Author Archive for Erika Dicker

Happy Friday the 13th!

Published by Erika Dicker 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

jbo c1 013
Unlucky Friday the 13th is apparently the most popular superstition in the world. I, for one, do not have supersititious beliefs, I open umbrellas inside, I like black cats, and I confidently walk under ladders. If you do fear Friday the 13th you have a paraskevidekatriaphobia, and I suggest you cease reading this post immediately.

I dedicate this post to all our readers, may you have an unremarkable Friday the 13th! Here are some superstitious things from our collection:

00206773Toy cat from the Jandaschewsky collection

Superstition: If a black cat walks towards you it brings good luck, if it walks away from you it takes your luck away.

00572622 NSW ambulance service ambulance.

Superstition: Seeing an ambulance is bad luck unless you pinch your nose or hold your breathe until you see a black or brown dog.

00526605 Anatomical model of the human ear.

Superstition: If your right ear itches someone is speaking well of you, if your left ear itches someone is speaking ill of you.

00x07425 Tailor’s scissors

Superstition: If you drop a pair of scissors it means your lover is being unfaithful to you.

2001.125.1-5 Pencil from the Collard and Collard Collection

(This one is dedicated to all those students sitting their HSC exams at the moment)
Superstition: Use the same pencil to take a test that you used for studying as the pencil remembers the answers!

Do you have any little quirks when Friday the 13th comes around? Avoid cracks in the pavement? Throw salt over your shoulder? I want to hear some whacky ones!

Photography Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved

The Berlin Wall- 20 years on

Published by Erika Dicker 1 Comment

Berlin wall Photography Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved

“This ninth of November is a historic day.” East Germany “has announced that, starting immediately, its borders are open to everyone.”

Today marks 20 years that have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ‘Iron Curtain’ separating East and West Berlin, Germany.

This is an actual piece of the wall, collected in Germany by our very own curator Peter Cox whilst on holiday in the 1990s.

As many of you know, Peter is busy getting ready to open our 80s exhibition in a few weeks, and this piece of the wall will be one of the more serious objects to sit amongst the hypercolour t-shirts, cabbage patch dolls, and fluoro leg warmers!

Movember

Published by Erika Dicker 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

 95_28_53 April Photography Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved

Yes, it’s that time of year again…Movember! This annual charity event is responsible for handlebar and Fu Manchu moustaches around Australia, and indeed the world, each November. Originating in Melbourne in 2003, Movember aims to promote awareness and raises much-needed funds for men’s health issues, with a focus on prostate cancer and depression.

The first rule of Movember is to obviously begin the month with a clean-shaven face. One of the more interesting A-category objects in our collection comprises two folding cut-throat razors owned by John Fletcher Hargrave, father of aviation pioneer Lawrence Hargrave.
00537397Photography Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved

The blades are made from a section of recycled iron salvaged from one of the piles of old London Bridge, reputedly driven into the bed of the River Thames by King William Rufus in 1100. The use of iron shoes to manufacture items such as razor blades, tools and surgical instruments was quite common after the old London Bridge was demolished in 1830.

Given to J.F. Hargrave by his father at sixteen years of age, the razors are accompanied by a handmade silk bag and an envelope on which the provenance of the blades is handwritten.

The blades are significant due to their association with Lawrence Hargrave. The blades were passed to him upon his father’s death in 1885 and were kept in the family until they were kindly donated to the Powerhouse Museum by Mrs Helen Gray, Lawrence’s eldest daughter, in 1963.

So, at the end of the month when the Man of Movember has been crowned and the Tom Selleck wannabes go home, I’m sure a set like this will come in handy.

Kate Scott
Registrar

Movement in the collection

Published by Erika Dicker 2 Comments Tags: , .

00z10981Photography by Jean-Francois Lanzarone © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

Registration staff are (among many other things) responsible for moving Museum objects from A to B, this could be from one shelf to the one below or from the collection store to the main gallery space or between one of the numerous departments who require them for whatever reason. We just had some recent stats come in and thought we would share with you just how many movements of collection material happen in one year, last financial year to be precise.

For this year alone Registration and Stores staff have facilitated 60,353 object movements!

That is a whole lot of moving around, now for some interesting details associated with this figure of 60,353 –

Of these

652 were loans returned, that is objects carefully returned to lenders, with many kind thanks

On the flip side 513 movements sent out to other institutions big and small as part of our outgoing loans policy

1,490 were objects being moved to our photography studio

6,572 were objects heading to the conservation labs for some TLC

5,062 were movements of the historic wool collection, as part of the TAM Collection Maintenance project

306 were objects moved to the Display store at Castle Hill

And 4607 movements in and around the other stores at Castle Hill

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And the rest were movements to and from exhibition (including travelling exhibitions) and in and around the ultimo collection stores. This breaks down to

28,950 movements in the basement alone

6463 to REXAS – this is the Registration Exhibition Assembly Space

969 to the Switch house for exhibitions including Modern Times and the Odditoreum

138 to the Boiler Hall for ecologic, space, transport and Design Tech

320 to the Turbine hall for universal machine and the Australian Communities gallery

482 to the Wran building for Inspired, musical instruments, Gene Sherman, Yinalung Yenu, Student Fashion, Target Theatre, the Café and the boardroom

Now if you don’t mind we might have a little lay down.

contributed by Alison Brennan
Registrar, Exhibitions and Collections

Death in the Museum- part one- green burials

Published by Erika Dicker 17 Comments Tags: , , , .

LifeArt Coffin

LifeArt Coffin

Photo courtesy of LifeArt

I am in the middle of acquiring a coffin, and not just any coffin, one that is environmentally friendly.

This LifeArt coffin is not only spectacular looking, it is also made from almost 100% recycled materials, and will break down easily once in the ground. It has just been on display in the Museum as part of the Sydney Design 09 festival.

The act of burying the dead dates back to the very first Homo-sapiens who dug out shallow graves. Since then different cultures and religions have evolved to perform a variety of rituals and burial practices such as cremation, sky burials, mummification, burial at sea, or even cryonics!. But one of the most popular in western culture today is to bury a body inside a coffin, or casket, in a cemetery

Coffins have traditionally been made to protect the body, and thus been made out of strong materials such as steel and hardwood. These coffins not only take up a large amount of ground space (something most countries are running short of) they use a large amount of non-recycled material and can contain environmentally harmful chemicals that can leach into the ground.

Since I’ve been researching coffins I have been exposed to a few new ‘green’ ways to be buried:

The Swedish have come up with something called Promession, which is a way to freeze dry human remains. The body is submerged in liquid nitrogen, then slighty vibrated, the end result is a fine powder. promession-steg2promession-steg3
The powder can then be used to help plant a tree, placed in an environmentally friendly casket, or buried directly into the soil.promession-steg6 Image courtesy of Promessa

A Queensland council has taken the idea of natural burials one step further. You can now be buried in a cardboard coffin (or without a coffin at all) in bushland, and the position geo-tagged, so family and friends could return to the site. Information such as family pictures, biographies, and even letters can be attached to the GPS marker and retrieved with a handheld GPS system.

While it’s not for everyone, cardboard coffins are a good way to be ‘green in death’ as well as in life!

I want to be returned to the earth as naturally as possible after I die, being buried in bushland doesnt sound like a bad idea!

I want to know what you would like to happen to you after you die? Does your religion or culture dictate what will happen to your body? would you make an effort to ‘go green’?

Elephants in the Colony

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00531528Photography by Chris Brothers © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

The new baby elephant at Taronga Zoo has had me ‘oooing’ and ‘ahhhing’ all week, it also reminded me of a letter we have in our collection written in 1805 by William Charles Wentworth (of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth fame). The letter was sent from London to Charles’ father D’Arcy who was then Superintendent of Convicts on Norfolk Island. Charles had been sent to London to complete his education and this letter describes his delight at the elephant in Pidcocks Exhibition of Wild Beasts.

“….. I was very much amused, particularly at Pidcocks Exhibition of Wild Beasts several of which are natives of New South Wales but of all the beasts the Elephant is the most wonderful. He will unbolt doors, tell how many people are in the room, take of a persons hat and put it on again, pick up a Lock and put it into a man’s hand, blow a shilling to him at a considerable distance with his trunk, pick it up and put into the man’s pocket, kneel at the word of command, and many other wonderful things too troublesome to relate”

The letter is written in lovely copperplate handwriting, although Charles does have to squish his letters together to fit his last words on a line.

This object is also important as a rare example of personal correspondence in the colony.

“From 1788-1809 there were no organised postal arrangements for New South Wales. In the early years of the settlement, mails were made up for England and usually contained official correspondence which was sent free. Some convicts who were literate and the growing number of free settlers also sent mails which were usually entrusted to the captains of ships and charged one penny. This is probably how Wentworth’s letter was conveyed to his father as it bears no postal markings. Abuses are recorded such as gross overcharging (particularly of parcels) and withholding the mails. It was not until 1809 that Isaac Nichols was appointed Postmaster and some attempt made to regulate postal matters.”

For me it is warmth and personal nature of this letter that gives it it’s charm. Our attitudes to circus animals have changed but we are still as delighted by the exotic (and now endangered) elephant as William Charles Wentworth in 1805.

Full transcript

Dear Father,
I take this opportunity of writing a few lines by Mr Grimes to inform you that I am in good health and it will give the greatest pleasure to hear that you and my Brother are the same. I am now in Town at Mr Cookney’s where I am very happy. I went last Monday to Colonel Feauveux’s where he told me that you and my Brother were in good health and at Norfolk Island when he saw you last. I have already seen the Theatre Royal Hay Market, St Pauls, Pidcocks exhibition, the Bay of Gibrathar, the Battle of Agincourt and these two pictures being Panoramas where I was very much amused particularly at Pidcocks Exhibition of Wild Beasts several of which are natives of New South Wales but of all the beasts the Elephant is the most wonderful he will unbolt doors, tell how many people are in the room, take of a Persons Hat and put it on again, pick up a Lock and put it into a Man’s Hand blow a Shilling to him at a considerable distance with his trunk, pick it up and put into the Man’s pocket, kneel at the Word of Command and many other wonderful things too troublesome to relate. With best duty and love dear father I remain your dutiful son,
WC Wentworth
July 14th 1805

Lynne McNairn
Registrar

The Bosdyk Dolls House- part one

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00z20512Photography by Sotha Bourn © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

Fallen in love with this dolls house yet? Just wait, you will!

Let me introduce you to one of the latest objects to join the Powerhouse Museum collection, the Bosdyk Dolls House, a unique example of the art of the miniature.

The house was built and decorated by Frans and Christina Bosdyk over a period from 1997 to 2006. They estimated that they spent 15,000 hours and many thousands of dollars of materials on the work. Frans is a skilled electrical instrument maker who can turn his hand to any material with great precision, in fact he made most of the furniture inside the dolls house. Christina was closely involved with all construction decisions, sourced miniature items, decided where everything went and chose interior decor, wallpaper and dolls.

The Bosdyk dolls house competes with the very best in the tradition of Dutch dolls’ houses, renowned in the seventeenth century for their style and extraordinary attention to detail. That this should have been made in Australia is unusual and the Bosdyk’s eight years’ dedication to the project is an extraordinary achievement. The story is one of Dutch migrants bringing the very best of their traditional culture and skills to Australia.

This most rare acquisition is an important affirmation of the wonderful skills and contributions made by migrants to Australia. It will undoubtedly bring joy and wonder to countless visitors to the Museum when it goes on display.

This post is the first in a series that will take readers on a journey into the house, to see some of its hidden treasures and perfect details. Stay tuned, in the mean time here are some teasers:

“The kitchen”
00z20651

‘Grandma invites a friend for tea”
00z20564

Lindie Ward
Curator of decorative arts

Full steam ahead – the 3265

Published by Erika Dicker 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

3265 running at Eveleigh 25 June 09 012 - low res Photography by Andrew Grant © Powerhouse Museum all rights reserved

Under the supervision of the Museum’s Engineering conservator, Ross Goodman, and a dedicated group of volunteers, Steam Locomotive 3265 has been extensively rebuilt and once again will be fully operational and carrying passengers.

Work commenced on the project in 1998 in the Large Erecting Shop at Eveleigh. Since then 3265 has undergone a very detailed and painstaking overhaul.

00z18430Photography by Marinco Kojdanovski © Powerhouse Museum all rights reserved

The task of rebuilding has been immense as almost every wearing surface was worn down to well beyond tolerance. Specialised skills, material and machinery were required in order to restore the locomotive to its now current operating state. Over this next month 3265 will undertake a series of steaming trials, followed by new paintwork, plus monogram all in the distinctive ‘maroon and cream’ colour of this particular 32 class engine.

Once painting is complete the Museum plans to have a special event to launch 3265 back on the rails. This will then be followed by the relocation of the locomotive to a new facility at Thirlmere, where along with Steam Locomotive 3830, it will be available to hire to accredited Heritage Railway Operators.

Designed by William Thow, Locomotive Superintendent of NSW Railways, in consultation with the builder, Beyer, Peacock & Company of Manchester, England, the 32 class was one of the most successful and long running steam locomotives in Australia. Having 3265 operational will raise awareness of the significance of steam locomotion in New South Wales and will bring much enjoyment to passengers eager to experience steam travel.

Much thanks goes to Ross Goodman, for overseeing the project, conservation staff, Jennifer Edmonds and Rob Smithers, and to the Museum’s volunteers for their expertise, enthusiasm and dedication in rebuilding 3265.

Contributed by Andrew Grant and Susan McMunn

Speak Up- the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

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00x06247Photography by Marinco Kojdanovski © Powerhouse Museum all rights reserved

What is this block of marble? a geiger counter? what does it have to do with the Sydney Harbour Bridge?

Well, it is in fact a microphone! and the very same microphone used at the official opening ceremony of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on 19 March 1932.

As always Matthew Connell tells it best:

What makes the microphone especially significant is that it was signed by ten of the dignitaries officiating at the launch, including the NSW Premier Jack Lang, NSW Governor Philip Game and the Bridge’s Chief Engineer, JJC Bradfield.

Thanks to this simple device we are able to hear their voices today and witness the unveiling of a great Aussie icon, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which symbolised progress, pride and hope for people at a time of great economic depression. Two months after the signatures were engraved on the microphone, Governor Philip Game sacked the Lang Government after Lang decided to default on loan repayments to the Commonwealth in favour of spending to stimulate the New South Wales economy. ..

Note: A big thank you to Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW who provided some of the images used in the youtube clip and to the National Film and Sound Archive’ & ‘Australianscreen Online’ who kindly provided the footage.

Michael Jackson- death of a pop icon

Published by Erika Dicker 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

MJ
Everyone at the Powerhouse Museum was saddened to hear of the death of Michael Jackson this morning.

He was an unmistakable icon of pop culture. Who can forget the 1982 album “Thriller” , which was one of the world’s highest selling records, and its video film clip which revolutionised the pop music film clip industry.

Love him or hate him, it is amazing how one man made such an impact on the music scene.

As a museum we often collect objects relating to pop culture, including one of the merchandised jackets from Jackson’s ‘Bad’ tour, so hopefully some of the story of his life can be told to future generations.

As some readers may know curator Peter Cox and his team are working on a huge exhibition about the 1980s, which will include popular culture, and hopefully we will see some of the highlights of Michael Jackson’s career included.

So rest in peace Michael Jackson, you will forever be remembered for impact you made on pop music.