Current exhibitions
Femme fatale - The Female Criminal
On exhibition at the Museum's Historic Council Chambers site until Sunday 10 June.
Woman is rarely wicked, but when she is, she is worse than a man.
Italian proverb
Wicked women, seductive sinners, vicious vixens - the female criminal is portrayed in many guises in popular culture, myth, literature and history but what do these stereotypes tell us about real women and crime?
Australian authorities have grappled with how to control wayward women from the moment the first female convicts stepped ashore. The brutal reality faced by notorious female offenders such as 'the man woman murderer' Eugenia Falleni, sly grogger Kate Leigh and poisoner Yvonne Fletcher is in stark contrast to the glamour of the noir seductress and pulp novel siren. This exhibition examines these extremes, traversing criminological theory, popular culture and the true stories of some of our most notorious female criminals.
Maps: You are here
The exhibition Maps: You Are Here is on display at the Museum's Botanic Gardens site until Sunday 20 May. Maps tell us where we are, guide us to realms known and unknown and chart where we've been. Eleven artists have created this textile and mixed-media travelling exhibition inspired by a historical map of the Western Hemisphere embroidered by Elizabeth Cook (c.1800) that shows the voyages of her husband James Cook.
Image: Linda Taglieri_The birth of a map
makers' space
Each season the Museum's makers' space hosts a diverse range of Riverina based makers in a series of small-scale group exhibitions. Located in the foyer of the Museum's Historic Council Chambers site, makers' space is open to the public to browse or buy.
The makers' space is a step into the world of retail for independant makers and designers and gives you a glimpse of the regions emerging talent.
RACING FOR THE KING: The 1947 Riverina Billycart Derby
Now on exhibition at the Botanic Gardens site
Many years before the World Championship Gumi Race, an equally unique event drew crowds of spectators to the streets of Wagga. Racing for the King celebrates the Riverina Billycart Derby which was held in Wagga on Monday 16 June 1947, in celebration of King George VI's 52nd birthday. Thousands of onlookers lined Baylis Street to view the Assembly and Grand Parade, and then moved onto Macleay Street to experience the thrills, spills and spectacle of the race itself. This collection of photographs captures those days when foolhardy young racers hurtled down Macleay Street in their home made carts, emblazoned with names like Sawdust, Hoyt's Hurricane and Blamey's Blitz
Image: Riverina Saw Mill billycart, Sawdust, driven by P. Geppart on the starting line, Macleay Street
The Inge Webster migration collection
Now on exhibition at the Botanic Gardens site
The Inge Webster collection which is now on exhibition at the museum, contains a diverse range of objects including woodworking tools relating to Inge's father, Manfred Peters work on the Snowy Mountain scheme, Inge's childhood dollhouse which was constructed by her father in 1952 using scraps of discarded timber from the Snowy Mountains Scheme work sites and a wonderful range of other objects relating the family's post war new start in Australia.
The Curious Collection of Sylvia Seccombe
Now on exhibition at the Botanic Gardens site
On Tuesday 14 February 1933, while driving through the quaint streets of Winsor, N.S.W., Mrs Sylvia Seccombe noticed some door knockers on the small cottages. In her own words, this caused her to exclaim "O - I simply must have a knocker!" There began this curious collection, which spanned approximately a fifty year period and safeguarded an unusual part of Australia's history for generations to come.
Dressed for the Occasion: A History of Textiles
Now on exhibition at the Botanic Gardens site
View some significant costume pieces spanning the 19th and 20th centuries. Each piece of clothing tells a story, revealing not only something of the person who wore it, but also about the society they inhabited.
From All Four Corners: Stories of Migration to Wagga Wagga
Now on exhibition at the Botanic Gardens site
This semi permanent exhibition features 45 personal stories of migration to Wagga Wagga through personal text, objects, photographs and film, with a strong on-line component.
Image: Boys from San Isidore, c.1985
