Inside the Collection

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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

Eva Czernis-Ryl
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.
Photograph of a very small country school built of weatherboards with a verandah at the front and concrete area at the side for assemblies.

Remembering School Projectors and Filmstrips

November 14, 2018

Margaret Simpson
Hands up if you remember those old black and white strip films shown in Social Studies lessons at school? The 'blind monitor' would pull down the tall window blinds darkening the classroom, and a screen, usually in front of the blackboard, would be brought down.

The Shape of Time

November 7, 2018

Matthew Connell
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.
Plinth with 4 female mannequins and 2 male mannequins wearing a mixture of casual and formal clothing.

Slow fashion and upcycling – an interview with Rachael Cassar

October 31, 2018

Alysha Buss
Concerns about the harmful impact of the global fashion industry on the environment and worker exploitation, particularly in the case of low priced, low quality fast fashion, has prompted the exploration of alternative ways to source materials and produce garments.

Donating to the MAAS collection

October 24, 2018

Tilly Boleyn
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?”.
Photograph of Nina Earl in Light Ball Orchestra in Future Park exhibition

Meet the Curator: Nina Earl

October 17, 2018

Nina Earl
Name: Nina Earl Role: Assistant Curator What is your area of expertise? All things science but currently I am reading and learning about 3D printing. The exciting part is that I get to visit research laboratories and see what is happening in the speculative research of this area.
Examining a slide rule for collection documentation in the museum store

Clocks, rocks and phonographs: A Curatorial Intern experience

October 3, 2018

Sarah Reeves
I'm currently finishing up a 3-month internship in the Curatorial department of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS). I embarked on this three-month internship without any background in museum work or studies.
Kimberley Bezuidenhout at the entrance to the 'Interface: people, machines, design' exhibition

What’s this doing in a museum?

September 26, 2018

Kimberley Bezuidenhout
Week 11 as an intern at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. No sign of life in the objects. Starting to think that basing my expectations on ‘Night at the Museum’ was unrealistic. Although, I have only been here during the day, so I won’t write that off just yet.
Front view of men's vest

Behind the scenes: Museum object detective work

September 19, 2018

Vanessa Thorne
Some of the rewarding aspects of the exhibition development process involve content development such as writing the storyline and text for labels and theme panels, and researching and selecting objects.
Graphic of MAAS Ask a Curator Day schedule

Ask a Curator Day 2018

September 11, 2018

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.
Presenter Dr Graeme Phillips explains the finer points of time travel.

How to build a time machine

September 5, 2018

Sarah Reeves
Back in January, the Catalyst team from the ABC approached us about using some of the Museum's clocks in an upcoming episode of their show. They were producing an episode entitled ‘How To Build A Time Machine', which would delve into the nature of time, whether time travel could ever become a reality, and what rules you'd want to follow if you did indeed find yourself in possession of a working time machine.