Museum and Art Gallery of Tasmania was founded in Hobart in 1843 by the Royal Society of Tasmania, the oldest outside of England. Today it is the leading cultural institution in the Australian state of Tasmania, which houses priceless treasures of history, science and art. It houses a museum, an art gallery and a large herbarium all under one roof. Among the permanent exhibitions of the museum are a collection of objects telling about the history and modern life of the Tasmanian Aborigines "Ningennah tunapry"; an exhibition dedicated to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean "Island of Ice"; collection of numismatics; Zoological Gallery and Tasmanian Colonial Fine Art Gallery.
All of the museum's exhibits reveal, first and foremost, the history of Tasmania from ancient to the present day. Here you can learn about the geological history of the island, its development during the interglacial periods, the unique megafauna. Of particular interest of particular interest are the expositions devoted to the history of Tasmania's Aboriginal population, the history of the first British settlements on the island, its past as a penal colony. The pride of the museum is the world's largest collection of furniture made of Tasmanian pine. The 54 pieces are in the classic Georgian style, known for its simplicity and elegance. The Art Gallery contains remarkable works by colonial artists and paintings.
In the near future, the museum's administration plans to start large-scale work to expand the exhibition space and storage facilities, as the current ones no longer accommodate all the exhibits collected over the many years of the museum's existence.
The branch of the Museum of Tasmania, the Markri Museum, located in the center of Hobart, deserves special attention. It houses permanent exhibitions on Tasmanian history of the early 20th century and regular exhibitions of decorative arts. The museum building itself, built in 1926 for the Baldwin family, descendants of Tasmania's first settlers, is a fine example of vernacular architecture. In 2008, this house, along with a substantial collection of art, historical artefacts and documents (some 4,200 items in all!) were donated to the Museum of Tasmania in Henry Baldwin's will. It was the largest donation in the museum's history and one of the largest ever made in Australia.
