Exhibitions and awards

Our museums remain a major contributor to the state’s creative industries and visitor economy through award-winning exhibitions and year-round public programs, and as a host and partner for Victoria’s most iconic festivals and major events.

Blockbuster touring exhibitions

Since opening in 2000, Melbourne Museum has played host to some of the most popular blockbuster touring exhibitions including the most visited museum or art gallery touring exhibition in Australian history: Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs which attracted 796,277 fascinated visitors.

Themes have ranged from the treasures of ancient civilizations to icons of contemporary culture.

Some of the most popular include:

• Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs: 796,277 visitors (2011)
• Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition: 480,000 visitors (2010) and 295,000 visitors (2023)
• Jurassic World: The Exhibition: 422,540 visitors (2016)
• A Day in Pompeii, 333,000 visitors (2009)
• Tyama: A deeper sense of knowing: 148,000 visitors (2022)
• Victoria the T-Rex: 143,348 visitors (2024)

Awards

Our original exhibitions and other projects have won numerous state, national and international awards, including Overall Winner of the American Association of Museums 26th Annual Excellence in Exhibitions Awards for First Peoples exhibition; an Australian Interior Design Award and Victorian Premiers Design Award; and Melbourne Museum won the National Sir Zelman Cowen Award for the Most Outstanding Work of Public Architecture in Australia for the architects, Denton Corker Marshall.

Recent awards

2024

Time Out Arts & Culture Awards

• People’s Choice Award Best Museum Exhibition for Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition

2023

Australian Museums and Galleries Association Victoria Awards (AMAGA Vic)

• Winner, AMAGA Victoria Award for Medium Project of the Year (Museum) for More Than a Tarrang (tree):Memory, Material, Cultural Agency
• Winner, AMAGA Victoria Award for Large Project of the Year for Tyama: A deeper sense of knowing

International Design Communications Awards

• Winner, Silver in the Most Engaging category for Tyama: A Deeper Sense of Knowing

Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) Awards

• Winner, Bronze in the Major Tourist Attractions Category
• Winner, City of Melbourne Lord Mayor’s Award
• Out & About with Kids Readers’ Choice Awards

Australasian Reporting Awards

• Winner, Gold for 2022–2023 Annual Report

2022

Australasian Reporting Awards

• Winner, Gold for 2021–2022 Annual Report

Australian Museums and Galleries Association Victoria Awards (AMAGA Vic)

• Winner, AMaGA Victoria Award for large organisation for Safe Management of Hazardous Substances at Museums Victoria

Australian Graphic Design Awards (AGDA)

• Distinction, Exhibition Design for Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs
• Distinction, Permanent Installation for Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs
• Distinction, Multi-sensory Installations for Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs

Victorian Premier’s Design Awards

• Finalist, Communication Design for Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs

Australian Museums and Galleries Association – Museums & Galleries National Awards (MAGNA)

• Winner, Interpretation, learning & audience engagement – Level 2 for FlushBack – Spotswood Pumping Station Quest

Australian Museums and Galleries Association – Museums Australasia Multimedia & Publication Design Awards (MAPDA)

• Winner, Children’s Book - Level B for The Quest for Kool, Gemma Field, Museums Victoria
• Winner, Digital Learning Experience – Level B, FlushBack Digital Quest, 10Tickles, Museums Victoria

2021

Australasian Reporting Awards

• Winner, Silver for 2020-2021 Annual Report

Museums Australasia Media and Publications Design Awards

• Winner, Children’s Book for Saving Seal
• Winner, Film Level B for What have you noticed changing lately? (July edition)