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Out of the box 'Container' exhibition at Victoria Quay

A free outdoor exhibition about shipping containers and their massive contribution to the way we live has opened at Fremantle Port's Victoria Quay.
  • Victoria Quay
  • Published 1 Nov 2019

Presented by the Western Australian Museum in partnership with Fremantle Ports and the Freight and Logistics Council of WA, Container - the box that changed the world is an interactive, solar-powered exhibition displayed in six colourful, modified sea containers.

Each container tells the story of a different aspect of how sea containers have revolutionised trade, transport, business and life.

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Visitors are invited to literally step inside the box to explore the history of stevedoring and the emergence of containerisation. The exhibition shows the extraordinary scale of the international movement of hundreds of millions of containers every year. It also shows how this impacts the environment and the everyday lives of people the world over, and highlights the current industry focus on sustainable shipping.

Created by the Australian National Maritime Museum, Container - the box that changed the world will be on display from 2 November 2019 until 14 April 2020.

The six containers that make up the display have been placed along Victoria Quay, beginning outside the WA Maritime Museum and continuing to the E Shed Markets.

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One of the six colourful containers outside the Fremantle Ports Administration Building

The exhibition is presented by sponsors QUBE, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Intermodal Transport; and is supported by the City of Fremantle, This Is Fremantle, and Shipping Australia Limited. Containers have been supplied by Royal Wolf.

Ports Minister Alannah MacTiernan:

"Attracting this exhibition is a terrific coup for Fremantle and it will be a great free attraction for the public down at Victoria Quay over summer.

"This year marks 50 years of the international container trade at Fremantle and containerisation now dominates the international freight and logistics industry, from shipping, to ports and beyond into our communities.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for families to see how containers work and Victoria Quay along Fremantle Port is the ideal place to experience it."

Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman:

"This is a remarkable exhibition that explores the way the humble shipping container has revolutionised the way we live.

"You might be drinking coffee from Brazil, wearing clothes woven in India or watching a tv made in Japan. So much of our lives is made possible by shipping containers.

"This really is an innovative partnership between the Western Australian Museum, Fremantle Ports and the Freight and Logistics Council of WA that lets you quite literally step inside the box to learn more about how containers have changed our lives."

See information on the Victoria Quay website here.

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