Powerline Spring 2004

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POWERLINE+the magazine of the powerhouse museum spring 04

125 years


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+ 02 powerline spring 04

On 17 September 1879 the

Sydney International Exhibition

opened in the Garden Palace.

It was a showcase of invention

and industry from around the

world. The exhibition was so

popular that the government of

the day bought many of the

key exhibits to establish the

Technological, Industrial and

Sanitary Museum. Thus the

Powerhouse Museum, as we

know it today, was born.

In this special anniversary

issue of Powerline, Dr

Kimberley Webber provides

fascinating information about

our beginnings (starting on

page 17), as a precursor to the

publication of the Museums

history, which she is co-editing

with Professor GraemeDavison, in May 2005.

Our 125th anniversary

celebrations begin this month

with a free Weekend Festival

for families followed by an

exciting seven-month program

of events and exhibitions.

O2 From the director

03 125 years

04 Power picks

06 New events: d-factory

07 New exhibitions: Pathways through paradise

08 New exhibitions: Bright flowers

10 New exhibitions: The curious economist

12 Coming soon: the magic of Middle-earth

13 Members news

14 Members calendar

16 Members scene

17 Celebrating 125 years: milestones in our history

21 Our historic transport collection

22 Looking back: memories of our past

24 From the archives: the collector

22 Observe: walking on the moon

23 Corporate partners

24 New exhibitions at a glance

While we can justifiably feel a

sense of achievement in

preserving and telling the story

of the people of New South

Wales over the past 125 years,

the Powerhouse has never

been a parochial museum.

From the outset we have

collected, exhibited and

interpreted artefacts from

across the country and around

the world and sought to place

our experience as a

community in a wider context.

In recent years we have

reached into our history to

record the achievements of

the original inhabitants and

reached out to different

communities to show their

unique contributions to our

society. The Beirut to Baghdad

exhibition, which recently

opened in our Australian

Communities gallery, is

sourced almost entirely from

the Museums collection of

objects from Syria, Lebanon,

Palestine, Jordan and Iraq. It

takes us back to the early

TRUSTEES

Dr Nicholas G Pappas,

President

Dr Anne Summers AO,

Deputy President

Mr Mark Bouris

Ms Trisha Dixon

Mr Andrew Denton

Ms Susan Gray

Professor Ron Johnston

Ms Margaret Seale

Mr Anthony Sukari

SENIOR MANAGEMENT

Dr Kevin Fewster AM, Director

Jennifer Sanders, Deputy Director,

Collections and Exhibitions

Mark Goggin, Associate Director,

Programs and Commercial Services

Michael Landsbergen, Associate

Director, Corporate Services

Kevin Sumption, Associate Director,

Knowledge and Information

Management

years of the Museum, when the

first objects from this region

were acquired. The Druze silver

collection, for instance, was

purchased in 1887. The

Museum has collaborated with

the growing population of

Arab-Australians to provide a

new interpretation of this

collection. As we enter our

125th year, this is just one

illustration of the Museums

extraordinarily rich and diverse

collecting history and how we

can employ it today.

Our challenge, as we look to

the future, is to continue to

record, collect and display the

history of the states movable

heritage with the foresight and

vision of our forebears. This, in

turn, will ensure the Museum isable to continue to develop

fascinating and relevant

exhibitions and programs,

based on our own collections,

well into the future.

Kevin Fewster AM

Director

contentsissue 75

from the

director

THE FIRST LOCOMOTIVE TO RUN INNSW WAS DONATED TO THE MUSEUMIN 1884. THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN INTHE SHEDS AT THE DOMAIN WHERETHE MUSEUMS COLLECTION WASHOUSED IN THE LATE 1880S. JOSEPHMAIDEN, THE MUSEUMS FIRSTCURATOR, IS ON THE RIGHT. LOCONO 1 REMAINS ONE OF OUR MOSTTREASURED EXHIBITS.PHOTO FROM THE POWERHOUSEMUSEUM ARCHIVES.

Powerline is produced by the Print Media Department

of the Powerhouse Museum

PO Box K346, Haymarket NSW 1238

Editor: Judith Matheson

Editorial coordinator: Deborah RenaudDesign: Trigger

Photography: Powerhouse Museum unless otherwise stated.

Every effort has been made to locate owners of copyright for the images in

this publication. Any inquiries should be directed to the Rights and

Permissions Officer, Powerhouse Museum.

ISSN 1030-5750 Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

+

Where to find us

Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Darling Harbour, Sydney

Opening hours 10.00 am 5.00 pm every day (except Christmas

Day). School holiday opening hours 9.30 am 5.00 pm

Contact details

Postal address: PO Box K346, Haymarket NSW 1238

Telephone (02) 9217 0111,

Infoline (02) 9217 0444, Education (02) 9217 0222

The Powerhouse Museum, part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

also incorporating Sydney Observatory, is a NSW government cultural institution.

www.powerhousemuseum.com

SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER 2004

+

AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF OUR PLACE:INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA NOWIN THE NEWCULTURAL CENTRE AT THE BENAKIMUSEUM IN ATHENS ON 1 JULY 2004.


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from powerhouse tomuseum

celebratewith us

Our 125th celebrations kick off

with a free weekend festival on

25-26 September with activities

for all the family.

Stroll through a recreated

1870s garden promenade

which celebrates the Garden

Palace, the proposed site of

the original Museum. Part

installation and part

performance, this living

installation, which is on display

for two weeks only,

incorporates magnificent

plants, flowers and evocativesounds.

You can also see an eclectic

collection of curators favourite

objects from the stores

including treasures and

innovations from our past in

the Brought to lightdisplay.

Find out what goes on behind

the scenes with tours to areas

normally off limits to the public.

Hear ghost stories and

legends and visit haunted

sites in the Museums vast

buildings. Our special

discovery trail will take kids on

a hunt through the Museum for

the elephant that survived the

Garden Palace fire. For moreinformation, go to our website


When I was a boy in Matraville,

the trams that rumbled into

town along Anzac Parade drew

their electricity from a plant in

Ultimo. Its boilers generated

most of the power for the trams

that served Sydneys eastern

and southern suburbs.

Then Sydney switched to buses

at the beginning of the 60s and

the tram sheds at Bennelong

Point made way for the Opera

House. There wasnt much usefor the old power station in

Harris Street. Its vast girders,

hoppers and roof-beams

mouldered away for 20 years

under layers of dust and

pigeon-droppings while, across

the road, the Museum of

Applied Arts and Sciences

as we called it then guarded

its treasures in a baroque old

barley-sugar structure

belonging to the Sydney

Technical College. I used to

climb its polished cedar

staircases to inspect its

jumbled wares the famousStrasburg clock model and,

most modern of marvels, the

transparent woman, her internal

plastic secrets lit by mysterious

bulbs and coils of fluorescent

piping.

Then Neville Wran decided that

the crumbling, over-crowded

museum should move into the

huge empty power house

where the boilers and turbines

had been. New structures were

added; and, as Minister for

Heritage, I watched over the

final stages of construction

before the Museums re-opening in 1988. It was

designed by Lionel

Glendenning, one of many

great talents who worked in the

Government Architects Branch

of the old Department of Public

Works. So today, whenever I

visit the Powerhouse, I think

how much our life owes to

Sydneys old trams. With the

passing of the tramway era we

gained a beautiful opera house

and a new museum. No

heritage minister, no arts

minister could ask for more

from public transport.

Bob Carr

Premier of NSW and

Minister for the Arts

125

yea

rs+

OUR 125 YEARS SPECIAL FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS OURLONG AND FASCINATING HISTORY. TURN TO PAGE 17.

AT THE GALA DINNER FOR THEOPENING OF THE POWERHOUSE INMARCH 1988 WERE (FROM LEFT)ELSIE AND FRED MILLAR (THENCHAIRMAN OF PATRONS), ROBYNAND LINDSAY SHARP (MUSEUMDIRECTOR), LADY AND SIR NINIANSTEPHEN (GOVERNOR GENERAL),NEVILLE WRAN (CSIRO CHAIRMANAND FORMER NSW PREMIER) ANDJILL WRAN, HELENA AND BOB CARR(NSW MINISTER FOR PLANNING &ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE) ANDMALCOLM KING (PRESIDENT OFTRUSTEES).

THE ULTIMO POWER STATION ABOUT 1920 (TOP) AND A VIEW OF THE ENGINE HOUSEABOUT 1900. THIS SPACE NOW HOUSES THE STEAM REVOLUTIONEXHIBITION.

The Premier of NSW and Minister for the

Arts, Bob Carr, shares his thoughts andrecollections of the Museum.

Turn to page 22 to read more recollections of our past.


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ourindustrialheritage

CANNON FIRING BY THE 71ST REGIMENT OF FOOT AT IRONFESTIN LITHGOW. PHOTO BY ANDREW WILSON PHOTOGRAPHY.

Quong Tart was the best known Chinese-born entrepreneur in NSW, a man wholived comfortably in two worlds.

The Quong Tart Centenary

Conference, held at the

Powerhouse Museum in July,

ended a year-long celebration of

the life and work of Quong Tart

(1850-1903).

An eccentric, a philanthropist, a

fine cricketer, and successful

tea merchant, Quong Tarts most

famous tea rooms were the

Elite Hall and Tea Rooms in the

Queen Victoria Market. He was

a respected member of

Sydney society. The

conference also explored

Quong Tarts time on the

goldfields and in Sydney and

his role as a social

campaigner.

After a successful showing at

the Powerhouse Museum, the

exhibition Sport: more than

heroes and legendshas been

packed up ready for an

extensive national tour to

Melbourne, Perth and

Brisbane. Sportreturns to

Melbourne in 2006 where it

will be installed in the newly

refurbished MCG Museum as

part of the Commonwealth

Games cultural program.

Pipe bands, art displays,

street theatre, marching

colonial soldiers, cannon fire

and the roar of the crowd as

galloping horses connect at

speed, were just some of the

attractions of Ironfest a

celebration of industrial

heritage held in Lithgow for

the past five years.

Ironfest, which attracts over

5000 people from across the

state, promotes Lithgows

leading role in the early

production of iron and steel in

Australia and showcases the

array of heritage sites around

the town, including the Blast

Furnace site, the State Mine

Heritage Park and Eskbank

House, built by the owner of

the first coal mine.

This year the Powerhouse

Museum joined the festival

and presented a display of

model steam engines and

ironwork relating to the early

days of the Technological

Museum. The models includedfactory and marine engines of

different types, a finely

detailed beam engine

powering a mine winch,

traction engines, a steam

hammer and a steamroller. To

provide some action, three of

the engines were running on

compressed air. A selection of

toy steam engines added

colour to the display.

Examples of blacksmiths' work

included a banksia

painstakingly made by Alfred

Amos, and a waratah, both

purchased by the Museum in

1893; and a group of full-size

and miniature tools donated

by their maker, Albert Arnold,

in 1929.

This tour is one of the biggest

undertaken by the

Powerhouse Museum. The

travelling exhibition contains

250 objects and 13

interactives, which will fill three

semi-trailers. Highlights

include Olympic memorabilia,

from Betty Cuthberts medals

and Murray Roses swimsuit to

Cathy Freemans Sydney 2000

running suit.

QuongTarts lifeand times

sport on the road

QUONG TART OUTSIDE HIS TEAROOMS. PHOTO COURTESY OF TART-MCEVOYPAPERS PR 6/26/14, SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIAN GENEALOGISTS.

BETTY CUTHBERT AT THE 1956MELBOURNE OLYMPICS.PHOTO COURTESY NEWSPIX.


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tracking footprints

This is one of the first ever

Hydrogen Alpha photos of the

Transit of Venus, taken by

Sydney Observatory

Education Officer, Geoff Wyatt.

It shows Venus just after

second contact, when the

planet is fully inside the disk

of the sun. It also shows the

black drop effect, which

many observers talked about

seeing, including James Cook

in 1769 from Tahiti and H C

Russell in 1874 from Sydney

Observatory.This optical effect makes the

Sun's surface seem to bend in

slightly towards Venus, giving

it a tear-drop appearance,

says Geoff. For all the team at

ecotude: changing your

ecological attitudeis a new

website for schools which

examines their use of

resources. Ecological

sustainability is an issue that

affects everyone in Australia.

Schools are being encouraged

to look more closely at how

they use their resources and

the Museum is proud to

contribute to this effort with

the launch of ecotude.

The heart of ecotudeis a

calculator that poses a series

of questions and then makes

an estimate of the schools

ecological footprint the total

amount of land disturbed by

activities at the school. The

ecotudecalculator is an

influential tool that can help

students think about the

impact their school has both

inside and beyond. ecotude

includes an auditing tool kit

which helps students identify,

measure and understand whatis happening within their

school. Students are

encouraged to take action to

reduce the size of their

schools footprint and to revisit

the website to track progress.

The eco'tude website was

funded through the Australian

Government's Environmental

Education Grants Program

administered by the Australian

Government Department of

the Environment and Heritage.

Visit ecotude at

www.powerhousemuseum.com/ecotude

Michael van Tiel

transitof venus8 june 2004

K

Sydney Observatory it was

exciting to observe, not just a

spectacular event, but one

seen by our most famous

astronomer H C Russell 130

years ago.

The photo was taken with a

Nikon Coolpix 4500 donated

by Maxwell Optical Industries

and was connected to our

Coronado Sky Max 60 Solar

telescope. Sadly I did not

record the f number or

exposure as I was too excited

and enjoying the event tomake notes! Geoff recently

won the David Malin award for

photography with this shot.

A traditional Indigenous

Smoking Ceremony was

performed at the Museum on 4

June 2004 to farewell the

objects for the exhibition Our

place: Indigenous Australia now,

headed for the Greek Cultural

Olympiad in the newly

constructed Cultural Centre at

the Benaki Museum in Athens.

Powerhouse staff travelling to

Athens to install the exhibition

were also smoked. Pictured

below is Indigenous Elder Max

Eulo, performing this ancient

ceremony. The exhibition is

pictured on page 20.

smokingceremony

TRANSIT OF VENUS.PHOTO BY GEOFF WYATT.

FROM THE ECOTUDEWEBSITE. IMAGE COURTESYOF MASSMEDIA STUDIOS.


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D FACTORY IS A HUB FOR CONTEMPORARY DESIGN DEBATEAND AN EXCITING NEW AFTER-HOURS DESTINATION.

British author and trend

forecaster Martin Raymond

describes the d-factor as the

taste, smell, shape or even an

intangible quality embedded

in a design that makes you

smile, sigh or think, yes, thats

for me! These designs are

sure winners because the d-

factor is the very thing that

makes us talk about it or

connect to it in other

words, it makes it sticky!*

Thinking about what makesdesign sticky is one thing

having a place to talk about it

is another. Enter d factory. We

wanted to create a forum

where cross-disciplinary

conversations could take

place: architects talking to

fashion designers talking to

interior designers, talking to

product designers and so on.

We wanted to hear

conversations that were

engaging, stimulating, and

challenging.

Modelled on a similar event

held at the Victoria & AlbertMuseum in London, d factory

is an alternative to the

traditional theatre-style

lecture. Using the talents of

raconteur Nell Schofield,

d factory invited three

designers to chat about

design in a relaxed club-like

environment. This way, people

are able to enjoy a drink after

work or uni, listen to the

sounds of local DJs and

spend time with other people

who are passionate about

design.

d factory is nurtured and

supported by a team ofpeople including the

University of New South Wales

Rina Bernabei and Berto

Pandolfo and Space

Furnitures Heidi Dokulil. These

design professionals have

injected enormous creative

energy and enthusiasm into

the event.

The first d factory evening

celebrated the Museum's

major Sydney Design Week

exhibition Contemporary

silver: made in Italy. Host Nell

Schofield was joined by retail

fashion phenomenon, BelindaSeper and design dynamos,

Berto Pandolfo and Marco

Volpato. They discussed the

influence of Italian design on

fashion, architecture, interior

and product design. DJ Sir

Robbo filled the air with the

sounds of 60s and 70s funky

lounge music and the evening

included special presentations

by students including Museum

of the ordinaryby graphic

design students from Hornsby

TAFE Design Centre and the

results of the Sydney Design

Week Masterclass with Tom

Kovac.d factory will be a monthly

event combining music,

entertainment, audiovisual

displays, installations and

debate. We hope that this new

event will invigorate Sydneys

design calendar and engage

young design audiences.

Lily Katakouzinos,

Education Officer

For more details go to:


/dfactory/

*The tomorrow people: future consumersand how to read them, Martin Raymond,

2003, London: Financial Times PrenticeHall.

discover the d factor

Bright Flowers: textiles andceramics of Central Asia(SEE STORY PAGE 8)

Christina Sumner

and Guy Petherbridge

160 PAGES;ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR

RRP PAPERBACK $39.95/ MEMBERS $35.95;HARDCOVER $55.00/ MEMBERS $49.50

[AVAILABLE MID SEPTEMBER]

Our Place:Indigenous Australia now

Steve Miller (ed)

Published in conjunction with the Our

placeexhibition for the Cultural

Olympiad of the Athens 2004 Olympic

Games, this book celebrates the

continuity and innovation in Indigenous

art and culture. A co-production from

the Powerhouse Museum and Museum

Victoria.

112 PAGES WITH OVER 100 ILLUSTRATIONS;BI-LINGUAL ENGLISH AND GREEK

RRP $32.95/SPECIAL MEMBERS PRICE$26.95

Pathways through paradise:oriental rugs fromAustralian collections(SEE STORY OPPOSITE PAGE)

Oriental Rug Society

72 PAGES; ILLUSTRATEDIN COLOUR AND B&W

RRP $24.95/ MEMBERS $22.45

[AVAILABLE MID SEPTEMBER] NE

WR

ELEASESFROM

POWERHOUSEP

UBLISHING

Remember!Mem

bersreceive10%

discountonalltitlesfromt

hePowerhouseShopandmailorder

Powerhouse books are available

from the Powerhouse Shop, goodbookstores and by mailorder. For more

information or to order contact

Powerhouse Publishing on (02) 92170129

or email [email protected]

www.powerhousemuseum.com/publish


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Pathways through paradise:

oriental rugs from Australian

collectionsis a visually

stunning exhibition that

comprises about 60 rugs andnomadic trappings, from the

traditional rug-weaving areas

of Central and Western Asia.

The exhibition explores the

social context of these rugs,

which are mostly from the 19th

century, by grouping them

according to geography and

how they were made. It also

illustrates the pathways of

design and colour that link

them. A beautiful full-colour

book will accompany the

exhibition with over 40

illustrations plus several

informative essays.

The exhibition appeals to both

the general visitor, whose

knowledge of oriental rugs

may be limited, and rug

enthusiasts from Australia and

overseas who will be visiting

Sydney for ICOC Down Under,

the Regional International

Conference on Oriental

Carpets (Powerhouse Museum

16-19 September 2004).

Jointly curated by the Oriental

Rug Society of NSW and the

Powerhouse Museum,

Pathways through paradisefeatures rugs from mostly

private collections, several

little-known rugs from the

Queensland Art Gallery, The

Art Gallery of South Australia

and The National Gallery of

Victoria as well as the

Powerhouse Museums better

known collection. The ORS,

which was established in 1980,

was the first organisation to

become an associate of the

Powerhouse. It has

collaborated on many projects

since then, including the

successful 1983 exhibition

Unravelling the rug puzzle.

pathways of design

PRIZED BY COLLECTORS FROM PLATO TO WILLIAM MORRIS,THE RUGS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL ASIA ARE ONE OFTHE WORLDS GREAT CULTURAL TREASURES.

Many of the rugs on display

have extraordinary histories.

The Trinitarias carpet, on loan

from the National Gallery of

Victoria, is of monumentalproportions (1044 x 336 cm).

Apparently north Indian in

origin, it resided in the

Convent of the Trinitarias Del

Calzas of the Calle Lope de

Vega in Madrid from the 17th

century. It was later sold to the

Spanish Gallery in London

after being exhibited at the

World Fair in Seville in 1928.

After a sojourn in Canada

during World War II, it was

acquired by Templeton and

Co, Glasgow, which

reproduced the design in its

chenille carpets.

The Polonaise carpet (267 x

164 cm), from the Art Gallery

of South Australias William

Bowmore collection, came

from a private collection in

France. It was subsequently

acquired by a London art

dealer who sold it to William

Bowmore. In two cloud-band

motifs, an inscription bearing

the name Yacob appears in

classical Armenian lettering.

These previously undetected

inscriptions came to light

when the rug was cleaned in

the 1980s. They add weight tothe suggestion that it was

woven in New Julfa, an

Armenian settlement created

by Shah Abbas near Esfahan

(in what is now Iran), during

the early 1600s.

The exhibition includes two

examples of Turkmen womens

great weaving skills in the

form of tent storage bags

known as torbasorjovals.

These items are extremely fine

in their weave and exhibit the

rich, saturated madder reds

typical of the best of all

Turkmen weavings. These

domestic bags were treasured

family heirlooms upon which

their creators lavished their

finest and most exquisite

work.

Spectacular and unusual

objects from the Powerhouse

collection include the Eagle

Kazak rug from the Karabagh

area of the Caucasus.

Characterised by bold

geometric patterns and

vibrant colour, Caucasian rugs

have long been collected

because of their great artistic

qualities. The Victoria and

Albert Museum (V&A) in

London acquired the greater

part of its Caucasian

collection in the 1880s and

Caucasian rugs gave

inspiration to much 20th

century abstract art. Henri

Matisse was greatly influenced

by such rugs and William

Morris advised the V&A on its

acquisitions.

The Borjalu Kazak rug, from a

private collection, is perhaps

the archetypal example of this

style. Dazzling latch-hooked

borders appear to slide

beneath a central field

containing two monumental

medallions. The composition

can be seen as a rug floating

within a rug. The effect is

accentuated by the weaversmastery of space and

proportion and a rich palette

of aubergine, yellow, green,

red, blue and ivory.

The exhibition bookPathways

through paradise: oriental rugs

from Australian collections is

available from mid September.

See opposite page for details.

Ross Langlands

Oriental Rug Society of NSW

Ross Langlands is co-curator of theexhibition with Ian Perryman.

For more information about ICOC DownUnder contact conference coordinatorRachel Miller at [email protected]. Daytickets will be available if the conference isnot fully subscribed.BORJALU KAZAK RUG (200 X 183 CM) FROM THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS ABOUT

1850, PRIVATE COLLECTION. MARASALI PRAYER RUG (150 X 122 CM) FROM THENORTHERN CAUCASUS ABOUT 1870, PRIVATE COLLECTION.


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Bright flowersis, as its name suggests, a garden of

colour and delight. The objects on display are

dazzling: vivid embroidered textiles and glazed

ceramics decorated with a fabulous array of flowers

and blossoms, buds, sprays and leafy garlands. A

representative selection of costume, jewellery and

decorative metalwork adds breadth and context. The

beauty, strength and vitality of these traditional arts,

selected from state museum collections in three of

the Central Asian stans Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and

Kazakhstan constitute a rare treat. Hardly ever do

these newly independent nations allow their precious

cultural heritage to leave Central Asia.

Traditionally produced by the urban people of the

region, as opposed to pastoral nomads, the textiles

and ceramics on display in Bright flowersare the

products of communites that have coalesced around

the water sources of the oases. The embroideries are

made from silk and cotton, for which settled

agriculture is necessary, while glazed ceramics

depend on the high heat of established kilns.

Generally referred to as suzanis, from the Persian

word suzanmeaning needle, the embroideries

chosen for Bright flowersare large, colourful and

exquisitely worked dowry textiles. They were

traditionally made at home by women in preparation

for their daughters weddings. Girls, who married intheir mid teens, learned to sew as children and were

expected to take a collection of these special textiles

to their new husbands home. The embroideries had

many purposes, decorative, functional and symbolic.

As interior decoration, the impact of suzanisis self-

evident. They served as bed covers, niche curtains,

prayer mats, pillow covers and tablecloths, as well as

demonstrating the brides needlework skills and her

economic value to her new family. Through the

flowers and other motifs embroidered on them and

their function as coverings and canopies, suzanis

were symbols of protection and fertility.

Glazed ceramics comprise the other half of Bright

flowers. The soft and hard materials are linked bytheir use of flowering ornament, but while suzanis

were made by women, glazed ceramics were the

work of men. The technology of glazing ceramics was

introduced into western Central Asia in the eighth

century by Arab traders moving eastwards from what

is now Iran, about the same time as the Islamic

religion. Like Islam, the technology spread rapidly

and, by the tenth century, glazed ceramics in a style

similar to those from ancient Samarkand (Afrasiab)

were being produced far to the northeast, in what is

now Kazakhstan. It is a measure of the strength and

durability of the glazed-ceramic tradition that,

although seriously eroded by the introduction of

factory-made chinaware during 70 years of Soviet

rule, it endures today. The production of suzanisand

other traditional crafts, such as decorative metalwork,ganch (plaster carving) and wood carving, also

survives and is, in fact, enjoying a government-

sponsored resurgence.

Central Asia is situated north of India and east of Iran,

south of Russia and west of China, in the midst of the

great Eurasian landmass. In the past the region was

host to the great east-west Silk Roads trading

network, to massive nomadic incursions, to changing

hegemonies, to great architectural, artistic and

scientific achievements. The Central Asian people are

the inheritors of this rich history and the myriad

ideologies and aesthetic influences brought by it.

Generally understood as the five independent states

of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan

and Uzbekistan, which were liberated from Soviet rule

by the dissolution of the USSR in the early 1990s,

Central Asia and its ethnically diverse peoples are

now demonstrating a heightened commitment to

nationalism and firmly establishing their autonomy.

Bright flowersis the fruit of nearly five years research

and development, the result of the Powerhouse

Museums commitment to Asia-related programs and

the Asia-Pacific region. Just after the opening of

Beyond the Silk Road: arts of Central Asia, which

showcased the Museums Central Asian collection, I

travelled to Central Asia. The aim of that first journey

was to establish relationships with museum

colleagues, see their collections, and evaluate the

possibility of a collaborative exhibition project. As a

textile specialist, I particularly wanted to see theirtextile holdings, having long ago fallen in love with

the fabulous embroideries, ikat silks, rugs and

trappings of the region.

garden of delight

story_CHRISTINA SUMNER, CURATOR DECORATIVE ARTS AND DESIGN

A NEW EXHIBITION PROVIDES A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO

EXPERIENCE THE TEXTILES AND CERAMICS OF CENTRAL ASIA.


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10/30

the curious economist

19TH-CENTURY SCIENTIST AND ECONOMIST WILLIAM STANLEYJEVONS CONCEIVED MOST OF HIS IDEAS IN COLONIAL SYDNEY.story_LINDSAY BARRETT* AND MATTHEW CONNELL, EXHIBITION CURATORS

ABOVE: THE VIEW FROM THE MINT IN MACQUARIE STREET, OVERLOOKING HYDE PARK, IN THE 1850S. OPPOSITE PAGE: VIEW OF THE CITY FROM THENORTH SHORE. INSET: PORTRAIT OF THE ECONOMIST AS A YOUNG MAN, TAKEN DURING HIS TIME IN SYDNEY. PHOTOS FROM THE JOHN RYLANDSUNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF MANCHESTER.



11/30


Born in Liverpool, England, William Stanley Jevons

arrived in New South Wales in 1854 at the age of 19

to work at the Sydney Mint. The gold rush was in full

swing and his job was to assess the quality and

purity of the precious metal from the diggings.

This work put him in a unique position at the

intersection of geology, chemistry, economics and

industry. But Jevons didnt just confine his interests to

these fields. He enthusiastically embraced the

potential for a whole range of studies that the colony

of New South Wales provided. These included his

study and collection of local plants; documenting the

geology of the Sydney basin; writing the first study of

Australian and New Zealand weather patterns and

researching cloud formation. He also tackled political

economy through his groundbreaking social surveys

of Sydney and Goulburn and speculations on the

economics of railway construction. At the same time,

he also used the new medium of photography to

make hundreds of pictures of the life and landscape

around him.

The new city certainly gave him the time, the money

and the intellectual freedom to work across a range

of disciplines as well as the opportunity to documentthe city itself. During his five years in Sydney Jevons

kept a detailed journal and diaries, and sent regular

letters to members of his family describing the

environment, his activities, his ideas, and innermost

thoughts. Jevons later said that nearly all his ideas

came to him during the period he spent in Sydney.

A new exhibition to mark the 150th anniversary of

Jevons arrival in Sydney will consider how this young

man, in this newly developing city, came to formulate

the initial conceptions of a number of todays

prominent social and scientific discourses. In

essence, Jevons theories about value reflect a

change in the dominant industrial forms of the 19th

century from the stationary technologies of the

steam engine and factory production to the mobile

technologies of the railways and the telegraph.

While his name is not well known today, Jevons is

credited with having made economics a

mathematical discipline, and he is regarded as one

of the founders of the form of neo-classical

economics that dominates our current economic

thinking and political discourse. Additionally, in 1869

he invented what is conceivably the worlds first

machine for doing logical inference, anticipating the

contemporary computer by 100 years.

The exhibition includes Jevons telescope, along with

assaying equipment from the Mint (includingbalances) and examples of the coins that were

produced there. A substantial collection of his

photographs, most of which have never been shown

before, will be on display together with photographic

equipment of the kind used by Jevons. Produced at a

time when photography was in its infancy, they

include extensive views of Sydney, the Macquarie

Street Mint, Middle Harbour, Double Bay and Bondi,

the goldfields near Braidwood, as well as some of the

earliest interior photographs of work practice and

domestic life taken in Australia.

One of the most exciting objects is Jevons original

logic machine or Logic Piano. This will be a rare

opportunity for Australian audiences to view this

extraordinary 19th century proto-computer, on loan

from the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford.

A symposium at the Powerhouse Museum on 29-30

October 2004 will examine Jevons work in Sydney

and other aspects of colonial life in New South Wales.

Speakers include historians of economics, Jevons

scholars and colonial history experts. The symposium

will appeal to anyone with an interest in economics,

photography, history, social sciences or logic. For

more information, contact Matthew Connell on (02)

9217 0135.

* Dr Lindsay Barrett is a Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at the Universityof Western Sydney and is guest curator of the exhibition.

The curious economist: William Stanley Jevons in Sydney is supported bythe Reserve Bank of Australia, NSW Treasury, Arab Bank Australia, MonashUniversity and the NSW Department of Lands.


12/30


The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy The

Exhibitionis a bold and innovative museum

experience that has attracted record crowds

internationally with a beguiling mix of film footage,

props, costumes, artefacts and special effects from

the hugely successful movies.

Developed over two years by the Museum of New

Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in conjunction with New

Line Cinema, the producers of the film trilogy, theexhibition has since travelled to London, Singapore,

Boston and will soon arrive in Sydney.

Te Papa is thrilled to bring to international audiences

the wonderful, ground-breaking creativity of director

Peter Jackson and his team, says Te Papas Chief

Executive Dr Seddon Bennington. Its a fascinating

story on so many levels and says much about the

great talent in this country.

The exhibition explores both the thematic and

technological aspects of the films. Visitors are

transported to the world of Middle-earth where they

are met by the films main characters including Frodo

and his hobbit companions, the wizards and other

magical creatures, the Black Riders, and the

monstrous creations of evil, all dressed in the actualcostumes used in the films. An immersive encounter

with the One Ring, the central icon of the films, takes

place in a dark, atmospheric space where the faces

and voices of the storys main characters appear

urging Frodo to use or destroy the One Ring or return

it to its master.

Visitors can also experience the film trilogys cutting-

edge technology and special effects through

interactive demonstrations. One section explains how

the filmmakers made actors appear to be hobbit or

wizard-sized using an ingenious mix of trickphotography, forced perspective sets and props

made at different scales. Find out for yourself by

being photographed hobbit-sized in a set from the

film. In another section the prosthetics which

transformed the actors into character, including

hobbit hands and feet, are on display.

Costumes on display include Arwens riding outfit,

Galadriels stunning dress and Gandalfs robes plus

weaponry and armour belonging to Arwen, Gandalf,

Frodo and Aragorn. There are also interviews with the

cast, crew and director Peter Jackson.

The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy The

Exhibitionopens at the Powerhouse Museum in late

December 2004.

visit a magical world

COMING SOON: A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE THEFANTASTIC CINEMATIC WORLD OF MIDDLE-EARTH.

CAVE TROLL, PART OF THE LORD OFTHE RINGS MOTION PICTURETRILOGY THE EXHIBITIONAT TEPAPA, NEW ZEALAND.

Developed and presented by the Museum of New Zealand

Te Papa Tongarewa in partnership with New Line Cinema.

This exhibition was made possible through the support of

the New Zealand Government. NLP, Inc


13/30


14/30

september

october

november

Thursday 16 SeptemberExhibition launch: Bright flowers

Central Asia has a rich and colourful history matched

by exquisite traditional crafts. Join us at the launch of

Bright flowersfor a rare opportunity to experience the

regions spectacular embroidered textiles and glazed

ceramics.

6.00 9.00 pm, includes refreshments

Cost: $35 adult (members only)

Saturday 9 OctoberWorkshop: secrets of movie makeup

Be a horror movie star for a day with this gruesome

workshop for 10-15 year olds. Learn the tricks of the

trade for creating special effects makeup and props.

1.00 4.00 pm, includes refreshments

Cost: $20 member child

Tuesdays 2 + 9 November

SoundHouse course: digital photographyJoin SoundHouse educator Mike Jones for a two-

day course that explores the breadth of digital

photography from composition, framing and getting

the most from your camera; to digital image

manipulation and Photoshop. Bring your own digital

camera. For more information [email protected]

6.00 9.00pm

Cost: $100 members /$130 guests

Saturday 6 November

Meet the young scientistsThe Intel Young Scientist program is an annual award

program that aims to encourage an interest in science

among primary and secondary school students across

New South Wales. Each year the winning entries are

displayed at the Museum. View the 2004 entries, chat

with past winners and meet the judges.

1.00 3.00 pm

Cost: members free/ guests $10

Saturday 11 SeptemberSydney Observatory: Time, measurement, exploration

Discover why timekeeping was vital to Australia's

history. Dr Nick Lomb, curator of astronomy, takes you

on a journey of famous explorers, including James

Cook and Mathew Flinders, and their clocks. Entry

includes telescope tour/viewing and 3-D Theatre

session. Bookings essential on (02) 9217 0485

10.00 am and 12 noon sessions

Cost: $8 members

spring 04

+

+

+ Tuesday 5 OctoberSydney Observatory: Time detectivesDevelop your investigation abilities and solve a 100-

year-old mystery. Learn new skills in chemistry, biology

and electronics. Explore the once-hidden history of the

Observatory. Cost includes all materials, lunch and

snacks. Bookings essential on (02) 9217 0485

9.30 am 4.30 pm. Suitable for 8-12 year olds

Cost: $90 members/$100 guests

Be among the first in Sydney to see a splendid collectionof textiles and ceramics from state museums in CentralAsia at the launch of Bright flowerson 16 September.++ 14 powerline spring 04


15/30


Saturday 18 SeptemberEvening in the Hunter Valley: Bimbadgen Estate Ball

Celebrate Spring in Saville at the annual Bimbadgen

Estate Ball, under a Spanish bell tower, overlooking

spectacular wine country, with a Spanish-influenced

menu and Bimbadgen wines. For enquiries and

bookings phone Angela Smith (02) 4998 4615 or email

[email protected]. Please quote your

Powerhouse Members number when booking.Venue: Bimbadgen Estate Winery, 790 McDonalds Road, Pokolbin, NSWCost : $140 (members only)

Saturday 16 OctoberTour: Sustainable house

Join Michael Mobbs on a tour of his sustainable terrace

house in inner-city Chippendale. See the materials and

products he used, find out his successes and the

mistakes, the cost, and what you can do to make your

house sustainable. Cameras welcome.

10.30 11.30 am

Cost: $15 members (payable one month in advance)

Sunday 14 November

The Doctor Who Club of Australia presents: The MaestrosAn audience with Doctor Whocomposers. Appearing

together for the first time, Tristram Cary, electronic

music pioneer, and Dudley Simpson, prolific composer

of music for Doctor Whoand Blake's 7, discuss their

work. Special guest is Matthew Kopelke from Back to

Reality Productions. Special screenings on the day.

10.30 am - 4.30 pm

Cost: $15 members/$20 guests

members+

how to book formembers events

Due to limited places, bookings are essential for

every event. Please ring the Members hotline on

(02) 9217 0600 to make your booking before you

send in payment. For events at SydneyObservatory, please ring (02) 9217 0485. Please

leave a message quoting your membership

number, what event you are booking for and the

number of members and guests. We will confirm

your booking.

Payment for members events

We accept: credit card payments by phone, fax or

mail; cheques; money orders; or cash at the level 4

entrance to the Museum. We pay for all events

once bookings are confirmed, so if you are unable

to attend your event, please let us know ASAP or

we will charge you to cover costs.

All events are held at the Powerhouse Museum

unless otherwise stated. All dates, times and

venues are correct at time of publication.

Members e-newsletter

If you would like to receive the regular Members

e-newsletter with updates on all new members

events please call (02) 9217 0600 or email

[email protected] with you membership

number and e-newsletter in the subject line.

EMBROIDERED NIMSUZANI(SMALL WALL HANGING) FROMGIJDUVAN NEAR BUKHARA, LATE 1800S, COLLECTION BUKHARA

STATE ART AND ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM, UZBEKISTAN; APOLLO12 ON THE LAUNCH PAD, PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA; THEKITCHEN OF MICHAEL MOBBS SUSTAINABLE HOUSE, PHOTOCOURTESY MICHAEL MOBBS; THE SPANISH BELL TOWER ATBIMBADGEN ESTATE; PHOTO COURTESY BIMBADGEN ESTATE; AVIEW OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL MUSEUM ABOUT 1890. PHOTOFROM THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM ARCHIVES.

Thursday 28 Octoberd-factory

Delve into design at d-factory, Sydneys coolest new

design destination. Hook up with others who are

passionate about design, have a drink and listen to

creative industry professionals from fashion, interiors

and architecture talk cutting-edge design.

6.00 9.00 pm

Cost: free

Saturday 25 SeptemberWine tasting: Bimbadgen Estate

Join us as the Museum throws open its doors for a free

weekend of festivities to celebrate our 125th anniversary.

Bimbadgen Estate will host an exclusive members wine

tasting in the Members Lounge. Try the special 125th

Anniversary 2003 Chardonnay and 2002 Shiraz.

2.00 4.00 pm

Cost: free (members only)

Friday 19th November

Sydney Observatory: Apollo 12 pizza nightIts been 35 years since the Apollo 12 mission to the

moon (see article page 26). Join us for a celebratory

viewing and night rocket launch.

7.30 9.30 pm

Cost: members $18 adult/ $12 child/concession/ $50 family (2A & 2C)

guests $22 adult/ $16 child/concession/ $65 family (2A & 2C)

Dont miss the spectacular garden promenade installation, for twoweeks only from 25 September, part of our 125th celebrations.

+


16/30


coming soon

membersscene

THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.PHOTO BY GEOFF WYATT.

Members were among the crowd that flocked to Sydney

Observatory on 8 June 2004 to witness a rare astronomical

event, the Transit of Venus.

PHOTOS BY SOUTHA BOURN

To celebrate the Lord of the

Rings Motion Picture Trilogy

the Exhibition, Powerhouse

members are offering the

opportunity for one lucky

member to win a holiday to

New Zealand, with flights

generously provided by Air

New Zealand.

See your summer issue of

Powerlinefor more details or

email [email protected]

and register for the

Powerhouse Members monthlye-bulletin to receive the latest

news on this and other great

Powerhouse Members

promotions.

And congratulations to

Powerhouse member Maria

Carey and family who were the

lucky winners of a fabulous

Sharp home entertainment

system valued at more than

$4000 in our Sport: more than

heroes and legends

competition.

ENJOYING THE TRANSIT WEREFROM LEFT: CARL SCULLY, NSWMINISTER FOR ROADS ANDHOUSING, PROFESSOR MARIEBASHIR AC, THE GOVERNOR OFNSW, AND JENNIFER SANDERS,DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THEPOWERHOUSE MUSEUM.

OBSERVATORY GUIDES EXPLAINTHE ASTRONOMICAL EVENT.

NIGHT GUIDE ANGELA MABEE.

DR NICK LOMB, CURATOR OFASTRONOMY AT SYDNEYOBSERVATORY, WITNESSING FIRSTCONTACT.

THE MEDIA CONVERGE ON THEOBSERVATORY FOR THE BIGEVENT.

SYDNEY OBSERVATORY MANAGERTONER STEVENSON (CENTRE)AND SPONSOR BRUCE REID(LEFT) TALK TO THE MEDIA.


17/30


The workingmans museum

IT WAS CONCEIVED FROM A TRADE FAIR AND BECAME A PLACEWHERE WORKING PEOPLE COULD DISCOVER THE SCIENCE OFEVERYDAY LIFE. 125 YEARS LATER WE LOOK BACK.

celebrating 125 years

story_KIMBERLEY WEBBER, SENIOR CURATOR AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

THIS IS A RARE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE INTERIOR OFTHE BROKEN HILL MUSEUM, ONE OF SEVERALREGIONAL BRANCHES OF THE TECHNOLOGICALMUSEUM. IT WAS ALSO AN ART GALLERY AND THISPHOTOGRAPH MAY HAVE BEEN TAKEN WHEN THEGOVERNOR GENERAL, LORD NORTHCOTE, OPENEDTHE EXHIBITION ON 11 OCTOBER 1904.COURTESY OF PHOTOGRAPHIC RECOLLECTIONS,BROKEN HILL


18/30


1879

The success of Australias first

international exhibition in

Sydneys Garden Palace

inspired the founding of a new

Museum intended to show

how available resources

animal, vegetable and mineral

were manufactured to

produce the necessities of

everyday life.

1893

One of the first purpose-built

technology museums in the

world, it was organised into a

strict hierarchy of objects with

minerals on the ground floor,

vegetables on the first floor

and animals on the second

floor. It reflected the ideas of

Maidens mentor, the English

philanthropist Thomas Twining,

who argued that the museum

of science and industry was

an essential tool for the

education of working people

in the science of everyday

life. One of the new Museums

most popular exhibits was the

Strasburg Clock model, madeby R B Smith and purchased

in 1890 for 700.

1914

International exhibitions

continued to occupy the

Museum. In 1914 it organised

the New South Wales court for

the Panama Pacific Exposition

in San Francisco. The Museum

sent exhibits of essential oils,

timbers, building and

ornamental stones, fish

models and sheep, a

collection Baker described as

a natty little lot and should

make a good show.

As the Museum was nearing

completion, a fire raged

through the Garden Palace

and thousands of objects

were lost. Under the direction

of the Museums Curator (the

equivalent of todays Director),

Joseph Henry Maiden, a new

collection was assembled and

on 15 December 1883 the

Technological, Industrial andSanitary Museum opened in

the former Agricultural Hall in

the Domain. Two of the

Museums most significant

objects, NSWs first

Locomotive (No 1) and the

Boulton and Watt steam

engine built in 1785, were

acquired during the 1880s.

1883

The Museum published

Flowering plants of New South

Wales, written by Maiden.

Research and publication

remained a priority of the

Museum for over half a

century. In 1900, Maidens

successor R T Baker said the

Museums aim was toincrease the knowledge of

some given subject, and to

diffuse this knowledge

amongst the general

population. In the early

decades research proceeded

along the three streams of

economic geology, botany

and zoology.

1895


THE MAGNIFICENT GARDEN PALACEIN SYDNEYS BOTANIC GARDENSABOUT 1880. IT LATER BURNT TO THEGROUND ALONG WITH MOST OF THENEW MUSEUMS EXHIBITS.

THE NEW MUSEUMS EMPHASIS ONTHE REAL OBJECT AROSE FROM THEBELIEF THAT WORKING MEN ANDWOMEN LEARNT MORE BYOBSERVATION THAN BY READINGTEXTS. TO THIS END IT WAS BUILTIMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THETECHNICAL COLLEGE AND OPENEDON 4 AUGUST 1893.

A VIEW OF THE 1879 SYDNEYINTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION HOUSEDIN THE GARDEN PALACE. THESEEXHIBITIONS WERE PRINCIPALLYTRADE FAIRS, AND THE NEW SOUTHWALES COURT, SHOWN HERE, WASTYPICAL WITH ITS LAVISH DISPLAYSOF RAW MATERIALS ANDMANUFACTURED GOODS.

THE THIRD FLOOR OF THE NEWMUSEUM WAS GIVEN OVER TOANIMAL PRODUCTS. BY 1895, ALFREDHAWKESWORTH, WHO ALSO TAUGHTWOOL CLASSING AT SYDNEYTECHNICAL COLLEGE, HADACCUMULATED OVER 7000SPECIMENS WITH THE HOPE OFENCOURAGING THE FURTHERDEVELOPMENT OF THE WOOLINDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA.

DEMONSTRATIONS OF WORKINGMACHINERY CHARACTERISED THEMUSEUM FROM ITS INCEPTION.ALTHOUGH LOOM DEMONSTRATIONSHAD TO BE SUSPENDED IN 1888BECAUSE OF OVERCROWDING IN THEMUSEUM, THEY RESUMED IN 1891WITH VICARS TEXTILE MILLS SENDINGALONG A MAN FOR THIS PURPOSETWICE A WEEK.

THIS ENGRAVING OF THE REDHONEYSUCKLE, BANKSIA SERRATA, ISFROM THE MUSEUMS PUBLICATION

FLOWERING PLANTS, WHICH WASBEAUTIFULLY PRINTED WITH FINEBOTANICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. MAIDENDESCRIBED THIS PLANT AS BEING AGOOD WORKING TIMBER ALSOUSED FOR WINDOW FRAMES.

In 1890 branch museums

opened in Bathurst, Goulburn,

West Maitland and Newcastle

with Albury in 1896 and BrokenHill following in 1901. Goulburn

and Broken Hill thrived, while

others suffered from neglect

by Sydney and disinterest at

home. In 1932 the Newcastle

branch museum had the

dubious honour of being

described as the worst

museum in the British Empire.

19011889

The government decided that

the educational interests of

the community would be

served best by transferring

management to the Technical

College. This decision would

have far reaching

consequences: four years

later the Museum left the city

to join the college in Ultimo

and for the next half century it

would be seen primarily as a

museum for working people.


19/30


1934

Inspired by the new wonder

manufacturing material

plastic the Museum

mounted the first

comprehensive display of its

applications. Curator Arthur de

Ramon Penfold believed there

was a great future for the

plastics industry in Australia

and in 1945 was sent on a

study tour of the United

States, Canada and Great

Britain. He returned with a

vision for a new plastics age

or what he called the organic

chemistry age there is no

limit to the wizardry.

Baker was keen to promote a

school of Australian design

using Australian motifs and

added extensively to the

collection. In 1915 he

published The waratah, a

book that not only analysed

the botanical properties of

this unique Australian plant

but demonstrated its broad

range of design applications.

The Museums interest in

applied arts was strengthened

in 1921 when shoemaker T H

Lennard donated hisextensive collection of

ceramics. Curator George

Hooper commented: To my

mind it is truly amazing that a

man in such humble

circumstances in life should

have been able to get

together so magnificent a

collection.

1921

During the war, the Museums

role as information bureaucame to the fore. Museum

scientists focused on finding

alternatives for chemicals and

other materials previously

imported from Germany and

Japan. They also addressed

problems such as mildew in

parachutes and the rot

proofing of sandbags. The

Museums most precious

exhibits were packed into

crates and sent out to the

country to be stored. Despite

the reduced displays and the

shortage of staff to upgrade

exhibits, museum attendancesincreased substantially: from

70,000 in 1940 to 128,000 four

years later. In 1942 the

Museum purchased the

extraordinary collection of

London shoemaker Joseph

Box, with shoes from around

the world dating from the 16th

to the 20th centuries.

1940

After over a half century of

disputed claims followed by

extensive negotiations, the

Deutsches Museum in Munich

transferred its collection of

aviation pioneer, Lawrence

Hargraves models, plans and

drawings to the Museum.

Hargrave always claimed his

offer of this collection to the

Sydney Museum had been

refused. In response the thenCurator, Baker, claimed they

had never been properly

offered and accused Hargrave

of gross disloyalty, nothing

short of ingratitude to his

native land and showing a

want of patriotism almost

unbelievable in an Australian. I

told him so before he died.

19671945

The Museums links with the

Technical College were finally

severed when parliament

passes the bill establishing

the Museum of Technology

and Applied Science. The Act

was proclaimed on 1 July 1946.

The Museum was now a

separate national institution

with a Board of Trustees and a

Director.

1954

Penfold made serious

attempts to modernise the

Harris Street building. He

introduced such innovations

as internally lit showcases,

linoleum on the floors and a

water cooler for visitors. More

significantly, he brought back

new ideas for exhibits from his

two overseas trips including a

display on the new technology

of television, the plastic

woman and a planetarium.

THE PLASTICS EXHIBITION OF 1934WAS HELD IN TURNER HALL.SHOWCASES CONTAINED EXAMPLESOF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OFPLASTICS, THEIR METHOD OFMANUFACTURE AND THEIRCOMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS. MUCHOF THE MATERIAL WASSUBSEQUENTLY ACQUIRED BY THEMUSEUM AND FORMED A PERMANENTDISPLAY ON NEW MATERIALS.

IN LONDON PENFOLD WITNESSED ANEARLY TELEVISION BROADCAST ANDBEGAN TALKING TOMANUFACTURERS ABOUT A DISPLAYOF THE NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR THEMUSEUM. BY THE 1950S THE MUSEUMWAS MAKING A SERIES OFTELEVISION LECTURES ABOUT THECOLLECTION, INCLUDING THESTRASBURG CLOCK MODEL. PHOTOBY GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE,COURTESY STATE LIBRARY OF NSW.

JACK WILLIS REGARDED THE RETURNOF THE HARGRAVE MODELS AND THECONSTRUCTION OF THE HARGRAVECOURT AS THE HIGHLIGHT OF HISCAREER. THE EXHIBITION WAS

OPENED IN 1967 BY THE MINISTERFOR LABOUR AND INDUSTRY, THEHON E A WILLIS, WHO IS SEEN HEREBEHIND THE PRESIDENT OF THEMUSEUMS TRUST, SIR NORMANRYDGE.

After the war, the direction of

the Museums research into

Australian eucalyptus oilchanged. Instead of collecting

leaves from the wild,

producers needed plantations

of eucalypts to farm. The

Museum therefore established

experimental plantations in a

number of sites, including the

then outer Sydney area of

Castle Hill.

1947

JACK WILLIS, THE MUSEUMS SENIORRESEARCH OFFICER (AND LATERDIRECTOR) INSPECTING EUCALYPTS

AT CASTLE HILL. DIFFERENT SPECIESWERE PLANTED TO TEST THERELIABILITY OF THEIR YIELDS ANDEXPERIMENTS CARRIED OUT AS TOTHE MOST SUITABLE EUCALYPTS FORCOMMERCIAL CULTIVATION.ALTHOUGH TODAY OBJECT STORESCOVER MUCH OF THE SITE, THEREMNANTS OF THE COMMERCIALPLANTINGS CAN STILL BE SEEN.

AFTER SUCCESSFULLY RAISINGMONEY FROM THE LIQUOR TRADESINDUSTRY, PENFOLD INSTALLED ASPITZ PLANETARIUM ON THE FIRSTFLOOR OF THE MUSEUM. THE FIRSTTO BE BROUGHT TO AUSTRALIA, ITBECAME A POPULAR MUSEUMATTRACTION FROM THE 1950S.


20/30


The former Tram Depot

opened to the public on 4

September 1981 giving a taste

of the treasures that would belater revealed in the

Powerhouse. An exhibition

gallery filled one end of the

building while stores,

workshops, conservation

laboratories and offices

occupied the rest. On 10

March 1988 the Powerhouse

Museum was officially opened.

19881979

In the 1970s museum

management was once againconsidering a new site and

new museum building, this

time next to Macquarie

University in Ryde. This option

was abandoned and on 13

August 1979, NSW Premier

Neville Wran announced that

the Ultimo Power House and

Tram Depot would be the

Museums new home. As he

ambitiously declared, it would

illustrate the whole scope of

human achievement [and]

be one of the greatest

attractions in the southern

hemisphere.

1997

The Museums interests in

astronomy were strengthenedin July 1982 when it took on

responsibility for Sydney

Observatory. A refurbishment

of the buildings was

undertaken in the 1990s and

in 1997 a new permanent

exhibition By the light of the

southern starsopened. Today

stargazers can observe the

night sky and astronomical

events through the

Observatorys telescopes.

The Museums first

international exhibition

opened in London at theVictoria & Albert Museum in

1989. Since then exhibitions

have gone to Tokyo, Beijing,

New York and, most recently,

Our place: Indigenous

Australia nowopened in

Athens as Australias

contribution to the 2004

Cultural Olympiad.

2004


THE NEW POWERHOUSE MUSEUMROSE FROM THE SHELL OF THE OLDULTIMO POWER HOUSE DURING THE1980S. IN ITS HEYDAY EARLY LASTCENTURY THE POWER HOUSE HADPROVIDED THE POWER SUPPLY FORSYDNEYS TRAMWAY SYSTEM

A VIEW OF THE OUR PLACEEXHIBITION, WHICH OPENED AT THEBENAKI CULTURAL CENTRE INATHENS ON 1 JULY AS PART OF THE2004 CULTURAL OLYMPIAD. PHOTO BYMALCOLM MCKERNAN.

AN ENTHUSIASTIC VISITOR LEARNSMORE ABOUT LOCO NO 1 WHENSTAGE ONE OF THE NEW MUSEUMOPENED IN 1981. THIS WAS THE FIRSTTIME THE ENGINE HAD BEEN ONPUBLIC DISPLAY IN THE MUSEUMSINCE 1893 (SEE FRONT COVER).

On the move: a history oftransport in Australia

Margaret Simpson

SEE STORY OPPOSITE PAGE160 PAGES; OVER 170 ILLUSTRATIONS INCOLOUR AND B&W

RRP $35.95/MEMBERS $32.35

[AVAILABLE OCTOBER]

Golden threads: the Chinese inregional NSW 1850-1950

Janis Wilton

Richly illustrated and with compelling

stories on Chinese people who came

to Australia in the period 1850-1950.

Published by the New England

Regional Museum in association with

Powerhouse Publishing and supported

by Migration Heritage Centre and NSW

Heritage Office.

132 PAGES WITH 200 ILLUSTRATIONS

RRP $34.95/ MEMBERS $31.45

Transit of Venus: the scientificevent that led Captain Cookto Australia

Dr Nick Lomb

Explains the science behind this rare

event. It looks at the 1769 transit

observed by Cook from Tahiti, and the

1874 transit observed by Sydney

Observatory. 24 pages with over 20

colour illustrations and diagrams.

RRP: $5.95/MEMBERS $5.35

NE

WR

ELEASESFROM

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Powerhouse books are available

from the Powerhouse Shop, goodbookstores and by mailorder. For more

information or to order contact

Powerhouse Publishing on (02) 9217 0129

or email [email protected]

www.powerhousemuseum.com/publish

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS IN THIS FEATUREARE FROM THE POWERHOUSEMUSEUM ARCHIVES, UNLESSOTHERWISE STATED.


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For many years the Museums transport collection was

hidden away in store rooms. There simply wasntenough space in the old Museum to properly display

such magnificent exhibits. With the opening of the

Museums new home in 1988, some of our most

impressive transport treasures, including our largest

object, the Catalina flying boat, and Locomotive No 1,

the first engine to travel on the Sydney to Parramatta

line in 1855, were given pride of place.

Transportremains one of our most popular exhibitions

and visitors enthusiasm for it is as strong as ever. With

the publication of On the move: a history of transport

in Australia, the story and significance of our transport

collection is revealed, set against the panorama of

transport history in Australia.

Two objects, which typify the diversity of the transport

collection and are featured in the new book, are aSydney hansom cab of the early 20th century and a

1920 Aveling & Porter steam wagon.

Australias first hansom cab appeared in Melbourne in

1849 but it was not until the 1870s that this form of

transport became popular. Named after its English

inventor, Joseph Aloysius Hansom in 1834, hansoms

were much more readily accepted in Sydney when

introduced here during the 1860s, possibly because of

Sydneys less conservative attitudes. Two passengers

rode snugly enclosed in the cab, with little room for

luggage. They were popular with young, unchaperoned

couples and as a result gained a shady reputation.

The cab driver sat high at the back with the reins

passing through a support on the front of the roof.

From the drivers position the cabs front-opening

doors could be controlled, preventing passengers

getting out before they had paid their fare. The drivercould talk to passengers through two small windows in

the rear of the cab.

Typically, cab drivers wore three-piece suits, with a

gold watch-chain, smoked pipes and tilted their bowler

hats at a jaunty angle. The better hansoms had large

rubber-tyred wheels, stained-glass side windows,

diamond-patterned leather upholstery, thick carpet

inside, lacework, tasselled window blinds and even a

vase of flowers inside.

By 1894 there were 1215 licensed hansom cabs in

Sydney. One of Sydneys last working hansom cabs

was acquired by the Museum in 1937. It is typical of the

cabs built in Sydney from the 1880s to about 1915,

featuring a curved front with full doors and windows.

The cab was delivered to the Museums front door bythe owner, J Connor of Redfern, pulled by his horse,

Darkwing. The hansom cab remained in storage until

the mid 1980s when it was restored for Transport.

From the late 19th century to the first decade of the

20th, steam-powered road haulage was preferred to

the internal combustion engine because of its greater

load-carrying capacity. Although not widespread in

Australia, steam wagons were popular in urban areas,

especially with local councils, which had access to

coal or coke and water.

The Museums 1920 overtype steam tip wagon was one

of only 292 built by the English company famous for

their road rollers, Aveling & Porter Limited of Rochester

in Kent. A special feature of the wagon was its

hydraulically operated two-way tipping mechanism

introduced by the firm in 1915. The steam wagon, works

No 9247, was dispatched to Rockdale Council inSydney and worked in conjunction with horse-drawn

wagons hauling road materials such as rock, blue

metal and blocks of stone kerbing.

Steam wagons declined in popularity after the British

Army during World War I decided to use mostly internal

combustion-engine motor lorries. In Australia, the move

from steam to internal-combustion trucks and wagons

took longer as outdated British steam technology

found a ready market here. In 1924 Rockdale Council

ordered two Sentinel undertype steam wagons with

vertical boilers, which had the advantage of using less

coke and operating at faster speeds. In 1926 the

Aveling & Porter wagon was sold to a farmer at

Thirlmere, south of Sydney. For 20 years it was used to

haul timber, pull out tree stumps and drive machinery

on the farm until discarded on a hillside and replaced

by a conventional tractor in 1946.

The Museum discovered the steam wagon in 1962 and

the owners agreed to donate it. The problem for

Museum staff was retrieving the wagon from its

isolated spot at the top of the hill and unapproachable

by a low loader due to a narrow unmade road.

Eventually the wagon was sufficiently repaired so that it

could steam down the hill under its own power. For

about ten years it was displayed in the Transport

exhibition but now it travels to steam rallies, including

the annual Steamfest at Maitland.

On the move: a history of transport in Australia is

available from October. See opposite page for details.

trains, boats and planes

THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUMS IMPRESSIVE TRANSPORT

COLLECTION DATES BACK TO OUR BEGINNINGS IN THE 1880s.story_MARGARET SIMPSON, TRANSPORT CURATOR

MR CONNOR DELIVERING HIS HANSOM CAB TO THE MUSEUM IN 1937. PHOTO COURTESY THE SUN, 2 DECEMBER 1937. THE STEAM WAGONSHOWN SHORTLY AFTER RESTORATION TO STEAMING CONDITION. GIFT OF W DUGUID 1962. THE MUSEUM ALSO ACQUIRED ITS LARGESTOBJECT, THE CATALINA FLYING BOAT, FRIGATE BIRD II, IN 1962. IT IS NOW SUSPENDED FROM THE ROOF OF THE BOILER HALL. GIFT OF SIRPATRICK GORDON TAYLOR, 1962.


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Neville Wran AC QC,FORMER PREMIER OF NSW

Until my early teens we lived in the east end of

Balmain. The east end was a veritable wonderland for

young boys. There were backyard fruit trees to be

raided. The docks and wharves of maritime engineersand repair yards to be explored and the noisy toast

rack trams to be scaled.

Even though I was an avid reader, devouring school

boy classics like R M Ballantynes Gorilla huntersand

P C Wrens Beau Gesteas well as The Triumphand

The Championmagazines, somehow especially

during the cooler months, there was little or nothing

to do on Sunday afternoons. My boredom was often

solved by my mother. If I had behaved myself to her

satisfaction that week she would give me threepence

on Sunday afternoon. That was enough to pay the

tram fare to the city and back with a penny left over

for indulgence.

My favourite excursion was to the Museum of Applied

Arts and Sciences, which drew me to it like a magnet

(a close second preference was the skeleton of the

sperm whale which hung from the ceiling of the

Australian Museum). Whatever else I did on my

Sunday excursion, the Museum was my favourite

place and I never failed to go there. It was full of

exciting exhibits, large and small, but it was the

Hargrave kites that most captured my imagination

and held my attention.

Bear in mind that this was the age of Kingsford Smith

and Amy Johnson and the very notion of an air flight

was somewhat bedazzling to a boy whose mode of

conveyance was a toast rack tram.

Years later when Director Lindsay Sharp took me for

the first time to the Powerhouse I imagined the kites

all of them in the space of the Museum. And so

they are today, a reminder of the ingenuity ofhumankind and the seamless tie between the old and

the new Museum.

Sydneysiders have grown up with the Powerhouse, or itspredecessor the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences,

and have fond memories of visits there. Everyone has afavourite object or exhibition. The plastic woman fascinatedNSW Premier Bob Carr (see page 3), while former premierNeville Wran was inspired by the Hargrave kites. Many ofthose who loved the Museum in their youth have becomeinvolved with the institution in later years and havecontributed to its success. Over the next few issues ofPowerline, a number of people who have played aprominent role in our history will share their recollections ofthe Museum and its impact on their lives.

looking back

MOST OF US CAN REMEMBER OUR FIRST VISIT TO THE MUSEUM.FOUR PROMINENT SYDNEYSIDERS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES.

Do you have special memories of the Museum that you would

MODEL MADE BY LAWRENCE HARGRAVE IN 1887 TO EXPLORE THE CONCEPT OF FLIGHT, BASED ON BIRD WINGMOTION, GIFT OF LAWRENCE HARGRAVE 1891. PHOTO BY JANE TOWNSEND. WATERCOLOUR PAINTING BANKSIAMARGINATA BY MARIAN ELLIS ROWAN. DANTE PORCELAIN VASE BY DOULTON, HAND-PAINTED BY LESLIE JOHNSON,

WAS DISPLAYED AT THE 1906 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION IN NEW ZEALAND. PHOTO BY JANE TOWNSEND.AUSTRALIAN BUSH PANTRY HOMEMADE IN ABOUT 1925 FROM A GALVANISED IRON 44-GALLON DRUM. PURCHASEDFROM THE MCALPINE COLLECTION 1992. PHOTO BY PENELOPE CLAY.



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Alison PageINTERIOR DESIGNERAND EXHIBITION DESIGNER

I first discovered the Powerhouse Museum when I

was studying design at the University of Technology

and we were asked to design a make-believe

exhibition on everyday things. I would go therewhenever I had a break and check out design

fashion, interior, industrial and graphic design were all

in one place. I found the stories about Australian

innovation inspiring and I liked the way they were

placed in their historical context. It was the first time I

realised that space and objects could tell a story.

Later on I was working for the Aboriginal architectural

group Merrima and I ended up designing the Bayagul

exhibition. I was thrown in at the deep end and I owe

the Powerhouse design department a lot because

they mentored me. I helped interpret the cultural

perspective. The exhibition has many layers, just like

our culture, so you can get an impression of

Indigenous culture with a quick walk through or you

can stay longer and the deeper meanings are

revealed to you. Working on the travelling exhibitionOur place[which opened at the Benaki Museum in

Athens on 1 July] was another challenge. I developed

the concept of a traditional Aboriginal camp with

structures built around a campfire.

One of the best times Ive had at the Museum was

when I visited the Special effectsexhibition on a

Saturday afternoon with my mum and we made a

video tape. Its one of the most played videos in our

house my mum has 12 grandkids and they love

seeing their grandmother really tiny inside a fridge!

125 years: its amazing to think the Museum has been

around for so long. The Powerhouse is an

extraordinary resource for me, as a teacher, as a

designer and as an Australian. We are an incredibly

small, incredibly young country, but we are incredibly

talented. We face huge environmental challenges and

that drives our innovation. The Museum is a living

memento of that.

Leo Schofield AMFORMER MUSEUM TRUSTEE ANDMUSEUM BENEFACTOR

I grew up at the Museum of Applied Arts and

Sciences or, more familiarly, the Tech. On Sundays in

culture-starved Sydney of my youth Id take the train

from Summer Hill to Central and walk down to HarrisStreet to marvel at the Strasburg clock model and the

cases stuffed with Doulton rouge flamb vases. Id

trawl through the musty, dusty galleries, unchanged

for decades looking and learning. No wonder I grew

up acquisitive. The marvels at the Museum were more

exotic, more beautiful than the furnishings in our

humble residence above the ham and beef shop in

Grosvenor Crescent.

When I returned home after these visits Id have tea

(it wasnt called dinner in those days, at least not in

our household) and retire to bed to dream of distant

China where they bound womens feet (it was all

explained on the label next to a miniscule pair of

embroidered silk slippers), imagining Id steam there

in one of the white liners, miniature versions of which

were on view in long rectangular cases at Harris

Street.

Decades later I became involved with the

Powerhouse. For nine years I sat on its Board of

Trustees and enthusiastically trumpeted the vision of

the new museum that evolved in the old building

opposite. I watched glorious new objects emerge

from the dark and dangerous sheds at Alexandria

where much of the collection was housed. In a

previous life the large wooden buildings had been

used to store wool imagine what might have

happened to the treasures there had a match been

dropped on the lanolin-soaked boards!

How marvellous that this great and eclectic collection

finally found a sleek new home and that Sydney now

has a 21st century version of the old Tech, to whichmy grandsons can hie themselves and experience

the same magic as I did. And love the place as much

as I still do.


Jenny KeeFASHION DESIGNERAND MUSEUM BENEFACTOR

My first memory of the Museum of Applied Arts and

Sciences is looking at the Ellis Rowan paintings with

Linda Jackson and Jennifer Sanders who was then

curator of textiles and costumes. It was the 1970s andI was so inspired by these early Australian paintings

of wildflowers as I was using Australias unique flora

and fauna in my own knitwear designs.

My work first entered the collection in 1980 when the

Museum bought my Opera House cotton knit dress

and coat from the Art clothesexhibition at the Art

Gallery of NSW. Since then there has been an intimate

and ongoing rapport with the Museum and my work.

Over a career spanning 20 years I had accumulated a

large archive of my clothing, textiles, artwork,

newspaper and magazine clippings and business

records. When the Jenny Kee shop in the Strand

Arcade closed in 1995, I decided it was time to

simplify my life and pursue other interests. I was

therefore delighted and honoured when the

Powerhouse Museum wanted to acquire thiscollection.

Curator Glynis Jones and many other museum staff

spent over a year at my home and shop going

through my personal clothing, fabric collection and

other archival material selecting items and

documenting my stories. Designing the costumes for

the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic

Games was the highlight of my life, and I was

overjoyed when I heard the Olympic Games collection

was going to the Powerhouse Museum too.

In 2004 as I immerse myself in writing my

autobiography, the museum has become my major

resource for research. The archivists are brilliant

they have taken the creative chaos of my life and

ordered it. Now I learn about myself from the archivesof Jenny Kee. They know more about me than I do. I

am part of this Museum and this Museum is part of

me!

to share with us? Please write to Museum Memories, Powerline, PO Box K346 Haymarket, NSW 1238 and we will publish a selection.


24/30


25/30


been a revelation because the next time he wrote to

Baker, he was talking about his new hobby. With

money he made selling postcards of the Front, he

was buying pieces of old oriental porcelain from the

citys secondhand shops. Three weeks later, he

confessed he had acquired a boxload of the stuff

and was ready to ship it back to Australia and

convinced this was a potential new direction for the

Museum he would give them first pick.

Still recovering from a bullet wound to his foot,

Laseron was back at the Museum in September 1916

and resumed limited field work. His time was divided

between reorganising and relabelling the collections

of the country branch museums (in Broken Hill,Goulburn, Bathurst, Broken Hill, Newcastle and Albury)

and taking charge of the Museums geological and

ornamental building stones collection. He also took

up the study of Chinese porcelain and bronze and

penned articles for the Sunday Timesand the Sunday

Newsunder the pseudonym Fossil. When in 1921,

Thomas Lennard donated his significant collection of

English ceramics to the Museum, Laseron classified

the pieces and wrote the descriptive guide to the

collection. He then rearranged the Museums entire

ceramic collection, disposing of many worthless

pieces the Museum had acquired in its early days.

Laseron was fast gaining a reputation as an authority

in the area of ceramics and oriental antiquities. In

March 1926 he was appointed Officer in Charge of

the Museum's Applied Art Section. The same year hewas invited to broadcast a series of radio chats on

old china and bronze.

Laseron had founded the Collectors and

Connoisseurs Society in 1922 and in May 1926 he

secured the support of a number of prominent

Sydney citizens, including Sir John Sulman, Sydney

Ure Smith and Sir Benjamin Fuller, to form The NSW

Applied Art Trust. The work of the Applied Art Trust

became Laserons passion. The trust acquired a

number of valuable antiques and these were housed

for safe-keeping at the Technological Museum.

In May 1927 Laserons Applied Art Trust activities

culminated in the highly publicised First Exhibition of

the NSW Collection of Applied Art. It was held in the

Exhibition Hall of Farmers Market Street store with a

catalogue written by Laseron. The success of thisexhibition was possibly the last straw for the newly

appointed Curator, Arthur Penfold. Unlike Baker, who

had nurtured Laserons talent, Penfold (who had

joined the Museum in 1919 as Assistant Economic

Chemist) had made no secret of his dislike for

Laseron. Finding his working life increasingly

uncomfortable, Laseron felt a separate museum,

possibly attached to the Art Gallery of NSW, should

be built to house the growing collection of Applied

Art Trust donations. He had written to one potential

benefactor, I am writing to get your assistance in

the effort to build up an adequate Art Collection,

belonging to the people of Sydney This I am

making my own lifework, and can ask for assistance

more freely, inasmuch as already I have given the

whole of my Collection to the Trust. Penfold, nodoubt threatened by the possibility of Laseron

removing applied art from the collecting sphere of his

Museum, reported Laserons doings to the

Superintendent of Public Education. In 1928 Laseron

was officially reprimanded and told to cease his

Applied Art Trust activities in Museum time. The case

ended up in the Arbitration Court with the result that

the position of Officer, Applied Arts Section was

abolished and Laseron was forced to retire.

Laseron moved on. He spent the 1930s running his

own fine arts and stamp auctioneering businesses,

giving them up at the outbreak of World War II to sign

up as a map-reading instructor with the AIF. Posted to

country camps at Greta, Tamworth and Dubbo, he

used his spare time to invent a pocket sun-compass

for the use of troops. From 1948 he conductedstudies of minute shells, many of which had been

collected by his son, John. Laserons findings, in

which he described hundreds of new species, are

considered to be of great taxonomic importance.

Made an honorary correspondent of the Australian

Museum, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal

Zoological Society of NSW in 1952. He wrote his best

known book The face of Australia in 1953, a popular

account of our changing geography and geology.

Laserons life was remarkable. Before he died in 1959,

he had this to say about it, Looking back, a mixed

sort of life, lots of mistakes, lots of failures, some

successes, heaps of friends, just a few enemies

(nasty chaps) to give spice, lots of fun, plenty to do to

the end, hope it comes quickly.

THIS PAGE: LASERON (RIGHT) WITH FELLOW ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION MEMBER PERCY CORRELL ON FLOE ICE AT THE WESTERN BASE. LASERON WAS AWARDED THE POLAR MEDAL, NOW IN THE MUSEUMSCOLLECTION, FOR HIS PART IN THE EXPEDITION. PHOTO BY FRANK HURLEY, FROM THE HOOD COLLECTION, COURTESY STATE LIBRARY OF NSW. OPPOSITE PAGE FROM LEFT: LASERON AND FRIEND ON AN EARLYCOLLECTING TRIP. PHOTO COURTESY MRS J RICHTER. INK DRAWING OF A SHELL, BY LASERON. COURTESY OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. CHINESE AND JAPANESE CERAMICS, PART OF LASERONS DONATION TO

THE NSW APPLIED ART TRUST AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL MUSEUM. PHOTO BY SOTHA BOURN.

The institution we now know as the

Powerhouse Museum celebrates its

125th anniversary this month. From the

archives presents significant events,

people, collections and projects from

our long and distinguished history. This

is the fourth article in the series.

+


26/30


walking on

the moon

giant starsexplode

This year marks the 35th anniversary ofApollo 12, the second manned missionto land on the moon.

On 14 November 1969 a Saturn

V rocket launched the Apollo

12 spacecraft carrying three

astronauts. Shortly after launch

the giant rocket was struck

twice by lightning causing

sudden power losses. The

second lightning strike caused

the navigation system in the

command module to fail;

luckily the navigation system

for the Saturn V rocket was not

affected, allowing the

astronauts to reach Earth orbitsafely.

Charles Conrad (mission

commander) and Alan Bean

landed on the moon on 19

November, only 160 metres

from the unmanned Surveyor

III spacecraft, which had

landed two years earlier.

Television coverage of the

landing was cut short when

the astronauts accidentally

pointed the video camera at

the Sun. The two astronauts

spent seven hours 45 minutes

collecting rock samples and

setting up experiments. They

also examined the Surveyor III

and collected some of its

i

Documents

Powerline Spring 2004