These are some of the exhibitions available from the Historical Houses Trust of New South Wales. For more information, click here to visit our external site

Lure of the Southern Seas: The Voyages of Dumont d'Urville 1826-1840
Until 27 April 2003
Museum of Sydney on the site of first Government House

Like his hero Captain James Cook, Dumont d'Urville journeyed three times to the Southern Seas and his voyages were the zenith of French maritime exploration, colonial ambition and scientific endeavour. Dumont will be remembered for his audacious act of pillaging the Venus de Milo for France, for solving one of the greatest maritime mysteries – the fate of the Laperouse expedition, and for laying claim to Antarctica.

Discover rare Pacific artefacts, powerful portrait busts of indigenous subjects and exquisite natural history watercolours brought to Australia for the first time from prestigious French collections. Contemporary art installations and a compelling photographic display of Antarctic panoramas will complement the exhibition.

In association with the Australian National Maritime Museum
Principal Sponsor – Collex & Vivendi Environnement
www.cleanupantarctica.com
Media Sponsor – SBS

Crimes of Passion
Until 12 October 2003
Justice and Police Museum

The exhibition examines a series of crimes committed between 1865 and 1959, looking at the facts of each case and at some of the larger private and public passions they unleashed.

From assigned convict servants to government men, this new exhibition is the story of Sydney's male convict labour force. Between 1819 and 1848 more than 15 000 male convicts passed through the Hyde Park Barracks. The majority were English and Irish men found guilty of theft. Their punishment was exile to the opposite side of the world.

Discover everyday life at Hyde Park Barracks including the convicts' labour, lodgings, meals, religious instruction, medical attendance and discipline. While superintendents and overseers were instructed to maintain good order and prompt obedience to reform the convicts 'ideas and habits' - at times the Barracks seemed in a state of disarray.

Historic images, personal observations and rare objects provide intimate glimpses of individual lives and fresh perspectives on the history of the barracks, including the uses of its rooms and spaces.

India, China, Australia: Trade & Society 1788 – 1850
10 May – 17 August 2003
Museum of Sydney on the site of first Government House
Imagine a movie set, with a cast of diverse characters and a sequence of shifting scenes: shrewd merchants from Calcutta, lascars and coolies, peripatetic army officers and civil servants; ladies' dresses of fine Chinese silk and convicts' slops of coarse Indian cotton, Anglo-Chinese silver on Anglo-Indian tables, Chinese ceramics, tea, rice and preserved ginger; verandahed bungalows hung with cane blinds and paper lanterns, in gardens bright with China roses and shaded with sweet-fruited loquats. These elements combined to fashion Australia's colonial culture in the early 19th century: trade with India and China was substantial and complex and social links were shaped by the strength and subtlety of family networks linking the British colonies.

Kings Cross - Bohemian Sydney
31 May – 21 September 2003
Elizabeth Bay House
Kings Cross was seen by suburban Australia as seedy, if not downright wicked. From the 1920s to the 1970s it proclaimed its 'Bohemian' identity. This identity was partly based upon the borrowed glory of its colonial past, with old mansions such as Elizabeth Bay House providing cheap digs for artists and writers. The social freedoms of high-density living close to the city, harbour and eastern suburbs were enjoyed by a diverse group of actors, broadcasters, students, restaurateurs, sly grog sellers, gamblers, entertainers and recent arrivals from Europe. They ensured that Sydney continually experienced the shock of the new. Modern Australia grew from heady summer nights on the Darlinghurst Ridge.

This exhibition will provide a portrait of a community of artists and how their work was influenced by bohemian life in Sydney's Kings Cross.

Italiani di Sydney
30 August – 7 December 2003
Museum of Sydney on the site of first Government House
Italiani di Sydney explores the diversity of experiences, relationships and exchanges between Italians and the city. The exhibition reflects the contributions of Italians to Sydney and the transformations of 'Italian traditions' in Sydney.

Moving across several generations, the exhibition uses archival and contemporary material to interpret the diversity of Italian cultural practices over the years and to challenge stereotypes. The exhibition contains a variety of objects, photographic images, multimedia presentations and contemporary arts.