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White earthenware kangaroo on a black studio background. To the right of the kangaroo is a upright metal ruler (for scale), paper object tag, and colour reference chart. The kangaroo is about 20cm tall.

International Museum Day 2020: Digitising the Powerhouse Collection

May 18, 2020

Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences
We are digitising more than 330,000 items in the Powerhouse Collection to provide extraordinary levels of community access and support ongoing research and interpretation. The Powerhouse is custodian to over half a million objects of national and international significance spanning cultures and millennia.
Exhibition view showing the Soviet era Cosmos‑782 Bion satellite in the foreground with selection of models from casts of horse jaws made, in the background is a detail of the Porkhani video by Javad Azimi and Hamid Hosseini. The walls in the space are painted a fluoro, hi-vis yellow and have led strip lighting.

Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian: I Prefer Talking to Doctors About Something Else

April 9, 2020

Katie Dyer
Dubai-based artists Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian work collectively to create expansive installations composed of artworks and artefacts. Taking the form of visual poetry by incorporating and disorganising objects from the Powerhouse Museum collection, this project, includes artefacts such as Skylab space debris, a donkey’s hoof, anatomical models, ceramics, and textiles.
Black and white photograph depicting a lightning strike at night. The top two-thirds of the image is filled by sky with multiple, branching bolts of lightning. In the foreground can faintly be seen various buildings and a body of water beyond.

Meteorology at Sydney Observatory

February 26, 2020

Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences
Meteorology, the study of the Earth’s atmosphere and weather conditions, plays a significant role in determining climate trends and patterns and their impact on the environment. It is a branch of science that has become even more relevant as we observe the devastating consequences of climate change all over the world.
Schedule graphic for Ask a Curator Day. Black text on a blue background with an image of a model Lunar Lander on the right. The text reads: Ask a Curator Day at MAAS / Wednesday 18 September, 10am-5pm / 10-11 Amelia & Alex (Visitor Services, Education); 11-12 Roger & Kristina (Fashion); 12-1 Nina (Science and Technology); 1-2 Bronwyn & Paul (Conservation, Archives); 2-3 Sarah & Andrew (Sydney Observatory); 3-4 Vanessa & Min (Asian Arts and Design); 4-5 Anni & Campbell (Social History, Design) / Join the conversation on Twitter @maasmuseum #askacurator

Ask a Curator Day 2019

September 17, 2019

Sarah Reeves
The Museum staff have a huge job caring for our enormous collection of over 500,000 objects. Our team includes experts in a vast range of areas, including: fashion, health and medicine, architecture, engineering, sciences, design, decorative arts, technologies and contemporary culture.
A large, square, hand embroidered quilt on a cream background. The outside edge has been bound with red stitching in a zig-zag pattern. The dominant central motif is a black elephant embroidered with trappings and flowers, surrounded by four padma (lotus), amidst a profusion of gaily coloured plants, birds and symbols of everyday life. The central panel is surrounded by dark red herringbone stitching. The outer border consists of red and pink flowers and green leaves which are varying interpretations of the lotus flower, being different on each of the four sides. On each of the long sides the lotus are interspersed with a sweeping 's' line. Inside that border again, on a pale blue background, there is a row of yellow boteh (in Bangladesh, kalka) motifs.

Stories on cloth: Surayia Rahman’s kantha embroidery

September 11, 2019

Vanessa Thorne
How many hands does it take to create a kantha tapestry like this? In this instance, it was the work of eight women embroidering every day for one year. Threading not only a story of traditional motifs, but also the international recognition of an ancient craft and women’s socio-economic emancipation in Bangladesh and West Bengal.
Four women pose for a photo with The Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Opera House in the background.

Storytelling at its best: Journalism meets Museums

September 4, 2019

Helena Rainert
As a communication student majoring in Journalism and International Studies, I am not your typical museum intern. I applied for an internship at MAAS after a guest lecture by one of the Museum’s curators, who encouraged anyone with an interest in the communication of history or science to apply.
The guitar is a slab-board electric guitar, with a bolt-on neck. The headstock and neck is maple, and the fret-board is rosewood. The Fender decal is original 'spaghetti' style. It is a 22 fret neck with original clay dot inlays. The tremolo is synchronised and the machine heads are nickel Kluson. Three single-coil pickups with a three-way switch, two tone and one volume control. The pick-guard is triple layered mint. The colour of the body is Dakota Red. It has severe road-wear.

A Bombora Boon: The Powerhouse Museum Acquires The Atlantics’ Guitar and Drum

August 29, 2019

Damian McDonald
Imagine being a working-class kid from Sydney’s suburbs, and the second car you ever bought was a Ferrari. But instead of being a rev-head, you were an aspiring rock muso. And the Ferrari was not a precision made, top-of-the-line spots car, but a Fender Stratocaster, with exactly the same specs as Formula One musos were using.
A museum display of an open steam engine made up of a large fly wheel attached by gears to a piston and steam cylinder.

James Watt’s Bicentenary: the man and his machines

August 21, 2019

Sarah Reeves
25 August marks the 200th anniversary of the death of inventor James Watt. To mark the occasion, we have invited a guest post by Debbie Rudder, an expert on Watt, to explore his life and scientific contributions.

Architectural models from the collection

August 14, 2019

Keinton Butler
The Powerhouse Museum collection contains material relating to architecture and the built environment, of local, national and international significance. The collection includes scale models, design archives, plans, drawings, photography and interior fittings, with projects ranging from iconic buildings by award winning, internationally recognised Australian architects Glenn Murcutt, Harry Seidler and John Andrews, to social housing and civic projects of public interest. Architectural models form an important part of the architecture and built environment collection, and the Museum has many fine examples of conceptual, working, and large-scale presentation models that illustrate this craft.
Writing set in red metal with black detail, comprising a blotter, pen tray and circular inkstand with a black-ball handle on the cover.

100 years of the Bauhaus

August 1, 2019

Eva Czernis-Ryl
The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences has just opened a display with striking objects, photographs and archival material from its extensive decorative art and design collections, to celebrate the centenary of the Bauhaus, the most influential 20th century school of design.