Perhaps the country is having a mid-life crisis. The museum's riot of red and orange, bathed in blue light at night, has been a jolt to conservative Canberra, where buildings have been constructed with regulation cream brick for decades and builders have been forbidden to compromise the graceful sweep of the lake, or overshadow the untouched hillsides around the city centre. Unsurprisingly, right-wing critics have moved in for the kill. Casey says she wanted to reject the linear storytelling of orthodox history and convey the tale of the Australian nation through the subjective experiences of individuals. The Aboriginal exhibits have clearly been compiled with great sensitivity.
Many exhibits are innovative, fun and daring.
An impressive 250,000 visitors have already been lured to the Canberra site. But a telling symbol of the museum's biggest failing is the fact that so many people lose their bearings as they wander around. Casey admits that they just can't get their signposting right at the moment. It is a marvellous metaphor for the confusion created by the museum. Many of the individual stories, objects and symbols are not put in context or given an ending.