The Powerhouse Museum has dropped a program of 12 new exhibitions coming to the mammoth Ultimo institution this year. The stacked line-up features international collaborations, Australian exclusives, new commissions and never-before-seen objects. After a period where the future of the Powerhouse was uncertain, it's exciting to see the Museum launching into the year ahead, fully embracing a new, eclectic program traversing the arts and sciences through an Australian lens.
“The Powerhouse is home to more than half a million objects," chief executive Lisa Havilah in a statement. "Over the past three decades visitors have only ever seen around 10 per cent of these in the Museum. Our 2021 program and vision for the Powerhouse is to tell the untold stories within our collection and engage our communities with contemporary ideas and issues.”
Looking forward to December 3, the Museum’s major summer exhibition is the Australian premiere of Five Hundred Arhats of Changnyeongsa Temple site: Reflections of our Hearts. This exhibition features 500 stone figures that were discovered in 2001 among the ruins of Changnyeongsa Temple in Yeongwol, Gangwon-do Province in Korea, and are believed to be 500 years old. Presented in collaboration with the Chuncheon National Museum and National Museum of Korea, the Arhats will be incorporated into an installation created by artist Kim Seung Young made up of 700 audio speakers.
In the meantime, the already launched photographic exhibition Bayram Ali documents the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme through imagery captured by Turkish-Cypriot migrant and amateur photographer Bayram Ali during his time working on the project and features photographs taken from the mid 1950’s through to 1970.
On March 19, the Powerhouse will open its first exhibition exploring the arts and crafts of Persia from the Museum’s collection, to coincide with the Persian New Year, Nowrouz. Iranzamin (“Land of the Persians”) features more than 100 rarely seen objects collected between the 1880s to 2020, shedding light on the diverse social and cultural history of Persia – today’s Iran – and its people.
Ceramics enthusiasts will be excited for Clay Dynasty, opening May 28. Exploring three generations of Australian studio ceramics, this exhibition features more than 300 objects from the Powerhouse’s Australian ceramics collection alongside 20 new commissions. Clay Dynasty aims to reassess the Australian experience, while highlighting the creative potential of clay at a time when the artform is experiencing an intense resurgence.
From fired up pottery to getting all fired up for the planet, 100 Conversations is an ambitious climate change project exhibition and talks program launching on June 11. This ever-evolving exhibition will document a series of public conversations, over the course of two years, to examine the issues our planet faces today and addresses what needs to happen to prevent catastrophic climate change.
If you share Mr Bean’s fondness for cars on the smaller side, check out Microcars, opening June 11, which will present the rise of the tiny automobiles through over 17 cars from across Europe, Japan, the UK and Australia. The retrospective explores the current resurgence of electric and hybrid microcars.
If you’ve ever been beguiled by the sight of the native trees that tower over Australian landscapes, you might get a kick out of Eucalyptusdom, which will delve into the untold stories of Australia’s native gum tree, from June 25.
The work of one of Australia's foremost social photographers is surveyed in Robert Rosen: Glitterati: 20 years of Social Photography. Opening August 6, the exhibition explores two decades of Rosen’s work, documenting the famous and infamous from Sydney's spectacular Rat Parties in the 1980s to the exclusive Australian Fashion Week VIP events.
As part of Sydney Design Week 2021, Graphic Identities will present work by celebrated 20th century designers including Douglas Annand, Frances Burke and Arthur Leydin, alongside new commissions from contemporary design studios, opening September 14.
Alongside the main premiere exhibitions, Electric Keys will survey the journey of electric keyboards and the influence the instruments had on soul jazz, blues, rock, progressive rock and pop (from July 2); whilst The Invisible Revealed will explore the results of using nuclear-beam technologies to scan Powerhouse Collection objects, revealing stories that are not visible on the surface (November 12). Celebrating designers of the future, Future Fashion will feature outstanding work by top graduates from four Sydney-based fashion design schools (April 30).
Have you been keeping up with the goings on of the Powerhouse? After a long drawn-out territorial stoush, the Museum was set to close down its Ultimo premises permanently in July last year to make way for a new purpose-built museum in Parramatta. However, the beloved Ultimo location was saved at the last minute when the NSW government scrapped plans, allowing the Powerhouse to retain its original building along with the Parramatta outpost, which is due to be completed in 2024.
The Powerhouse will also be presenting Sydney Science Festival from August 14-22 and creative director, Stephen Todd will curate a week-long program for Sydney Design Week from September 14-21. Plenty to look forward to.