WA Museum Boola Bardip
Perth's rebuilt state museum in the Northbridge cultural centre, wrapping new galleries around retained heritage buildings, covering Western Australian nature and cultures.
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Illustrative image - a scene in the spirit of the place, not a photograph of it. Real photos are below.
The Western Australian Museum reopened in Northbridge in late 2020 after a long rebuild, under the Noongar name Boola Bardip, meaning many stories. The design keeps several nineteenth-century buildings on the site, including the old gaol, and threads new galleries around and above them, so you move between stone cells and glass volumes within a few minutes. The permanent galleries cover the state's geology and deep time, its marine life, its wildlife and its human cultures, with Aboriginal communities involved in shaping the sections that concern them. A suspended blue whale skeleton hangs in one of the halls. General entry is free, and the museum forms part of a cultural block with the state library and art gallery.
What you actually see
- The old gaol buildings - colonial stone cells kept inside the new structure and reused as gallery space.
- The whale skeleton - a full blue whale suspended above the floor in one of the main halls.
- The Western Australian nature galleries - the state's marine life, arid country and unusual endemic species.
- The Aboriginal cultures sections - regional stories from across the state, developed with the communities concerned.
When to go
Open daily and free, which makes it an easy fallback on Perth's hot summer afternoons or on a rare wet winter day. School holidays and weekend middays are the busiest. The cultural centre square outside hosts markets and events at intervals. Special exhibitions are ticketed separately and worth checking before you plan a long visit.
Honest expectations
The building is admired more than the contents by some visitors: galleries are handsome but individual sections are shallow, and you can walk the whole museum in two hours without feeling you learned a great deal. Wayfinding between the old and new structures is confusing. Northbridge immediately outside is a nightlife area and quiet by day. Special exhibition pricing can feel steep beside the free permanent galleries.
Nearby
The State Library, the Art Gallery of Western Australia and Perth station are all in the same block.
What to pack for WA Museum Boola Bardip
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
