Inside the Collection

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Contents of dressmaking kit, including box, fabric, embroidered inserts, fashion illustration, contents list and washing instructions.

Paris fashions and ‘Lady Overlanders’

June 20, 2018

Alysha Buss
What were you to do if you were a woman living in a country town during the 1920s and dreamed of wearing the latest fashions from Paris? This dressmaking kit, which came to the donor from a house in Warwick, Queensland, speaks of the wide influence of Paris fashions and the audacious ‘lady overlanders’ who traversed the country showing samples and taking orders for the Swiss embroidery business, Sonderegger & Co.
Photograph of The 'Handie Talkie' portable radio

This Little Radio

June 19, 2018

Karolina Novak
A small showcase on Level 1 at the Museum shares the story of a very special little radio. Earlier this year, Red Room Company invited MAAS to contribute an object from the museum collection to the learning resource and workshop program of Poetry Object 2018.
Photograph of Seventeen Smurf figurines on display

Smurftastic!

June 12, 2018

Chloe Appleby
Instantly recognisable for their distinct appearance of blue skin, white clothing and a small stature, Smurfs are a cherished worldwide children's franchise that began in Belgium in the late-1950s.
Photograph of the Macaroni Ensemble Suit on display

Men getting dressed: installing a fashion exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum

May 23, 2018

Roger Leong
The four-week installation of the touring exhibition Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715-2015 was one of the most complex that I have ever been involved in. At the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS), we displayed over 130 ensembles and single garments, primarily from the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), which was an edited version of the original exhibition first shown at LACMA in 2016.
Diagram of the Hyperconnected Museums

International Museums Day: Hyperconnected museums

May 18, 2018

Vanessa Thorne
International Museums Day (18 May) has been celebrated each year since 1977 to promote the role of museums around the world. This year’s theme Hyperconnected museums raises awareness about museums as an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.
View from mezzanine of Room 3, Museums Discovery Centre

Sydney’s Best Kept Secret: The Museums Discovery Centre

May 9, 2018

Chloe Appleby
This post was written by Chloe Appleby, a Curatorial Volunteer working under the supervision of Curator Margaret Simpson throughout 2017 and 2018. Chloe also works as a Program Producer and Visitor Services Officer at MAAS's Powerhouse site in Ultimo and the Museums Discovery Centre in Castle Hill.
Photograph of walking stick, with unicorn head handle

Whimsical walking sticks

May 2, 2018

Alysha Buss
Mythical creatures, grotesque faces, writhing snakes, horse’s hooves, glinting shovels and pickaxes… all things not usually seen on walking sticks. However, the carvings of Robert Read display the potential creativity and whimsy of this part utilitarian, part fashionable item.
Colour printed photographic postcard depicting a river scene in Cairo, Egypt, in the early years of the 20th century.

An ANZAC Postcard: From Cairo, on the banks of the Nile, 1915

April 25, 2018

Kathy Hackett
This colour printed photographic postcard shows a river scene in Cairo in the early years of the 20th century. It is one of 33 postcards sent from Frederick E Boddington and his brother George K Boddington during their years of service in World War I.
Front view of Pace TR20 analogue computer. Two rows of knobs run across the top of the machine and wires are plugged into the removable patch panel below. At the machines base on a slanted panel is a set of dials and indicators.

Analogue vs. Digital

April 18, 2018

Nina Earl
Today our computers operate in binary (1s and 0s) but this has not always been the case. For many years analogue computers where more effective than their digital counterparts, and were widely used in scientific and industrial applications where digital computers of the time lacked sufficient performance.
Photograph of musician Grace Chan playing the portative organ, alongside The lady and the unicorn tapestries at the Art Gallery of NSW.

MAAS outgoing loans program: portative organ

April 4, 2018

Lucy Clark
A recent loan to the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) highlights our commitment to providing access to the collection in new and varied ways. The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) has an active outgoing loans program, through which the diverse collection is made accessible to audiences across Australia and the world.
Photograph of Matilda Trebilcock

Shape 2017: Student Design

March 28, 2018

Campbell Bickerstaff
Shape 2017 is a showcase of year 12 student work from the syllabus areas concerned with design and technology – Design and Technology / Textiles and Design / Industrial Technology. This year MAAS has 38 fine examples on show from around New South Wales.