Images reflecting iconic moments in the spawning and development of both ancient and modern Australia will be on display as part of new onboard exhibits across Princess Cruises fleet of five locally-based ships over the next five years, the line has announced.

Dubbed ‘Defining Moments in Australian History’, the collections have been put together with the help of Canberra’s National Museum of Australia, which itself compiled its own exhibition through significant levels of public and community engagement, online resources, focus groups and other events.

This collaboration saw the museum put together an initial range of 100 graphic and image panels defining moments in Australia’s history – of which 20 will feature on Golden Princess, Emerald Princess, Diamond Princess, Sun Princess and Sea Princess.

To celebrate the debut of the exhibition, curators from the National Museum staff have boarded Princess ships to conduct a special educational program, introducing items, conducting talks and engaging with guests eager to share their expertise and memories from the events presented.

Among the moments being presented on the Princess fleet include the discovery of evidence linking Indigenous Australians inhabiting the continent back as far as 50,000 years through to more recent milestones including the opening of the Sydney Opera House in 1973 and the formation and debut of Aussie children’s music group The Wiggles in 1991.

The exhibition will also feature a number of items unique to Princess ships including convict leg irons, Aboriginal stone tools and a memorial plaque known as a “Dead Man’s Penny”.

Princess Cruises guests are also being invited to get involved to help shape the future of the exhibition by taking part in events held onboard during their cruise and even to recommend defining moments of their own which can be studied and potentially added to the collection.

The exhibition will be on display periodically on som