2013 – Page 5 – Inside the Collection

Museums and modernism in Marseille

August 12, 2013

I’ve been holidaying in Europe recently; mainly Italy and Greece, but we also managed a day in Marseille. France’s oldest and second-largest city is European City of Culture for 2013 so there is even more to see than usual.

Electrical Engineering Diploma, awarded to Miss Florence Violet Wallace

Australia’s first female electrical engineer: Florence McKenzie’s life of service

August 7, 2013

To mark this year’s Engineering Week, I decided to feature Florence Violet Wallace, aka Florence McKenzie or Mrs Mac, a 1923 graduate of Sydney Technical College who later donated her diploma to the Museum.

What a whiz: Innovative designs that changed work in the home – washing

August 1, 2013

The life of women changed significantly with domestic design innovations of the 1950s and 60s, with access to time- saving devices like washing machines. With the advent of washing machines, fridges, kitchen whiz's and hills hoist to name a few, the lives of housewives of the 60s was vastly different to their mothers.

Gatsby-style

July 31, 2013

A couple of month’s back I was contacted by a Daily Telegraph journo, doing a story about Sydney’s ‘Gatsby-style’ mansions. Baz Luhrmann’s take on The Great Gatsby had just hit the screens and the media was searching for evidence that 1920s Sydney had glamour to match that of New York.

Report from a Powerhouse Regional Internship program 2013

July 29, 2013

Hi – We are – Beth Anastasiou and David Hampton. We currently work at Newcastle Museum. Beth works as the Business Support Assistant coordinating venue hire and assisting with museum administrative duties and David works as Public Programs Assistant and Senior Visitor Services Officer.

Botanical Illustration of Eucalyptus incrassata

A Mallee for National Tree Day 2013

July 26, 2013

National Tree Day is a community tree planting event held at the end July. Schools Tree Day is today, 26th July 2013 and it seemed like a good excuse to feature another of Agard Hagman's paintings from 1888.

Photograph of ‘Still life with yellow bowls’ by Gwyn Hanssen Pigott

Gwyn Hanssen Pigott (1935-2013)

July 24, 2013

Gwyn Hanssen Pigott was one of Australia's most illustrious studio ceramicists whose fine skill and cerebral approach to her art will be greatly missed. After a 1960s to 70s repertoire of stone ware, from the 1980s Gwyn became famous for her fine and translucent porcelain forms - bottles, bowls and teapots - deceptively simple but actually requiring great technical skill and firing control.

The automaton, early robot or über-puppet?

July 22, 2013

As one of the three ISEA2013 exhibitions closes this week, I found myself reflecting on the artworks and wondering at the possible connections to our collection. One of the most unusual works to experience in Synapse | a selection was Kirsty Boyle’s video Ningyo.

Photograph of ‘Peninsula Tasmania’ armchair

An armchair from the wilderness

July 17, 2013

This armchair titled 'Peninsula Tasmania' was made by Gay Hawkes in Melbourne in 1985. It is made from shipwreck hardwood, collected at Forestier Peninsula in Tasmania and King William pine. Tourists drive across the Forestier Peninsula on the way to Port Arthur but it remains very undeveloped and there appear to be few roads to the wild east coast where the artist was probably camped.

Whispering in the basement- Mannequins in museums

July 15, 2013

This image above is from a series by Museum photographer, Geoff Friend capturing the secret world of mannequins. Sometimes when venturing into the basement or workshop areas, particularly late in the afternoon I feel I have interrupted murmurings between mannequins.

Technologies that changed our mind

July 10, 2013

If you could nominate just one technology that's changed your life, what would it be? There are plenty that we wouldn't want to live without, but some technologies have affected us so profoundly that they've changed the way we think.

Photograph of portable vibrating-reed tachometer

Feeling the vibe with a Frahm tachometer

July 8, 2013

This rugged hand-held precision instrument is unlike any tachometer I’ve ever seen. It’s more musical than mechanical, and it needs no power source other than the piece of machinery whose speed the user wants to check.

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