Bloggers Opinion: Powerhouse Museum Review

By Shelby Hearn // 10 August 2011 // Comments: 0 // Related Categories: blogging, museums, Review, sydney, Things to do

Having heard numerous good reviews, I decided to give the Powerhouse Museum a go. Looking forward to my Saturday afternoon outing to the “family, hands-on museum,” I grabbed a few friends and off we went. You can imagine my surprise when I walked into one of the stiffest science museums I have ever attended. 

Maybe we have a different standard of educational children’s museums in the US, but if I, a 20 year old who likes science was bored, I can’t image what it would be like on a school trip! Small type, lots and LOTS of text to read, bland colours, little to no interaction, with the exhibits designed for interaction broken or under construction/repair – I was dragging my feet and yawning within minutes. 

After a good while wandering from one disappointing exhibit to the next, I found myself in Space. Interesting, but extremely small, and an exhibit I have seen many times before. The aroma exhibit, was different, and had major potential, unfortunately all of the interactive displays (which made up the entire room) were broken. The other exhibits have all blurred in my mind, which should give you a pretty good idea of my impression of them.

If you give it a visit, I suggest doing it backwards, as the most interesting sections were at the end. However, by the time I reached them, I was so bored and frustrated I just walked past, eyes only on the exit. Maybe it was because the museum was partially under construction, maybe I have been to too many similar museums, whatever the reason, the Powerhouse was a definite disappointment, an attraction of Sydney that could easily be given a miss.