Skip to main content

Two people standing together, viewing items inside a display cabinet.

Home

/

Extraordinary stories

Extraordinary stories

Queensland’s story is a tapestry of thousands of stories – some familiar, some not.

Every story in the Extraordinary stories exhibition on Level 4 sheds new light on Queensland's incredible history. From the people who shaped our communities to the events that changed our state, Extraordinary stories draws on State Library’s collections to explore the people, places and moments that have defined our past and continue to influence Queensland today.

Explore the latest displays in the gallery or book a free curator’s tour to hear the stories behind the display.

Free exhibition

Open daily, 10 am – 5 pm
Philip Bacon Heritage Gallery, level 4

Plan your visit

Stories on display

Portrait photograph of Colleen McGuire

Colleen Stevenson’s Faces of Forgotten Australians

A confronting look at Queensland’s institutional care through the eyes of those who survived it.

McGaffin, R. collector, McGaffin, artist, Lynette, & McGaffin Design, creator. (1969). McGaffin Design collection. In McGaffin Design collection.

McGaffin Design

The husband-and-wife duo behind some of Queensland’s most unexpected innovations.

29440-0002-0069 Studio portrait of John Henry Paul Berthon

A pioneering engineer and artist who documented early Queensland through photography and sketches.

Women dressed in traditional Greek clothing preforming a dance on stage.

Bringing the flavours, sounds and traditions of Greece to Brisbane for 50 years.

Assessing film content for digitisation

Saving Queensland stories from the fragile films and tapes that hold our memories.

Busy scene in Sideshow Alley featuring the Ferris wheel Ekka, 2009, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

150 years of the Ekka

From a celebration of rural Queensland to a beloved tradition connecting generations.

Woman smiling towards camera.

Aunty Denise Proud

A trailblazing educator and community leader who established Cherbourg’s first kindergarten at the age of 16.

Join a free curator's tour

Go beyond the display and discover what makes these Queensland stories extraordinary.

Curator's Tours of State Library's level 4 exhibition spaces.

Give to the Queensland Library Foundation

Help preserve the collections that hold Queensland’s stories, so they can be cared for, shared and discovered by generations to come.

A group of people are studying historical collections on a table