Beauty Rich and Rare follows Captain James Cook’s 1768 voyage to Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia. On board was English naturalist Sir Joseph Banks to record Australia's flora and fauna in meticulous detail. To mark the 250th anniversary of the voyage, the National Library of Australia commissioned Sydney-based AGB Events to create and produce Beauty Rich and Rare – an immersive sound and light display featuring original illustrations, charts, and Banks’ journals.
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Did you know?
In 1992, the US Space Shuttle Endeavour carried with it a piece of wood from Captain Cook’s original 1768 ship
Look For
A rare possum skin cloak worn by indigenous people of South Eastern Australia, collected during the Wilkes Expedition in 1839. (Find this in Objects of Wonder, down the hall)
Historic aboriginal art that shows how people wore possum cloaks
Plant specimens collected on that journey by Joseph Banks and illustrated by Daniel Solander
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Things To Do
Compare the herbarium sheets (dried botanical collections) with the illustrations that were created during the expedition.
Learn how South Pacific peoples navigated the vast Pacific Ocean by following the stars.
Watch as historic illustrations come to life through the use of modern digital techniques.