Inside the Collection

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Meet the curator- Lindie Ward

August 7, 2009

Name Lindie Ward What is your specialty area? Textiles, lace, dress and shoes. How long have you been working at the Museum? Since 1990. What is your favourite object in the collection? Very hard to answer.

Elephants in the Colony

August 4, 2009

The new baby elephant at Taronga Zoo has had me 'oooing' and 'ahhhing' all week, it also reminded me of a letter we have in our collection written in 1805 by William Charles Wentworth (of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth fame).

Ties with tradition

July 31, 2009

Apron made in Mislesevo-Vevcani, Struga, Macedonia, 1985, lent by Radmilla Karamacoska It was love at first sight when I saw the aprons I was to be working on for an upcoming exhibition here at the Museum.

We’ve got a Bleriot too!

July 28, 2009

In view of the media interest in the re-enactment of the first flight across the English Channel in a Bleriot XI monoplane last week, I thought our blog readers would like to know that the Powerhouse has one too.

Bosdyk Dollhouse showing miniature rooms and figures within

The Bosdyk Dolls House- part one

July 24, 2009

Fallen in love with this dolls house yet? Just wait, you will! Let me introduce you to one of the latest objects to join the Powerhouse Museum collection, the Bosdyk Dolls House, a unique example of the art of the miniature.

Apollo at 40: celebrating the first Moon landing

July 20, 2009

Photo courtesy of NASA Forty years ago, on July 21, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 Moon mission, became the first person to set foot on another world. This historic spaceflight marked the culmination of the so-called “Space Race”, one of the major Cold War propaganda battles between the United States and the USSR, which began in 1957, when the Soviet Union shocked the world by launching the first satellite, Sputnik 1.

Meet the curator- Melanie Pitkin

July 17, 2009

Name Melanie Pitkin What is your speciality area? My academic background is in Ancient History and Egyptology so my main specialty area is actually Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period history.

‘Be the Change’ Inauguration Poster

July 17, 2009

In April, I made a visit to the Design Museum in London to see the 2009 Brit Insurance Design Awards. You see, the winning design was Shepard Fairey’s ‘Progress’ poster which became the driving force behind the 2008 Barack Obama Presidential Election campaign, and shortly before leaving Sydney, I had assisted my colleague Anne-Marie Van de Ven on the acquisition documentation for Fairey’s ‘Be the Change’ Inauguration poster for our collection.

Happy Birthday Wedgwood!

July 14, 2009

Did you know that Josiah Wedgwood was born on 12th of July 1730? It was his birthday on Sunday so we thought that this would be a good opportunity to illustrate our fabulous ‘Venus in her chariot’ vase, a highlight of our significant Wedgwood collection.

Full steam ahead – the 3265

July 10, 2009

Under the supervision of the Museum’s Engineering conservator, Ross Goodman, and a dedicated group of volunteers, Steam Locomotive 3265 has been extensively rebuilt and once again will be fully operational and carrying passengers.

Chanel at the Powerhouse

July 6, 2009

The recent release of the new Coco Avant Chanel film inspired me to revisit the Museum's very own collection of Chanel fashion to see just how much we hold which dates before the designer's death in 1971.

Microphone used at the opening of the Harbour Bridge in 1932

Speak Up- the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

July 1, 2009

What is this block of marble? a geiger counter? what does it have to do with the Sydney Harbour Bridge? Well, it is in fact a microphone! and the very same microphone used at the official opening ceremony of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on 19 March 1932.

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