Remembering them: People of St George and the First World War

Mateship & Mercy

As part of the National Trust Heritage Festival, Hurstville Museum & Gallery hosted a talk on Monday 11 May 2015 to complement this year’s theme conflict and compassion. The presentation, given by Local Studies officer David Clarke, highlighted the compassion and camaraderie shown by the people of the Hurstville district during the trying times of the Great War. 
Through letters, diary extracts and correspondence the experiences of local service men and their loved ones came alive to paint a holistic picture of the impact of the conflict. Hearing such personal stories was an incredibly emotional and touching experience for the audience. 

Two stories in particular stood out for the remarkable way in which they intersected. 

The SS Barunga, a former German-Australian liner seized by Australia Government at the beginning of the war and repurposed as a transporter, was the common thread joining the experiences of Hurstville residents Mrs Margaret Edser and Hurstville servicemen William John Duffell. Following the death of her husband, Charles Edser, on the Western Front in 1917, Mrs Edser pursued a lengthy quest for the return of her late husband’s belongings, to be shipped home.  It happened that the belongings met the same fate as the gunner William Jon Duffell when the SS Barunga sunk after being struck by a torpedo in July 1918. Fortunately, William John Duffell was among the survivors who were rescued. He later remembered: 

"I managed to grab a pair of pants, a shirt and a pair of canvas shoes. I lost everything but my pocket book and the Bible I got from the church". (Hurstville Propeller, 4 October 1918, p.1).

Gunner William John Duffel was among the survivors who were rescued from the SS Barunga.
Image from Hurstville Honour Roll, No 1.
Hurstville City Library Museum & Gallery collection. 

Mrs Edser was not so lucky, left back in Hurstville without the belongings of her beloved, which had been lost at sea. 

Charles Edser, was killed in action in Belgium in October 1917.
Image from the Hurstville Honour Roll, No 1 .
Hurstville City Library Museum & Gallery collection.

Stories such as these put a face to the men and women whose lives were forever changed by the Great War. The audience joined together to pay their respects, concluding the talk with the words ‘Lest We Forget’.

Don't forget to visit our exhibition before it closes on Sunday 31 May 2015!

Remembering them: People of St George & the First World War 

Watch this video of descendants of First World War soldiers presenting their family memorabilia. 

Keepsakes: First World War Memorabilia

St George Art Awards 2014 winners announced

On Friday 17 October the crowds gathered at the Civic Theatre, Hurstville Entertainment Centre, to congratulate this year’s finalists and to attend the official opening of the St George Art Awards 2014 exhibition. 

Visit the St George Art Awards website to see all winner and highly commended artworks.

Hadieh Afshani was awarded the St George Art Prize 2014 for her stirring oil painting Motion of Light. Hadieh emigrated from Tehran to Australia in 2006 and her most recent works explore the journey of self-discovery experienced by migrants. Motion of Light considers the moment when a space becomes a place of meaning. Hadieh plays with the notion of light in many of her works, and the warm glow emanating from the centre of the image, with the faintest silhouette of a figure, hints at the decision to accept the challenge of transformation in a new, unknown place. 

St George Art Prize 2014 Winner Hadieh Afshani - Motion of Light

There is a fantastic variety of responses to the theme of transformation on display at Hurstville Museum & Gallery and Hurstville Library. Visit us before 14 December 2014 to have a look!

To book for the St George Art Awards public programs go to the LMG What’s On page. 

Selling an American Dream: Australia's Greek Café

I remember Parry’s…it was the place to be

Hurstville Museum & Gallery would like to thank everyone who responded to a public call out for memories of Parry’s milk bars in the local area. We had an overwhelming response from the community, which demonstrates the significance of milk bars as part of people’s social and daily life.

A snapshot of the many great stories, and some of the photos and memorabilia we received, are on display in the Local Studies cabinet at Hurstville Library until 28 September 2014.

Here is a sneak peak of the display!

 

Ron Heffernan still remembers how Mr Parry would toss the milkshake in an arc from the metal container in one hand into the glass in his other hand without spilling a single drop. It was like a performance and people would love to watch him do it.

Customers enjoying a milk shake at Parry’s in Caringbah, Easter, 1970s.

The shop was initially set up by Jim Parry (Panaretos) in 1958. In 1968, the two brothers, Peter and Bill Cassimatis and their families, took over and ran the business for the next 35 years.

Images courtesy of the Cassimatis family.

Also, don’t forget to visit the exhibition at Hurstville Museum & Gallery:

Selling an American Dream: Australia’s Greek Café, a touring exhibition from the “In their own Image: Greek-Australians” National Project, Macquarie University, Sydney.

On display until 28 September 2014.

Join us and celebrate Greek culture with musical and dance performances on our Greek Culture Sunday

Date: Sunday 21 September 2014

Time: 2.00pm – 4.30pm

Cost: Free!

Bookings not essential, but desired: (02) 9330 6444 or www.trybooking.com/FCHA

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK

Stories from 14 MacMahon Street - Weddings

Many happy couples have celebrated their wedding receptions at the restaurants and functions centres of 14 MacMahon Street.

Prior to becoming Hurstville Museum & Gallery in 2004, 14 MacMahon Street was home to MacMahon’s Manor, MacMahon Street Galleries & Restaurant and Fanari Restaurant & Bar, just to name a few.

Image courtesy of Julie Meredith

Julie Meredith is one of the many brides who celebrated their reception with family and friends at MacMahon Street Galleries & Restaurant. For Julie, the venue was a last minute decision as their prior chosen venue was undergoing construction work. With only six weeks to go, 14 MacMahon Street saved the day with it’s homely feel and inviting atmosphere - “We liked that it was a bit of a gallery, something a little bit different rather than just four walls.”

They had 80 guests at the wedding reception – the maximum number if you wanted to have a dance floor as well! One of the standout memories for Julie was the speech her husband gave – “he had the whole reception in tears, then in laughter, he made a beautiful speech.”

Image courtesy of Julie Meredith

See snippets of Julie’s special day on our iPad and find out what made her wedding cake so extravagant by visiting the exhibition  IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK STORIES FROM 14 MACMAHON STREET.

Exhibition proudly sponsored by 

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK

Stories from 14 MacMahon Street – How it all began

The land where our Museum & Gallery is located today was part of a large block of land, owned by the MacMahon family. Irish migrant Patrick MacMahon and his wife Dora McDonough purchased it in the 1880s, with the boundaries being today MacMahon, Dora and Patrick Streets and Stoney Creek Road. The estate was gradually subdivided between the late 19th century and 1939.

In the late 1920s, young doctor John Saxon Crakanthorp, residing at 1 Butler Street in Hurstville, was looking for a place to build his new family home and doctor’s practice. He bought parts of the MacMahon’s estate. The doctor chose the location well to establish a doctor’s practice – just across the road of Hurstville and District United Friendly Society Pharmacy. The dispensary has been located at 17 MacMahon Street since 1915.

The image below was taken in 1923, depicting the candidates for the Hospital and Ambulance Queen Competition parading through MacMahon Street. The background reveals the pharmacy building.

Courtesy of Hurstville City Library Museum & Gallery collection

These are just some of the stories of 14 MacMahon Street. Come and visit the multisensory exhibition IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK to find out more about the building’s past.

Exhibition is proudly sponsored by

What is the role of the community gallery in museums today? - Guest post by Dr Nina Parish & Dr Chiara O'Reilly

Part of the Greek community display at Hurstville Museum & Gallery

We recently hosted a workshop at the Australian National Maritime Museum to present some of our research on telling migrant stories in Australian museums.One of our research areas considers the community gallery and here we discussed the Spotlight space at Hurstville, which is currently showing an exhibition on the Greek community, as a strong example of this type of gallery in Australian museums. 

The exhibits in this space are community-led and reflect a collaboration between the local community of the St George region and staff at the Museum and Gallery. Although it’s just a small space – with three dedicated cases - it plays an important role in crafting particular stories of identity, belonging and in showcasing diversity. At Hurstville, as elsewhere, the community gallery is also vital to the generation of community events – as Gemma Beswick, the Historical & Cultural Services Coordinator at Hurstville, explained in an interview with us, the openings of exhibitions in the community gallery often turn into a festival, a party. And it doesn’t take much to understand why a celebration of your community, a chance for you to see yourself in a museum, to have some sort of input into this type of institution, this type of representation, would be so popular.

This type of dedicated community-led space is essential to modern museums – not only does it celebrate specific communities but it also has the potential to increase participation. Our research is interested in how this space is able to include new voices in the museum and open the museum up to the community. We are particularly focused on how museums today can best balance the tensions between telling local history, celebrating achievements and reflecting critically on sometimes difficult stories of diversity and its significance. Spotlight spaces like that at Hurstville are key to understanding the role of museums in twenty-first century life and we will keep you up-to-date about our research project as it develops.

Dr Nina Parish (University of Bath)

Dr Chiara O’Reilly (University of Sydney)

Click here to find out more about the Suitcases, Boats and Bridges: Telling migrant stories in Australian museum project!

Revealed! Treasures from the Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery Collections

Our latest exhibition Revealed! Treasures from the Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery Collections officially opened to the public last week. Over 60 guests enjoyed the event, including a fascinating speech from ABC presenter, author, and collector Claudia Chan Shaw. Claudia, who describes herself an 'obsessive collector', has written a book entitled Collectomania : from objects of desire to magnificent obsession.

Also, check out what the staff from Museums & Galleries NSW had to say about the opening.

Don't worry if you missed the event. We have many other events and activities coming up including:

Kids Activity

Be a museum detective
Get your detective investigation book from the Museum & Gallery service desk and explore the exhibition. There are many questions to answer and mysteries to solve. Available anytime during exhibition opening hours. Free activity.

Museum & Gallery Talks

Join us for a series of exciting talks exxploring the theme collecting, collectors and collections. Free events, bookings essential on 9330 6444.

Sunday 3 March, 3.00pm - 4.00pm
Michael Lea
Curator, Powerhouse Museum
Collecting collections - the Clements Cabinets at the Powerhouse Museum

Sunday 24 March, 3.00pm - 4.00pm
Dr Birgit Heilmann
Curator, Hurstville Museum & Gallery
Holy relics turn into history - the different lives of objects

Sunday 7 April, 3.00 - 4.00pm
Michael Vardakis
Pottery collector
My pottery collection

Seniors Week Program

Revealed! Show and Tell
Monday 11 March, 2.00pm - 3.15pm
Free event, bookings essential
Discover artefacts, oddities and treasures at the Revealed! exhibition. Join the curator and hear the stories of a selection of items from the exhibition, followed by show and tell with your own objects. Participants are asked to bring an interesting item of their own to discuss with the group. Afternoon tea provided. Bookings on 9330 6444.

Workshops

Make your own time capsule
Sunday 10 March, 2.30pm - 4.30pm
Ages: 15 to adult
Cost: $10.00
Bookings essential
Learn about time capsules and what they are used for and then make your own. Time capsules are a great way to mark a special family celebration. Bring some items to put in your time capsule, e.g. photographs, newspaper cuttings, special mementos.

Model Making
Saturday 13 April, 10.30am - 12.30pm
Ages: 7 - 14
Cost: $5.00
Bookings essential
See what interesting designs you can makeout of simple craft items.

Exhibition Finale
Sunday 14 April, 2.30pm - 4.30pm
All welcome, free event, bookings recommended
Don't miss your last chance to see the Revealed! exhibition. Come and have your afternoon coffee at the Museum & Gallery. Our staff will be on hand to give you insights into some of the objects on display.

Call 9330 6444 or email us to book.

You Are Invited!

All are invited to attend the official opening of Lunar New Year: One Celebration, Many Traditions. This exhibition explores the diversity of Lunar New Year celebrations across many different countries.

Cr Jack Jacovou will open the exhibition on Saturday 9 February at 1.00pm, and our guest speaker will be Dr Thomas Berghuis, Lecturer in Asian Art from the University of Sydney. Refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP on (02) 9330 6444 or by email.

The exhibition will run from Saturday 2 February to Sunday 3 March 2013.

Dragon’s Lair Gallery, Hurstville Museum & Gallery, 14 MacMahon Street, Hurstville

The Museum and Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00am – 4.00pm, Sunday 2.00pm – 5.00pm, and other times by appointment

The exhibition is proudly sponsored by Westfield Hurstville.

Celebrate Lunar New Year 2013 at Hurstville Museum & Gallery

 

As part of the Lunar New Year celebrations, we will be hosting Lunar New Year: One Celebration, Many Traditions, a colorful exhibition exploring the diversity of Lunar New Year celebrations. The exhibition will run from Saturday 2 February to Sunday 3 March 2013.

Join us for the official exhibition opening on Saturday 9 February 2013, 1.00pm. Listen to guest speaker Dr Thomas Berghuis, Lecturer in Asian Art from the University of Sydney, and enjoy refreshments while exploring the exhibition. This is a free event, bookings on 9330 6444 or via email
Dragons' Lair Gallery, Hurstville Museum & Gallery, 14 MacMahon Street, Hurstville

Visit Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery’s What's On page for more information about Lunar New Year public programs and events.

The exhibition is proudly sponsored by Westfield Hurstville.

Learn about climate change, sustainability and biodiversity at Hurstville Museum & Gallery

Come to the Dragon’s Lair Gallery in August to learn all about climate change, sustainability and biodiversity. Museum2You is a display that comes from the Australian Museum. It has lots of information about energy use, the environment and natural resources, books to read, and samples of products you can use to reduce your impact on the environment. For the kids, there are colouring in sheets, bug samples to handle, and books to read.

The exhibition will be on show Saturday 4 August – Sunday 2 September 2012. We also have an exciting calendar of programs and events including a lunchtime talk, kid's craft activities, a kids's workhop, a bus tour and a poster competition.

For more information contact us on (02) 9330 6444 or via email or visit our website.
Dragon’s Lair Gallery
Hurstville Museum & Gallery
14 MacMahon St, Hurstville

Knitting is for everyone!

The Knitted Garden is proving to be a very popular exhibition. Visitors young and old are fascinated by the wonderful creations of Griffith Natty Knitters - the vegetable garden, flower beds, and Griff the dog. Even the gents are getting into the spirit and practising their knitting!

 

Image courtesy Emma Williams

 

Don't miss your chance to see this exhibition at Hurstville, as it must close this Sunday 24 June. The Museum & Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am - 4.00pm and Sunday 2.00pm - 5.00pm. We will have volunteers on site on Sunday - why not come along and knit with us! And after the exhibition closes, you can enhance your skills with a number of books available at Hurstville Library, including:

How to knit by Debbie Bliss

Big book of knitting by Katharina Buss

Knitting over the edge by Nicky Epstein

The Knitted Garden has arrived!

The Dragon’s Lair Gallery has been transformed into a magical garden display, which includes flowers, vegetables, animals, and teddy bear’s picnic scene – and they are all knitted! The exhibition was created by the Griffith Natty Knitters group, and was first exhibited at Griffith Regional Art Gallery in 2010. It took 2 years, over 25,000 grams of yarn, and the input of hundreds of people to complete. The Knitted Garden is artwork of a different kind – and you can see the hours of painstaking work that went into creating each design. Some patterns were developed through trial and error, or were sent through from friends and relatives overseas.

The exhibition will be on show until Sunday 24 June, and volunteer knitters will be onsite most afternoons and weekends. Why not join Penshurst Purlers as they knit squares for Wrap With Love on Thursday 21 June from 2.00 – 3.30pm? For bookings or further information, please contact the Museum & Gallery on 9330 6444 or by email.

You can see the exhibition during our opening hours Tuesday – Saturday 10.00am – 4.00pm, Sunday 2.00pm – 5.00pm, and other times by appointment.

Dragon’s Lair Gallery
Hurstville Museum & Gallery
14 MacMahon St, Hurstville

Photographs courtesy Griffith Regional Art Gallery

Home front: wartime Sydney 1939–45 exhibition now on at Museum of Sydney

Home front: wartime Sydney 1939–45 is an exciting exhibition which will be on display at the Museum of Sydney until 9 September 2012. This exhibition explores the experiences of Sydneysiders living on the home front during World War II and how they coped with the uncertainty, loneliness, fear and excitement of war to their changing city. These stories aretold through text, drawings, photographs, objects, film, costume and personal memorabilia. As part of this exhibition, objects were selected by Museum of Sydney staff from Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery’s war collection to form part of this exciting new exhibition. Stay tuned for updates...

‘Why not check out some more of our war collections in our exhibition, 'Living on the Water’s Edge: Stories of St George’. 

Image caption: 'Change over to a victory job' (detail), artist unknown, 1943. Australian War Memorial ARTV01060.

Mitchell Library: 100 Years

David Scott Mitchell was born in 1836 to a wealthy Sydney family. Educated at the University of Sydney, Mitchell was a prolific collector of works on Australia and the surrounding regions. In 1898, Mitchell offered his collection of 40,000 volumes to the State Library of NSW, on the condition that a new building was created to house it. Work on the new building began in 1906, and Mitchell’s collection was bequeathed on his death in 1907. The Mitchell Library opened on 9 March 1910.

The Mitchell Collection, along with the Dixon Collection, has now swelled to some 800,000 items, including manuscripts, pictures and maps. An exhibition entitled Mitchell Library: 100 Years was mounted at the Mitchell Library in 2010 to celebrate its centenary, and showcase 100 remarkable items from the collections. A travelling panel display, highlighting 25 of these items, is now on at Hurstville Museum & Gallery. On show in conjunction is a display recounting the history of library services in the Hurstville municipality, and showcasing rare and interesting items from the Hurstville City Library Museum & Gallery collection. Mitchell Library: 100 Years is on at Hurstville Museum & Gallery until 27 May.

You can explore the State Library’s vast collections further here.

Visit Hurstville Library to learn more about the Mitchell Library in these and other publications:

• Magnificent obsession: the story of the Mitchell Library, by Brian Fletcher
• Treasures of the State Library of New South Wales: the Australiana collections, by Anne Robertson

References
Biography – David Scott Mitchell
Mitchell and Dixon Collections
David Scott Mitchell and the Mitchell Library

Henry Lawson and his journey through NSW in 1892

On 6 May the Museum & Gallery hosted Paul Brunton, Senior Curator at the Mitchell Library, for a fascinating talk on Australian poet and writer Henry Lawson. Paul talked about Lawson’s harrowing journey through drought-affected NSW in 1892, which was a seminal event in his life. Lawson experienced first hand the difficulty of bush life, and the experience informed his writing for years.

Though Lawson had a sad and troubled life that was plagued by alcoholism and mental illness, he was the first writer to be given a state funeral. His work lives on through such classics as The Drover’s Wife. Thanks to Paul Brunton for bringing the story of Henry Lawson to Hurstville! You can read some of Lawson’s work at Hurstville Library.

Strong Women Strong Painting Strong Culture

Indigenous Women’s Art of the Central and Western Deserts from the Sims Dickson Collection

Contemporary Indigenous women’s art from remote central and west Australia is the focus of a new exhibition at Hurstville City Museum & Gallery. Strong Women Strong Painting Strong Culture was originally developed to celebrate the Centenary of International Women’s Day at Cessnock Regional Gallery in 2011, and is touring Australia with the support of Visions of Australia funding. The exhibition will tour venues across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.

The exhibition explores the role of desert women as artists, community leaders, and custodians of cultural traditions and family life, and demonstrates the important role of Aboriginal owned and managed arts centres. Works on display include Kapi Tjukula by Tjampawa Katie KAWINY (pictured). The exhibition includes large scale works on canvas, woven baskets and soft sculptures.

Strong Women Strong Painting Strong Culture is on display at Hurstville City Museum & Gallery from 21 April – 5 August 2012. A curator floor talk will be held on Friday 4 May 2012at 6.00pm, followed by the official opening at 7.00pm. All welcome, bookings essential on 9330 6444 or via email.

For further information visit our website, telephone us on 9330 6444, or send us email.

96 year old artist Tjampawa Katie KAWINY from Amata, South Australia. Photo by Skye O'Meara, courtesy Tjala Arts.

Kapi Tjukula by Tjampawa Katie KAWINY (c. 1921). Image courtesy Deborah Sims.

Caring For Your Sporting Memorabilia

The Royal Agricultural Society Challenge Shield. Photo: Dragi Markovic, National Museum of Australia

Visitors to our recent exhibition League of Legends: 100 Years of Rugby League in Australia will be interested in this article by the National Museum of Australia's conservation team. It gives you some tips on how to care for all types of sporting memorabilia, including trophies, medallions, textiles, photographs and paper.

You can also read more about rugby league treasures in The Trophy Cabinet, an article by Curator Guy Hansen from the League of Legends catalogue . The League of Legends: 100 Years of Rugby League in Australia catalogue is available for loan at Hurstville City Library and Penshurst Branch Library.

Dumplings, Fried Rice and Hot Pots: Regional Cooking in China

Proudly sponsored by Kip McGrath Education Centres St George

Did you know that there are eight distinct regional styles of Chinese cooking? Explore Hurstville City Museum & Gallery's exhibition to learn about the unique cooking techniques and characteristics of Chinese cuisine. Also on show is a selection of antique food carriers, on loan from Anna Lee of the Chinese Australian Historical Society. Items on display include a 19th century tea pot holder or 'tea cosy', designed to keep a pot of tea warm. The tea could be poured using the two handles, without having to remove the teapot from the holder.

Don't miss your last change to see these unique objects. Dumplings, Hot Pots and Fried Rice: Regional Cooking in China must close this Sunday 26 February at 5.00pm.

For more information, go to our website or contact the Museum & Gallery.

Forget the Super League Wars!

The Museum & Gallery was luck enough to secure PhD candidate Katherine Haines to give a talk on Sunday 4th December on The Story of the NSW Ladies Rugby Football League, 1921. Kath had visitors enthralled with her story of the historic match between the Metropolitan Blues and the Sydney Reds, and the efforts of these women to begin their own rugby league competition. Though the NSW Rugby League was initially supportive, the politics of the ensuing debate was enough to rival that of any of the issues in the contemporary NRL. Thanks to Kath for volunteering her time give this fascinating presentation! You can read more about Kath's research here.

Beautify your writing

Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, has been practiced and highly regarded throughout the world for centuries. This impressive forms of artistic writing can be performed in a number of distinct styles, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Nepalese, Islamic, Persian and Western calligraphy.

On Saturday 3 December, visitors to the Museum & Gallery were treated to a demonstration of the process behind creating calligraphy works by members of Calligraphy Southscribes Inc.
The demonstration was run in conjunction with our current Dragon’s Lair Gallery exhibition, Inkspirations: Playing with the Pen.

Inkspirations: Playing with the Pen is an exhibition of intricate and ornate traditional and playful contemporary styles of calligraphy works by members of Calligraphy Southscribes Inc.
The exhibition is on display in the Dragon’s Lair Gallery of Hurstville City Museum & Gallery until Wednesday 21 December. You can visit us Tuesday – Saturday between 10am and 4pm, and on Sundays from 2pm – 5pm.

Don’t miss your chance to see these beautifully detailed works up close!