Culture

The aim of Australia’s first public museum, when it was green-lit in 1827, was to gather rare specimens of natural history and miscellaneous curiosities. Today its collection boasts more than 18 million cultural and scientific exhibits, showcases Australian history – including Aboriginal archaeology and artefacts from its greatest explorers – and has a world-leading research programme. A recent major renovation has expanded the space greatly. For your own bird’s-eye view, head up to the museum’s terrace: the balcony offers stunning 180-degree panoramic views of Hyde Park and the Woolloomooloo area.

You could walk past artist Brett Whiteley’s former studio in Surry Hills and not know you’d done so. The only giveaway is a miniature wall-mounted version of his piece “Almost Once”: two matchsticks, one charred, the other intact. There is an 8-metre version behind the Art Gallery of NSW. Whiteley is known for works that challenge notions of life and death; sadly he died of a drug overdose in 1992. His old workplace and home has been converted into this gallery, which opens between 10.00 and 16.00 from Thursday to Sunday.

This arts enterprise was created in 2013 by two of the city’s heavyweight art dealers: Tim Olsen, son of Bowral-based painter and national treasure John Olsen, and Rex Irwin (now retired), who had been in the business since 1976. The pair cast a wide net to gather Australian and international art by both emerging and established names. Martine Emdur’s ethereal paintings of Sydney swimmers are always popular, as are Dinosaur Designs co-founder Stephen Ormandy’s organic sculptures. A second outpost on Queen Street focuses on works on paper.