POWERLINE

+ the magazine of the powerhouse museum spring 05

design
across
time
+ 02 powerline spring 05

+ O2
03
From the director
Power picks
TRUSTEES
Dr Nicholas G Pappas,
President
06 2005 Museums Australia Conference Dr Anne Summers AO,
contents 07 The Electronic Swatchbook Deputy President

issue 79 08 New exhibition: Inspired! Design across time Mr Mark Bouris

Ms Trisha Dixon
10 Museum mascots
Mr Andrew Denton
SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER 2005 11 Members news Ms Susan Gray
Ms Margaret Seale
12 Members calendar
Mr Anthony Sukari
14 Members scene Ms Judith Wheeldon
15 New acquisition: Marcello Nizzoli telephone
SENIOR MANAGEMENT
16 Quarterly design talk: Wanda Jelmini
Dr Kevin Fewster AM, Director
17 Recycling fashion Jennifer Sanders, Deputy Director,
Collections and Exhibitions
18 New exhibition: The cutting edge: fashion from Japan
Mark Goggin, Associate Director,
20 Locomotive No 1 upgrade Programs and Commercial Services
22 Observatory news Michael Landsbergen, Associate
Director, Corporate Services
23 Corporate partners
Kevin Sumption, Associate Director,
24 Exhibitions at a glance Knowledge and Information
Management

+
In the days before this edition
of Powerline was finalised the
NSW Premier and Minister for
from the the Arts, the Hon Bob Carr,
director announced his retirement from
politics. Mr Carr was an
enthusiastic supporter of the
Powerhouse, in part because it
reflects his passion for history,
the contribution museums
make to education and cultural
enrichment, and the
opportunity they provide to
nurture a sense of community
and respect for cultural
diversity. We thank Mr Carr for
his support of the Museum
and look forward to welcoming
him back regularly as a visitor.
We look forward to working
with the newly appointed
Minister, the Hon Bob Debus.
Minister Debus was for some
time Minister Assisting the
Premier on the Arts, and
shares the former Premier’s
enthusiasm for museums and
the cultural sector.
www.powerhousemuseum.com
The end of the financial year
provided an opportunity to
reflect on some of the
significant achievements of the
past 12 months. Regular
readers of Powerline will be
aware that the Powerhouse
celebrated its 125th
anniversary, marked by an
extremely successful free
weekend of activities and
events last September and the
publication of Yesterday’s
tomorrows, a fascinating
history of our development
over the past century and a
quarter. A further highlight was
our hosting of the Museums
Australia Conference in May.
Perhaps the most outstanding
milestone was achieving our
highest visitor attendances for
more than a decade. Over
700 000 people visited the
Powerhouse and Sydney
Observatory during the year.
Equally pleasing were the
record numbers (680 000) who
attended our travelling
exhibitions across NSW,
Australia and beyond.
Exhibition highlights at the
Powerhouse included the
beautiful Bright flowers: textiles
and ceramics of Central Asia,
the hugely successful The
Lord of the Rings Motion
Picture Trilogy — The
Exhibition, and Greek
treasures: from the Benaki
Museum in Athens, one of our
most popular exhibitions in
recent years.
You will be interested to hear
that membership numbers
have also risen to record levels
as a consequence of the
strong 2004–05 program. We
thank each and every member
for your support and
commitment to the Museum.
We look forward to seeing you
and your families enjoying the
feast of program offerings over
the next 12 months and, in
between times, taking a few
moments to relax in the
Members Lounge. Enjoy!
Dr Kevin Fewster AM
Director

FRONT COVER FROM THE EXHIBITION
INSPIRED! DESIGN ACROSS TIME,
SUPER ELEVATED GILLIES, DESIGNED
BY VIVIENNE WESTWOOD, LONDON,
1993–4. PURCHASED 1997; LADY’S
ARMCHAIR, MAKER UNKNOWN,
ENGLAND, ABOUT 1850. PURCHASED
1983; VASE IN BLUE JASPER,
DECORATION DESIGNED BY HENRY
WEBBER AFTER CHARLES LE BRUN
FOR JOSIAH WEDGWOOD & SONS,
ENGLAND, 1786–90. GIFT OF
POWERHOUSE MEMBERS 1990.
PHOTOS BY SUE STAFFORD AND
PENELOPE CLAY.
BACK COVER PHOTO BY SUE
STAFFORD.
Where to find us Powerline is produced by the Print Media Department
of the Powerhouse Museum
Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Darling Harbour, Sydney
Opening hours 10.00 am – 5.00 pm every day (except Christmas PO Box K346, Haymarket NSW 1238
Day). School holiday opening hours 9.30 am – 5.00 pm Editor: Tracy Goulding
Editorial coordinator: Deborah Renaud
Contact details
Design: Trigger
Postal address: PO Box K346, Haymarket NSW 1238 Photography: Powerhouse Museum unless otherwise stated.
Telephone (02) 9217 0111 Every effort has been made to locate owners of copyright for the images in
Infoline (02) 9217 0444, Education (02) 9217 0222
this publication. Any inquiries should be directed to the Rights and
Permissions Officer, Powerhouse Museum.
The Powerhouse Museum, part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences
also incorporating Sydney Observatory, is a NSW government cultural institution. ISSN 1030-5750 © Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

+ 03 powerline spring 05
FROM FARM MACHINERY TO GREEK TREASURES,
THE MUSEUM EXTENDS ITS COMMUNITY LINKS.
all in a
day’s work
Powerhouse Museum regional
services adviser Graham
Clegg recently spent a day in
Wollombi helping the local
Endeavour Museum recover a
stripper and winnower that had
served much of the area from
1890–1940.
Until the mid 1840s the
Australian grain crop was
laboriously harvested with
sickles and threshed manually.
In the hot, dry conditions much
grain was lost due to shedding
or shattering the ripened
heads. In South Australia where
these losses were most severe,
a £40 prize was offered for a
practical design for a
mechanical harvester that
could overcome the problem.
Local farmer John Wrathall Bull
came up with a design that
attracted the attention of flour
miller John Ridley. Ridley
developed the invention into a
workable machine — the
stripper — which quickly
became an essential piece of
equipment for bringing in the
grain harvest.
Wollombi’s stripper and its
accompanying winnower, used
The Museum’s Moveable Heritage
Program helps build regional collections.
to clean the harvested grain,
were bought by the Milson
family of ‘Byora’, Laguna, in the
1890s. The machines were still
housed in their original shed
on the property, where the
subsiding earth floor had
caused damage to one of the
wooden wheels. The work to
date has involved stabilising
the objects in the shed and
helping to get them ready to
move to a purpose-built
extension to the Endeavour
Museum, where they will be
housed.
This work is part of the
Powerhouse Museum’s
Movable Heritage Program, an
initiative funded with the
assistance of the Ministry for
the Arts, which aims to
strengthen regional collections
and develop community
capacity and local identity.
Other projects currently
underway include work on an
exhibition with the Wollondilly
Heritage Centre on the
Estonian Poultry Farmers of
Thirlmere, and the
conservation of an early
wooden windmill with the Hay
Gaol Museum.
+
powerpicks
GRAHAM CLEGG HELPS STABILISE
ONE OF THE WHEELS OF
WOLLOMBI’S STRIPPER. PHOTO BY
MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI.
HIS GRACE BISHOP SERAPHIM
(RIGHT) AND DIMITRI KEPREOTES
OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX
CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA AT THE
OPENING OF THE GREEK
TREASURES EXHIBITION. PHOTO
BY MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI.
j
A highlight for Museum visitors Museum, Dr Angelos
over the winter months has Delivorrias, compared Greek
a rich been the Greek treasures:
from the Benaki Museum in
treasures to the Our place:
Indigenous Australia now
history Athens exhibition. The exhibition, staged in Athens
exhibition, which features during the 2004 Olympics. ‘In
artworks and artefacts from both cases,’ he said, ‘the
8000 years of Greek history, resilience of two different
opened in early May with cultural traditions is projected
special guests including then ... consoling examples of the
NSW Premier and Arts Minister, struggle to secure survival
the Hon Mr Bob Carr, Greece’s being waged constantly
Deputy Minister for Culture, Dr around the globe.’
Petros Tatoulis, Dr Stavros
The exhibition, which has
Vlizos from the Benaki
attracted record crowds,
Museum, and many members
closes in Sydney on 4
of the local Greek community.
September, before opening at
Dr Vlizos, who spoke on behalf Melbourne’s Immigration
of the director of the Benaki Museum in October.
+ 04 powerline spring 05
all aboard!
The Powerhouse Museum was
once again a popular
presence at the Hunter Valley
Steamfest, which this year
celebrated its 20th anniversary
as one of Australia’s leading
steam heritage events. The
festival held in Maitland on
15–17 April attracted a record
breaking crowd of train buffs,
families, friends, locals and
tourists — everybody there for
a weekend packed with the
excitement and awe that only
steam engines can inspire.
A highlight of the weekend was
a race between the Museum’s
Locomotive 3830 and a tiger
moth. Of course the loco won!
LOCOMOTIVE 3830 IN ACTION AT THE 2005 HUNTER VALLEY STEAMFEST. PHOTO
COURTESY HUNTER RIVER COUNTRY TOURISM AND JONNI LANE DIGITAL IMAGES

LEFT TO RIGHT: DR KEVIN FEWSTER, JOSHUA, NATHAN AND BEN O’REGAN.
restoration
raffle
The 38 class locomotives
dominated NSW railways from
the 1940s to the 1960s, and
Loco 3830 was the last of
these to be produced in NSW.
It took five years, from 1992 to
1997, to restore the engine to
its former glory. It is now
housed at the Eveleigh Railway
Workshop and operated on
special occasions by the
˜
JOIN US ON THE LAST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH FOR A DRINK, A DESIGN TALK
volunteer steam railway AND SOME COOL MUSIC AT D FACTORY. PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD.
company 3801 Ltd.
Another drawcard at Steamfest
was the Museum’s display of
engineering models selected
to commemorate the 150th d factory In August d factory celebrated
its first anniversary as the
presenting their take on
covers as diverse as Othello
anniversary of NSW railways in
September this year.
draws a destination of choice for young
designers and students. Over
and Dial m for murder. DJ
Peter Dolso played his sexy
cool crowd the past 12 months d factory, fusion of house, funk disco
hosted by TV presenter Nell and jazz while the bar kept
Schofield, has poked and those Bombay Sapphire
prodded at a number of issues cocktails flowing.
in the design world, with
Getting a chance to hear
guests talking about
designers talk about what
everything from sustainability
makes for a good look and a
to shopping.
good product is always going
A recent highlight, organised to to draw a crowd. If you
coincide with the Sydney combine that with some killer
Writers’ Festival, drew a crowd DJ sounds, you’re really in for
of over 350 people to hear a great night.
award-winning graphic
For details about what’s
designer Vince Frost, Canadian
coming up next at d factory,
author Colin McAdam and
visit powerhousemuseum.com/
publisher, Jane Palfreyman,
dfactory/
share their thoughts on what
makes a winning cover.
Students of Enmore Design
Centre got into the spirit by
PHOTO BY SOTHA BOURN.
Not many visitors to the Hunter
Valley Steamfest celebrations
the Eveleigh Railway Workshop
while it is being restored.
could resist buying a ticket in
The raffle prize, a magnificent
the fund raising raffle for the
fine-scale model of
Museum’s Locomotive 3265
Locomotive 3801, generously
rebuilding project. Built in
donated by Precision Scale
England in 1901, Locomotive
Models of Melbourne, was won
3265 is the only surviving
by Ben O’Regan of Scone. Ben
member of its class. While in
and his sons Joshua and
service in the 1930s it was
Nathan came into the Museum
famous for hauling the Sydney
to meet the director Dr Kevin
to Newcastle Businessman’s
Fewster who presented the
Express, decked out in
prize. The raffle raised $2430
splendid black and maroon
for the 3265 Fund which will go
livery. The locomotive was
towards materials to rebuild
acquired by the Powerhouse in
the coal tender.
1967 and is currently housed at
+ 05 powerline spring 05
& NARDI SIMPSON OF THE STIFF GINS . PHOTO BY SOTHA BOURN.
on the
road again
m collection of costumes
watts‘n’drops
Last year the Museum
collaborated with Sydney
Water to host a weekend
display of water-saving
devices and sustainable
gardening techniques. The
display proved to be so
popular that we’re doing it
again, only this year it’s bigger
and better. Now running for a
week and featuring energy
saving tips as well, highlights
will include new water and
energy friendly inventions,
interactive showcases and
workshops for all ages. And to
top it off, there’s a free
THIS SUSTAINABLE GARDEN WAS A
HIGHLIGHT OF THE H20 SHOW LAST
YEAR. PHOTO BY SANDRA MCEWEN.
This year marks the 40th
anniversary of the 1965
Freedom Ride when a bus
load of university students
gained international media
attention as they travelled
through outback NSW
exposing racial discrimination.
In February this year members
of ReconciliACTION, the youth
arm of Reconciliation NSW,
retraced those steps. As part
of the Museum’s program for
Reconciliation Week in late
May, these two generations of
Freedom Riders came
weekend on 10–11 September
to come and see it all.
This is a great opportunity to
find out how to make our
precious water and energy
last the distance. Watts ‘n’
drops will be at the
Powerhouse from 10–18
September.
PRESENTED BY THE NSW DEPARTMENT
OF ENERGY, UTILITIES AND
SUSTAINABILITY, SYDNEY WATER AND THE
POWERHOUSE MUSEUM.
together at the Powerhouse to
discuss what had and hadn’t
changed. Back on the bus:
regeneration and reconciliation
featured author Ann Curthoys,
Indigenous academic Darryl
French, video vox pops, young
activists, a large bus in the
courtyard and the music of the
Indigenous duo The Stiff Gins.
The bus remained in the
courtyard for several days,
before heading off for the
National Youth Forum on
Reconciliation in Canberra.
Something to look
forward to this summer:
Kylie: an exhibition
features a fabulous
spanning the 17 year
career of this Australian
cultural icon.
KYLIE: AN EXHIBITION, OPENING
AT THE POWERHOUSE ON 26
DECEMBER, IS A TRAVELLING
EXHIBITION FROM THE ARTS
CENTRE, MELBOURNE.
PHOTO ©DARENOTE LTD 2004.
+ 06 powerline spring 05
THE POWERHOUSE WAS A KEY
PLAYER IN THE 2005 MUSEUMS
AUSTRALIA NATIONAL CONFERENCE.
taking stock
Over 500 delegates,
navigation between two
venues, keynotes, workshops,
parallel sessions, lunches, tea
breaks, a trade show, posters
and social events — it was an
intense four days with
challenging logistics but the
2005 Museums Australia
National Conference was
celebrated as an unqualified
success.
Overall this year’s conference
was about ‘taking stock’ of the
place of museums as they
seek to redefine their role at
the beginning of a new
century. To achieve this, the
conference was organised
into three main themes: the
challenges facing museums
as they seek to assert their
continuing relevance in the
21st century; the contested
ownership of collections; and
exploring ways in which
museums can be proactive in
a time of transition.
Running parallel to these
sessions was the popular
remote and regional stream of
keynote speakers and
workshops. The aim of this
year’s program was to assist
small and medium-size
collecting institutions in
regional Australia by providing
delegates with an opportunity
to network and share
knowledge with other
professionals in the sector.
A substantial bursary program,
funded primarily by the
National Museum of Australia
and the Department of
Communication, Information
Technology and the Arts, was
offered to 52 people working
in regional museums — 60%
of whom were volunteers.
Bursary recipients came from
every state, and as far afield
as the Northern Territory and
Norfolk Island. Thirteen radio
interviews, co-ordinated by the
conference’s media
consultant, Martin Portus,
highlighted the importance,
the challenges and the
fragility of many of the
country’s regional museums.
At a welcome reception on the
Sunday evening, then NSW
Premier and Minister for the
Arts, the Hon Bob Carr,
launched the conference and
the Museum’s history
Yesterday’s tomorrows. The
following morning, Roger
Wilkins, Director General of
the NSW Ministry for the Arts
and head of the Cabinet
Office, and Senator, the Hon
Rod Kemp, Federal Minister
for the Arts and Sport,
officiated at the opening
plenary, following the welcome
to country by Powerhouse
curators James Wilson-Miller
and Fabri Blacklock.
The Powerhouse Museum was
a true colleague in the
planning of the conference,
hosting the opening welcome
event, all the parallel sessions,
many of the special interest
group meetings, the full
council meeting of Museums
Australia, the remote and
regional plenary, the trade
show, the Museums Australia
Publication Design Awards
(MAPDA) display of shortlisted
entries and a delegate’s
preview of the Greek
treasures exhibition. It was
also through the Powerhouse
that Museums Australia
received an introduction to the
ABC, which provided the
excellent Eugene Goossens
Hall for the plenary sessions.
The whole of the museums
sector and all divisions of
Museums Australia also got
behind the conference. The
Australian Museum hosted the
special event Proud traditions,
positive futures: Indigenous
people challenge museums,
the National Maritime Museum
was a generous sponsor for
the MAPDA Gala, the Historic
Houses Trust provided a focus
for the museum critique, the
University of Sydney Museums
hosted the conference dinner
at the Nicholson Museum and
MacLaurin Hall, and
Macquarie University, the
Museum of Contemporary Art
and the National Trust
provided venues for
conference meetings and
sessions. Regional, local and
specialist museums, three of
the association’s state
branches and eight special
interest groups, and Museums
and Galleries NSW also
contributed.
The Government of Canada
supported the participation of
keynote speaker Andrea
Laforet, the Goethe Institut
Sydney enabled Hans-Martin
Hinz to come to Australia and
the United States Information
Service assisted with travel for
John Simmons. Luna Media,
the publishers of Cosmos, and
the Australian Innovation
Festival were also sponsors of
the MAPDA Gala event.
The organisation of the
conference was undertaken
by a team of volunteers from
the NSW branch of Museums
Australia. They were led by the
NSW MA branch president,
Rebekah Schulz, and vice
president, Rebecca Pinchin,
with tireless support from
Susan Sedgwick, Danielle
Head, Serena Manwaring,
Cate Purcell, Paul Bentley,
Helen Pithie, Elissa Blair,
Maree Darrell and Julie Potts.
What was the impact on
delegates? This comment
summed up the general
feeling: ‘A very rich, diverse
and animated series of
speakers. The program left me
breathless. Where should we
go? What to choose? What to
hear? Congratulations to all
those involved. I will return
refreshed, enthused and
SCENES FROM THE CONFERENCE
encouraged!’ WELCOME RECEPTION (FROM TOP
LEFT): FORMER POWERHOUSE
Carol Scott, Immediate Past DIRECTOR DR LINDSAY SHARP WITH
DR KEVIN FEWSTER; THEN NSW
President, Museums Australia PREMIER & MINISTER FOR THE ARTS,
THE HON BOB CARR; CONFERENCE
DELEGATES GATHERED OUTSIDE
THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM.
PHOTOS BY JEAN FRANCOIS
LANZARONE.
+ 07 powerline spring 05
THE MUSEUM’S COLLECTION
OF FASHION SWATCHBOOKS
GOES ONLINE.
textile
treasure
trove
Every year Powerhouse
fashion and textile curators
usher countless design
students and researchers into
the Museum’s basement to
look at our fashion
swatchbooks. These books,
full of hundreds of small fabric
samples compiled by
manufacturers and merchants
to record and promote the
latest fabric designs, provide
an amazing resource for
artists and designers
researching fashion history or
seeking inspiration. Now two
volumes of the Museum’s
swatches from 1893–94 and
1923 have gone online so that
many more people can
access this rich collection.
A SMALL SELECTION OF SWATCHES FROM THE ELECTRONIC SWATCHBOOK..
PHOTOS BY SOTHA BOURN AND MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI.
This is one of the first
websites of its kind in the
world, with over 600
swatches that can be viewed
and downloaded as high
resolution images. As all
samples are now out of
copyright in Australia, they
can be reused in new fabric
designs or homewares —
whatever takes your fancy.
And this is just the beginning.
The website will be regularly
updated with swatches from
over 150 years of fabric
design from the Museum’s
collection.
You can find this amazing
collection at
powerhousemuseum.com/
electronicswatchbook/
The swatches are in the public domain in
Australia but use in other countries may
require copyright permission.
+ 08 powerline spring 05
HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR NEW
DECORATIVE ARTS AND DESIGN
EXHIBITION ‘INSPIRED! DESIGN
ACROSS TIME’.
the power
and pleasure
of objects
Hope Egyptian
revival suite
In the dynamic years leading
up to the opening of the
Powerhouse in 1988 the
Museum was able to make a
number of highly significant
acquisitions. Among them was
a suite of Egyptian revival
furniture — a settee and two
armchairs — designed in about
1800 by Thomas Hope, a
wealthy English Regency
collector and adventurer. Hope,
whose beautiful line drawings
for the rooms of his grand
‘MEMBRANE’ METAL CHAISE-LONGUE DESIGNED AND MADE BY KORBAN / FLAUBERT,
SYDNEY, 1998 / 2003. PURCHASED 2003. PHOTO BY MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI.
London residence were
published in his book
Household furniture and interior
decoration in 1807, was one of
the most influential designers
of the Regency period.
The two armchairs turned up
at a local Sydney auction in
1984, their significance
unrecognised by both the
vendor and the auctioneer. At
some stage their history had
been lost. The settee,
acquired two years later from
a Melbourne dealer, had a
similarly mysterious past.
Eventually the riddle of the
Korban/Flaubert ambiguous interplay between
functional object and
chaise-longue structural form.
Metal specialist Janos Korban The steel mesh ‘Membrane’
and architect Stefanie chaise-longue, which was
Flaubert formed their design shown at the Milan Furniture
and production partnership in Fair in 2003, was designed in
Stuttgart in 1993, specialising 1998. The concept has
in furniture, lighting and undergone a number of
architectural installations. In modifications since then — a
1995 the Adelaide-born and process of refinement that
educated pair relocated to underlines Korban/Flaubert’s
Sydney, where they have experimental approach to
since built on their reputation design. With a practice that
for highly innovative design manages to successfully
work ranging from multiple- balance commercial
production plastic seating, to production with more creative,
limited edition lighting and limited edition pieces, the
furniture, to site-specific partnership is fast developing
commissioned sculptures for a reputation both locally and
corporate clients. Their work internationally.
constantly explores new
Anne Watson, Curator,
formal aesthetics and
furniture’s relocation to
methodologies and the
Decorative Arts and Design
Australia was solved: it had
been bought in London in
about 1920 by Sir Alfred
Ashbolt, agent-general for
Tasmania, who had then taken
it back to his impressive home
‘Lena’ in Hobart in 1924. The
SETTEE, REGENCY EGYPTIAN REVIVAL STYLE, MADE IN EBONISED AND GILT BEECH
three pieces were sold at a AND OAK. DESIGNED BY THOMAS HOPE, ENGLAND ABOUT 1800. PURCHASED WITH
THE ASSISTANCE OF THE PATRONS OF THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM, 1987.
Melbourne auction by Sir
Alfred’s family in the 1940s and
it seems that knowledge of
their significance and origin
was lost from this date — until
their ‘rediscovery’ by the
Museum in the mid 1980s.
Anne Watson, Curator,
Decorative Arts and Design
+ 09 powerline spring 05
William Kerr
epergne
About 24 large silver
presentation centrepieces
were made in Australia in the
19th century, only about half of
which have survived. This
piece, an epergne or table
centrepiece, was made in the
workshop of leading Sydney
silversmith William Kerr in the
late 1800s. Born in Northern
Ireland, Kerr came to the
colony of NSW with his family
as a child in 1841.
Standing 72 centimetres high,
this tour de force of Australian
silversmithing was made to
celebrate the success of the
first Australian cricket team to
tour Britain. It depicts a cricket
EPERGNE OF SILVER, EMU EGGS, GLASS AND WOOD, MADE BY WILLIAM KERR,
SYDNEY, 1879. 72 X 40 CM. GIFT OF W T KERR, 1938. PHOTO BY PENELOPE CLAY.
Hanssen Pigott
‘still life’
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott (b 1935)
is one of Australia’s most well
known and respected ceramic
artists, with an established
reputation both in Australia
and overseas. Inspired first by
the work of Australian potter
Ivan McMeekin in the 1950s,
she went on to work with
Bernard Leach and Michael
Cardew in England in the ’60s,
and was also influenced by
modernists such as Lucie Rie
(all of whom are represented
in the Inspired! exhibition).
Later, attracted by the
freshness and vigour of
traditional woodfired French
stonewares, she set up a
‘STILL LIFE WITH YELLOW BOWLS’, WHEELTHROWN AND SLIPCAST IN LIMOGES
PORCELAIN AND SOUTHERN ICE PORCELAIN, MADE BY GWYN HANSSEN PIGOTT,
2002. PURCHASED 2002. PHOTO BY MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI.
match taking place under a
large Australian native tree
fern, with flannel flowers,
bottle brush, goannas and
snakes on the ground. The
use of native decorative motifs
in Australian 19th century
sporting trophies is rare as
sport was firmly rooted in
British culture, and designs
mostly emulated English
models. Although designed as
a trophy, it was never actually
presented. Instead it is
thought to have stood as a
display piece in the window of
Kerr's George Street shop in
Sydney. It was donated to the
Museum by the Kerr family
when the shop closed in 1938.
Eva Czernis-Ryl, Curator,
Decorative Arts and Design
pottery in rural France, before
returning to Australia in 1973.
In the early 1970s she saw the
work of the ‘still life’ painter
Giorgio Morandi, and wrote: ‘I
love his searching, obsessive,
describing of the common
objects that were his subject
and measure.'
This group is characteristic of
the work Hanssen Piggot has
been making for many years.
Arranging finely made
domestic forms into groups
she calls ‘still lives’ or,
sometimes, 'families', she
wants them to be considered
in a way that ‘might raise a
question, lengthen a glance’.
Grace Cochrane, Senior
Curator, Australian Decorative
Arts and Design
GLASS AND GILT VASE MADE BY LEGRAS & CIE, FRANCE, ABOUT 1905, 65 X 18 CM.
PURCHASED WITH FUNDS PROVIDED BY THE AUSTRALIAN DECORATIVE AND FINE
ARTS SOCIETY, KURING-GAI, 2004. PHOTO BY JEAN-FRANCOIS LANZARONE.
Legras & Cie vase
This spectacular blown-glass
vase was made in about 1905
by the Paris glassworks
Legras & Cie, which
specialised in acid-etched
and enamelled cameo glass.
During the first decade of the
1900s Legras & Cie became a
major exponent of the École
de Nancy led by Emile Gallé,
France’s leading maker of
decorative glass in the
fashionable Art Nouveau style.
The firm produced a wide
variety of commercial art-
glass, both cameo and
painted in enamels, but also
made some large high-quality
pieces for international
exhibitions. Only a few of
these more elaborate
examples have survived. The
large size, unusual design,
complex technique (two layers
of transparent green glass
with aventurine spangles
trapped between) and lavish
decoration of this vase
indicate that it may have been
an exhibition piece.
While many of Legras designs
of this period used naturalistic
motifs, some, like this vase,
display more stylised
decoration and sumptuous
Rococo rocailles (scrolls). The
decoration on this piece is
based on mistletoe, a motif
perfectly suited to the
curvilinear Art Nouveau style,
but the overall design reveals
the influence of the 18th
century Rococo style.
Eva Czernis-Ryl, Curator,
Decorative Arts and Design
Vionnet gown
Madeleine Vionnet (1876–1975)
was best known for her use of
the bias cut, so beautifully
illustrated in this early 1930s
evening dress. By cutting her
fabric at 45° to the grain,
Vionnet created a seductive
and daring look that
contrasted beautifully with the
corseted and stiffened
silhouettes popular for much
of the 19th century. Vionnet’s
designs were dramatic and
ingeniously cut, using fabric
with the greatest respect for
its particular qualities.
The bodice of this cream silk
hopsack weave gown is in
three sections, gathered and
held by shoulder straps
inserted into channels which
cross at the back. The straps,
jewelled with aquamarine and
clear faceted glass stones set
into metal mounts, are a
typical Vionnet innovation,
combining jewellery and fabric
in one design.
Vionnet’s expertise evolved
from many years of
apprenticeship, observation
and practice both in making
and selling. At 12 years of age
she started her first job and
later worked for Paris
couturiers Callot Soeurs and
Doucet before she set up her
own business in 1912.
Lindie Ward, Assistant
Curator, International
Decorative Arts and Design
Inspired! Design across time
opens on 6 October.
SILK EVENING DRESS MADE BY
MADELEINE VIONNET, PARIS, FRANCE
ABOUT 1930. PURCHASED 1996.
PHOTO BY JEAN FRANCOIS
LANZARONE.
+ 10
010 powerline winter 05

NEW RELEASES FROM POWERHOUSE PUBLISHING

Remember! Members receive 10% discount on all titles from the Powerhouse Shop and mailorder
OUR NEW MASCOTS MAKE THE
MUSEUM MORE CHILD FRIENDLY.

The cutting edge: fashion from Japan

LOUISE MITCHELL (ED)
two new
faces in town
The cutting edge looks at the work of
19 Japanese designers including
pioneers Hanae Mori and Kenzo
Takada; textile innovators Junichi Arai
and Reiko Sudo; the ‘big 3’, Rei
Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons, Issey
Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto; and the
exciting work of a new generation of
designers who continue to challenge
Every year the Museum Their creator is the young
Western notions of fashion. welcomes over 110 000 visitors artist Melanie Bedford who
Available from 27 September.
in the 5 to 10 years age group. studied illustrating at the
112 pages, with over 120 images. This group of young visitors Northern Melbourne Institute
RRP $39.95. Special price from the represents approximately 25% of TAFE. She works freelance
Powerhouse Shop and mailorder $34.95 /
members $32.00 of our total visiting population, from her beachside home on
either coming with their family the Great Ocean Road. Even
or friends or as a class group. from afar the mascots spoke
But it’s not hard to imagine to her:
that the vast and sometimes
‘I had no trouble visualising
strange world of the Museum
the characters, and to grow
might be at times a rather
them on to the page was no
overwhelming experience for
challenge at all — I loved
the young visitor. All that
them from the start.’
looking up!
Melanie laughs at the
To make the Museum more
suggestion that perhaps the
welcoming for young people
girl is herself as a child. ‘I was
we are introducing two new
always making, drawing or
friends — mascots to guide
collecting things. I loved
the way to the most
museums and galleries so you
interesting places for children.
might be right! I saw the girl
The mascots will serve as
as quite organised and
signposts to family friendly
deliberate rather than chaotic,
programs and exhibitions,
hence her big watch and
‘sitting on the shoulder’ of
many pockets with pencils
every child to bring the
Sydney Observatory 2006 Australian neatly arranged. She is always
sky guide Museum to life for them.
carrying something of interest
DR NICK LOMB
Our mascots are an unlikely — a flower or a calculator or
Compact, easy to use and reliable, the pair — an alliance from some kind of gizmo.’
Sky guide contains month-by-month
different worlds with a
constellations, tidal charts, sun and Initially the mascots will be
moon rise and set times, facts on all friendship that suits them
used in signage and
the planets, meteorite movements plus both. One is an inquisitive girl.
details of the year’s most exciting advertisements. The entire
She is creative and clever,
astronomical events. Recommended Museum will be their home
for anglers, sailers, photographers, with loads of imagination and
with a special hangout at the
journalists, teachers, students — and energy to burn. The girl is
anyone who looks up at the stars and Playspace — a new space
rather like each and every
wants to know more. With simple dedicated to children’s
instructions for use Australia-wide. child who enters the Museum,
programs. Eventually young
feeling excited by the
Available from December. Order now! visitors will be able to ‘meet’
112 pages. RRP $15.00 / members $13.50 potential for fun and wanting
the characters themselves in
to know more!
Museum tours designed
The robot is her mate — a specially for families.
machine with unlimited
Our mascots are yet to have
knowledge stored in a logical
names. We thought it best to
See the mailorder fashion in its database. The
leave that to the imagination
robot is really very helpful but
insert in this issue. unimaginative. Happily she
of our young visitors. Watch
out for more information about
has many questions and her
how to vote for a name that
robotic friend has many
suits you and them.
answers. The key to their
friendship is their interest in Helen Whitty, Program
Powerhouse books are available
learning and solving problems. Development Coordinator
from the Powerhouse Shop, good
bookstores and by mailorder. Their unusual alliance is of
For more information or to order, course a metaphor for the
contact Powerhouse Publishing
THE MUSEUM’S MASCOTS, CREATED Museum visit.
on (02) 9217 0129 BY ILLUSTRATOR MELANIE BEDFORD,
or email phpub@phm.gov.au WILL BE LAUNCHED IN THE SUMMER
www.powerhousemuseum.com/ SCHOOL HOLIDAYS.
publications

+ 11 powerline spring 05
THE MEMBERS BASEMENT TOUR HAS BEEN
BROUGHT BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND.
 TOUR GUIDE TERRY MOONEY WITH ONE OF THE MANNEQUINS IN
delving
into the
depths
EDITORS KIMBERLEY WEBBER AND
GRAEME DAVISON AT THE LAUNCH
OF THE MUSEUM’S 125TH
ANNIVERSARY BOOK YESTERDAY’S
TOMORROWS. PHOTO BY JEAN
FRANCOIS LANZARONE.
THE BASEMENT. PHOTO BY JEAN-FRANCOIS LANZARONE.
To mark this year’s History
Week festivities in late
September and the conclusion
of the Museum’s 125th
anniversary celebrations at the
end of August, members are
invited to take part in a
special event showcasing
parts of our collection that few
visitors ever see — The
Members Basement Tour, an
experience not to be missed!
Powerhouse staff member
Terry Mooney, who works with
our hidden collection every
day and knows all its secrets,
will be conducting the tours.
+
from the
members
team
Join him as he delves into
the Museum’s underground
holding area to view objects
as they are never ordinarily
seen — stacked high and
deep in specially
commissioned storage units,
folded and filed into drawers
and tucked behind protective
tissue. Terry will also discuss
conservation methods used
by the Museum to protect its
collection.
See the September Members
Calendar for more details.
Lately celebrations
commemorating the
Powerhouse’s 125th anniversary
have brought the history of the
Museum to particular
prominence in the minds of
members and staff. To cap it
off we hope members will join
us for our History Week events
in late September, especially
the chance to discover some
hidden treasures in our
Members Basement Tours.
+
members
+ NEWS AND PHOTOS
+ exclusive events
+ family activities
+ special offers
Members e-newsletter
If you would like to receive the regular Members
e-newsletter with updates on all members events
please call (02) 9217 0600 or email
members@phm.gov.au with your membership
number and e-newsletter in the subject line.
And as the days get longer permanent exhibition, Inspired!
and the weather warmer we’re Design across time. This
pleased to be able to invite magnificent exhibition covers
members to a great program 300 years of decorative arts
of events coming up this and design and is one we
spring. A highlight has to be know members will find
the launch of our new fascinating.
exhibition The cutting edge:
And don’t forget the Members
fashion from Japan. This
Lounge is open seven days a
promises to be the glamour
week, so drop in whenever
event of the year, celebrating
you’re visiting. We’d love to
the work of 19 leading
see you.
Japanese designers who
together have redefined our The Members Team
notions of fashion. And if that
isn’t enough, the following
week we’re launching our new
+ 12 powerline spring 05

+ Wednesday 21 September
Sydney Observatory
Weather station, windmill and fort
Saturday 24 September
SoundHouse™
Digital music workshop for teenagers
Celebrate History Week at Observatory Hill. Discover In this workshop the SoundHouse™ and VectorLab

september how it was transformed over the years from a fort to

a mill, to a signal station, a weather station and
will become your own production house as you work
with the Museum’s digital media experts to devise,
finally an observatory, write, project manage and produce your own digital
and learn all about music projects.
its role in
1.00–5.00 pm
meteorology. Then
Cost: members $60; guests $90 (includes $30 student membership)
join us for morning
or afternoon tea on the
Russell Room balcony.
10.00 am and 2.00 pm
Cost: members $6; guests $8. Bookings
essential on 9217 0485. Numbers limited to 30
spaces per tour. Tours last one hour.

FROM INSPIRED! DESIGN ACROSS

TIME, THE ‘LOCKHEED LOUNGE’,
DESIGNED BY MARK NEWSON,
SYDNEY, 1998–90. PURCHASED 1991.

+ Tuesday 4 October
Sydney Observatory
Mini-Martian Day
Wednesday 5 October
Exhibition launch
Inspired! Design across time

A fun day specially for under 8 year olds! Come to
Sydney Observatory and celebrate Earth’s close
october encounter with Mars — make an alien, paint your
own Mars artwork, and go on a journey to Mars in
our 3-D Space Theatre.
10.30 am – 2.00 pm
Cost: member child $8; guest child $10 (accompanying adults free — max
one per child)
Join us for the launch of the Powerhouse Museum’s
new permanent exhibition Inspired! Design across
time and celebrate one of the most impressive
collections of decorative arts, crafts and design in
Australia. Inspired! includes furniture, fashion, textiles,
graphics, glass, ceramics, jewellery and metalwork
covering over 300 years.
6.00–8.00 pm
Cost: members $35 (adults only). Includes refreshments.

+ There’s something for everyone at the Observatory

this spring as Mars comes close to Earth.

+ Monday 7 November
Sydney Observatory
Mars viewing night
Join us for a special viewing of Mars, which is at its
closest to Earth since 2003 in late October / early
november November. Plus find out all about the latest Mars
explorations in our 3-D Space Theatre with images
from NASA’s Rovers. Visit www.sydneyobservatory.com
for information on more special Mars events.
9.30–11.00 pm
Cost: members $12 / children $8 / families $32; guests $15 / children $10 /
families $40. Bookings essential on 9217 0485.

ONE OF THE TELESCOPES AT

SYDNEY OBSERVATORY.

spring 05 members calendar

+ 13 powerline spring 05
Friday 18 November
Exhibition walkthrough
The cutting edge: fashion from Japan
Join curator Louise Mitchell on an in-depth tour of
this amazing exhibition featuring fashion’s most
innovative and inventive designers — including a
new generation who continue to lead the way with
cutting edge fabrics and designs. Followed by light
refreshments in the Members Lounge.
10.30 am – 12.00 pm
Cost: members: $10; guests: $15
+ Become a digital demon in our special members only
SoundHouse™ and VectorLab courses.
how to book for members events
Unless othewise stated, bookings and pre-payment
are essential for all events. You can book online at
www.powerhousemusuem.com/members or by phone
on (02) 9217 0600 for events at the Powerhouse
Museum. For bookings for Sydney Obervatory phone
(02) 9217 0485.
Saturday 24 September
Powerhouse basement tours
The Museum’s collection is like an iceberg —
about nine-tenths of it is hidden below the surface.
Join us on a journey to the depths in a tour of our
basement storage area. Glimpse the Museum’s
collection in its resting state — folded, filed, sorted
and shelved — during this special members only
behind-the-scenes event.
10.00 am, 11.00 am, 12.00 pm.
Cost: $20 members only (age 16+). Tours last 40 minutes.
+ Join us for the glamour event of the year — the launch of
The cutting edge: fashion from Japan on 27 September.
Saturday 8 October
VectorLab
Introduction to Photoshop Elements and digital
imaging
This step-by-step workshop takes you through
everything you need to know to create and
manipulate digital photos. The workshop will cover
topics such as cropping, cutting, montage, layers,
digital drawing, adding text and outputting images
for both print and web. Digital cameras and
computer hardware will also be covered.
10.00 am – 3.30 pm
Cost: members $100; guests $130
FROM THE CUTTING EDGE:
FASHION FROM JAPAN, DRESS BY
REI KAWAKUBO, 1997. PHOTO BY
JEAN FRANCOIS JOSE. COURTESY
COMME DES GARÇONS.
Saturday 26 November
SoundHouse™
Digital video editing course for teenagers
Create your own video in this hands-on workshop
combining digital imaging and sound production
skills. You’ll learn how to use video editing software
Sony Vegas, which turns your computer into a virtual
television studio, and discover techniques such as
multiple layers and chromakey. Let our digital media
experts expand your skills in video production, with
time allowed for personal project development.
1.00–5.00 pm
Cost: members $60; guests $90 (includes $30 student membership)
Three full working days (Monday – Friday) are required
for a refund for Powerhouse events. Unfortunately we
can’t refund or transfer bookings for SoundHouse™
and VectorLab workshops.
All events are held at the Powerhouse Museum unless otherwise stated. All
dates, times and venues are correct at time of publication.
Tuesday 27 September
Exhibition launch
The cutting edge: fashion from Japan
Don’t miss your chance to join us at the launch of
The cutting edge: fashion from Japan, a major
exhibition showcasing some of fashion’s most
influential designers including Issey Miyake, Yohji
Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo. The exhibition is
drawn from the stunning collection of the Kyoto
Costume Institute with selections from the
Powerhouse Museum and some private collections.
6.00–8.00 pm
Cost: members $35 (adults only). Includes refreshments.
Saturday 29 October
SoundHouse™
Digital photography workshop for teenagers
Take your digital photography skills to the next level in
this workshop, assisted by our team of digital media
experts. Whether you are new to the field of digital
photography or want skills and tips to improve your
work, this course is the one for you.
1.00–5.00 pm
Cost: members $60; guests $90
(includes $30 student membership)
Sunday 27 November
Members discount shopping day
The Powerhouse Museum Shop invites all members
to come along and preview our new range of
stunning Christmas gift ideas. From designer
handbags and jewellery to fabulously fun toys, you’re
sure to find the perfect gift for everyone on your
Christmas list! Just show your membership card to
enjoy a special 20% discount on most items along
with free gift wrapping.
10.00 am – 5.00 pm
Cost: free
FROM INSPIRED! DESIGN ACROSS
TIME, BRACELET, MADE BY PETER
CHANG, SCOTLAND, 2004.
+ 14 powerline spring 05

members
scene ALEXANDER FRISINA STRIKES A
HEROIC POSE WITH SHIELD AND
HEADDRESS.
STEPHANIE WILLET GOES FOR
THE GOLD WREATH.

YOUNG VISITOR ASHA LANCASTER

GOES FOR THE WARRIOR LOOK,
WHILE HIS SISTER JASMIN
SMILES FOR THE CAMERA.

Dressing up was the order of

the day at the Persephone’s
Palace Members Morning Tea
in June and Sydney
Observatory’s Festival of the
Stars later that month.
PHOTOS BY SOTHA BOURN AND
MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI.

MATTHEW HAMMOND IN THREE-

HEADED MONSTER MODE, AND
ABBEY WALKER LOOKING LIKE A
PRINCESS.

THE ROCKS GHOST TOURS

THRILL YOUNG VISITORS AT
SYDNEY OBSERVATORY’S FESTIVAL
OF THE STARS.

TROUBADOURS STELLA MEMBERS OF CIRCUS SOLARIS

EXPRESSIONS SERENADE GUESTS, READY TO TAKE VISITORS ON AN
WHILE TAURUS AND CAPRICORN ASTRONOMICAL MAGICAL
STEP DOWN FROM THE HEAVENS. MYSTERY TOUR.

DAVID MALIN GIVES A LECTURE SYDNEY OBSERVATORY MANAGER

ON HIS IMAGES OF THE STARS.. TONER STEVENSON GETS INTO
THE SPIRIT OF THE OCCASION.
+ 15 powerline spring 05
A 1950s TELEPHONE IS AN IMPORTANT
ADDITION TO THE MUSEUM’S COLLECTION.
freedom
of fantasy
A key part of the acquisition
strategy for our information
and communication
technology (ICT) collection is
to focus on product design
and its role in corporate
image and brand making.
A good example of this is our
small collection of products
from the Italian manufacturer
Olivetti, founded in 1908. From
its very early days as a
manufacturer, the company
was aware of the importance
and potential of corporate and
product image, employing
painters, poets and architects
to help mould an image for its
products and advertising
material and even its industrial
sites, offices and showrooms.
Adriano Olivetti, the son of the
company’s founder, was a fan
of the modernist graphic style.
In the mid 1930s he met and
hired young designer Marcello
Nizzoli who went on to design
for Olivetti until the late 1950s.
His award-winning work was
recognised by the Italian
design cognoscenti as the
epitome of Italian functionalist
design. This school of thought
sought to widen the role of
industrial design within
MARCELLO NIZZOLI’S 1958 ‘SAFNAT’ TELEPHONE PURCHASED 2005. PHOTO BY SOTHA BOURN.
companies to encompass all
aspects of product
development from concept
onwards, striving for the
achievement of design devoid
of ornament and to produce
items for the consumption of
the masses.
The ‘Safnat’ telephone was
designed by Marcello Nizzoli
in 1958. Its cellulose acetate
housing, low-slung stature and
anthropomorphic arrangement
of dial and push buttons
reflect Nizzoli’s design attitude
and methods. Rejecting the
accepted theories of machine
design of the time (‘form
follows function’), his work is
characterised by sculptural
forms and organic shapes.
Nizzoli said that he worked
toward ‘a freedom of fantasy’
in his design work, and
approached it as an
interaction of relationships
between the consumer and
machine. Nizzoli was able to
combine industrial design and
the plastic arts to create new
designs for existing office and
domestic products, which
appealed to a wider market.
Nizzoli actively sought new
challenges throughout his
career moving from painting
to stage design, followed by a
series of seminal designs for
exhibitions, trade shows and
retail shops. Moving into
product design, Nizzoli
entered the production
process as a co-worker,
securing the application of
new manufacturing
technologies. Proof of his
versatility and tenacity is that
five years after designing the
Safnat telephone, Nizzoli went
on to design a combine
harvester for the Laverda
company.
The ‘Safnat’ telephone adds
tremendous value to our
collection of Marcello Nizzoli
designs, which include an
1948 Olivetti Lexikon 80
typewriter, a Divisumma 24
electronic calculator from 1956
and a Multisumma 20 electro
mechanical calculator from
1964. We remain on the
lookout for an example of
Nizzoli’s 1950 Lettera 22
portable typewriter for Olivetti,
voted the best design of the
last hundred years by a jury of
100 designers in 1959.
Campbell Bickerstaff,
Assistant Curator, ICT
The Powerhouse Foundation has enjoyed great
success with numerous functions and
donations in the lead up to its first anniversary
and annual appeal in September 2005.
A particular highlight in this period was the
inaugural President’s Circle luncheon on 2 June
with guest speaker, Mr Ian Macfarlane,
Governor, Reserve Bank. The Powerhouse
Foundation President’s Circle is a select
networking group for corporate executives who
are invited to directly support the Museum’s
world-renowned collection. The lunch was
attended by leading figures from the business
community who enjoyed an exclusive
opportunity to hear Mr Macfarlane speak about
the role of museums in presenting economic
history. Within days of the event, the Foundation
received a pledge for $20 000 and is in
discussion with many prospective President’s
Circle members.
To celebrate the Foundation’s first year of fund
raising, an annual annivesary appeal will be
launched during the month of September. For
more details on the appeal or to make your
donation, go to
www.powerhousemuseum.com/foundation.
Melissa Smith, Foundation Coordinator
61 2 9217 0564 or melissas@phm.gov.au
Recent Foundation donors
Mr Pat Boland
David Mathlin & Liz Burch
Mr C W A Flynn
Mr Ross McNair
Mr Paul & Dr Prapaipuk Mottram
Mrs Anne Nelson
Mr Brian Sherman
Dr & Mrs C Williams
MR IAN MACFARLANE, GOVERNOR, RESERVE BANK ,
ADDRESSES THE FIRST PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE LUNCHEON IN
JUNE. PHOTO BY MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI.
+ 16 powerline winter 05
POWERHOUSE SHOP
Too good to miss! Powerhouse Members receive 10% off selected merchandise.
THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM KICKED OFF ITS NEW
SERIES OF QUARTERLY DESIGN TALKS WITH GUEST
SPEAKER WANDA JELMINI OF MISSONI HOME.
talking design
Internationally recognised for
their pioneering use of colour,
zig-zag patterned knits and
lavish stripes, the Missoni
label has transcended the
vagaries of fashion and stood
the test of time. In 1997 the
company established Missoni
Home, a homewares label
which opened up a whole new
area for exploring colour. In
June the Museum was
privileged to have the director
of the company, Wanda
Jelmini, give the inaugural
quarterly design talk, the first
in a series featuring design
luminaries from both Australia
and overseas.
Wanda spoke about the
From the Signature history of the company which
Prints range based on her aunt and uncle Rosita and
Ottavio Missoni founded in the
Florence Broadhurst basement of their home in the
wallpaper designs. early 1950s. Combining the
yarn used for embroidery with
the qualities of knitwear, they
quickly became recognised
The Powerhouse Shop is open as the masters of colour on
10.00 am – 5.00 pm, 7 days a week. the Italian prêt à porter scene.
When Rosita ‘retired’ from the
Gift selection service, free gift
fashion industry in the late
wrapping and deliveries available.
’90s she went on to establish
For more information the Missoni Home collection,
call (02) 9217 0331 or continuing the family tradition
email shops@phm.gov.au with a homewares and interior
furnishings range which is
both bold and technically
brilliant. Using a combination
Clutch & purse $149.95 & $44.95
Sleeveless ‘T’ $84.95
Notebook and doorstop $49.95 & $59.95
Photos by Sotha Bourn.
A SELECTION OF HOMEWARES FROM MISSONI HOME. PHOTO COURTESY MISSONI HOME.
of traditional and
contemporary textile
technologies, Missoni Home
has been able to produce
textiles for a range of uses
including curtains, carpets,
table linen and bath robes. In
a world often awash with
white, the collection provides
a refreshing splash of colour.
Wanda talked about the
challenges of producing
textiles suitable for such a
wide range of applications
and the importance of finding
appropriately skilled
technicians and craftspeople.
It is often not the cheapest or
easiest option and production
might take place in Italy, India
or Central Europe, depending
on where the required skills
can be found. In the course of
production, Wanda works
closely with the technicians to
ensure the complexity and
richness of her designs are
realised.
Wanda went on to describe
her sense of colour as
instinctive and spoke about
how her inspiration came from
the world around her, often
from simply looking at the
miracle of colour within nature.
She said she often works from
her home in a forest region
outside Milan and confessed
she was a passionate
collector of found objects
such as shells, sand, leaves
and flowers. She concluded
by saying that she looked
forward to travelling while in
Australia and in particular
going to Uluru to experience
the magical and unique
colours of the Australian
desert.
The Museum’s inaugural
design talk was made all the
more special by the warmth
and generosity of our speaker,
Wanda Jelmini. A charming
and confident presenter, she
spoke and answered the
audience’s many questions
with characteristic Italian
grace and style.
Guest speaker at our next
design talk on 19 October will
be the world-acclaimed
designer and self-described
‘cultural provocateur’ Karim
Rashid, who will give his
unique perspective on design.
For details look out for our
new Design quarter booklet or
visit powerhousemuseum.com.
The Wanda Jelmini talk was presented by
the Powerhouse Museum and Spence and
Lyda as part of the Sydney Italian Festival.
It was supported by the Italian Trade
Commission, the Italian Chamber of
Commerce, Porters Paints and Vogue
Living.
Lily Katakouzinos,
Education Officer,
Design & Decorative Arts
IN A DRAMATIC FASHION SHOW
FOR TOKYO RECYCLE PROJECT
#4, MASS PRODUCED GARMENTS
WERE TRANSFORMED INTO THIS
SPECTACULAR RED DRESS.
DESIGNED BY MASAHIRO
NAKAGAWA, 2001. PHOTO BY AI
IWANE.

recycling
fashion
Five years ago popular
Japanese fashion designer
Masahiro Nakagawa
presented a collection that
challenged the fashion
industry itself. Selecting
clothes belonging to fashion
journalists and art
professionals, he and his team
interviewed the owners about
the memories associated with
them and then set about
taking apart and reassembling
the garments. The recyled
clothes were then given back
to their owners. To
complement the project,
Masahiro created a number of
manga (comic book)
characters that provided a
story telling role. The designer
says that the project grew out
of his personal response to
Tokyo’s overwhelming
consumer culture. His project
critiques fashion and
consumerism but he is also
seeking to resuscitate some
meaning between people and
their possessions which he
finds lacking in contemporary
life.
The success of the first
recycle project has led to
many more, with Tokyo
Recycle Project #15 scheduled
to take place at the
Powerhouse from Saturday 24
September – Sunday 9
October. Visitors will have the
chance to submit outfits to be
transformed by Masahiro and
his team and watch the entire
process from initial
consultation to final display.
The team will be designing,
producing and transforming
clothes daily between 10.00
am and 4.00 pm. There will
also be an opportunity to talk
to the designers at 11.00 am
and 2.00 pm daily.
For more information about
Tokyo Recycle Project #15 and
how to submit clothing to be
recycled and transformed,
phone (02) 9217 0322 or email
tokyorecycle@phm.gov.au.
The Tokyo Recycle team will
be reassembling fashion at
the Powerhouse from 24
September – 9 October.
+ 18 powerline spring 05
+ 19 powerline spring 05
THE CUTTING EDGE: FASHION FROM JAPAN GIVES
INSIGHT INTO THE POWER OF JAPANESE FASHION
AND WHY IT CONTINUES TO LEAD THE WAY.
story_LOUISE MITCHELL, CURATOR, INTERNATIONAL DECORATIVE ARTS AND DESIGN
the cutting edge
Radical and conceptual, challenging and
uncompromising, functional and sometimes
incomprehensible, fashion from Japan has
commanded international attention since the 1970s
and ’80s. Now a new generation of designers
continues to lead the way using technologically
advanced fabrics and technical ingenuity.
The pioneers of Japanese fashion were Hanae Mori,
the first Japanese designer to show abroad, in New
York in 1965; the designer known as Kenzo; and Issey
Miyake, whose name is perhaps the most well known
in the west. After establishing the Miyake Design
Studio in Tokyo in 1970, Miyake showed his first
collection in New York in 1971, and in Paris in 1973.
Along with his interest in utilising aspects of
Japanese folk culture and traditional textiles, Miyake’s
preoccupation during the ’70s was the development
of fashion reduced to its simplest elements. Drawing
on the tradition of the kimono he produced garments
which were, essentially, square or rectangular pieces
of cloth, with sleeves attached, that could be
wrapped and draped around the body.
Over the years, Miyake has collaborated with
weavers, artists, poets, choreographers and
photographers as part of his exploration of what
clothes can do and be made from. While these
stunning sculptural creations were more at home in a
museum or art gallery, his innovative pleated clothes,
developed in the 1990s, reflect his continuing aim to
create practical, modern clothes that are beyond
trends. Similarly, his current preoccupation A-POC (a
piece of cloth), a long tube of stretch fabric that
doesn’t require any sewing and is cut by the
customer without wasting any material, shows an
ongoing commitment to progressive design.
Miyake was the first of the Japanese avant-garde to
gain an international reputation, but it was the impact
of Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto’s collaborative
catwalk shows in the early 1980s that really created
an intense awareness of Japanese fashion.
Kawakubo and Yamamoto’s garments were
characterised by intentional flaws, a monochrome
palette, exaggerated proportions, drapery, asymmetry
and gender-neutral styling. The clothes and models
looked shabby in contrast to the power suits and
fantasy evening dresses in vogue at the time.
Although the clothes by these two designers were
just as groundbreaking in Japan, it has been argued
WORKS FROM FOUR OF THE 19 DESIGNERS FEATURED IN THE CUTTING EDGE (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): POLYESTER ORGANDIE NECK RUFF, JUNYA WATANABE, 2000/01. PHOTO BY TAISHI HIROKAWA, COURTESY KYOTO
COSTUME INSTITUTE; FELT DRESS, YOHJI YAMAMOTO, 1996.. PHOTO BY TAKASHI HATAKEYAMA, COURTESY KYOTO COSTUME INSTITUTE; DETAIL OF DRESS, JUN TAKAHASHI, 2005. PHOTO BY MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI; FROM ‘THE
WIZARD OF JEANZ’ SERIES, HIROAKI OHYA, 2000. PHOTO BY MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI.
that the aesthetics of traditional Japanese culture,
particularly of wabi sabi (beauty that is imperfect,
impermanent or incomplete), and of the kimono were
inherent within their work. Initially the response to
these Japanese designs was hostile but within a few
years the new aesthetic came to have a major
influence on mainstream fashion.
Rei Kawakubo had already established her
commercially successful clothing label ‘Comme des
Garçons’ (Like some boys) in Japan before she
teamed up with Yohji Yamamo to present her
controversial collections in Paris in the early 1980s.
Kawakubo’s often-quoted remark, ‘I work with three
shades of black’, belies the fact that since the mid
1980s she has departed from her original sombre
palette and her collections throughout the 1990s and
early this century have often incorporated bright
colours. Over the years her clothes have ranged from
sombre, asymmetrical and loose fitting to colourful,
light-hearted, romantic and structured. While her
designs have changed a lot and her collections are
unpredictable, in Kawakubo’s attempts to defy
conventional beauty, her clothes are still inclined to
offend Western assumptions of taste and tradition.
Her stated aim is to avoid conformity and to do
something new each time she creates a collection.
Since parting ways with Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto’s
collections have been characterised by romanticism
more in tune with Western aesthetics. He is renowned
for working mostly with black and white and his
clothes often have a sculptural quality. Yamamoto
likes to combine unusual materials with a
recognisable silhouette — for example, an evening
dress made from a felt similar to that used for billiard
tables. His clothes are marked by historical
references and a sense of renewal, seen in his
blending of culture and history.
Now in their 60s, Miyake, Kawakubo and Yamamoto
are based in Tokyo where they head large,
commercially successful companies that produce
clothing lines for the local market, as well as
participating in Paris at the twice-yearly prêt-à-porter
collections. Their creative dominance remains
unchallenged and the new generation of designers
have often begun their careers working for them.
Junya Watanabe and Jun Takahashi, for example,
have been protégés of Kawakubo, while Kosuke
Tsumura and Hiroaki Ohya have developed their own
labels within the Miyake group of companies.
Junya Watanabe is the most celebrated of the
younger generation of Japanese designers. Like his
mentor, Watanabe is interested in innovative textiles
and construction techniques, describing his designs
as ‘techno couture’. The first collection to bring him
international acclaim was in 1995 when he showed
slim-lined knee-length tunics and pantsuits made
from a polyurethane laminated nylon in bright colours
inspired by the cellophane used in theatre lighting.
Although the garments have simple silhouettes, the
construction is visibly complex with folds, tucks and
pleats emphasised at the joins of the body to make
the outfits more comfortable.
Jun Takahashi began his design career as a cult
figure in Tokyo’s Harajyuku, the centre of Japanese
fashion subculture. In 2000, under the aegis of Rei
Kawakubo, he debuted his ‘Undercover’ label in Paris
to much acclaim. Detail, layering and eclectic use of
colour and pattern are characteristic of Takahashi’s
work, which he describes as lying somewhere
between high fashion and street wear.
Hiroaki Ohya cites Issey Miyake as the designer who
has had the greatest influence on him. An example of
this aim ‘to always seek or create something new’ is
his work ‘The Wizard of Jeanz’, a remarkable series of
21 cloth ‘books’ that fold out into clothes. Drawing
both on origami, the Japanese art of paper folding,
and the book The Wizard of Oz, ‘The Wizard of Jeanz’
is a technical tour de force that allows a book to
transform into a ruffled neckpiece, a pair of jeans or
an elegant evening dress
Like Ohya, Kosuke Tsumura questions the role of
fashion in today’s society. Since 1994 the signature
piece for his label ‘Final Home’ has been a
transparent nylon coat with up to 40 multifunction zip
pockets, conceived as a final home in the case of
natural or man-made disaster. Tsumura was
motivated to rethink his attitude to fashion by the
growing number of homeless living in Tokyo. The
combination of the simplicity of Tsumura’s designs,
coupled with their humorous functionality has made
‘Final Home’ a top label in Japan among the young.
The cutting edge: fashion from Japan opens on 27
September.
Presented by the Powerhouse Museum in association with the Kyoto
Costume Institute. Media partners: marie claire & SBS Radio. Supporter:
Japan Foundation. Catalogue sponsors: The Gordon Darling Foundation &
The Suntory Foundation.
+ 20 powerline spring 05
TO MARK THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF NSW RAILWAYS
LOCOMOTIVE NO 1 HAS HAD A FACELIFT.
story_MARGARET SIMPSON, CURATOR, TRANSPORT
the long haul
The completion of the railway line between Sydney
and Parramatta in 1855 represented the greatest
engineering feat in the colony at the time. In social
and economic terms it opened up the potential for
transporting goods and people to and from the
growing city of Sydney. When the line was extended
to Goulburn in 1869, it ushered in a boom time for the
farmers, graziers and merchants there and further
afield. Central to the building and early operation of
the line was Locomotive No 1, one of the Museum’s
most prized exhibits for the last 120 years.
The story behind the first railway in NSW is a
fascinating one. The project was plagued by political
and bureaucratic delays, labour shortages, continual
financial problems, ineffective engineering and
project management and hold-ups in the arrival of
iron rails and rolling stock.
The driving force for its construction was the
politician and Goulburn landholder, Charles Cowper
(later Sir Charles). Elected to the NSW Legislative
Council in 1843, he campaigned for a railway in 1846
and persisted until the Sydney Railway Company was navvies from England, recruited there by his father.
formed in 1848, with himself as manager and
James Wallace, the engineer, made the railway
chairman of the board. The first turf for the line was
happen with technical innovations and new plans and
turned on a rain-swept day in early July 1850 not far
specifications. He changed the Sydney terminus from
from the present-day Devonshire Street pedestrian
Haymarket to Devonshire Street, the bridges from
tunnel in a much publicised ceremony organised by
timber to stone, the track from single to double, the
Cowper to rekindle investor enthusiasm for the
rails from timber to wrought-iron Barlow type, and
project. By 1853, however, it was obvious state funding
added a branch line to Darling Harbour. For all his
was needed and Cowper returned to politics to lobby
achievements, Wallace’s most lasting change from
the government to take over the line, which it did in
broad gauge to standard gauge track ironically led to
1855.
Australia’s great gauge debacle.
Apart from Cowper, two others played critical roles in
Locomotive No 1 entered the story in 1855, one of four
building the railway: James Wallace, the engineer,
locomotives built in England the previous year for the
and William Randle, the resourceful contractor who
Sydney Railway Company. After arriving in Sydney, it
not only built the line but ran the first trains. Randle is
was assembled locally and put to work hauling
the unsung hero whose arrival in 1852 transformed
ballast trains of broken stone to build the railway. In
construction from incompetent tinkering to drive and
May 1855, Locomotive No 1 pulled the first passenger
action. He opened quarries, built brickworks and set
train carrying the governor and his party for an
up workshops. Most importantly, he organised the
inspection of the railway to the Long Cove viaduct at
workers and attended to their needs. After the
Lewisham. This was followed by the first trip from
labourers all absconded to the goldfields he
Sydney to Parramatta in August, with Locomotive No 1
encouraged the government to bring out 500 railway
+ 21 powerline spring 05

FROM FAR LEFT; CONSERVATORS SUE VALIS AND ALAYNE ALVIS AT WORK ON LOCOMOTIVE NO 1. PHOTOS SOTHA BOURN; THE EARLIEST KNOWN PHOTO OF LOCOMOTIVE NO 1 TAKEN IN SYDNEY YARD ABOUT 1858. THE MAN IN
THE TOP HAT WAS THOUGHT TO BE WILLIAM SIXSMITH, THE TRAIN’S FIRST DRIVER, BUT RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THE UNIFORM IS MORE LIKELY TO BE THAT OF A STATIONMASTER; LOCOMOTIVE NO 1 PHOTOGRAPHED IN 1905
FOR THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF RAILWAYS IN NSW. PHOTO COURTESY STATE RAIL AUTHORITY ARCHIVES; LOCOMOTIVE NO 1 BEING REMOVED FROM ITS SPECIAL ENGINE HOUSE IN 1905. PHOTO COURTESY STATE RAIL
AUTHORITY ARCHIVES; VIEW FROM THE FOOTPLATE WHILE ON DISPLAY IN MARTIN PLACE IN 1938 FOR THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF NSW. PHOTO COURTESY THE LATE RON DEBENHAM.

hauling three first class carriages to accommodate
the visiting dignitaries.
The railway opened officially, again in the rain, on 26
September 1855 with much fanfare, luncheons and a
grand ball at the Prince of Wales Theatre. At midnight
the crowd danced to William Paling’s specially
composed Sydney Railway Waltz, complete with
locomotive sound effects. The line was indeed a
significant achievement, with a total length of 13 miles
28 chains (20 km), terminal stations at Sydney and
Parramatta and intermediate stations at Newtown,
Ashfield, Burwood and Homebush. A tunnel was built
at Redfern, an impressive viaduct over Long Cove
Creek, and a total of 27 bridges and 50 culverts. The
rolling stock included four steam locomotives, 32
carriages and 30 wagons.
Locomotive No 1 went on to pull goods and
passenger trains between Sydney, Campbelltown,
Richmond and Penrith for 22 years. In 1884, seven
years after having been withdrawn from service, it
was presented to the Museum by the Commissioner
for Railways. Initially Locomotive No 1 was given pride
of place in the Agricultural Hall in The Domain, the
Museum’s home at the time. When the Museum
moved to Ultimo in 1893, the locomotive was stored in
a purpose-built engine house for viewing by
appointment only, apart from four special occasions
when it was taken out for display. In 1980 Locomotive
No 1 was restored although no attempt was made to
return it to working condition as this would have
caused loss to the priceless and irreplaceable
original materials.
Since 1988, when the Museum opened in its new
home in Harris St, Locomotive No 1 has been on
permanent public display, complete with first, second
and third class carriages. One or possibly two of
these were part of the first train of 1855. All were
converted after their passenger use to workmen’s
vans, which ensured their survival until they were
recovered and restored by the railways for the
Museum, rare surviving examples of carriages of
this vintage.
Now as part of the 150th anniversary of railways in
NSW the Locomotive No 1 exhibition has been given
a well-earned upgrade. In May, scaffolding was
erected over the train in the exhibition and
conservators and curators set to work thoroughly
cleaning and repairing the locomotive, its tender and
the carriages. Four large new display cases have
been added to the exhibition to house additional
exhibits including over 130 railway models and an
impressive candelabrum presented to Charles
Cowper by the Sydney Railway Company in 1855. An
audio visual presentation, especially adapted for
children and narrated by Scott McGregor, tells the
story of Locomotive No 1.
It is very rare for a country to retain its first
locomotive as most were scrapped. Locomotive No 1
is one of the most significant items in the Museum’s
collection and in the history of NSW. Happy birthday
Locomotive No 1 and the NSW railways!
The Locomotive No 1 exhibition is sponsored by RailCorp.

+ 22 powerline spring 05
THE OBSERVATORY ADDS A NEW TELESCOPE TO ITS
COLLECTION AND MARS COMES CLOSE TO EARTH.
 THE DUDLEY ADAMS TELESCOPE ON DISPLAY AT SYDNEY
reflecting
history
In March this year the Museum
purchased a spectacular late
18th century reflecting
telescope at auction, using
funds from the Observatory’s
Name-a-Star fund-raising
program. The telescope was
made by respected London
instrument maker Dudley
Adams and is similar to the
one used by James Cook to
observe the transit of Venus
in 1769.
Reflecting telescopes, which
collect starlight with large
curved mirrors, are still
popular today. Examples range
from the giant Keck
telescopes in Hawaii, with their
10-metre-wide mirrors, to small
home-built instruments for the
amateur astronomer. The
speculum metal mirrors in the
Dudley Adams telescope
illustrate how technology has
changed since the 18th
century. Modern telescopes
now all use aluminised
glass mirrors.
+
observe
OBSERVATORY IN THE TRANSIT OF VENUS EXHIBITION. PHOTO BY
SOTHA BOURN.
Name a star and help build
the Observatory’s collection.
With Sydney Observatory’s
Name-a-Star program,
a
members of the public have
the opportunity to ‘adopt’ a
star in their own name or in
the name of a loved one. The looking
stars are taken from the
Observatory’s Southern star at Mars
catalogue and recorded on
the Observatory database. A
special viewing of the chosen
star through one of our
In late October and early Eighteen months later the
telescopes is part of the
November Mars will be at rovers are still exploring. Both
package.
opposition, which means it will have revealed strong evidence
A Name-a-Star package is be closer to Earth than at any that Mars was once wet
both a unique gift and the time since 2003. During this enough to support life.
chance to help preserve and time Sydney Observatory will Opportunity has found ripple
expand the equipment and be open for not-to-be-missed patterns in rocks and marble-
collection of Australia’s oldest telescopic views of the sized balls of hematite,
observatory. For more red planet. nicknamed ‘blueberries’, that
information, please call only form in salty water on
People have been fascinated
(02) 9241 3767 or 9217 0478. Earth. Spirit found rocks with
by Mars for thousands of years
high levels of chlorine and
Nick Lomb but detailed views of the
other chemicals that indicate
Curator of Astronomy surface had to await the arrival
the rocks were once wet.
of space probes in the 1960s.
Viking 1 and 2 were the first to For details of Mars telescope
actually land on the surface of viewings and talks visit
the planet, in 1976, followed by sydneyobservatory.com.au.
the Mars Path Finder in 1997
Martin Anderson, Astronomy
and the 2004 Mars Exploration
Educator, Sydney Observatory
Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.
THE RED PLANET. PHOTO
COURTESY NASA.
+ 23 powerline spring 05

THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES

THE SUPPORT OF THE FOLLOWING ORGANISATIONS

+principal partners

DICK SMITH

SPORT: MORE THAN HEROES & LEGENDS DICK SMITH AUSTRALIAN EXPLORER BELL GREEK TREASURES: FROM COLES THEATRE, TARGET THEATRE,
206B JETRANGER III HELICOPTER THE BENAKI MUSEUM IN ATHENS GRACE BROS COURTYARD, K MART
STUDIOS

+senior partners

ECOLOGIC: CREATING A SUSTAINABLE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE 3830 POWERHOUSE WIZARD GREEK TREASURES: FROM THE SYDNEY DESIGN 05
FUTURE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE 3265 BENAKI MUSEUM IN ATHENS

POWERHOUSE MUSEUM @ CASTLE HILL

+partners +supporters

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE MARIE CLAIRE RAILCORP ARAB BANK AUSTRALIA NSW TREASURY
SYDNEY DESIGN 05 THE CUTTING EDGE: LOCOMOTIVE NO 1 THE CURIOUS ECONOMIST: THE CURIOUS ECONOMIST:
FASHION FROM JAPAN WILLIAM STANLEY JEVONS IN SYDNEY WILLIAM STANLEY JEVONS IN SYDNEY
D FACTORY
SYDNEY DESIGNERS UNPLUGGED:
SBS RADIO
PEOPLE, PROCESS, PRODUCT
MINCOM LIMITED RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA, SYDNEY DIVISION GREEK TREASURES: FROM
LIFE FELLOWS DINNER 2005 THE BENAKI MUSEUM IN ATHENS THE CURIOUS ECONOMIST:
ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE 2004 NOVOTEL SYDNEY ON DARLING HARBOUR
WILLIAM STANLEY JEVONS IN SYDNEY
THE CUTTING EDGE: OFFICIAL SYDNEY HOTEL
POLOXYGEN FASHION FROM JAPAN
INDESIGN MAGAZINE
INSPIRED! DESIGN ACROSS TIME
D FACTORY
SOUNDHOUSE™ MUSIC ALLIANCE
SYDNEY DESIGN 05
SOUNDHOUSE™ MUSIC & MULTIMEDIA
LABORATORY

+platinum corporate members +gold corporate members +silver corporate members

BOEING AUSTRALIA EBSWORTH AND EBSWORTH ARAB BANK AUSTRALIA TABCORP

PDC CREATIVE JCDECAUX CAPITAL TECHNIC GROUP TAFE NSW: SYDNEY INSTITUTE
LILYFIELD PRINTING DUNLOP FLOORING AUSTRALIA THE RACI INC, NSW BRANCH
MASSMEDIA STUDIOS HASBRO THOMSON TELECOM AUSTRALIA
MULTIPLEX MACQUARIE BANK FOUNDATION WEIR WARMAN LTD
NHK TECHNICAL SERVICES NSW DEPARTMENT OF LANDS
SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ PETTARAS PRESS
TRANSGRID STREET VISION

+ state government partners +australian government partners +foundations

THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM IS A
STATUTORY AUTHORITY OF, AND
PRINCIPALLY FUNDED BY,
THE NSW STATE GOVERNMENT.
CASINO COMMUNITY BENEFIT FUND NSW
AUSTRALIA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND
HERITAGE
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AND TRADE
BRUCE AND JOY REID FOUNDATION
GORDON DARLING FOUNDATION
JAPAN FOUNDATION
SUNTORY FOUNDATION
VINCENT FAIRFAX FAMILY FOUNDATION

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AND GIVING TO THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM PLEASE CONTACT MIRANDA PURNELL ON (02) 9217 0577.
exhibitions at a glance
SEPTEMBER_OCTOBER_NOVEMBER 2005
The cutting edge: fashion from Japan
LEVEL 5, FROM 27 SEPTEMBER
– 29 JANUARY 2006
Showcases the work of 19 Japanese
designers including pioneers Hanae
Mori and Kenzo Takada; the ‘big three’
Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake and Yohji
Yamamoto; and the work of a new
generation who continue to challenge
Western notions of fashion.
Inspired! Design across time
LEVEL 4, FROM 6 OCTOBER 2005
Featuring fashion, furniture, textiles,
glass, graphics, ceramics and
metalwork, Inspired! surveys 300 years
of decorative arts and design. Discover
the power of objects and the pleasure
of people who use and treasure them.
Sydney designers unplugged: people,
process, product
LEVEL 3, UNTIL 9 OCTOBER 2005
Find out what it really takes to be a
product designer! Sydney designers
unplugged looks behind the scenes of
seven leading product design studios.
Morris & Co
LEVEL 3, UNTIL 6 NOVEMBER 2005
From the collection of the Art Gallery of
South Australia. Furniture, tapestries,
embroideries, curtains, fabrics, carpets,
textiles and wallpapers designed and
made in the workshop of William
Morris & Co.
Greek treasures: from the Benaki
Museum in Athens
LEVEL 4 UNTIL 4 SEPTEMBER 2005
Artworks and artefacts spanning 8000
years of Greek history including
ceramics, gold jewellery, Byzantine
painted icons, metalware and figurines.
WOOL DRESS, JUNYA WATANABE, COMME DES GARÇONS, 1999. COLLECTION
KCI. PHOTO BY TAKASHI HATAKEYAMA; DEVILISH CHAOS, GLASS BOWL, TOOTS
ZYNSKY, THE NETHERLANDS, 1995; LOCOMOTIVE NO 1 ON DISPLAY IN MARTIN
PLACE IN 1938. PHOTO COURTESY STATE RAIL AUTHORITY ARCHIVES.
exhibitions at
Sydney Observatory
The sky and the weather
FROM OCTOBER 2005
Learn all about weather forecasting,
plus much more in this fascinating new
exhibition.
By the light of the southern stars
Look behind the Southern Cross and
hear Aboriginal stories about the sky.
travelling exhibitions
Sport: more than heroes and legends
SciTech Discovery Centre, Perth
UNTIL 23 OCTOBER 2005
Queensland Museum, Brisbane
14 NOVEMBER 2005 – 12 FEBRUARY 2006
Gambling in Australia: thrills, spills and
social ills
Coffs Harbour City Gallery
UNTIL 15 OCTOBER 2005
+
Give a gift membership
www.powerhousemuseum.com
Australian Design Awards
LEVEL 4
The Powerhouse selection from the
Australian Design Awards features
outstanding achievements in design.
Watts ‘n’ drops
FROM 10–18 SEPTEMBER 2005
Learn more about water and energy
and how to make it last the distance in
this display jointly presented by the
Department of Energy, Utilities and
Sustainability, Sydney Water and the
Powerhouse. Free weekend 10–11
September.
When the roof became stars: the
Australian Federal Police investigation
of the Bali bombings
FROM 12 OCTOBER – 11 DECEMBER 2005
In October 2002 two bombs exploded
in the popular tourist centre of Kuta
Beach in Bali, Indonesia, killing over
200 people. This exhibition looks at the
first eight months of the AFP
investigation of the tragedy.
Locomotive No 1
LEVEL 4
Locomotive No 1 has a facelift
complete with a new audio visual about
the history of railways in NSW.
Paradise, Purgatory, Hellhole: the
history of Pyrmont and Ultimo
LEVEL 3, UNTIL 29 JANUARY 2006
Experience some of the many stories
from a community that hasn’t stopped
changing.
Engineering Excellence
LEVEL 4, UNTIL 2 NOVEMBER 2005
Outstanding projects from the
Engineers Australia, Sydney Division,
Engineering Excellence awards.
Wollongong City Gallery
29 OCTOBER 2005 – 29 JANUARY 2006
Intel Young Scientist 2004
Newcastle Regional Museum
UNTIL 18 SEPTEMBER 2005
Works wonders: stories about home
remedies
Port of Yamba Historical Society
UNTIL 5 SEPTEMBER 2005
Boorowa Museum, Boorowa
16 SEPTEMBER – 29 OCTOBER 2005
Nyngan & District Museum
5 NOVEMBER – 11 DECEMBER 2005
Fruits: Tokyo street style
TeManawa Museum, New Zealand
10 SEPTEMBER – 27 NOVEMBER 2005
Greek treasures: from the Benaki
Museum in Athens
Immigration Museum, Melbourne
FROM 5 OCTOBER 2005 – 28 MAY 2006
TURN OVER FOR DETAILS
Powerhouse Membership
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from the
collection

Kylie Minogue wore this

sundress during her
memorable performance at the
closing ceremony of the
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
The pop diva starred in a fun
tribute to Australian beach
culture that introduced the
‘Parade of Icons’ segment. She
entered the arena on an
enormous thong, to the sounds
of the Atlantics’ classic surf
instrumental ‘Bombora’. Then,
kneeling on a surfboard, she
was carried to the stage by a
group of surf lifesavers. Kylie’s
sundress was identical to one
worn by Nikki Webster during
the opening ceremony. It is one
of the 700 costumes, props
and other items in the
Powerhouse Museum’s Sydney
2000 Games collection.
KYLIE: an exhibition will open at
the Powerhouse Museum on 26
December. A celebration of
Kylie’s contribution to music,
stage and screen, this travelling
exhibition has been developed
by Melbourne’s Arts Centre,
home of the nation’s premier
Performing Arts Collection, to
which Kylie recently donated
over 300 items.
GIFT OF THE OLYMPIC COORDINATION
AUTHORITY ON BEHALF OF THE NSW
STATE GOVERNMENT.

ISSN 1030-5750
01

9 771030 575004

www.powerhousemuseum.com