Powerhouse Museum

The Transparent Woman was the first-ever exhibited transparent anatomical model of a woman in Australia.

It's hard to imagine being shocked or offended by this model today but the Transparent Woman was something of a spectacle in the 1950s.

Records show that on importation, one customs official was so offended by the nature of the exhibit that it almost never made it into the country. To cover some of the huge cost involved in obtaining the model, The Transparent Woman was displayed in the State Theatre and the public was charged 2 shillings per adult and 9 pence per child to see her. The viewing sessions were segregated by gender and a trained nurse was on standby to assist if anyone was overcome by the experience.

See The Transparent Woman at 1001 Remarkable Objects, Powerhouse Ultimo until 4 February 2024.

5789 Anatomical model, full size, 'The Transparent Woman', perspex / aluminium / metal / wood / plastic, made by The German Health Museum, Cologne, Germany, 1950-1953.

📸 Zan Wimberley

A Line A Web A World features over 100 drawings from the Powerhouse Collection.

Exhibition is on now until 4 February 2024.

📸 Hamish Mcintosh

100 Climate Conversations Australia’s most ambitious climate-focused cultural project, inspiring action by presenting an evidence-based and empowering vision of the future. The program connects the nation's most respected journalists with 100 visionary Australians taking effective action to respond to the most critical issue of our time, climate change.

The last live conversation was recorded on 10 November 2023 and is the final screen that completes the installation at Powerhouse Ultimo.

The 100 Climate Conversations installation is on now until 4 February 2024.

📸 Hamish McIntosh

Learn more: https://pulse.ly/2zuz8vexbh

Welcome to our tiny home. Creators Frans and Christina Bosdyk spent over 15,000 hours, or almost 1 year and 8 months full time, building this extraordinary dollhouse. A unique example of miniature art, it rivals the finest Dutch dolls' houses of the 17th century, showcasing exceptional style and attention to detail.

A skilled electrical instrument maker, Frans meticulously crafted furniture and developed special tools for the intricate wooden parts. He even fashioned tiny hand tools from 75-100mm concrete nails, making it easier to handle the small pieces. Christina was closely involved with all construction decisions, sourced miniature items, decided where everything went and chose interior decor, wallpaper and dolls.

This object is featured in 1001 Remarkable Objects at Powerhouse Ultimo until 4 February 2024.

2007/51/1 Doll's house and contents, made by Frans and Christina Bosdyk, Picton, New South Wales, Australia, 1997-2006. Powerhouse collection. Purchased 2007. Photograph Linda Warlond.

The Full STEAM Ahead initiative, which aimed to inspire students in years 5-8 to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM), was a collaboration between Powerhouse, Commonwealth Bank and Australian Business and Community Network who generously supported it.

During the three-week program, participants engaged with Commonwealth Bank mentors and explored career pathways and design thinking. Their second week focused on coding workshops led by Powerhouse educators, fostering skills in computational thinking and problem-solving.

The program saw 160 students from West and South West Sydney schools, including Bankstown Girls’ High School, Kingswood High School and Oran Park High School collaboratively addressing real-world issues through self-directed design challenges using BBC micro:bit computers.

Learn more https://pulse.ly/u1kvzfgn7g

📸 Maja Baska

Happy 50th birthday to the Sydney Opera House. Powerhouse has a remarkable collection of Sydney Opera House objects, photographs and archives illustrating the building’s entire design development and widespread cultural impact. Read more.

Powerhouse Museum - Sydney Opera House 50th Anniversary Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sydney Opera House opening, a great work of modern architecture.

Powerhouse’s team of conservators faced an interesting challenge during the development of our exhibition 1001 Remarkable Objects: how to ensure that the clocks on display, some more than 350 years old, keep time. Working with a Sydney horologist, our team discovered that six of the thirteen clocks were able to run throughout the exhibition period. Now, Powerhouse Conservator Tim Morris has the meticulous task of winding the clocks once a week.

‘These long-case clocks belong to an era when a system of weights provided the power for them to run. The weights are wound up to the top of the long case, and through the force of gravity, make their way back to the bottom. They can be quite temperamental, requiring various levels of adjustment. Most of the clocks on display are accurate to seconds per month, and some can run for many weeks without needing to be wound. However, the Japanese Verge Escapement clock can vary as much as 15 minutes over a day as, unlike other clocks that use a winding key to raise the weights, this clock has a cotton cord and would have been wound twice a day by the house servants.’

On now. https://pulse.ly/0xyc98jp9z

Last chance to see blockbuster Atmospheric Memory.

Experience 18 captivating artworks as you walk through the multiple rooms of Atmospheric Memory, filled with light, sound and 360-degree projections.

On now until November 5.

Book now https://bit.ly/46YbWbz

Images supplied by Broadsheet, photographer Vaida Savickaite

Toby Walsh, a global leader on AI, has been commissioned by the Powerhouse to write about objects in the Powerhouse collection. In this work he uncovers the legacy of Ada Lovelace the world’s first computer programmer. This is the first commission in the Writing Objects series, in which some of the world’s great writers will bring the Powerhouse collection to life.

Read the full story and see a selection of objects on display in the exhibition Atmospheric Memory now on at Powerhouse Ultimo until 5 November 2023.

Today we celebrate Ada Lovelace Day, marking the major contribution of women to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

🔗 https://powerhouse.com.au/stories/the-universal-machine-uncovering-adas-legacy

Guest speaker Tau'ili'ili Alpha Maiava is a music composer, vocalist, and content creator of Sāmoan-Niuean heritage whose work has an emphasis on Tagata Moana cultural revival and preservation. Tau'ili'ili co-produced and hosted the Sounds of the Moana podcast series, that won Gold at the New York Festival Radio Award.

Talanoa Forum: Moana Rising is an international program bringing together inspiring leaders from across the Pacific and around the world. Join 24 artists, curators, scholars, activists and policymakers exploring issues around small island ecologies, climate justice, decolonial museology and diasporic and Pacific alliances.

Register now - https://powerhouse.com.au/program/talanoa-forum-moana-rising

Guest speaker Professor Francesca Tarocco is director of NICHE, THE NEW Institute Centre for Environmental Humanities and a Full Professor at the Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. She will be discussing environmental humanities in Venice and the Pacific, ecological art practices and the focus on water.

Talanoa Forum: Moana Rising is an international program bringing together inspiring leaders from across the Pacific and around the world. Join 24 artists, curators, scholars, activists and policymakers exploring issues around small island ecologies, climate justice, decolonial museology and diasporic and Pacific alliances.

Register now - https://powerhouse.com.au/program/talanoa-forum-moana-rising

Talanoa Forum: Moana Rising is an international program bringing together inspiring leaders from across the Pacific and around the world. Join 24 artists, curators, scholars, activists and policymakers exploring issues around small island ecologies, climate justice, decolonial museology and diasporic and Pacific alliances.

Guest speaker Yuki Kihara is an interdisciplinary artist of Japanese and Sāmoan descent renowned for delving into the complexities of postcolonial histories in the Moana Pacific and interrogating colonial legacies and Western misinterpretations from the perspective of the Fa'afafine (third gender) community, to which she belongs. Kihara is the Artistic Director of the Talanoa Forum and currently has an exhibition 'Paradise Camp' on at the Powerhouse, which first premiered at the Aotearoa New Zealand Pavilion in the Arsenale as part of the 59th Venice Biennale, 2022.

Register now: https://powerhouse.com.au/program/talanoa-forum-moana-rising

The Generations Fellowship connects artists with established industry experts and mentors to pass on intergenerational knowledge and create pathways in the music industry. Electronic musicians Jonny Hawkins and Juan Villamor, known as 700 Feel, bonded at high school through mutual appreciation of genres deeply rooted in the places and communities which birthed them: Kingston’s dub, Bristol’s trip hop, Chicago’s footwork and London’s evolutions of New York’s Garage.

While in residency at Powerhouse from April to September 2023, 700 Feel produced and released an EP along with three music videos.

Learn more about 700 Feel’s fellowship: https://powerhouse.com.au/stories/700-feel-generations-fellow

📸 Zan Wimberley