Inside the Collection

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A young woman holding a certificate and a grey-haired man pose in front of an exhibition space.

Shape 2018: Student Design

April 4, 2019

Campbell Bickerstaff
Shape 2018 is a showcase of exceptional year 12 student work from the syllabus areas focused on design and technology – Design and Technology / Textiles and Design / Industrial Technology. This year MAAS has 37 examples on show from around New South Wales.
Black and white photograph of a woman working at a drawing board.

Meet the Volunteer: Denise Larcombe

April 1, 2019

Sarah Reeves
Name: Denise Larcombe Which of the Museum’s sites do you volunteer at: Powerhouse Museum How long have you been volunteering at MAAS: Since 2007 What’s your background: After Studying Industrial Design at East Sydney Technical College I worked in lighting Design and then joined Crown Crystal Glass as an Industrial Designer in 1967.
Woman with display of 3 steps - choose style, pick fabric, custom fit

Algorithms and fashion on demand – an interview with Citizen Wolf

March 13, 2019

Alysha Buss
  The Good Design Awards 2018: Fashion Revolution Australia exhibition features four Australian labels illustrating some of the principles promoted by Fashion Revolution Australia, including considered (or conscious) sourcing of materials, upcycling and transparent supply chains.

MAAS Architecture Commission 2019: Agora by Penhale and Winter

February 26, 2019

Keinton Butler
Agora is the second in a series of three annual architecture installations commissioned by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Funded by a generous private donor, the annual commission is an opportunity for MAAS to support Australian architecture and design practitioners.

TeachMeets at MAAS

February 21, 2019

Karolina Novak
The Education and Digital Learning team at MAAS produce a wide variety of experiences exploring the Museum’s collection and disciplines for school audiences, including programs for teachers. Keeping in touch with teachers and teacher communities is important to us. Not only to build and maintain relationships, but to keep up to date with issues facing teachers, their ideas on teaching and learning, and to get regular reality checks on life at school.
An image of a red papercut. 'Golden Coin, Good Fortune and Longevity' (jīn qián fú shòu).

Happy Lunar New Year, The Year of the Pig

February 5, 2019

Vanessa Thorne
The Lunar New Year is the most significant annual celebration for Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures. Today (5 February 2019) marks the beginning of the Year of the Golden Pig. If you were born in 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007 or 2019 then it is your year!
Low angle close shot of a dark and light brown classic car on grass. Front left wheel is the closest object in the photo. The sun is at the centre of the top section of the photo.

MAAS Cars at Parramatta’s CARnivale 2019

February 1, 2019

Chloe Appleby
Over the recent long weekend, I was thrilled to assist with the Museum’s participation in the annual CARnivale festival. Held for the second year in Sydney’s Parramatta Park on 26 January, CARnivale displayed over 400 classic vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, fire engines and ambulances, all made before 1987!

The Ideal Home Exhibition: Australian experiences of home across the past 100 years

January 29, 2019

Nina Earl
Home should be a place of security, intimacy, love and family, a haven from the world. It is where we can express ourselves through the location, architecture, furnishings and decoration. But 'home' is also a site of financial burden, fracture, loss and danger - and increasingly for some, a home is simply unattainable.
Seven white busts and two statues of composers and writers. Made from Parian porcelain in the 1800s . Collected and donated to the Museum by Thomas Lennard in 1921.

Busted

January 25, 2019

Anni Turnbull
The Museum has a wonderful collection of busts in the areas of science, fashion and art. From the slightly disconcerting 19th century French paper-mache anatomical models used to explore and demonstrate the workings of the human body to the fabulously formed torso of Chesty Bonds advertising Bonds singlets.
The museum interns stand beside a large yellow ball on a high tower. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is in the background.

Collecting in health and medicine: A curatorial intern experience

January 16, 2019

Meg O'Donnell
As a third year university student studying an arts degree, the same inevitable and dreaded question often arises in daily conversations; “oh, so what kind of job are you hoping to get with that degree?” My answer has always been that I would like to work as a curator or conservator in museums and art galleries, as I enjoy uncovering the history of objects and understanding what they can tell us about the past.