All things strange, eclectic and wonderful

THE Gold Museum is celebrating 40 years of operation with their current exhibition, Wonderful Things.

Since 1978, the Gold Museum has gathered 150,000 objects from Ballarat’s history, looking after them and their unique stories around the clock, in a clean, temperature-controlled environment.

Some items can be seen throughout Sovereign Hill.

Snjez Cosic, Curator of the Gold Museum, said the 40th anniversary was a great time to showcase the extensive collection of unusual Things.

“Going through the collection stores, what jumped out to me was just how strange and eclectic the collection was,” she said.

“We thought this was a good opportunity to get as much of that out on display in a way that we probably wouldn’t have for any other exhibition.

“They’re objects that have come to us from the community, so people have donated them to us, and private collectors as well. Quirky, weird, wonderful items,” Ms Cosic said.

The objects relate to Ballarat broadly, but there is also a focus on the gold rush story, as well as pieces that have been templates for Sovereign Hill or on display there. Some items are on loan from the City of Ballarat.

Ms Cosic decided the exhibition would show one room of strange things, filled with weird pieces people wouldn’t expect from the Gold Museum, like weaponry, taxidermy, pharmaceuticals and medical kits.

The other larger gallery has been filled with eclectic things, which Ms Cosic said is basically “everything else.

“It’s costumes, artworks, colonial furniture, our Chinese collection as well, so pulling out objects that really represent each of those collections and things that people are going to be interested in.”

Tracks composed by Daniel Tusjak play in each room. He was commissioned to write music in direct response to the intriguing and mysterious items in the strange room, and whimsical pieces in the eclectic room.

A striking magenta dress from the 1770s is popular with visitors. It’s the oldest piece in the museum’s costume collection, coming into its care in the 1970s. The garment is in pretty good condition, is understood to be French or Belgian and was used in Sovereign Hill’s infancy as a costume template.

In the same room sits a tall chair used by Peter Lalor while he was in Victorian Parliament.

The foyer has a Cabinet of Curiosities which invites the public to guess what a selection of mystery objects might be.

“Generally people are really enticed by seeing a room en masse with objects that reflect diverse collections and stories, and object types as well,” Ms Cosic said.

Wonderful Things can be seen at the Gold Museum until 23 April.