Firstly, happy Wednesday everyone!
I have finally found the time to write a quick update post about everything. Everything will cover a whole lot so I will try and be succinct!
I might as well start with what I’ve been up to outside of study that is museum-related. I had the wonderful opportunity on Monday to visit the Sydney Observatory – part of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences bunch. It is a great little museum with lots of information on how star-gazing works, why the observatory was built etc. You also have the opportunity to look directly into the sun. Most of the intricate information went right over my head but it was interesting to see how time was once determined.
Besides from the Observatory I have been passing my time at the Powerhouse Museum. The Collette Dinnigan exhibition is really great from a fashion and design point of view. There is one particular room with lit-up mannequins that show the intricacy of some of the lace pieces. It is a visually stunning showroom. The entire exhibition is medium-sized and would probably take an hour to methodically walk through. The middle room displaying the most outfits is great to spend some extra time in.
Other than that, there has been a lot of studying going on. After this Friday I will only have three essays left which is both exciting and terrifying. I plan on getting to know the Burra Charter a little better and fully grasp the concept of a National Museum. Other than that I am also creating an audio guide tour for a drive from Sydney to Canberra which I am actually quite excited about.
My Inauguration book of the University of Queensland object report is due Friday. After researching it to the hills and back it has turned out to be quite a fascinating object. It once belonged to J. G. Appel who was in Queensland Parliament for a while during the course of the First World War. So the University was inaugurated in 1909 and there was a massive party. If you were a distinguished guest you received a blue card-covered book. Everyone else had to make do with a brown cardboard version. There are only eight of these books surviving in Australia and it turns out I have one of the only blue-covered books out there.
I purchased it in 2011 from an antique centre in Brisbane. It’s amazing to think you can buy an object with this much history! The moral of the story is always buy something in an antique centre if it catches your eye.
If you’re interested, I have just published a blog post for History is Now Magazine. Check it out:
Curate Your Own Adventure 