A four motor bogie drop centre combination tram of the Melbourne W2 class. Body built by the James Moore and Co. of South Melbourne as a W2 class tram. Delivered to the MMTB Preston Workshops where the electrical and mechanical equipment was fitted. Issued to traffic 18/4/1928. Allocated to Essendon Depot. The tram was part of the Transporting Art project suggested by the artist Clifton Pugh (1924-1990) in Jan. 1978 to the Lord Mayor of Melbourne Cr. Irvin Rockman. The concept was enthusiastically supported by Victorian Premier Rupert Hamer. Clifton Pugh's tram was the second tram to appear. Described by the artist as "The apostle birds in flight, as if the tram has run into a group of them and they're flying along the sides. Then I found the route was to be through Collingwood and Hawthorn football territory and one cannot be one-eyed in that worlds, there are a magpie and a hawk on each side." The tram was retained by the State and stored until 2015 when it was transported to the Museum's Offsite store. Formal ownership was transferred to the Museum during 2019. Conservation planning for the tram's return to service and the restoration of the artwork is underway. 1986 - withdrawn from service following a minor accident and stored. In 2015 tram relocated to the Museum's offsite store and during 2019 transferred to ownership of the Museum. See btm.org.au/trams/504.html for further detail. Photos - i1 - Ray Marsh 1978 i2 - Alastair Reither - 3/6/2015 showing the damaged side. i3 - Clifton Pugh on board his tram. Photo from the Diners Club Signature Magazine April/May 1982, from an article titled Moving Masterpieces. Photo courtesy of the Melbourne Tram Museum. See Destination Citytrams, w2 class, transporting art, tram 504

This specimen was originally identified as a young Black-Cuckoo-shrike and catalogued as such in the Burke Museum original catalogue. Analysis conducted as part of a conservation treatment in 2024 reclassified the specimen as a white-bellied cuckooshrike. The white-bellied cuckooshrike inhabits regions across Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. In Australia, it is distributed widely, occurring in tropical northern areas as well as in the eastern parts of the country, including northern Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and southeastern South Australia. The species is prevalent throughout Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, but less frequently observed in Indonesia. Within Indonesia, it is most commonly found in the northern Moluccas, with occasional sightings in Eastern Wallacea. Today, the Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike has a protected status in Australia, under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974. This specimen is part of a collection of almost 200 animal specimens that were originally acquired as skins from various institutions across Australia, including the Australian Museum in Sydney and the National Museum of Victoria (known as Museums Victoria since 1983), as well as individuals such as amateur anthropologist Reynell Eveleigh Johns between 1860-1880. These skins were then mounted by members of the Burke Museum Committee and put-on display in the formal space of the Museum’s original exhibition hall where they continue to be on display. This display of taxidermy mounts initially served to instruct visitors to the Burke Museum of the natural world around them, today it serves as an insight into the collecting habits of the 19th century.This specimen is part of a significant and rare taxidermy mount collection in the Burke Museum. This collection is scientifically and culturally important for reminding us of how science continues to shape our understanding of the modern world. They demonstrate a capacity to hold evidence of how Australia’s fauna history existed in the past and are potentially important for future environmental research. This collection continues to be on display in the Museum and has become a key part to interpreting the collecting habits of the 19th century.This specimen is a young White-bellied cuckooshrike which stands perched on a wooden mount. It has pale grey colouring which is darker on the rear. The wings are tipped with grey-brown feathers and the same colour feathers also appear on the bird's tale. The specimen has dark limbs and bill and this specimen is provided with two glass eyes which are dark in colouring. The bird has a more creamy pale grey on the throat and stomach. It has a black facial mask which is restricted to an eye stripe. 21a / Black Faced Graculus / See catalogue page 11taxidermy mount, taxidermy, animalia, burke museum, beechworth, australian museum, skin, reynell eveleigh johns, bird, cuckoo, shrike, common birds, australian birds, australian bird, white-bellied cuckooshrike

Invasion places an imaginative eye in Australian colonial history and turns around the dominant view, taking alien creatures into iconic London-based cityscapes, with white urban residents their victims. Cook's images express the shock that enveloped the Australian continent when European people appeared on Aboriginal shores. Aboriginals as aliens, sci-fi scaled animals - featherless birds, super sized grubs, giant lizards, possums on ufo's, laser shooting fembots, and clouds of rainbow lorikeets - arrive into urban London, the 'mother' country, and wreak havoc. Within the broad narrative are mini narratives that speak to the past, historical references that tease out and reverse the racist practices imposed on Aboriginals. The drama of such an event heightened with the use of vintage-inspired B-grade horror movie aesthetic - an ironic 'spoofy' edge.australian first nations art, photography, colonialisation, sci-fi

Invasion places an imaginative eye in Australian colonial history and turns around the dominant view, taking alien creatures into iconic London-based cityscapes, with white urban residents their victims. Cook's images express the shock that enveloped the Australian continent when European people appeared on Aboriginal shores. Aboriginals as aliens, sci-fi scaled animals - featherless birds, super sized grubs, giant lizards, possums on ufo's, laser shooting fembots, and clouds of rainbow lorikeets - arrive into urban London, the 'mother' country, and wreak havoc. Within the broad narrative are mini narratives that speak to the past, historical references that tease out and reverse the racist practices imposed on Aboriginals. The drama of such an event heightened with the use of vintage-inspired B-grade horror movie aesthetic - an ironic 'spoofy' edge.australian first nations art, photography, colonialisation, sci-fi