A Virtual Treasure Trove: Recent Episodes
666 ABC Canberra
An axe made from a broken champagne bottle on display at the Museum of Australian Democracy has come to symbolise women's ongoing political struggle.
Indigenous children learning to speak their traditional language Miriwoong in the 1980s and 1990s can be heard in a unique collection of magnetic strip cards being digitised at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
An 18th century sketch by William Hodges of Tynai-mai, princess of Ra'iatea, is on display at the National Library's Cook and the Pacific exhibition.
Fragments of moon rock and the Australian flag that was sent on the first lunar landing mission are preserved in the National Archives of Australia.
An Australian rifleman who fought in the Boer War was one of eight soldiers awarded a hand-crocheted scarf by Queen Victoria.
A vintage FJ Holden panel van is commemorating the daring feats of newsreel crews in the 1940s and 50s when news was served at the movies.
Helena Rubinstein began her career in Victoria at the turn of the 20th century, and when she died she left a cosmetics empire, philanthropic foundation and a backstory laced with myth.
Johannes Frerck was a friendly man who sold sausages and sauerkraut from his Darlinghurst shop he was also a staunch supporter of Adolf Hitler and branded a spy who threatened Australia's security.
A major work by influential German avant-garde artist Joseph Beuys is back on display at the National Gallery, and is taking the space usually occupied by Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles.
Nine photographic panels, so large that they've never been displayed in public until now, depict the construction of Parliament House in Canberra 30 years ago.
Indigenous objects presented to Hazel Hawke at the the 1988 Barunga Festival are on display for the first time at Parliament House.
A newspaper photo saved by a trusted stenographer shows the behind-the-scenes drama of Edward VIII's abdication unfolding in his dominion Down Under.
A "silk" map used by WWII Australian commandos in Borneo is on display at the Australian War Memorial.
The National Film and Sound Archive acquires photos and a letter sent to fans by silent movie star Louise Lovely.
The Western-style wedding dress worn by a Japanese war bride in 1956 is on display at the National Museum as part of a wider exhibit about immigration.
The National Portrait Gallery acquires a rare painting of colonial life by a 19th-century mother of six who enjoyed recreational art.
Century-old drawings in the National Archives are helping researchers discover what happened to a World War I submarine.
A 1933 painting that was made for a Melbourne mural is about to go on show in a new Australian Art Deco exhibition.
Three objects carefully preserved at Parliament House tell the story of its construction and will form part of a new display.
A priceless 17th-century map of Australia is back on display after being painstakingly restored.
Dot paintings swapped for a government four-wheel drive in 1986 are now prized in a Canberra collection.
Former PM Robert Menzies was regularly seen with his movie camera on holidays and official trips, and you couldn't really say no when he wanted you to watch them.
The skills of Paul McClarin are no longer available in Australia, but the results of his vocation are there for all to see at the National Museum in Canberra.
A close-up look at a 1998 portrait of Christos Tsiolkas by celebrity photographer John Tsiavis.
The WWI service record of nurse Pearl Corkhill MM is just one of tens of thousands that can be easily accessed at the National Archives.
Arthur Streeton's masterpiece Golden Summer, Eaglemont is back at the National Gallery after going on show in London.
John Brosnan's pre-internet fanzines fascinate a cataloguer at the National Library who wants to add his works to the collection.
London Blitz relics on show at Parliament House symbolise Londoners' resilience to adversity and the bond between Britain and Australia.
Researchers are trying to track down the Indigenous boy whose image was used to support the Yes vote in the 1967 referendum.
The gold key used to unlock the heavy front doors at the opening ceremony of Old Parliament House returns home for the first time, 90 years after the historic ceremony.
An unopened tin of Anzac biscuits is a memorial to a mother's grief for her son killed in Vietnam.
Bud Tingwell's tools of trade, kept secure in two chocolate boxes, tell us a lot about what kind of an actor he was.
The tuckerbox used by Indigenous rights campaigner Brian Manning during the historic Wave Hill walk-off goes on display at the National Museum.
Bill Henson's portrait of conductor Simone Young features in a new focus on women display at the National Portrait Gallery.
An elegant 19th-century billboard tea poster has been found and restored by the National Archives.
Photos of Berlin from the early 1990s document a space created by stateless workers where the wall once stood.
The voices of hundreds of notable Australians can still be heard thanks to the pioneering work of Hazel de Berg.
Heraldic beasts and floral emblems feature on an ornate vase created to celebrate the Queen's coronation in 1953.
Sarbi, the explosive detection dog who was famously lost and found in Afghanistan, is preserved as a key exhibit at the Australian War Memorial.
The yellow getaway car that famously splits in two in the Australian cult classic Malcolm is on display at the National Film and Sound Archive.
Wooden souvenirs made by Albert Namatjira early in his career are on show at the National Museum of Australia.
A wooden figurine carved in Australia represents an empire's adoration of British military hero Lord Kitchener.
The case of the West Coast Sea Monster uncovered in a thick file at the National Archives of Australia tells a tale of science versus science fiction.
Some of the seminal images of the 20th century go on show at the National Gallery in an exhibition of American photographer Diane Arbus.
The scribbles of a 16th-century Welsh schoolboy give researchers an intriguing insight into the history of a medieval book in the collection of the National Library of Australia.
A matchstick boat made by black South African prisoners on death row, an enduring symbol of the struggle against apartheid, goes on display in Canberra.
Part of an historic Furphy water cart finds a home where other kinds of furphies jostle with facts the parliamentary press gallery in Canberra.
Three sets of educational cards from the 1960s and 1970s used as teaching aids in remote communities are now helping to illustrate the story of Indigenous franchise.