POWERHOUSE MUSEUM CELEBRATES 25 YEARS

The Powerhouse Museum, located in Sydney Australia, has just celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Minister for Tourism, Major Events and Arts, George Souris, has congratulated the Powerhouse Museum,  for its 25 years of excellence as one of Australia’s leading cultural institutions.

“The weekend of March 9-10 marked a quarter of a century of educating and entertaining millions of people in lifestyles, applied arts and sciences, in its current premises at Ultimo.” Mr Souris said.

“Since opening its doors at Ultimo in 1988, the Powerhouse Museum, which has existed under different guises and in different premises since 1879, has enthralled more than 17 million visitors with a huge range of exhibitions focusing on the extraordinary impact of human ingenuity.

“The Powerhouse Museum is truly one of NSW’s pre-eminent cultural institutions and it plays a valuable role in educating and entertaining students and people interested in design, science, technology and Australia's social history.

“For a quarter of century, the Powerhouse Museum has been an innovative, interactive and much-loved institution unlike anything seen in Australia.

Mr Souris said the museum has more than 500,000 items in its collection spanning history, science, technology, design, industry, decorative arts, music, transport and space exploration.

“It is also home to the material heritage and stories of Australian culture, history and lifestyle, providing a comprehensive insight into Australia’s diversity.

“Along with blockbuster exhibitions such as Star Wars, Harry Potter and the Wiggles which attracted record-breaking attendances, the museum also has a strong regional outreach with touring exhibitions that have attracted more than 7.5 million people.

“It holds a record for the Harry Potter exhibition held from November 2011 to April 2012, by attracting 382,739 visitors, the highest attendance for a paid exhibition in NSW and delivering about $47 million in economic impact for NSW.

“This enormous success saw the Harry Potter exhibition being awarded the Premier's Public Sector Award for Building the Economy”.

Mr Souris said that during the Powerhouse Museum’s 25th anniversary year, it will present a range of exhibitions, programs and web-based content that showcases human innovation.

For more information on the Powerhouse Museum’s 25th anniversary schedule, go to www.powerhousemuseum.com