People and practice

The Climate Protests of 2019 – Were you there?

June 5, 2019

In March 2019, one of the largest global environmental protests took place, with at least 1.6 million people coming together in over 125 countries to protest inaction on climate change. The Global Climate Strike was inspired by 16-year-old Swedish student Greta Thunberg, who started an international movement after sitting outside Swedish parliament in August 2018 with a hand-painted banner that read ‘Skolstrejk för klimatet’ (‘School strike for the climate’).

young indigenous man holding woven basket with older indigenous man sitting in the background, both men are out of focus

“Mara gunda-l” – to make with the hand

May 30, 2019

Guest post by Bernard Singleton, Curator Bernard Singleton is a curator and craftsman from the Cape York region of Australia. He has worked with UMI Arts, Cairns Art Gallery and the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.

A young woman holding a certificate and a grey-haired man pose in front of an exhibition space.

Shape 2018: Student Design

April 4, 2019

Shape 2018 is a showcase of exceptional year 12 student work from the syllabus areas focused on design and technology – Design and Technology / Textiles and Design / Industrial Technology. This year MAAS has 37 examples on show from around New South Wales.

Black and white photograph of a woman working at a drawing board.

Meet the Volunteer: Denise Larcombe

April 1, 2019

Name: Denise Larcombe Which of the Museum’s sites do you volunteer at: Powerhouse Museum How long have you been volunteering at MAAS: Since 2007 What’s your background: After Studying Industrial Design at East Sydney Technical College I worked in lighting Design and then joined Crown Crystal Glass as an Industrial Designer in 1967.

Woman with display of 3 steps - choose style, pick fabric, custom fit

Algorithms and fashion on demand – an interview with Citizen Wolf

March 13, 2019

The Good Design Awards 2018: Fashion Revolution Australia exhibition features four Australian labels illustrating some of the principles promoted by Fashion Revolution Australia, including considered (or conscious) sourcing of materials, upcycling and transparent supply chains.

MAAS Architecture Commission 2019: Agora by Penhale and Winter

February 26, 2019

Agora is the second in a series of three annual architecture installations commissioned by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Funded by a generous private donor, the annual commission is an opportunity for MAAS to support Australian architecture and design practitioners.

TeachMeets at MAAS

February 21, 2019

The Education and Digital Learning team at MAAS produce a wide variety of experiences exploring the Museum’s collection and disciplines for school audiences, including programs for teachers. Keeping in touch with teachers and teacher communities is important to us. Not only to build and maintain relationships, but to keep up to date with issues facing teachers, their ideas on teaching and learning, and to get regular reality checks on life at school.

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

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.

There are five rings that can be worn singularly or stacked together. They are displayed stacked together. Each ring has a different shape, one has a projected triangular form, another is made up of two different sized circles, a projecting crescent, another is a two fingered ring with a sunrise shape above and another is a single ring with one rod soldered horizontal.

Vale Wendy Ramshaw

December 18, 2018

Wendy Ramshaw (1939 - 2018) was a leading contemporary British studio jeweller renowned for her innovative approach to jewellery design and production. Ramshaw emerged on the international jewellery scene in the 1970s, exerting a significant influence through inspiring exhibitions, workshops and artist residencies in countries such as the USA and Australia (1978).

Food Work Sex Belief: How Art and Science Meet

November 28, 2018

From popular culture to mainstream media to discourse on the post-, trans- and non- human, the human impact of current technological change is palpable. The exhibition Human non Human responds to this sense of anxiousness and exhilaration.

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.

The Shape of Time

November 7, 2018

The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences has just launched a new publication, Time and Memory, the second in the MAAS collection series which is supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund. In his introductory essay ‘The Shape of Time’, Principal Curator Matthew Connell places the Museum’s collection within the context of humanity’s understanding and experience of time, and our relationship with memory.

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