Inside the Collection

Behind the Scenes

A young woman wearing a kilt is looking at the photographer and stands next to a steam wagon. The steam wagon, which is surrounded by clouds of steam, is standing on a concrete pavement outside a workshop. A steam wagon is a self-propelled steam-powered truck with a timber tip tray. The side of the steam wagon has the wording 'Municipality of Rockdale' for whom the wagon was built and the front has the manufacturer's name, 'Aveling & Porter'. A man with a long beard is standing on the other side of the wagon looking at the wagon's steam engine.

Career of a Powerhouse Museum Curator

January 13, 2021

Margaret Simpson
How do you condense a lifetime's dream job as a curator at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum into around 1,000 words? Well, my career at the Museum began on 1 February 1983 as a Research Assistant with the Department of Transport and Engineering when the Powerhouse was still a construction site.
White earthenware kangaroo on a black studio background. To the right of the kangaroo is a upright metal ruler (for scale), paper object tag, and colour reference chart. The kangaroo is about 20cm tall.

International Museum Day 2020: Digitising the Powerhouse Collection

May 18, 2020

Powerhouse
We are digitising more than 330,000 items in the Powerhouse Collection to provide extraordinary levels of community access and support ongoing research and interpretation. The Powerhouse is custodian to over half a million objects of national and international significance spanning cultures and millennia.
Schedule graphic for Ask a Curator Day. Black text on a blue background with an image of a model Lunar Lander on the right. The text reads: Ask a Curator Day at MAAS / Wednesday 18 September, 10am-5pm / 10-11 Amelia & Alex (Visitor Services, Education); 11-12 Roger & Kristina (Fashion); 12-1 Nina (Science and Technology); 1-2 Bronwyn & Paul (Conservation, Archives); 2-3 Sarah & Andrew (Sydney Observatory); 3-4 Vanessa & Min (Asian Arts and Design); 4-5 Anni & Campbell (Social History, Design) / Join the conversation on Twitter @maasmuseum #askacurator

Ask a Curator Day 2019

September 17, 2019

Sarah Reeves
The Museum staff have a huge job caring for our enormous collection of over 500,000 objects. Our team includes experts in a vast range of areas, including: fashion, health and medicine, architecture, engineering, sciences, design, decorative arts, technologies and contemporary culture.
Four women pose for a photo with The Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Opera House in the background.

Storytelling at its best: Journalism meets Museums

September 4, 2019

Helena Rainert
As a communication student majoring in Journalism and International Studies, I am not your typical museum intern. I applied for an internship at MAAS after a guest lecture by one of the Museum’s curators, who encouraged anyone with an interest in the communication of history or science to apply.
A mannequin wearing a space suit stands on a silver circular plinth. To the left is a title wall reading 'Apollo 11' with diagrams of spacecraft around it.

Curating the Apollo 11 exhibition

July 19, 2019

Sarah Reeves
Last month the Museum opened a new exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. As the curator, I’ve spent the past 12-18 months developing this exhibition, which explores the events of 1969, and celebrates what is possibly the greatest scientific achievement of all time.
A woman with glasses and curly hair sits at an office desk.

Meet the Registrar: Karen Biddle

July 10, 2019

Sarah Reeves
Name: Karen Biddle Role: Registrar / Collection Database Administrator What is the main focus of your role at MAAS? My main focus is the MAAS collection database (called 'EMu'), for which I manage user group permissions, report design, QA work, large data queries and exports, periodic statistics, and providing training/support to users for everyday usage queries.
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 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.
Two men and a woman stand around a table discussing fashion drawings and fabric samples. They are in the designer’s studio with garments hanging on racks in the background.

Serenely Akira: from storyboard to exhibition

December 20, 2018

Roger Leong
Dismantling Reigning Men took a full week of sweat, noise and dust. But from it the MAAS team has crafted a cocoon of serenity designed to celebrate the creativity and subtle complexity of Akira Isogawa, in a new exhibition which opened on 15 December 2018.