Defining the Symbols of Australia Appeal | National Museum of Australia

Community through outreach

The National Museum is committed to collaboration with a broad range of regional museums and galleries. Defining the Symbols of Australia is a national travelling exhibition that looks at how we view ourselves as Australians.

This is an exhibition that will activate local collections around the country, encouraging an open dialogue on who we are and how we are changing as a nation.

Donations to this appeal will enable curatorial support for this exhibition as it travels across Australia.

Landscape image showing a large, purple-red monolith rising above grasses. - click to view larger image — Uluru

Postcard with an image of a koala climbing a flag pole which has the Australian flag at the top. There is a sprig of holly and a spray of wattle at the base of the flag pole. Text across the bottom reads 'Christmas greetings from the Australian War Contingent Association., London 1916.' - click to view larger image — ‘Christmas greetings from the Australian War Contingent Association’ postcard, 1916

Circular badge with a blue border and background and the words 'Wattle Day' written underneath the outline of a map of Australia. Yellow wattle blossoms appear inside the map. - click to view larger image — Wattle Day badge, 1914–18

Ornamental shellwork Sydney Harbour Bridge. Several kinds of small beige shells are glued in rows to form blocks on a red cotton fabric-covered formwork, which is shaped like the Sydney Harbour Bridge. - click to view larger image — Shellwork Sydney Harbour Bridge, 2006

In 2009 the Museum's Symbols of Australia exhibition commenced a tour of the nation using objects from our collection to explore the diversity of Australian symbology: the official and the popular, the organic and the imposed, the natural and the man-made, the old and the new.

In 2021 the Museum will launch our Defining the Symbols of Australia exhibition to take another look at how Australian symbolism has changed over the past decade. The Museum will once again look to our collection to start this conversation, this time inviting regional galleries and museums to look to their own collections for their iconic objects.

Museum staff will collaborate with regional venues to present an exhibition that uses symbols and objects that resonate with both their community and their national identity.

Donate online

Help the National Museum of Australia to enrich the cultural life of Australians.

Donor recognition

Donations of $50 or more will be acknowledged in The Museum magazine and on this website. Donors can choose to remain anonymous.

Contact us

Karen Pittar, Philanthropy Coordinator
Email development@nma.gov.au
Phone +61 2 6208 5373

National Museum of Australia
GPO Box 1901
Canberra ACT 2601

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