Strategic priority 4: See us first

OUR TARGETS

• Deliver a vibrant and engaging calendar of exhibitions, programs and events.
• Commence redevelopment program of permanent galleries.
• Deliver Main Hall redevelopment project.
• Produce Master Plan for future development of Museum and shared vision for Acton Peninsula.

MEASURES

• Over 3.1 million visitor engagements.
• Key milestones during the reporting period achieved.
• Main Hall redevelopment completed.
• Launch Museum Master Plan 2017–2030.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

• Annual visitor engagements, including onsite, online and offsite visitation, was 3,956,322.
• The Museum commenced a permanent gallery redevelopment program, with major activity towards the new Life in Australia gallery.
• The Main Hall redevelopment project was completed in September 2017 and the Main Hall was renamed Gandel Atrium in May 2018.
• The Museum Master Plan was finalised in May 2018, with important facets of the plan already underway, including gallery redevelopment and the Forecourt projects.

Analysis

Visitation

Gallery redevelopment

The Museum has commenced the program outlined in the Master Plan to redevelop the permanent galleries.

Life in Australia

The first major gallery redevelopment, Life in Australia, will replace the Old New Land and Eternity galleries and the Circa theatre. Activity has begun on the new gallery, which will explore the environmental history of Australia. The gallery is scheduled to open in 2020.

The Gandel Atrium

The Museum completed a major refurbishment of its entrance hall in September 2017, with new interactive multimedia displays, lighting and furniture. The three key collecting themes of the Museum are represented in the striking displays of a selection of large objects, while new embedded display cases feature massed displays of objects and recent acquisitions. Of the 532,314 visits to the Gandel Atrium, 443,112 continued through to the Museum’s other permanent galleries.

In May 2018, Senator the Hon Mitch Fifield, Minister for Communications and the Arts, renamed the Main Hall the Gandel Atrium following a generous contribution to the Museum by John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel through their philanthropic foundation, Gandel Philanthropy. The gift also assisted with the acquisition of a contemporary sculpture by the acclaimed Victorian-based Indigenous artist, Reko Rennie. The neon-coloured artwork, titled Bogong Moth, is suspended from the Atrium’s highest point.

Master Plan

The Museum’s Master Plan builds on its achievements to date and encompasses a series of projects that commenced in 2017 and will continue until 2030. Over the next 12 years the Museum’s ambition is to double its size and expand its range of public experiences through the redevelopment of its permanent galleries, extension of its programs and exhibitions both nationally and internationally and through the development of identified sites at Acton Peninsula and beyond. The Museum delivered the first of its projects in September 2017, welcoming visitors to the refurbished Gandel Atrium. Three projects currently underway dovetail into the Master Plan’s vision: the Forecourt Redevelopment, Life in Australia, and Discovery Centre projects (see Discovery Centre below).

OUR TARGETS

• Develop concept for new space: Discovery@NMA.
• Commence Forecourt Redevelopment project.

MEASURES

• Key milestones during the reporting period achieved.
• Construction works commenced for Forecourt.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

• Activity towards the new Discovery Centre continued, with delivery of a fully developed concept and commencement of the design phase.
• The Museum commenced construction on the Forecourt.

Analysis

Discovery Centre

The proposed Discovery Centre will encourage young people to engage with the rich and diverse stories of Australia through play-based and hands-on experiences. It will be a place for visitors to share, make and shape stories and develop their sense of national belonging. The centre will have two distinct zones:

• a multi-sensory experience for children aged under five and their adult carers
• a permanent ‘makers’ space for primary-school-aged children, which builds upon the Museum’s popular school holiday program, combined with an ideas and incubation hub using new technologies to drive creative programming and deliver targeted educational experiences onsite and across Australia.

During 2017–8 concept development for the project was completed, and the design phase commenced. The centre is scheduled to open in April 2020.

Museum Forecourt redevelopment

Construction works on the Museum’s redeveloped Forecourt commenced in May 2018. The program of works will be delivered in stages to accommodate major exhibitions for the coming year, with an expected completion date for the first stage of September 2018. The first stage comprises new entry paving and other landscape features that will provide a noticeably improved visitor experience upon arriving at the Museum. Ongoing consultation with the local host nations has been a cornerstone of the project’s development and implementation.

OUR TARGET

• Deliver joint programming and activities with key institutional partners.

MEASURE

• One new partnership agreement in place during the reporting period.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

• The Museum entered into two new agreements with the NFSA and the NCA, and contributed to the ANU’s Master Plan and the NCA-led Acton Peninsula Precinct Draft Structure Plan.

Analysis

Over the past year, the Museum has worked closely with its neighbours and the NCA on plans for the future, including contributing to the Acton Peninsula Precinct Draft Structure Plan (see Establish programs that connect the Museum and its to Canberra's city centre above).

Shared activities

NFSA

In May 2018, the Museum entered into an MoU with the NFSA to provide a framework for collaboration and cooperation between the parties.

NCA

The Museum entered into an MoU with the NCA to explore options for visitor parking facilities on Acton Peninsula.

Nishi Gallery

The Museum established an MoU with Nishi Gallery to facilitate collaborative exhibitions and activities. The first of these was an exhibition of contemporary Islamic artworks and objects, The Inner Apartment, which was held at the Nishi Gallery and curated in response to the Museum’s ‘So That You Might Know Each Other’ exhibition.

ANU

The Museum participated in the development of the ANU Master Plan. This work ensures the master plans of the respective organisations are complementary and identify opportunities for future collaboration and shared spaces.