Yesterday afternoon while Edward and I were on the way to soccer training Edward spotted an echidna near our front letter box. There are some nests of ants in that area and it was having a feast. I've never seen one in an urban setting before and this is only the second one I've seen outside a zoo or wildlife park.
Yesterday morning Edward went for a swim at the nearby amateur swimming club. the races are fun on a time handicap system with swimmers starting on different time marks.
Ed had a couple of races and did very well. Afterward there was a club photograph. My boy appears at front right.
The competition is spirited and in the best of humour. Many members are approaching or more than 70 years old.
This is the type of sporting event which deserves funding. Not the far upper reaches of sport for the few.
There are a number of swimmers who have significant mobility impairments including joint problems. There is one man who can only use one arm. He freestyles using one arm and kicking two legs. With time handicapping he competes with everyone.
The health benefits, physical and mental, to all involved, our society and our economy are obvious. If you can't see that, then I invite you to come along and see for yourself.
Edward has been enjoying the Premier's Adventure Challenge.
It's a programme created by Nathan Rees, the Premier of New South Wales, to encourage children to visit art galleries and museums in our great state. Until January 2010 children who have a passport booklet can get free entry to nearly all the major galleries and museumsin NSW outside normal school days.
There is a passport booklet which includes space for the child to receive a stamp imprint at each participating institution, and for the major venues, a specific quiz question to investigate and answer.
When a child has completed visits to three different locations for the challenge there is also a tear off card for the parent or guardian to certify and submit via post to claim a completion certificate and enter a prize draw.
The reverse of the card also has space for the child to draw their favourite object they have seen during the challenge. A selection of kids' drawings are posted up at the challenge website.
Today Edward said that the object he wanted to draw was the Enigma Machine from the Powerhouse Museum:
and here's a photograph of it:
After he had done his bit he wanted to address the envelope. I must admit I thought that his writing may not be quite good enough for the postal system, but I was wrong.
The challenge is a pretty good way of getting kids excited about going to a museum or art gallery, a way of giving them an idea of what to expect from each type of venue through the structured quiz question, and should even produce an incremental increase in business for participating institutions because although entry with the passport is free for school age children, other accompanying children and adults must still pay any applicable entry fee.
Even in our case - although usually keen museum goers we did add in a visit to the Australian Museum which we would otherwise not have made. Additionally while at the Australian Museum Edward saw a pamphlet about the Egyptian Treasures exhibition which opens tomorrow and is very keen to go back to the museum again to see that.
Edward wanted to know what slavery is.
I did not tell Edward all about my half of the presentation of Our Favourite Things About The Powerhouse Museum until last Friday. Of course one of my favourite items is the Slave Medallion.
Then on Saturday and again on Sunday Edward asked me, "What is slavery, Dad?"
Here's how I tried to explain it:
- Slavery happened 200 years ago when some bad people kidnapped men and women from Africa and took them in ships to other parts of the world. The bad people made the people they took work for no pay and sold them to other people as if they were a thing to be owned instead of free to make the choices we can about how we live.
- The slave medallion was used to advertise that slavery was a very bad thing and that it should be stopped.
"Is there any more slavery going on nowadays, Dad?"
- Well, there is. There is not as much as there used to be, but there are still people being made to work for no pay.
[ I know there are some historical inaccuracies in my explanation, for example leaving out Caribbean slavery, but it was the best I could do at the time. ]
[ Photograph shows half-length portrait of two girls wearing banners with slogan "ABOLISH CH[ILD] SLAVERY!!" in English and Yiddish, one carrying American flag; spectators stand nearby. Probably taken during May 1, 1909 labor parade in New York City. From Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA - Digital ID:cph 3a23285 ]
I'm so proud of Edward. He did a great job with his half of the presentation today.
For those who couldn't be at the Powerhouse Museum earlier this afternoon I'll give you an overview of the slides and our script. The talk was not delivered exactly according to this script, but you will get the idea. I'll redact a few images from the slides, because I don't have permission yet to publish some of the last minute stuff from the Powerhouse Museum here - I haven't asked yet.
Simon, the duty IT/AV tech did a great job getting us set up, and Ali Gordon introduced us.
The Sydney Observatory is great. I loved the 3-D movie there. To see the movie you have to wear special glasses which make normal things blurry, but the movie is OK. I also enjoyed looking through the telescope and going on the tour.
The Odditoreum is a place where everything is odd. And the Odditoreum had robots and were trying to get a cow with a mouth down the bottom to eat grass, but it would not eat it. In the Odditoreum there was like this giant shoe which had bicycle handles in it. It was really for the Olympics and was decorated with licorice allsorts, freckles and glitter.
In Zoe’s house there are lots of things to do. You can push trucks with blocks in them. There is a crane that’s broken. There is a conveyor belt and a boom gate.
I love seeing all the different kinds of transport like a train. There’s also a bell for a boat in that room
Here’s a photo of me in the zero gravity space lab. It feels like you are turning around, but it’s really one bit that turns around to make you feel like you are turning around. Sometimes you feel dizzy when you come off.
The space lab is where you can do things like in space and you can see a bit of what a space shuttle looks like. But there is not the whole space shuttle. You can do a bit of a computer thing. There’s like a computer and you can switch some things that have lights and you can see this video of Andy Thomas, and he talks about stuff at NASA.
Josiah Wedgwood was one of the leading industrialists of the late 1700s and a hugely successful businessman.
Although there is much to love about the Wedgwood you see here [ image redacted] – this one from about 1790 is more than half a metre tall- it isn't the Wedgwood piece I love most ... It's a piece that is just about the size of a 50 cent piece....
Josiah Wedgwood became deeply involved in the movement to put a stop to the world wide slave trade.
To help the cause, he had one of his chief designers Henry Webber modellers William Hackwood design a statement piece. It became known as the slave medallion.
This one here, from the Powerhouse Museum’s collection is thought to be from 1787. We see here, on a white ceramic background, a black man in chains, kneeling, begging. Around the border of the oval disc – although a bit difficult to read from this image - is the motto of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade,
“AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER?” ….
The motto became famous and the medallion became a very fashionable item. It could be worn as a brooch, a necklace ornament, or even adorning a hairdo.
There are some examples in other museums showing what we now call an “after market addition” giving it a means to be worn such as a metal rim with a piercing for a pin or chain.
As such, it became the first fashion item to also bear a political message….
On request from a bloke in the then new nation the United States of America called Benjamin Franklin, Wedgwood shipped nearly 200 of the slave medallions to Franklin in Boston also helping him to raise awareness for the need to end slavery in the United States. Something that would take a further 80 years and a terrible Civil War in the USA to achieve.
I love the Slave medallion because it symbolises one of the most important civil rights movements of the past 300 years. A political movement that was right, honourable, improved the human condition and actually succeeded.
You can see both of the extremes of Wedgwood design out there now in the “Inspired! Design across time” exhibition on level 3.
As a father who takes a keen interest in his son’s education – I’ve become a connoisseur of children’s books and early childhood educational aids. I’m going to talk about one now.
Let’s look at Maggie’s ABC book.
[ All images of Maggie's ABC book redacted ]
One hundred and fifteen years ago, in 1894, William Harrison, , hand made a Christmas Present for his niece Maggie Harrison back in mother England, in Avon. William was just 13 years old himself, and living in Australia.
The book is personalised for her… painstakingly hand lettered…
Go into any library in Sydney or any bookshop and pick up a kids’ book for ages 3 or 4. You’ll find plenty of examples with big letters of the alphabet and words starting with that letter and accompanying pictures too.
So that educational device is tried and true.
Again, not much has changed in 115 years.
William Harrison went on to be Art Director and later advertising manager for Wunderlich Limited, the venerable manufacturer of pressed metal ceilings and building windows.
There are a few other items by William Harrison in the Powerhouse Museum collection – but none of them rival Maggie’s ABC book.
One of the things I love about the Powerhouse Museum is that it can be all things to all people. There is something here for everybody, and now with more and more items from the collection being able to be viewed on line – the museum goer can make his or her trip on line too. And not be limited by the constraints of exhibition space.
I can construct or curate my own personal exhibition around my personal interests. One of my areas of deep interest is Australia’s maritime history, particularly in wartime. I’ve spent hours trawling through the museum’s on line collection and discovered something intriguing.
World War Two began 70 years ago this week. After Poland was invaded; France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia declared war on Germany, forming the allies.
The remainder of 1939 and most of 1940 were pretty dark days for the allies. There were few victories. One famous victory was a battle in the Mediterranean sea on 22 July 1940 when HMAS Sydney sank the Italian warship Bartolomeo Colleoni. After that battle in which the HMAS Sydney sustained some serious damage it made its way home to Australia and the port of Sydney on 11 February 1941. There was a huge welcome.
Between 200,000 and 300,000 people lined the streets of Sydney, including school children who had been given a public holiday, to cheer 400 of the crew marching from Man O’War steps by what is now the Sydney Opera House to Town Hall.
There was a civic reception in the Sydney Town Hall for the crew, and a plaque was unveiled commemorating the naval victory. Then the assembled ships company received a replica of the plaque in the form of a medallion. Each medallion was engraved with the man’s name and service number.
[ images of the replica medallion plaques redacted ]
Here they’re pictured in Martin Place outside the G.P.O.
Enough replica medallions were produced to permit one to be presented to each member of the crew.
The Ship’s plaque was fixed to a gun turret on the ship. One large identical plaque sits in Sydney Town Hall today. And two of the replica medallion plaques sit in the collection of the Powerhouse Museum
This one was awarded to Frederick Mozart MURRAY ( 20100 ) who was an assistant yeoman of signals.
Fred Murray was not one of the 645 who perished with HMAS Sydney. He survived the war, and even prospered, being promoted as an officer, and retiring from the navy in 1964 as a Commander.
A lovely piece of naval history.
( Left hand side photograph from the Tyrrell Collection of the Powerhouse Museum. Right hand side photograph by the author )
The way I first came to love the Powerhouse Museum was though the museum’s online activities. Chiefly from their presence on Flickr where for a bit over a year they have been displaying photographs from their archival collection – many of them historical images of Sydney and New South Wales.
They exist as fragile glass plate negatives – and prints from the negatives have never been publicly exhibited within the Powerhouse Museum, either through a perceived lack of public interest, or lack of exhibition space, or lack of motivation.
On the internet there are few limitations on exhibition space. When scanned uploaded and hosted by Flickr the photo sharing website they cost the museum very little to display. I discovered them there, on the flickr website one day.
I then started a little photographic project of attempting to take contemporary photographs from the exact same position as that from a century before.
Here’s George Street, looking south, that’s the corner of Margaret Street on the right. 100 years ago, and the one I took last year.
( Left hand side photograph from the Tyrrell Photographic Collection of the Powerhouse Museum. Right hand side photograph by the author.)
Here’s the Sydney Observatory – around a hundred years ago, and in honour of the International Year of Astronomy, my pic from earlier this year.
( Left hand side photograph from the Tyrrell Collection of the Powerhouse Museum. Right hand side photograph by the author )
Another familiar building is Customs House at Circular Quay, One hundred years ago, and again late last year as a part of modern, busy, bustling Sydney.
Without the Powerhouse Museum setting those historic photographs free on the internet, I would not have been able to do my little photography project.
Thanks to the people who invited us to talk, and thank you for listening to Edward and I and thanks to Edward for his support today.
If you spot any factual errors in the script please let me know.
I especially thank Ali Gordon and Erika Dicker of the Powerhouse Museum for providing illustrative images and helping prepare our talk.
Edward vanquished Gabrielle in a light sabre fight. So I promoted him to Jedi Knight and awarded him this medal:
Here's the official advertisement for the Powerhouse Museum Talks Afternoon event on (Australian) Father's Day 6 September, 2009 at which Edward and I will be delivering our talks. You can download the pdf:
Download Dad's museum06.09.09_oneonly
One of Edward's favourite places at the moment is the Sydney Observatory, part of the Powerhouse Museum.
He enjoyed his daytime visit to the Sydney Observatory in January this year and has been asking us if he could return for a night viewing through the telesopes. Since it is school holiday time last week we all went to check out Saturn Night Fever, the current observatory night viewing programme.
"See Saturn without its famous rings as they turn side on to the Earth roughly every 15 years, Alpha Centauri our nearest stellar neighbour, the constellations Scorpius and Crux and many other celestial features through telescopes and experience space as never before in the 3D space theatre."
Our guide, who happened to have a Ph.D. in astrophysics, took our group to the rear courtyard and while there was a break in the cloud cover used a laser pointer to identify major constellations and stars. Edward was pleased to see Scorpius and the Southern Cross.
(This pic is from Jan 2009 - but you get the ide of the 3-D glasses)
Then we had a session in the 3-D movie theatre to see the shorts Extreme Places and Bigger than Big. In between the movies there was a question and answer session, and Edward impressed me, and surprised the astronomer by asking a question about goldilocks planets. I had never even heard of goldilocks planets, but Ed read about them in one of his astronomy books.
Then up to the South Dome for some viewing. We could not see Saturn due to atmospheric conditions, but focussed the telescope on Alpha Centuri.
The telescope there is the oldest working telescope in Australia. Custom built by Hugo Schroder in 1874, it has an 11.4 inch aperture. Brief history by Geoff Barker here. Details of recent restoration and updated photographs here.
Edward becomes part of the display in the Odditoreum by sticking his head through a hole and becoming part of the Hill of Heads:
At the Powerhouse Museum until 13 September 2009.
Righto. Diaries out.
On Father's Day, Sunday the 6th of September, Edward and I have been invited to deliver a talk at the Powerhouse Museum as part of the Talks Afternoon series. 2pm in the Target Theatre.
Six sets of Fathers and children are going to present a talk on their personal favourite parts of the Museum. Be it a collection item, space, activity or whatever. It's "What do you love about the Powerhouse Museum?"
It'll be fun.
Edward will choose five things to talk about. I'll choose five things.
Originally it was thought the format would be a pecha kucha, which would have made it 20 slides with 20 seconds of narration each. Now the presentation format has been slightly altered to permit each family use of as many slides as they wish with a suggested minimum of 20 and to show for 10 minutes.
6 teams. 10 minutes each. That'll be a one hour show.
Edward is very excited about the project. He's working on his favourites list. So am I.
I think that the theme I'll project for my part of the talk will be that the museum's holdings are so broad that it is truly a museum for all people. No matter what your interest, there is something there for you. That idea and a couple of other things.
The first favourite I have is a small ceramic medallion made by Josiah Wedgwood's pottery works. It was made in around 1787 to promote the abolition of the slave trade.
The motto around the edge is "AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER?" which was used in the campaign for the abolition of the slave trade.
Incongruously, even though it is currently on display in the Inspired! Design across time. semi-permanent exhibition, the online collection record says little about it.
The medallion is small. Height 30mm, width 27mm, depth 3mm.
There's some slight confusion about the dating of the item, with the online collection record stating circa 1787, and the curatorial display plaque giving about 1840.
But it is a very powerful piece of iconography and represents one of the most important human rights movements of the past 300 years. Josiah Wedgwood was one of the most prominant industrialists of his time and his support was very important for the cause. His inimitable ceramics were already fashionable in the period and this medallion was perhaps the first time a fashion item could be and was worn as a political statment.
The image of a manacled black man in supplication was not however popular with all.
I'm going to make some more blog posts about this project over the next couple of months under the blog category Talks Afternoon.
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