Fun times at the Museum – The Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

We had a family day on Saturday and decided it might be time to give our little girl an appreciation of the arts. So we decided to take her to the museum. Little did we know, it would be so much fun for all ages!

The Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) is part of the Queensland art scene and situated at Southbank Arts precinct. It was heavily damaged in the recent floods and has just reopened. And what a fantastic opening it has been.

There is the massive wall of wishes (Rivane Neuenschwander’s installation IWish your Wish 2003) where you can take a wish for yourself and leave one for others. Our little girl picked “I wish I was older”!

There is the giant ever changing Lego metropolis (The cubic structural evolution project 2004 byOlafur Eliasson) where kids can build a ever changing metropolis using white Lego bits. We spent a lot of time here!

The left right slide (Carsten Höller’s ‘Left/Right slide’ 2010) was lots of fun. Unfortunately, Arabella (our little girl) was just not tall enough to go on it. So, daddy made up for it. 🙂

Besides these main attractions, there are some very creative works around.

We couldn’t go everywhere that we wanted to and we can’t wait to go back! If you are ever around Brisbane, Australia, GoMA should be number one on your to-do list.

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Human brains are pretty amazing, allowing us to think, feel, create, communicate, move and more. But humans aren’t the only animals with cool brains, as Crab Museum explains in the book The No-Brainer Brain Explainer (illustrated by Bruno Valasse).

This book, aimed at kids in grades 1-4, is colorful and silly but also educational about how brains actually work, with billions of neurons sending electrical and chemical signals around the body.

“Everything we think, feel and experience comes from an electrical relay race, with neurons passing chemical batons to each other,” the book says. “The constant chatter of billions of brain cells creates your entire world.”

The book compares the brains of mammals to those of crabs (the book is “written” by a crab after all) and notes that crabs have fewer neurons and of course are much smaller, but they have separate parts of their brains that control their eyes and their legs. Crabs are also capable of remembering things, using tools and solving puzzles.

Some animals’ brains allow them to know more about their world in different ways from humans, such as spiders being sensitive to vibrations in their webs and catfish having an amazing sense of taste, with taste sensors all over their bodies.

It notes that 95 percent of brain activity goes toward things we do unconsciously, like breathing, walking and catching a ball flying toward us. It also talks about dreams, memory, how our emotions try to predict the future, where brains came from and fun facts about brains. For example, did you know a sperm whale is believed to have the biggest brain of any creature that’s even lived? Their brains weigh 18 pounds, compared to just 2.5 pounds for humans.

Information on what creatures have the smallest brains, the toughest brains, the most brains and those who actually eat their own brains will delight kids (and maybe gross them out a little bit). They’ll also enjoy learning about the mycelium network of fungi, which is like a brain without a body, and slime molds, which are like a brain without a brain.

It ends talking about why human brains are so special because we’ve found ways to work together, communicate and build communities on a scale bigger than any other animal.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy this colorful, silly and informational book about brains!

About the book: 64 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail price $19.99.

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