Inside the Collection

Behind the Scenes

Photograph of Staff in front of Loco 1

Powerhouse Museum turns 30!

March 10, 2018

Powerhouse
On 10 March the Powerhouse Museum celebrates its 30th birthday. Over the past three decades the Museum has produced an enormous number of amazing exhibitions covering everything from science to art, Star Wars to high fashion.
View overlooking a gallery space at the Museums Discovery Centre in Castle Hill. Hanging from the ceiling are several small planes, including one which is upside down. On the level below are other objects from the Museum's transport collection, including a boat, tram carriage, steam train and fire engine.

Storing a collection of 500,000 objects

January 17, 2018

Sarah Reeves
The MAAS collection contains an estimated 500 000 objects. These objects are routinely moved around the Museum as they are taken on and off display, undergo conservation work, are photographed for publications, or even loaned to other museums and institutions across Australia and internationally.
Positioning railway models and toys on an example template

Behind the Scenes Interning

November 21, 2017

Chloe Appleby
Chloe Appleby is a university student who has spent the last 4 months interning in the Curatorial department at MAAS. Below she reports on her experience and what parts of her internship she enjoyed the most.
Tilly Boleyn in 'This is Before We Disappear from View'

National Science Week: A day in the life of a science curator

August 18, 2017

Tilly Boleyn
Happy National Science Week and Sydney Science Festival everyone! This week my science colleagues have taken over the blog to give you a bit more of an understanding about who we are and what we do.  When people find out that I’m a science curator their next question is usually “so, what do you actually do?”.
Object placement for the 'basement beautification project'

The Basement Beautification Project

August 9, 2017

Sarah Reeves
The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences began its life in 1879 as the Technological, Industrial and Sanitary Museum. It developed out of the Sydney International Exhibition of the same year, which was designed to promote commerce, industry, art, science and education in Australia.
Photograph of MAAS Collection site being used

Introducing the new MAAS Online Collection

March 27, 2017

Arul Baskaran
Over the last six months a project team at the Museum has been hard at work redesigning a key part of the Museum’s digital offer – the MAAS online collection website. We're pleased to announce the site is now live and available at https://collection.maas.museum/.
Photograph of 3D Interactive Touchscreens

3D scanning Icons from the MAAS Collection

October 21, 2016

Arul Baskaran
Visitors to the recently opened Icons exhibition will notice two large screens installed in one of the title walls, featuring rotating 3D models of objects from the exhibition. The screens invite visitors to “touch and explore” the 3D models.
Million Dollar Mermaid: Annette Kellerman, exhibition views

Looking for the mermaid: developing the Annette Kellerman visual installation

October 12, 2016

Anni Turnbull
I am still looking for my chest of gold in a cool dripping sea cave -- though a professional mermaid for the movies, I still wait to see my first real one sitting on a damp grey rock combing her long green hair.1 The exhibition Million Dollar Mermaid: Annette Kellerman features a visual installation projected onto a set, creating an immersive, sensory environment.
Collection items stored in compactus

Our curators are Ready for Ask a Curator Day 2016

September 14, 2016

Anni Turnbull
Our curators have a huge job caring for our enormous and diverse collection of over 500,000 objects! Their areas of expertise are as diverse and interesting as the scope of the Museum's collection.
Photograph of Le Guay and Nisbett shooting

The David Mist Digitisation Project

August 31, 2016

Anni Turnbull
I have been lucky to gain a place as a volunteer two years ago with MAAS. More recently, I have had the pleasure of joining the MAAS ‘David Mist Digitisation Project’ team, as part of my Master in Museum and Heritage Studies at the University of Sydney.
Portrait of Tilly Boleyn

Our Curators are Ready for Ask a Curator Day

September 15, 2015

Our curators have a huge job caring for our enormous and diverse collection of over 500,000 objects! Their areas of expertise are as diverse and interesting as the scope of the Museum's collection.