Indian Ocean Gallery
Western Australian Maritime Museum
Ground Floor, Victoria Quay
(Photo courtesy Darren Mok ©2006 WA Museum)
As the first Museum of the Indian Ocean, the new Western Australian Maritime Museum looks at the past and our future as a community on the edge of the Indian Ocean. With significant historic objects and boats that highlight Western Australias sporting and adventure heritage, the exhibitions tell the stories of human endeavour that bring to life our maritime past.
The people of the Indian Ocean have been linked by trade for thousands of years. This gallery traces the paths of these maritime travelers, giving visitors a chance to explore for themselves the roots of our multicultural community today. The sights and sounds of a 15th century Middle Eastern marketplace have been recreated: crammed with spices, grains, gold, pearls, ivory and brilliant fabrics, the space takes visitors to the Museum back to the sophisticated cultures once common in this trading region. The stories in this gallery include the changes in watercraft and navigation that put Western Australia on the map in the 1600s and the migration of people that followed.