History Week 2012

HISTORY WEEK 2012
8–16 September

Delve into the Powerhouse Museum's rich dress collection and the Australian Dress Register as fashion and threads, past and present, are unravelled for this year's history week theme, Threads: They wore what?! 

Events are being held at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney Observatory and Powerhouse Discovery Centre.

 

POWERHOUSE MUSEUM

Australian Dress Register display
8 September – 7 October 
Included with Museum admission
See historic garments including a rare example of a young boy’s, everyday clothes from the early 1800s; late 1880s Berlei corset; Uniform of Captain George Bagot Stack, 2nd regiment of NSW Volunteer Infantry, circa 1894; 1920s boy’s black velvet suit and a David Jones evening dress, from collections of the Powerhouse Museum, Cavalcade of Fashion and Griffith Pioneer Park Museum. Read more about the Australian Dress Register

Love Lace curator tour
10 September, 11am – 12pm
Included with Museum admission
See 130 contemporary lace works by 134 artists from 20 countries in this ground-breaking exhibition showing lace design in ways never before seen or imagined. Join the curator on a tour of Love Lace, as she gives insight to the spectacular works and artists.

Faith, Fashion, Fusion curator tour
11 September, 11am – 12pm
Included with Museum admission
See a new generation of Australian Muslim women merging culture with couture in Faith, Fashion, Fusion: Muslim women’s style in Australia. Join the curator as she gives insight to the Sydney-based entrepreneurs who are designing and selling clothes to a growing number of Muslim women who want to dress fashionably.

Teacher Professional Development: Australian Dress Register
8 September, 9.30am – 12.30pm
$50 teacher, $40 Technology Educators Association members
Book now
Half-day seminar for technologies teachers exploring the rich historical content of the online Australian Dress Register. Discover how it can be used in teaching Stages 5-6 Textiles and Design. Includes basement tour of textiles collection or Museum exhibition.

Textiles and Design workshop for students
13 September, 10am – 12pm
$5 per student
Limited spaces, book by phone (02) 9217 0222
Secondary students receive an introduction to the online Australian Dress Register to gain an understanding of the rich legacy of dress collections. Tertiary students from UTS Fashion and NIDA costume courses also present a selection of their textile-based projects.

Behind-the-scenes basement tour 
14 September, 11am – 11.45am or 12.30pm – 1.15pm  
$18 per person, $15 per person for groups 8+, includes Museum admission 
Book now
Go behind the scenes and see the Powerhouse’s historic dress collection in the storage vaults of the Museum. Rarely displayed historical garments found on the Australian Dress Register are shown up close. 

SYDNEY OBSERVATORY

Talk: Spider in the eyepiece
11 September, 6pm – 8pm
$20 adult, $15 Powerhouse members / concession (includes refreshments)
Book now
Ever wondered what the cross hairs in eyepieces of telescopes and other instruments are made of? Former Sydney Observatory instrument maker, Carey Ward, reveals a fascinating history about the little-known threads. Helen Smith, Research Associate in Arachnology from the Australian Museum, will also address which kinds of spider’s silk might be suitable for cross hairs based on their function in nature. Includes telescope viewing (weather permitting).

 POWERHOUSE DISCOVERY CENTRE

Seminar: The power of the art of quilting to connect communities
12 September, 10am – 1pm
$12 per person, $10 Powerhouse and Quilters Guide of NSW members (Includes morning tea)
Book now by phone (02) 9762 1300 or
download the flyer
Discover how the art of quilt-making and thread work has connected communities in the past. Speakers include one of Australia’s first, most respected quilt historians Dr Annette Gero who gives her rich insight. Join a behind the scenes tour to view selected panels from the historic Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt.

 

Women’s corset, 1885-1890, Gift of Berlei-Hestia, 1982, Powerhouse Museum collection.
Women’s corset, 1885-1890, Gift of Berlei-Hestia, 1982, Powerhouse Museum collection.

Detroit’s Shadow by Anne Mondro, winner of the Powerhouse Museum International Lace Award, is featured in Love Lace
Detroit’s Shadow by Anne Mondro, winner of the Powerhouse Museum International Lace Award, is featured in Love Lace.

Influential fashion bloggers Mya Arifin and Delina Darusman-Gala feature in Faith, fashion, fusion: Muslim women's style in Australia
Influential fashion bloggers Mya Arifin and Delina Darusman-Gala feature in Faith, fashion, fusion: Muslim women's style in Australia


Aunt Clara’s Quilt (detail), Ginkin, New South Wales, 1890-1915, Powerhouse Museum collection.