hosted to date. For the first time ever, the museum is offering season passes, allowing visitors to return as often as they like throughout the entire exhibition run. General admission is $30 for adults and $15 for kids aged five to 15, while season passes will set you back $90. WA Museum Boola Bardip has also curated a program of special events: think tea-and-talk sessions on Thursdays, after-hours performances on Fridays, hands-on workshops over the weekend and family-friendly fun every Sunday. You can find out more about Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor here.
West Australian
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Vim, vigour and whimsy embrace Vanessa Perica premiere No Feeling is Final with ASQ at WA Museum Boola Bardip
Vim, vigour and whimsy embrace Vanessa Perica premiere No Feeling is Final with ASQ at WA Museum Boola Bardip
The Guardian
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The eighth wonder of the world': China's terracotta warriors to march on Australia for blockbuster show
Two thousand years ago, in a bid to conquer death itself, China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang commissioned a city of the dead: a 49 sq km mausoleum guarded by an army of clay warriors, built to defend his tomb for eternity. When farmers near Xi'an unearthed the first clay head in 1974, they cracked open one of humanity's greatest archaeological mysteries, with more than 8,000 Terracotta Warriors discovered over the last 50 years. Now, fragments of that dream of immortality rise again – this time in Perth, where the largest exhibition of the Terracotta Warriors ever staged in Australia will head later this year Opening on 28 June at WA Museum Boola Bardip, Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor promises not just a glimpse into ancient China, but a sweeping journey across its foundations in more than 225 artefacts, many of which have never left China. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning 'It's hard to put into words how significant this is,' said Alec Coles, CEO of WA Museum Boola Bardip. 'Seventy per cent of these objects have never been to Australia before, and 40% have never left China.' 'For me, this is the eighth wonder of the world,' he said. 'There is nothing like it anywhere.' Developed in collaboration with the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre and the Emperor Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Museum, Terracotta Warriors features 10 of the lifesize clay soldiers – the maximum number permitted to leave China – each weighing up to 180kg and standing 1.8m tall. Meticulously crafted from separate parts, each warrior was finished with a uniquely modelled face, capturing the individuality of a living army. Eight warrior sculptures last came to Australia in 2019 for the National Gallery of Victoria's show Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality. WA Museum Boola Bardip's upcoming exhibition will explore the story of China's first emperor and the world he sought to recreate in death: bronze vessels, ancient chariots, gilded belt hooks, painted cavalry figures and rare gold ornaments, some so newly unearthed they've never been displayed anywhere before. 'Qin Shi Huang not only unified China, he standardised measurements, currency and even language – and all of this decades before the Rosetta Stone was carved in Egypt,' Coles said. 'You have to think about the extraordinary impact he had in such a tiny period of time. The Qin dynasty lasted only 15 years, but it changed China for ever.' Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion There is an enduring enigma to Qin's story: his tomb remains unopened, its secrets sealed beneath a great earthen pyramid. Ancient historians described a vast underground kingdom complete with rivers of mercury and deadly booby traps – legends that the Terracotta Warriors exhibition will reimagine in an immersive final installation. 'The patience and respect shown in leaving the tomb unopened is extraordinary,' Coles said. 'Who knows what secrets still lie buried?' Among the highlights is a bronze swan, cast using the ancient lost-wax method and discovered near a pleasure garden meant for the emperor's afterlife. 'It's absolutely exquisite,' Coles said. Terracotta Warriors will also frame Qin's reign within a longer narrative arc, from the preceding turbulent Warring States period, which ended with the start of the short-lived Qin dynasty in the second century BC, through to the rise of the Han dynasty, which lasted four centuries. In a world riven by political tensions, the exhibition will also gesture toward the enduring power of cultural diplomacy. 'Cultural connections are important at any time, but perhaps especially now,' Coles said. 'They transcend politics. Building stronger relationships and understanding is paramount.' 'I hope visitors experience the same wonder that I did,' he added. 'The beauty, the rarity, the achievement. And an appreciation of what Qin Shi Huang created, not just for China, but for human history.' Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor runs at WA Museum Boola Bardip from 28 June until 22 February 2026
The Age
28-04-2025
- General
- The Age
Museum's biggest exhibition yet will be a windfall for WA
Some of the world's greatest ancient archeological finds are embarking on a 7600-kilometre journey to be displayed in the biggest exhibition ever held by the Western Australian Museum. Farmers in 1974 first discovered China's terracotta warriors in the Shaanxi province. The figures represent the armies of Qin Shihuang, the country's first emperor, who reigned for a decade between 220 and 210 BCE. More than 8000 of the statues, which also guard Shihuang's tomb, attract more than two million visitors annually. Eight of them will soon be placed on a plane to Perth to crown a world-exclusive exhibition on the Qin dynasty that will attract interstate and international visitors, says WA Museum Boola Bardip chief executive Alec Coles. Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor will feature 230 artefacts including the warriors, some of which were only recently unearthed and have never been seen before, even in their home country. But the road to organising the exhibition has been long, blocked from being logistically possible for years due to the pandemic, and requiring a careful trust-building process with the artefacts' custodians. Coles said the idea first struck him after meeting with people working at the Emperor Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum, at a conference in China in 2018. After making good progress, the pandemic placed negotiations on hold in 2020. Three years later, Coles and a team from WA flew back to China to sign a deal that got the idea up and running again. Delegates from China then visited WA to check out the museum space. Finally, a team is giving the artefacts a final check over and packing them up to finally fly west. 'It has been an immense undertaking but obviously worthwhile,' Coles said. 'We had to build up trust before dealing with unique material like the warriors. About 40 per cent of the exhibited items have never been outside of China.' Coles said one of his favourite pieces to be included, outside the terracotta warriors, was a bronze swan, one of 57 bronze waterbirds discovered among the warriors. 'When delegates from China came to Perth they were really impressed by our black swans,' Coles said. 'We took them to the zoo for a day out, and we had one of WA's emblems following us around the whole time. 'It felt like a sign.' Coles said the exhibition would be the museum's most significant ever and would take a month for setup alone, not including building custom display cases, and designing graphics and a digital show to accompany the pieces. Coles said the digital aspect was part of what made the exhibition unique, including massive projections and augmented reality. Its design is already well under way, with Coles joking that the true test of its readiness being if he could use it without breaking it. Loading 'My favourite part is the section titled 'the enduring mystery of Shihuang's tomb,'' he said. 'His tomb has never been opened. There is concern about damaging it, but more significantly it is believed to be booby-trapped. 'This digital display explores what the inside of his tomb might look like and they ways it has been protected.' Coles said Perth was the right place in Australia to host the artefacts, highlighting China's ties with the state. 'It's very exciting, and I feel privileged and humbled by the trust shown,' he said.
