The first marvel is the light.

There are so many published images of the new Powerhouse museum’s steel exoskeleton that it is hardly a surprise when two dazzling white structures like giant milk crates suddenly emerge from the depressing jumble of modern office buildings that characterise modern Parramatta.

But the light inside the building is something else, as glass walls invite the sky outside to come in.

An exhibit you can paddle in

Daylight is a key element in Overflow, one of the museum’s five opening exhibitions.

In a large open space with views to the Parramatta skyline and river below, a giant video screen plays a series of short films by Kamilaroi filmmaker Ivan Sen, showing seven different First Nations communities in New South Wales caring for their saltwater and freshwater country. Images of riverbanks, lagoons and sandy beaches are reflected in a shallow replica tidal pool in front of the screen.

Contemporary museums pride themselves on interacting with visitors, but this is the first time I have seen a museum encouraging people to wade into an exhibit.

A kids exhibition themed around darkness

According to the ceaseless political campaign against the Parramatta incarnation of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, the original collection has been abandoned in favour of novelty. This is not true. Most of the works in The Dark, an exhibition specifically devised for children, come from the permanent collection.

Darkness here is a friend, not foe. Displays of beautiful minerals and precious stones are captioned with stories of the people who discovered them.

Those of us who are old enough to remember the........

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