With Sunshine studying Ancient Egypt at school I had the perfect excuse to introduce her to the Chau Chak Wing Museum on the grounds of the University of Sydney. It is Sydney’s newest museum, bringing together the University’s Nicholson, Macleay and Art collections under one roof across four floors of galleries. It is an amazing space to explore.
Located at the main entrance to the University’s Camperdown campus, opposite the Quadrangle, on University Avenue, the Chau Chak Wing Museum features 18 new exhibitions. Exploring the Chau Chak Wing Museum with kids introduces them to the fascinating world of art, science, history and culture.
Chau Chak Wing Museum : University of Sydney Museums
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Chau Chak Wing Museum Exhibits and Galleries
The new Chau Chak Wing Museum features ongoing and temporary exhibitions focusing on Aboriginal Australia, Natural History, 19th and 20th century Australian Aar, and the incredible Nicholson Collection.
Some of our favourite exhibits include:
The Egyptian Galleries
We headed to the Chau Chak Wing Museum specifically to explore the Egyptian Galleries. Whilst small is square metres, the two exhibits are are brimming with ancient wonders.
The Mummy Room is the resting place of Meruah, Padiashaikhet, Horus and Mer-Neith-it-es, four people who lived in Egypt between 1200 BC and 100 AD. Whilst the mummies, and their coffins, are on display they have not been disrupted from how they arrived originally at the Nicholson Museum. Instead, CT technology has been used to learn about each mummy, and visitors are welcomed along on the journey to discovery.
The second exhibit, Pharaonic obsessions: Ancient Egypt, an Australian story, explores the wave of Egyptomania that commenced in the 19th century and which continues to consume our desire to know about the land of the Pharaohs. On your visit, you will have a chance to marvel at a number of the Ancient Egyptian artefacts that have arrived in Australia over the years.
Gululu dhuwala djalkiri
The Gululu dhuwala djalkiri exhibition consists of 350 incredible paintings and sculptures representing more than 20 Yolŋu clan groups and 100 artists. Many of the works are from the late 1920s and 1940, the period following the establishment of Methodist missions in the Yolŋu territories of Milingimbi and Yirrkala and were acquired by Anthropologists from the University of Sydney as part of their research.
In addition, a large portion of the artwork is from the JW Power collection, which was acquired via Djon Mundine, a Bandjalung curator and then Art Advisor for the Ramingining community in the 1980s.
We were thankful to learn that Elders from the Milingimbi, Yirrkala and the Ramingining communities worked with the museum curators to design the layout, grouping and interpretation of the works, representing the regions where the works were created.
Natural Selections: Animal Worlds
This exhibit largely features specimens collected by members of the Scottish Macleay family who arrived in Australia from Scotland in 1826 which became the Macleay Collections of natural history. On display are a number of intriguing bird, mammal, fish, insect and invertebrate specimens. Sunshine found this collection mesmerising.
The Nicholson Museum Collection
Featuring 30,000 artefacts of artistic and archaeological significance from Egypt, Greece, Italy, Cyprus and the Middle East, the Nicholson Museum Collection is the largest collection of antiquities in the Southern Hemisphere.
Originally founded back in 1860 by Sir Charles Nicholson with his donation of over 3,000 artefacts from Italy and Egypt, the Nicholson Collection has grown through a number of generous donations and bequests as a fairly targeted acquisition strategy.
The University of Sydney has continued to support the Nicholson Museum and has sponsored a number of excavations in the Middle East, Egypt and Cyprus which have added to the collection and has become a unique resource for teaching, research and public display.
Today, the Nicholson Museum Collection is spread across a number of exhibits in the Chau Chak Wing Museum.
Macleay Museum Collection
The Macleay Museum boasts the oldest natural history collection in Australia and was once housed in the cabinets of Alexander Macleay.
The collection is amazing and includes cultural material from Aboriginal, Torres Strait and Pacific Islanders’ collected during the Chevert expedition and through the early years of anthropology at the University of Sydney.
The Macleay Museum Collection can be seen across a number of the exhibits in the Chau Chak Wing Museum.
Who is Chau Chak Wing?
That’s a great question! Dr Chau Chak Wing is an Chinese-Australian businessman and philanthropist who has funded the entire museum project through a rather generous donation. The Ian Potter Foundation has donated $5 million dollars to the project.
Chau Chak Wing Museum Cafe
The Sounds Cafe (Chau Chak Wing Museum Cafe) is open during museum hours (and then some) and can be accessed by entering the Museum and heading downstairs to Level 2.
The cafe has a great menu and offers brunch, lunch and a broad selection of coffee, as well as a carefully curated wine list.
Chau Chak Wing Museum Shop
The Chau Chak Wing Museum shop is open during museum hours and offers museum specific merchandise, plus books, jewellery, toys and more.
Visiting the Chau Chak Wing Museum
We will be visiting the Chau Chak Wing Museum as soon as it opens and will provide full details of the museum at that time.
Chau Chak Wing Museum address
The Chau Chak Wing Museum location is:
The University of Sydney
University Pl
Camperdown NSW 2006
Chau Chak Wing Museum opening hours
The Chau Chak Wing Museum is open 7 Days per week.
Weekdays 10.00 am – 5.00 pm | Thursday evenings until 9.00 pm |Weekends 12.00 pm – 4.00 pm
Or visit the museum anytime…. virtually by heading to Chau Chak Wing Museum website.
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Other Museums to Visit in Sydney
Head over to our The Best Museums in Sydney to Visit with Kids resource to find your next museum to explore.