Ants at Melbourne Museum

Venue

Melbourne Museum
11 Nicholson Street
Carlton, VIC 3053

Session Dates & Times

8-January-25 January 2025 (excluding 13, 14 & 20 January)
10.00am: Outdoors on Museum Plaza, free
11.00am, 1.00 & 2.00pm: Indoors in Main Foyer, free with Museum entry

Book now: museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/whats-on/tickets

• Melbourne Museum is wheelchair accessible. The main entrance is a flat, paved surface with automatic doors. The carpark has a lift to the ground floor. The kerbside on Nicholson and Rathdowne Street is a gentle slope.
• Ground level unisex accessible toilets are located: between the Museum Shop and Café, in the foyer in front of the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, and at the Children’s Gallery.
• Sensory bags containing noise reduction earmuffs, fidget tools and a communication card can be borrowed from the Admissions Desk in the entrance foyer, and returned at the end of your visit.
• A sensory friendly floorplan of the Museum is available here.
• Social stories for Museum access, including visiting with young children, are available here.
• Guide Dogs are welcome.
• Further venue access information is available here. If you have any questions, please contact the Melbourne Museum bookings office on 13 11 02 or email askus@museum.vic.gov.au

Ants

• The 10am performance will take place outdoors, on the Museum Plaza, which is a flat, paved surface. Please check the weather, and bring sunscreen, hats and water bottles.
• The 11am, 1pm and 2pm performances will take place indoors, in the Main Foyer.
• Ants is a universally accessible experience. The performers do not use spoken language – there is no English language barrier.
• You and your family can choose how you engage with the performers and the space, moving around as you like.
• Ants contains amplified sound that is played through portable speakers.
• You can come and go from the performances at any time.
• A visual story to help your family prepare for the experience is available to view/download here.
• Polyglot Theatre staff and artists are trained in disability and cultural awareness. If you have any questions about Ants, please contact us on 03 9826 3301 or info@polyglot.org.au

How to prepare

• When you come to a Polyglot show we recommend you wear comfortable clothing that allows you to enjoy moving. Remember that you have come for an adventure and there are many ways to begin finding your play. You are curious and this space is yours. Just as you might at the beach, do you take your time and dip your toe in to warm up, or do you run and jump right in? The worlds we set up welcome you to take your time and find your own way to your imaginative play; and our performers are there to join you, or play alongside you, and look after these worlds and their inhabitants.

• Baby change facilities are available in all ground level unisex accessible bathrooms.
• A Parent’s Room is available at the Children’s Gallery.
• Water, infants’ bottles and breastfeeding/chestfeeding are welcome, however we do ask that there is no eating in the Ants performance space.
• Refreshments (dine in and takeaway) can be purchased from the Museum Station Café next to the Children’s Gallery, or the Museum Market Café, Mon-Fri 9:30am-4pm, and Sat-Sun 9:30am-4:30pm.
• You are welcome to bring your own food and drinks for picnicking in Carlton Gardens before or after Ants.

Parking

• The closest parking is in the Melbourne Museum Car Park. It is open 7 days a week, 5.30am to midnight. Enter via Rathdowne Street or Nicholson Street.
• There is designated disabled parking available on level P2, adjacent to the lifts.
• $13 per hour weekday rate (Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm)
• $20 flat rate for weekend parking for 0-4 hours, $30 for 4+ hours. Weekend parking is competitive and can be booked online at least four hours prior to arrival: carpark.museumvictoria.com.au

Public Transport

Tram

• Stop #11 Melbourne Museum/Nicholson Street is serviced by tram routes 86 and 96. This stop has: lighting, tactile ground surface indicator, an accessible ramp. It is approximately 150m from the Museum.
• Stop #9 Victoria St/La Trobe St is serviced by tram route 35 (City Circle Tram). It is free of charge. It is approximately 300m from the Museum.

Bus

• Routes 250, 251, and 402 stop at Melbourne Museum/Rathdowne Street. This stop has: lighting and tactile ground surface indicator. It is approximately 50m from the Museum.

Train

• Parliament Station is approximately 600m from the Museum. This station has: lighting, escalator, hearing loop, lift, stairs, tactile ground surface indicator, accessible telephone, accessible toilet.

Bicycle

• Local bicycle facilities include bike lanes on Rathdowne St and Canning St. There is also a shared pedestrian/bike path on Nicholson St.
• Bicycle racks on the Plaza provide ample bike parking just outside the front door.

A visit to Melbourne Museum is a rich, surprising insight into life in Victoria. We show you Victoria’s intriguing permanent collections and bring you brilliant temporary exhibitions from near and far. You’ll see our natural environment, our cultures and our history through different perspectives.

museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum

Antopia

Enter Antopia, where you shrink down to the size of ants to experience a day in the life of an ant colony. Discover a complex and fascinating superorganism in this immersive, interactive experience that digitally reinterprets a world of secrets we cannot see.

From creators of the award-winning exhibition Tyama, Antopia is perfect for families, kids and adults. This contemporary and immersive fusion of art x science is for everyone and promises an adventure like no other.

museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/whats-on/antopia