Attention culture vultures: The Google Cultural Institute has added a treasure-trove of 2000 Australian artifacts to its digital archives. The collection covers key moments in Australian and Pacific history sourced from art galleries, museums and libraries. Notable works include the first hand-built prototype of the Holden car, the interior of the “G for George” WW2 Lancaster bomber and a portrait of rock star Chrissy Amphlett.
The Google Cultural Institute is a digital image database of important artworks and artefacts from around the world. The idea is to help cultural organisations bring their collections, archives, heritage sites and stories to online audiences in an attractive, accessible format. Explains Google:
In addition to working with art galleries and museums to capture imagery of their most precious collections, we used special “gigapixel” cameras to take super high-resolution imagery, giving people an even closer look than if they were standing right in front of it.
New Australian partners contributing to the institute include the Australian War Memorial,
National Museum of Australia, National Portrait Gallery, Australian National Maritime Museum,
Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, State Library of NSW, Australian Museum, Queensland Museum, Queensland Performing Arts Centre and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.
The site also includes 360-degree virtual Street View tours of culture-peddling buildings, including the Australian War Memorial, the National Museum of Australia and Queensland Museum.
If you’ve got kids in high school or just enjoy looking at dusty stuff from the past, this collection is an invaluable resource. Click here to start exploring.
[Via Google Australia Blog]
Comments