Inside the Collection

Wooden toy farm house, windmill, wishing well, duck pond and outside toilet with lead farm animals and farmer.

Present and Past Family Life – Toilets

July 18, 2018

Margaret Simpson
Lav, privy, loo, thunderbox, WC, outhouse, toot, throne, restroom, powder room, washroom, john, kharsi, bog, comfort station, and even twinkle-palace, are just some of the euphemisms used for toilets.
Akira Isogawa with MAAS Curator Kristina Stankovski, preparing an asymmetrical spot-print top

Meet the Curator: Kristina Stankovski

July 11, 2018

Kristina Stankovski
Name: Kristina Stankovski Role: Assistant Curator What is your area of expertise? Fashion and Dress What's your background and how did you come to work at the Museum? I hold a Master of Arts in the History and Culture of Fashion from the London College of Fashion, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Sydney University.
Photograph of participants of homeward bound

A Curator in Antarctica

July 4, 2018

Nina Earl
Summer in Antarctica is smelly, noisy and cold. The temperature hovers around 0°C and on most of the rocky sites there is an overwhelming smell of digested krill or diesel. You may wonder why on earth someone would want to visit.

Recent acquisition: New Armor stool by Kwangho Lee

June 27, 2018

Megan Meredith
The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences recently acquired the ‘New Armor’ stool by South Korean contemporary designer Kwangho Lee, which reflects the ‘Return to Craft’ movement as featured in the Powerhouse Museum exhibition Common Good.
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.