New acquisitions

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

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.

The guitar is a slab-board electric guitar, with a bolt-on neck. The headstock and neck is maple, and the fret-board is rosewood. The Fender decal is original 'spaghetti' style. It is a 22 fret neck with original clay dot inlays. The tremolo is synchronised and the machine heads are nickel Kluson. Three single-coil pickups with a three-way switch, two tone and one volume control. The pick-guard is triple layered mint. The colour of the body is Dakota Red. It has severe road-wear.

A Bombora Boon: The Powerhouse Museum Acquires The Atlantics’ Guitar and Drum

August 29, 2019

Imagine being a working-class kid from Sydney’s suburbs, and the second car you ever bought was a Ferrari. But instead of being a rev-head, you were an aspiring rock muso. And the Ferrari was not a precision made, top-of-the-line spots car, but a Fender Stratocaster, with exactly the same specs as Formula One musos were using.

An ornate artwork in silver and white hangs on a black wall. It is in the form of a large symmetrically designed earring formed from silvery coral-like branches set with tear-shaped white glass pendants that look like pearls.

Introducing the Barry Willoughby Bequest for glass and ceramics

November 21, 2018

Bequests have played a major part in the development of the Museum’s collection and have provided us with some of our most important and best-loved objects. Last year MAAS received a particularly generous bequest of objects and funds from Barry John Willoughby, a passionate Sydney collector of decorative arts.

Donating to the MAAS collection

October 24, 2018

Ever wondered how to donate to a museum? Curator Tilly Boleyn reveals what to consider before you get in touch. Spring is a busy time. Flowers are blooming, lambs are frolicking and people are clearing out their sheds thinking, “I wonder if I should donate this to a museum?”.

Shifting the balance

August 15, 2018

The Museum has so many wonderful toys in the collection. Looking through the collection online is a journey filled with memories, delightful surprises and the occasional stuff of nightmares. Toys send strong messages to kids about what they should be interested in and what they can aspire to.

A set of six reusable pads made from blue floral fabric.

The Modern Period: Menstrual products of the 21st century

August 1, 2018

I recently completed a project in the Curatorial department at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences under the supervision of curator Tilly Boleyn. Tilly specialises in the fields of science, health and medicine.

Recent acquisition: New Armor stool by Kwangho Lee

June 27, 2018

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.

Kate Rohde Animal bespoke digital wallpaper

New Acquisitions: Kate Rohde’s Deer Vase and bespoke wallpaper

November 7, 2017

The artworks of Melbourne-based artist and designer Kate Rohde are recognisable for their exuberant embrace of form and pattern. Baroque in style, highly ornate and vibrating with colour, the works claim a unique position in contemporary Australian design.

New Year picture, ‘Joyful celebration for the abundant harvest (Xiqingfengshou)'

Chinese New Year pictures & propaganda posters

January 25, 2017

In celebration of the Lunar New Year (28 January 2017), I have curated a small group of Chinese New Year pictures and propaganda posters. The brightly coloured posters portray elements of Chinese political visual culture.

Photograph of Game Masters exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum

This week, in Game Masters, Part II…

March 5, 2014

As promised, the newly acquired Magnavox Odyssey gaming console went on exhibit in the Game Masters exhibition mid-February. If you’re looking for it, it’s just before ‘Arcade Heroes’ in the alcove of Game Masters; just across from the double click showcase housing similarly exciting game consoles from the Powerhouse Museum Collection.

Photograph of 'Found Out - Floral Brooches'

Christmas, jewellery and the Museum’s collection

December 25, 2013

I am pretty excited to share these floral brooches with you by contemporary studio jeweller Roseanne Bartley. Not only are they recent acquisitions for the Museum’s permanent collection, but they will also be displayed in our exciting and upcoming jewellery exhibition, due to open September 2014.

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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