WA Museum number 16 in a survey of the world’s ‘100 Most Boring Tourist Attractions’
Results of a survey of the world’s most boring tourist attractions have been released, with seven Australian landmarks making it into the top 100.
The research was conducted by website Solitaired who analysed 66.7 million Google reviews of over 3,000 popular tourist attractions worldwide.
In at number 16 is Western Australia’s Boola Bardip Museum, which was reopened to the public in November 2020 following a whopping $400 million worth of rebuilding and renovations costs. Some might say that’s a heck of a lot of taxpayers’ money invested in something that has ended up in the top 20 most boring attractions list only four years since opening.
The WA Boola Bardip Museum scored a 2.5 out of 5 ‘boredom score’, calculated from analysing 3,446 online reviews.
The WA Museum’s curators must really have their work cut out for them; exhibit A: the shell of an old bomb of a car.
The venues and landmarks spanned 384 cities across 71 countries, and the survey focused on 11 key words – these being ‘boring’, ‘bored’, ‘bore’, ‘boredom’, ‘tiresome’, ‘dull’, ‘drab’, ‘lacklustre’, ‘lifeless’, ‘mediocre’ and ‘tedious’.
Melbourne’s LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is also on the ‘boring’ hit list.
The other Australian landmarks tagged the most boring are the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Melbourne (number 24), the Museum of Sydney (32), the Immigration Museum in Melbourne (52), MONA in Tasmania (76), Luna Park in Melbourne (80), and the Bell Tower in Perth (92). Now that last one many people in Perth would agree with. Indeed, what is the point of the Bell Tower?
American attractions took up the top seven positions, with the Branson Scenic Railway in Missouri taking out the top spot (scoring 5 out of 5 on the boredom meter). Other US spots that were considered not so hot include the Illuminarium in Atlanta (number 2), Jurassic Jungle Boat in Tennessee (3), Salem Witch Museum in Massachusetts (4) and the LEGO Discovery Center in Atlanta (5). With a total of four LEGO-themed entries in the top 100, it seems the little bricks are not as exciting to view up close as they are on the telly.
When you’re next in the US, don’t forget to not go see the Branson Scenic Railway in Missouri… the number one most boring landmark in the world, according to surveyors Solitaired.
But back to the Boola Bardip Museum shame. One reviewer wrote: “It was a great museum when my kids were little. There was a great kids’ area with lots of activities and some very interesting collections. Now you need a torch to go round.”
“It’s not only the museum, but where it is,” another person added.
WA Museum CEO Alec Coles argued that the findings were not the same as those of other “credible” sources, and insisted that feedback for the Perth-based museum has been largely complimentary.
It’s a shame the museum’s been dubbed boring en masse, especially since borrowing its name Boola Bardip from the Whadjuk Nyoongar language – it meaning ‘many stories’.
I’m all for culture, real history, education, diversity and all that museums offer us. Variety is what is as kinetic at Boola Bardip as it is potential. Curator internship might be the solution to the ‘boring’ problem.
Looking at the bigger WA arts picture, though, perhaps we should start getting rid of some of the dinosaurs in the Arts Ministry. But I digress…
On the first occasion I ventured to the museum, I found the venue pleasing enough aesthetically, although, as Robbie Williams once said about Perth architecture in general, it does look a little “stuck in the ’70s”. Meanwhile, the initial exhibitions were not too exciting. This, after having to wait 20 minutes to get into the place on a very hot day. The wait was not due to queues but to unwarranted searches and an overall unprofessional reception from staff and security.
Since going back several times, I’ve found the exhibitions to have improved in variety and historical perspective, realised that the gift shop is packed with some wonderful items (with many local Indigenous artists’ works for sale), and that there are even great activities to do on certain weekends, such as meditation classes on scheduled Saturdays.
Heck, the staff are even more attentive and friendlier these days so, yes, I will be going back.
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