Welcome to the Cultural Collections of the University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne owns 32 Cultural Collections. The origins of some lie in the earliest years of the University's establishment in the 1850s, while regular new acquisitions keep the collections dynamic and relevant.
The Cultural Collections embody the history of many of the academic disciplines taught at the University of Melbourne, including law, classics, history, languages, medicine, dentistry, botany, zoology, physics, fine arts, music and engineering. Object types include rare books and manuscripts, paintings, sculptures, archives, photographs, medical and dental implements, scientific apparatus, musical instruments, mineral, plant and animal specimens, and ethnographic and archaeological artefacts.
The University encourages the use of the collections by students, staff and the wider community, whether for research, teaching, conversation or enjoyment.
Supporting the Cultural Collections
The University’s 32 cultural collections benefit from the support of alumni, students, staff, philanthropic trusts, corporate sponsors, friends groups and many interested individuals. More information on how you can contribute.
Cultural Policy
| The University's Cultural Policy sets out the guiding principles which assist the University to configure its cultural resources, including its Cultural Collections, to best serve the whole community. |  |
News and Events
World Tipitaka Presentation Live On Visions Site
The World Tipitaka - the Romanised edition of the Theravada Buddhist scriptural canon - was recently presented as a ‘royal gift of peace and wisdom’ to the University of Melbourne. View the podcast on the Visions site. Melbourne Newsroom article.UMA Bulletin - New Issue Published
| Issue 25, August 2009, of the University of Melbourne Archives Bulletin has been published and is available to download. |  |
Ian Potter Foundation Supports Tiegs Zoology Museum
The Ian Potter Foundation has generously provided a grant to the University’s Tiegs Zoology Museum, which is part of the Department of Zoology in the Faculty of Science, to purchase new, museum-quality display cases. Additional funds are being contributed by a private donor and by the Zoology Department.When the Zoology Department moved to its then-new building in 1989, there was not enough space to display all the interesting specimens in the Tiegs collection. Now additional space has been made available, to accommodate new showcases and enable the Tiegs Museum to exhibit specimens which have not been on general display for the last 20 years, such as a lion skeleton and a mounted wedge-tailed eagle. In this way these generous donations of funds will bring about a significant and lasting improvement in the quality of exhibits in the Tiegs Museum.
University Desk Calendar 2010
| The cultural collections feature on the University’s desk calendar for 2010. Fascinating artefacts, illustrations and artworks from the Grainger Museum, University Art Collection, Earth Sciences Library Rare Book Collection, Classics and Archaeology Collection, Harry Brookes Allen Museum of Anatomy and Pathology, Rare and Historic Maps Collection, Baillieu Library Print Collection, University of Melbourne Archives and the Medical History Museum illustrate this handy CD-size calendar. It makes an excellent gift which lasts until February 2011, and is available from the Melbourne University Bookshop for $16.00 including GST, or bulk purchases of 20 units can be ordered by University staff by emailing c.garrivan@unimelb.edu.au. |  |
Exhibition - Reframing Darwin: Evolution and the Baillieu Library
An exhibition in the Baillieu Library, 14 August to 1 December.