The National Museum of Australia is located in the capital, Canberra, in the suburb of Ecton. It contains objects related to 50,000 years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture, the history of Australia itself after 1788 and the Olympic Games. Strait Islands, the history of Australia itself since 1788 and the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The museum houses the world's largest collection of Aboriginal drawings on tree bark and their stone tools, the heart of Far Lap, the champion racehorse. and the prototype of Australia's first car.
The museum has five permanent exhibitions: "Gallery of Australia's First Australians", "Fates Intertwined", "Settlement Australia", "Symbols of Australia" and "Eternity: Stories from the Heart of Australia".
The building of the National Museum was opened on 11 March 2001 as part of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Australian Federation. But the very idea for the museum had been around since the early 20th century, but was hampered by two world wars and financial crises. It was only in 1980 that the Australian Parliament issued a special decree on the establishment of the museum, and work began on the collection.
The total area of the of the museum's postmodern building is 6600 metres. It consists of several of separate rooms that connect to each other and form a semicircle around the the so-called "Garden of Australian Dreams". It's a sculptural composition in the form of map on the water, with a little grass and a few trees, which depicts the central part of the country with road markings, the names of the Australian Aboriginal tribes and the boundaries of indigenous languages. The outside of the building is painted in bright colours of orange, crimson, bronze, gold, black and silver, which makes it stand out from the cityscape. An interesting detail - on the walls of the building in Braille (for the blind) are phrases such as "friend", "sorry", "sorry for the genocide", "God knows", "time will tell" and "love is blind". Some of the phrases, which caused a great public have been covered up with silver plaques. At the entrance to the museum stands an orange "Uluru Line", a sculpture in the shape of a loop that unfolds along the Ecton Peninsula. Overall, the architecture of the building encourages us to remember that Australia's history - is the story of many millions of intertwined destinies.
In 2005 and 2006, the National Museum was named Australia's top tourist attraction.
