Shows
History Talks - HCNSW PodcastsHistory Now 2025 Wood Memorial Lecture in History: 'Creative Histories: A Conversation'In this History Now/Wood Memorial Lecture event, Dr. Sophie Loy-Wilson from the discipline of History at the University of Sydney sits down with three extraordinary scholars who have drawn on lived experiences and diverse methodologies to produce creative histories that have made an impact on how we think about and do history. Shauna Bostock, André Dao, and Katerina Teaiwa discuss their past and future projects, challenging us to imagine new ways of approaching, practicing, and presenting history in Australia today. The Wood Memorial Lecture is funded by a generous endowment to the discipline of His...
2025-12-051h 36History Talks - HCNSW PodcastsHistory Now: Teaching History: The future of history education in NSWIn this conversation led by two leading history educators, we will examine the challenges and complexities of history teaching in the 21st century and explore the important role history teachers play in engaging, informing and shaping the future of history and history adjacent fields. How can we help nurture the next generation of historians? Two leading history educators, Jonathon Dallimore (HTANSW and University of New South Wales) and Professor Tim Allender (University of Sydney), will take us through some of the current issues in contemporary history education.This presentation is part of the History Council o...
2025-11-281h 19
History Talks - HCNSW PodcastsHistory Now: Cultural Heritage in Danger: Current Crises and Practical SolutionsThis discussion will feature contemporary case studies of cultural heritage destruction from abroad and locally, including recent damage to the National Museum of Sudan. However, it is not just conflict scenarios, the conversation will cover case studies of damage due to earthquake and natural damage and wilful damage. We will also consider how sites of historical trauma become historical sites themselves, and how they are reflected in contemporary perspectives.With presentations by Dr Julien Cooper (Macquarie University), Professor Richard Mackay (Australia ICOMOS and Deakin University) and Dr Charlotte Feakins (University of Sydney), this wide-ranging talk will take...
2025-11-211h 32
History Talks - HCNSW PodcastsHistory Now: History Podcasts: an exciting avenue for historical research or yet more populist compromise?In this episode of History Now 2025, the rising genre of History Podcasts is explored in a discussion between Geraldine Fela and Leigh Boucher from Macquarie University, chaired by Craig Barker from the University of Sydney.In the ever-expanding podcast media universe, history is a significant player. Podcasts led by historians regularly feature in ‘top-ten’ download lists, and there is clearly an appetite amongst podcast listeners to hear experts interpret and make meaning from the past. The contrast with declining trends in book sales by academic historians could not be sharper. Many within the discipline are understandably excited about...
2025-11-131h 14
SSEAC StoriesInsects as a Natural and Cultural Resource across Southeast AsiaEvery year, World Wildlife Conservation Day is observed on 4 December. It reminds us of the importance of protecting our biodiversity, a message that is all the more urgent in the face of polycrises intensifying across the globe. At the foundational level of our ecosystems lie insects, which provide invaluable services to maintain healthy environments and populations of other species that depend on them. Insects also inspire human cultures and are useful in myriad ways within the arts, fashion, science, tourism and folklore.This episode’s guest is Matt Huan, Collections Officer at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Un...
2025-04-1532 min
New Books in Animal StudiesInsects as a Natural and Cultural Resource across Southeast AsiaEvery year, World Wildlife Conservation Day is observed on 4 December. It reminds us of the importance of protecting our biodiversity, a message that is all the more urgent in the face of polycrises intensifying across the globe. At the foundational level of our ecosystems lie insects, which provide invaluable services to maintain healthy environments and populations of other species that depend on them. Insects also inspire human cultures and are useful in myriad ways within the arts, fashion, science, tourism and folklore.This episode’s guest is Matt Huan, Collections Officer at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Un...
2025-04-1534 min
New Books in Biology and EvolutionInsects as a Natural and Cultural Resource across Southeast AsiaEvery year, World Wildlife Conservation Day is observed on 4 December. It reminds us of the importance of protecting our biodiversity, a message that is all the more urgent in the face of polycrises intensifying across the globe. At the foundational level of our ecosystems lie insects, which provide invaluable services to maintain healthy environments and populations of other species that depend on them. Insects also inspire human cultures and are useful in myriad ways within the arts, fashion, science, tourism and folklore.This episode’s guest is Matt Huan, Collections Officer at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Un...
2025-04-1534 minNew Books in Biology and EvolutionInsects as a Natural and Cultural Resource across Southeast AsiaEvery year, World Wildlife Conservation Day is observed on 4 December. It reminds us of the importance of protecting our biodiversity, a message that is all the more urgent in the face of polycrises intensifying across the globe. At the foundational level of our ecosystems lie insects, which provide invaluable services to maintain healthy environments and populations of other species that depend on them. Insects also inspire human cultures and are useful in myriad ways within the arts, fashion, science, tourism and folklore.This episode’s guest is Matt Huan, Collections Officer at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Un...
2025-04-1534 min
New Books in Museum StudiesInsects as a Natural and Cultural Resource across Southeast AsiaEvery year, World Wildlife Conservation Day is observed on 4 December. It reminds us of the importance of protecting our biodiversity, a message that is all the more urgent in the face of polycrises intensifying across the globe. At the foundational level of our ecosystems lie insects, which provide invaluable services to maintain healthy environments and populations of other species that depend on them. Insects also inspire human cultures and are useful in myriad ways within the arts, fashion, science, tourism and folklore.This episode’s guest is Matt Huan, Collections Officer at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Un...
2025-04-1532 min
New Books in Southeast Asian StudiesInsects as a Natural and Cultural Resource across Southeast AsiaEvery year, World Wildlife Conservation Day is observed on 4 December. It reminds us of the importance of protecting our biodiversity, a message that is all the more urgent in the face of polycrises intensifying across the globe. At the foundational level of our ecosystems lie insects, which provide invaluable services to maintain healthy environments and populations of other species that depend on them. Insects also inspire human cultures and are useful in myriad ways within the arts, fashion, science, tourism and folklore.This episode’s guest is Matt Huan, Collections Officer at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Un...
2025-04-1532 min
History Talks - HCNSW Podcasts2024 HCNSW Annual History Lecture ft. Prof. Frank Bongiorno - Making Their Political MarkThe 2024 History Council of New South Wales Annual History Lecture was given by Professor Frank Bongiorno, professor of history at Australian National University. First held in 1996, the Annual History Lecture was inaugurated by the HCNSW to underline the importance of history to current issues and concerns. The lectures are original works that constitute a significant contribution to historical knowledge.The title of the 2024 lecture is Making Their Political Mark: How have Australians remembered politics?2024’s Annual History Lecture was held at the Chau Chak Wing Museum...
2025-01-1750 min
Big IdeasLifting the lid — the lost story of an extraordinary Egyptian coffin revealedA wooden sarcophogas is sold in a Cairo market in the 1800s, transported to Australia, and held in a University of Sydney collection. It remains closed for over a century. And then scientists opened its lid. What happened next? Two leading Australian Egyptologists join Natasha Mitchell to consider the ethics, history, and science of a quest to understand life and death in Ancient Egypt and get a glimpse into one woman's world over 2500 years ago. But is it really Mer-Neith-It-Es?This event was presented by the Australian Museum as part of the Ramses and the Gold of th...
2024-12-2457 min
The Solutionists, with Mark ScottModern museums – how to tell the story of AustraliaWho gets to tell the story of Australia? This is the question always at the forefront of Michael Dagostino’s mind. Michael’s the Director of Museums and Cultural Engagement at the University of Sydney, meaning he oversees its famous Chau Chak Wing museum. The museum houses tens of thousands of objects, all of which tell a story. But how does an object tell a story? And how does the way we collect and house them affect that story? Michael shares how art offered him a sense of place and identity as an outcast ki...
2024-12-1026 min
Terra Nullius CyprusTerra Nullius Cyprus – Episode 22: Director of Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project, Meet Dr Craig Barker (15/11/2024)In the 22nd episode of Terra Nullius Cyprus, meet Dr Craig Barker. An expert in Classical Archaeology, he is the Director of the Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project that has been uncovering a major site in antiquity at Fabrika Hill within the Nea Paphos UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995. Check out 👉🏼 paphostheatre.org . He is based at the University of Sydney and is Head of Public Engagement at the incredible Chau Chak Wing Museum. He also hosts the Objects Matter Podcast 👉🏼 sydney.edu.au/museum/news/podcasts.html . Dr Barker delivered the lecture ‘Trowels, Tombs and Trials: The History of Australian Arc...
2024-11-1553 min
Murcutt FoundationStories of earth: echoes in architectureAs the trees lose their leaves in the Slovenian winter, the landscape is dominated by strong verticals. It’s a landscape that Marusa Zorec describes as big on solitude; but one in which she finds freedom.Welcome to Slovenia! A country of 2 million people that is around the same size as Lake Eyre in South Australia! Marusa’s talk is an example of how a 3 week journey through the rich and remote Australian outback shaped her thinking - as it did for Marina Tabassum, Rick Joy, and Niall McLaughlin who all joined Peter Stutchbury and others to d...
2024-09-2454 min
AMplify - Conversations at the Australian MuseumAn Introduction to Egypt - Live at the AMIn the first instalment of the Australian Museum’s exclusive 'Egypt - In Conversation' series, curator and Egyptologist Dr Melanie Pitkin sits down with journalist and passionate Egyptophile Caroline Baum for 'An Introduction to Egypt'.
As the Senior Curator of the Nicholson collection of antiquities at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Melanie shares insight into ancient Egyptians and their world view. Learn about key personalities, events and periods of pharaonic history to the interrelationship between religion and society.
2024-01-0959 min
Object MattersThe statue of William Charles Wentworth and Adelaide IronsideIn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by historian and author Dr Kiera Lindsey. Together they discuss her new book on colonial Sydney artist Adelaide Ironside titled Wild Love. Together they examine speculative history, writing biographies and art in colonial New South Wales, and explore Adelaide's complex relationship with University of Sydney founders William Charles Wentworth and Sir Charles Nicholson.
Guest: Dr Kiera Lindsey is a creative historian who works across the public and academic sectors. She works at the History Trust of SA (HTSA) as South Australia’s History Advocate.
She has...
2023-12-2358 min
Object MattersFragment of terracotta cult statue from CyprusIn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Dr Anastasia Christophilopoulou, an archaeologist and curator at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the 2023 Sir Charles Nicholson Lecturer. Together they discuss the Being An Islander project and associated Islanders: The Making of the Mediterranean exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, as well as Anastasia's archaeological interests in material culture in island environments, including Crete, Sardinia and Cyprus, where they discuss an Archaic period cult sanctuary site called Salamis Toumba.
Guest: Dr Anastasia Christophilopoulou is Curator of Greece, Rome and Cyprus at the Department of Antiquities...
2023-11-2849 min
Object MattersHeba Abd el-Gawad on Rethinking Egyptian Antiquities in MuseumsIn this special episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Egyptian archaeologist Dr Heba Abd el-Gawad. Together they discuss the unique role ancient Egypt plays in museums globally, the missing modern Egyptian voice in ancient Egyptian exhibitions, decolonising collections and her work as part of the AHRC-funded project ‘Egypt’s Dispersed Heritage: views from Egypt’, partnering with UK museums and archives to communicate the history of cultural dispersal and examining opportunities to create dialogue with modern Egyptian communities.
Guest: Dr Heba Abd el-Gawad is an Egyptian archaeologist.
She is the project researcher for the AH...
2023-11-0234 min
Object MattersTransport amphora with shell encrustationsFor this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Dr Natali Pearson of the University of Sydney's Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (SSEAC). Natali is a critical heritage scholar, so together they discuss her work on the maritime heritage of Southeast Asia, including her own work and her recent publication on the Belitung shipwreck in Indonesian waters, and the importance of Australians knowing our nearest neighbours better. Moving from Southeastern Asia to the Mediterranean, together they discuss the second century BC transport amphora (Greco-Italic style) covered with shell encrustations, and muse upon the sea's influence on human...
2023-10-2035 min
Object MattersResearching the Dru Drury butterfly collectionFor this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by zoologist and 2023 Macleay Miklouho-Maclay Fellow Dr Angel Luis Viloria Petit, who has recently completed his research in Sydney, examining historic collections of butterflies.
The Chau Chak Wing Museum houses the natural history collection of Alexander Macleay (1767-1848) largely amassed prior to his arrival in the colony of NSW in 1826. Many of the insects were acquired by Macleay from other naturalists, including Dru Drury (1725-1804) who published three volumes on butterflies. In his three months in Sydney, Venezuelan-based Dr Viloria has examined thousands of specimens in the c...
2023-10-1045 min
Object MattersJudy Birmingham and the Archaeological Excavations at IrrawangIn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Chau Chak Wing Museum intern Isabella Trope. Isabella is a student at Macquarie University and has been researching a collection of ceramic sherds in the museum's education collection donated by Judy Birmingham in preparation of them being used in school education Object-Based Learning programs.
In this conversation they discuss the influence of pioneering Australian archaeologist Judy Birmingham and her work at Irrawang pottery workshop near Raymond Terrace, where between 1833–56 James King produced commercial ceramics. In 1967 Birmingham lead an archaeological excavation conducted by the student Archaeological So...
2023-09-2228 min
Object MattersUMAC and University Museums in the 21st CenturyAs the Chau Chak Wing Museum gets set to host the UMAC2023 conference, for this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by UMAC President and Chau Chak Wing Museum Research Fellow Dr Andrew Simpson.
UMAC University Museums and Collections, an International Committee of ICOM (International Council of Museums) was founded in 2001 to advocate for university museums and teaching and research collections for museums around the globe.
In this discussion, Craig and Andrew talk about the role of museums on a campus from a global perspective, UMAC as an organisation and the aims...
2023-08-2537 min
Object MattersCarte-de-visite; photograph of the bird 'Didunculus strigirostris'For this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Chau Chak Wing Museum colleague Jan Brazier, the Curator of History Collections. Together they discuss a carte-de-visite featuring a photograph of a bird taken by Sydney studio photographer Thomas Skelton Glaister in 1863. Not any bird, this is the first ever photograph of the endangered Didunculus strigirostris or tooth-billed pigeon.
Jan leads us on a journey into the research she has undertaken about this image, tracking from Samoa to Sydney to London an meeting influential figures in 19th century natural history, and providing the story as to...
2023-08-1835 min
Object MattersTracey Hands Up, by Michael Riley (1986)In this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Chau Chak Wing Museum colleague Julian Woods, the museum's Public Engagement Co-ordinator.
Julian discusses a photograph in the collection, acquired from the University of Sydney Union art collection in 2019, which Julian had previously featured in an exhibition he co-curated. The photography by Michael Riley (1960-2004) is a portrait of artist Tracey Moffatt taken in the mid-1980s. They discuss the work of both Riley and Moffatt, photography in Australia and the significance of the photograph within the context of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artist Co-operative.
2023-07-3138 min
Object MattersTwo early x-ray tubes made by Harry W CoxIn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Chau Chak Wing Museum colleague Kelsey McMorrow, who is curatorial assistant, science collections.
Kelsey discusses two x-ray tubes made in the early twentieth century. Together they discuss the importance of science collections and presenting science history in museums. The cover the discovery and the development of x-rays in the late 19th century, the early use of x-rays and the gradual realisation of the health implications of unsafe x-ray usage. They also cover the fascinating story of x-ray pioneer Harry W. Cox, who's firm manufactured the two...
2023-06-2531 min
Object MattersThe Nicholson HermesMarking National Archaeology Week 2023, in this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Associate Professor Lesley Beaumont, a classical archaeologist in the School of Humanities, in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney. Together they discuss one of the most iconic objects in the Chau Chak Wing Museum, the Nicholson Hermes. This Roman marble statue of the 1st century BC or 1st century AD is carved from white marble, the surface of which is deeply weathered through contact with running water. Lesley and Craig discuss archaeology in the 21st century, the...
2023-05-2248 min
Object MattersTwo ancient Athenian vases depicting dogsIn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Classics PhD candidate and 2023 Fellow of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens Alyce Cannon. They discuss two ancient vases from Athens relevant to Alyce's current doctoral research on dogs in ancient Greece.
Using two choes (ancient small, squat wine vessels) in the University of Sydney's collection they discuss how dogs were depicted in Classical Athens, what role dogs had in society and the correlation between a new sense of childhood and relationships with pets in the traumatic era of the end of Classical experiment in...
2023-04-1634 min
Object MattersPenelope & the Seahorse: Artist Mikala DwyerIn this special episode of Object Matters, hear a live recording of a public event held in March 2023, when visual artist Mikala Dwyer is interviewed by Toni Ross about the Chau Chak Wing Museum's fourth contemporary art project titled Mikala Dwyer: Penelope and the Seahorse.
The exhibition at the Chau Chak Wing Museum is an aquatic-themed installation bristling with allusions to hippocampus, the genus name of the seahorse, derived from the Ancient Greek meaning ‘horse’ and ‘sea monster’.
In a wide ranging discussion they cover Mikala's practices, memory associations, the endangered status of seahorses, how she engaged w...
2023-03-2238 min
Object MattersCoin of Roman Emperor Nerva and solar eclipsesFor this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by university administrator, historian and former museum administrator Dr Toner Stevenson. Toner is the co-author with Dr Nick Lomb, of the new book Eclipse Chasers (2023).
Using a coin of the Roman emperor Nerva, minted in 96 AD when he came to power, they discuss how his funeral two years later coincided with a solar eclipse and how humans have interacted with eclipses for millennia. From Australian First Nation astronomy to the successful 1922 Australian scientific expeditions to capture data to prove Einstein's theory that gravity could bend the...
2023-03-1445 min
Object MattersAn Electrotype of an ancient Lydian coinOn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by art historian and current University of Sydney Museum and Heritage Studies Program postgraduate student Dr Ksenia Radchenko. Ksenia is also a museum educator. Ksenia gained her PhD in Russian art history from the University of Southern California.
However on Object Matters we are not discussing 20th century Soviet art. Instead we discuss her internship with the Chau Chak Wing Museum on more than 800 electrotype coins purchased from the British Museum in 1945 but remain uncatalogued.
Ksenia takes us through what electrotypes are, why they were m...
2023-02-1427 min
Object MattersTwo Ancient South Italian Red-figure Fish PlatesFor this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Classicist and Greek cultural historian Professor Alastair Blanshard, from the University of Queensland. They discuss two of Alastair's favourite vases in the Chau Chak Wing Museum collection: two fish plates from ancient Magna Grecia (South Italy), NM46.55 and NM80.48. Together they cover the symbolism of the depiction of seafood in a social context in the ancient Greek world, the function of these vases, and the role of food in ancient societies as well as the joys of taking up fishing as a hobby later in life.
2023-01-0835 min
Object MattersAncient Egyptian steleIn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Egyptologists and archaeologists Dr Melanie Pitkin and Pauline Stanton to discuss stelae and what they can tell us about ancient Egyptian society.
Focusing on a stele (NMR.53) donated by collection founder Sir Charles Nicholson, they discuss the function, manufacture and meaning of stelae for ancient Egyptians. This stele features an image of the deceased Ahmose is sitting on a chair with offerings presented to him by his "brother" Ahmose. Behind the latter stands a woman called Ipdjuju who could either be the his wife or...
2022-12-1345 min
Object MattersLego Tutankhamun and Lego in a museum context with The BrickmanIn this episode of Object Matters, the Brickman, Ryan McNaught joins host Dr Craig Barker to discuss his recent build currently displayed in the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Lego Tutankhamun.
Together they discuss his career as a professional Lego builder, why he has worked with museums, how Lego is enjoyable for fans of all ages, and whether fun models like this have a role within a museum context. They also discuss past builds including Lego Colosseum, The Lego Acropolis and Lego Pompeii which is currently displayed at the Chau Chak Wing Museum as part of the Roman Spectres exhibition...
2022-11-2536 min
雪梨台灣阿姐的碎碎念 (華語) Chinese Podcast#438 哥倫比亞老師告訴我的新鮮事/覺得疫情後世界變小了/每天做的小事卻可以快速學好語言Youtube Ep 76 Chau Chak Wing Museum, The University of Sydney 雪梨大學居然有這一個這麼大又不用錢的周澤榮博物館?
https://youtu.be/xENmErj_44s
有關雪梨台灣阿姐:
https://linktr.ee/sydneytaiwansister
2022-10-2718 min
Sydney IdeasAndrew Leigh - A Zippier EconomyIn this talk, The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury shares why he believes that competition policy is fundamental to economic dynamism and rising living standards.
Dr Leigh was introduced and joined in a conversation with Kirsten Andrew, Vice-President (External Relations) at the University of Sydney.
This recording is from a live event held at the University's Chau Chak Wing Museum on Monday 17 October.
2022-10-1939 min雪梨台灣阿姐的碎碎念 (華語) Chinese Podcast#434 第一次去醫院看專科有感/Chau Chak Wing 博物館/立馬高效專注工作方法/阿根廷這個Yerba mate 茶搞了我二天還沒喝就累了Youtube Ep 74 School holiday+First time playing indoor mini golf 原來室內的迷你高爾夫這麼可愛+這一家瓷器餐廳好好吃
https://youtu.be/Nrg7XT-52mE
有關雪梨台灣阿姐:
https://linktr.ee/sydneytaiwansister
2022-10-1427 min
Object MattersRethinking Ancient Egyptian CollectionsIn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by museum archaeologist Associate Professor Alice Stevenson to discuss museum archaeology and a number of projects Alice is directing which is examining Egypt's dispersed heritage and how museums narrate collections of Egyptology.
In a wide ranging conversation they talk about decolonising Egyptian collections, contemporary art in museum installations and finding ways to engage community voices in museum exhibitions.
Guest: Associate Professor Alice Stevenson teaches and researches museum studies at the Institute of Archaeology at UCL in London. Her research interests include museum archaeology, the...
2022-10-0537 min
Object MattersLantern Slide Portraits of King, Queen, Prince and Princess of WalesIn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by cultural historian Dr Cindy McCreery. 2022 is a particularly important year for the British royal family with the Platinum Jubilee. It is also a period of transition for the institution.
Together for this episode Cindy and Craig discuss a commercially produced children's lantern slide of the first decade of the twentieth century featuring King Edward VII, Queen Alexandria and the Prince of Wales, later to be George V, and his wife Mary. Produced by W. Butcher and Sons, c. 1901-1907, the slide provides a remarkable insight...
2022-08-1631 min
Object MattersProfessor Dakin's photograph of snapping shrimpsFor this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Curator of Natural History Collections at the Chau Chak Wing Museum Dr Anthony Gill. In the lead up to National Science Week and the new exhibition Australian Seashores opening at the Chau Chak Wing Museum in August 2022, they discuss a photograph in the collection taken in the late 1940s in preparation for the book Australian Seashores.
Professor William John Dakin (1883-1950), professor of zoology at the University of Sydney from 1929 until 1950, along with Elizabeth Pope and Isobel Bennett compiled the book Australian Seashores which was...
2022-07-2637 min
Object MattersBronze Cast of Il SpinarioThis episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Italian renaissance historian Dr Kathleen Olive to discuss Il Spinario, or the ‘Boy with Thorn’.
Il Spinario is one of the most famous works of bronze to survive from the Hellenistic-Roman world, a depiction of a young boy contemplating a thorn as he removes it from the sole of his foot. The ‘original’ ancient bronze is now in the Palazzo del Conservatori in Rome. The Chau Chak Wing Museum is home to a bronze copy of the Roman statue produced by the Fondere Artistiche Riunite in the early...
2022-06-0739 min
Namaste RecordsNamaste Podcast 046 - PetrichorPetrichor (Zac Triantafilis) draws inspiration from his every day spiritual and sonic experience. He resides in Sydney, Australia. In late 2020, B1ossom (Aaron Wu) and Petrichor founded The Lucidity Collective, a creative outfit designed to deepen the progressive atmosphere through grassroot events in Sydney. They work closely with fellow Sydney DJ Marley Hughes to deliver a tight aural identity, and look to grow further as they host Lucidity 04 at the University of Sydney's Chau Chak Wing Museum, on June 11th. An artist who approaches his craft meticulously, his taste is pure and authentic to his musical vector.
2022-05-2854 min
Object MattersPhotogrammetry recording of an Athenian tetradrachmThis episode of Object Matters marks National Archaeology week. Host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Madeline Robinson, Support Officer for the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sydney. In recent years Madeline has overseen a project of recording a number of Chau Chak Wing Museum objects in 3D to be used in digital teaching of undergraduate courses.
Photogrammetry is a technique that creates accurate and fully textured 3D models from photographs. It can be used to record both landscapes and objects of all sizes; allowing 3D prints and orthoimages (scaled images without distortion or perspective). Madeline d...
2022-05-1532 min
Object MattersAlan Sonfist's Crystalline enclosure, 1970In this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by art historian and author Nicholas Croggon. They speak on the Power Institute, the Power Collection and the Light and Darkness exhibition.
Nick discusses a work in the Power Collection by American artist Alan Sonfist. Sonfist is a US based artist most often associated with the birth of the Land or Earth Art movement. Crystalline enclosure was created in 1970, early in Sonfist’s career. The work features a glass globe with a mineral compound inside. As the air around it heats up, the compound sublimes into a...
2022-05-0433 min
Object MattersParts from prototypes of the Cotton Aerodynamic Anti-G (CAAG) suitIn this episode of Object Matters Lauren Poole, a writer and disabled postgraduate student of museum studies at the University of Sydney joins host Dr Craig Barker. Together they speak about the more than 100 rubber fragments of the "Cotton aerodynamic anti-G (CAAG) flying suit" in the collection.
Designed during World War Two at the University of Sydney by the Professor of Physiology between 1942 and 1955, named Frank Cotton, , the suit was produced in conjunction with the Royal Australian Air Force to minimise the effects of high-speed flying on pilots and to prevent blackouts. Representing a remarkable career Cotton (1890-1955...
2022-04-0541 min
Object MattersPlaster Cast of the relief Boston ThroneHost Dr Craig Barker is joined by classical archaeologist Dr Alina Kozlovski to discuss the tradition of plaster casts of Greek and Roman antiquities popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Using the Nicholson collection's century old cast of the Boston Throne as a starting point they discuss the popularity of casting for educational and aesthetic reasons, the influence of casts on modern perceptions of the Classical past and the role of authenticity in collections and interpretations. The Boston Throne is three-sided marble relief sculpture now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts similar to the Ludovisi Throne and...
2022-03-1439 min
Object MattersChinese Willow Pattern DishFor Lunar New Year 2022, Object Matters host Craig Barker is joined by art historian and art writer Dr Alex Burchmore. They discuss this 19th century Chinese Willow Pattern dish and explore how it represents a complex series of cultural interchanges and cross-pollinaion between China and England, the principal motif elements in Willow Pattern ceramics and how they a 19th century audience responded to them, as well as the extent to which such pieces offered their owners an opportunity to indulge in escapist fantasy, introducing a note of the exotic into the domestic.
Guest: Dr Alexander Burchmore, Lecturer Museums a...
2022-02-0145 min
Object MattersDeadly Delights - An arrangement of Jezebel butterfliesIn this episode of Object Matters Matthew Huan joins host Dr Craig Barker to discuss several Australian Jezebel butterflies (genus Delias) from the museum’s Macleay Collection. Matthew is a Museums Collections Officer and entomologist at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, and has a long fascination with butterflies. With over 250 known species the Jezebels, they are found from South East Asia to New Guinea and Australia. So what attracts Matthew to these deadly delights?
In a wide ranging conversation they discuss the role of classical and Biblical history in the taxonomy of species, coloration and toxicity, how new species evolve, Ma...
2021-12-1638 min
Object MattersA Late Bronze Age Cylinder SealIn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Damien Stone. Damien is an archaeologist and works in the Collection Management team of the Chau Chak Wing Museum. He is author of Pomegranate: A Global History and is currently working on a second project exploring the Hittite civilization of Ancient Turkey. Damien has selected from the collection a cylinder seal from Late Bronze Age Syria and the two of them discuss sealing iconography and functionality, personal identity in the ancient Middle East and international diplomacy during the Bronze Age.
Object Details: Cylinder seal...
2021-12-0322 min
Object MattersThe Pearson photographic albums of New Britain
Steven Gagau is an archivist and researcher with PARADISEC (the Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures) - a digital archive of languages from the Pacific. Steven is also a co-curator of the Chau Chak Wing Museum's exhibition Pacific Views. In this episode of Object Matters he joins host Dr Craig Barker on a personal journey to his homeland of New Britain as recorded in photographs in two albums taken in the late 1920s by an Australian banker in Rabaul. It was around the time Steven's father was born. In this wide ranging discussion Steven and Craig...
2021-11-1632 min
Object MattersApplied ArtsCultural producer and artist Dr Sarah Goffman joins host Dr Craig Barker in this episode of Object Matters to discuss her current exhibition at the Chau Chak Wing Museum titled Applied arts. In this episode they discuss Sarah’s creative processes, her relationship with collecting and the use of plastics in her work and in particular discuss the role the AGNSW’s Chinese scholar’s table has taken throughout her career including the current exhibition. Join Sarah as she takes us into Applied Arts.
2021-11-0533 min
Object MattersCampanian red figure bell krater by the Nicholson Painter featuring a warriorIn this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Mediterranean archaeologist and Project Officer of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens Dr Yvonne Inall to discuss her research into ancient spears and the Chau Chak Wing Museum’s red figure bell-krater from south Italy attributed to the Nicholson Painter. The vase features a scene of a warrior holding a spear alongside two women, and provides the inspiration for a discussion ranging from weaponry in the ancient Mediterranean world, the legacy of University of Sydney archaeological scholarship of South Italian vase painting and the way that we ma...
2021-10-0542 min
Object MattersHongi Hika’s wooden bustNgāpuhi leader and warrior, Hongi Hika (c. 1772 – 1828) was an important figure in Māori history. Hongi Hika successfully negotiated trade and missionary activities in the early part of the 19th century, living in Sydney from 1814 to 1819. In 1820 he visited England where he was feted by society and introduced to King George IV. His main aim however was acquire muskets; the weapons would be used in the Musket Wars in which Hongi was a successful military campaigner. The Chau Chak Wing Museum houses one of three busts of Hongi, one of which was a self-portrait carved by the warrior.
In t...
2021-09-0840 min
Object MattersThe faience shabtis of DjedherMichelle Whitford is a doctoral researcher in Department of Physics and Astronomy at Macquarie University who has been conducting research on thousands of ancient Egyptian objects made from faience, including many from the Nicholson Collection at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, using new and innovative scientific techniques.
In this episode of Object Matters she joins host Dr Craig Barker in a discussion about seven shabti buried in the tomb of Djedher in the fourth century BC and together they discuss ancient Egyptian religious practices, how faience was manufactured and the methods that Michelle employed to bring new data from...
2021-08-1330 min
Inside The GalleryINSIDE THE GALLERY (Australia): CHAU CHAK WING MUSEUMDeputy Director Dr Paul Donnelly describes the foundation of the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney.
The university's collections began with the Nicholson Collection of antiquities in 1860 and continued to grow to include the Macleay Collections of natural history, ethnography, science and historic photography, and the University Art Collection.
While the collections themselves aren’t new, being able to see them is. The Chau Chak Wing Museum triples the exhibition space previously available. 70 per cent of the items on display have not been seen publicly for over 20 years.
From ancient Rome...
2021-07-2833 min
Object MattersThe ThylacineMatthew Gibbs wears many hats. For eleven years he served as President for the Friends of the Nicholson Collection, but he is also the General Manager, Media and Communications at the ASX, a collector, and a lover of Shakespeare. He joins Dr Craig Barker to discuss one of his favourite collection items; the mounted specimen of a Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger. In a wide-ranging discussion they talk about Matthew’s interest in Tasmanian Tigers and their enduring role in Australia’s consciousness, as well as Shakespeare, extinction and the importance of museum supporters.
Specimen details: Thylacinus cynocephalus (Harris, 1808), dona...
2021-07-0751 min
Object MattersThe Future of Museums18 May 2021 was International Museums Day, an annual celebration created by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), designed to raise awareness about museums and their role in enriching culture and sharing knowledge. The theme for 2021 was The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine.
Four panellists from the Museum and Heritage Studies program at the University of Sydney joined Dr Craig Barker on International Museums Day in a live panel in the Nelson Meers Foundation Auditorium. Discussing the future of museums and some of the current issues facing the museum sector globally and here in Australia, this special episode of Object Matters di...
2021-05-281h 12
Object MattersThomas Hikade on Sir Flinders Petrie’s Diopolis Parva seriation chartSir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) is an important and somewhat controversial figure in the history of archaeology. The grandson of Matthew Flinders, Petrie rose from a surveyor to becoming the Professor of Egyptology at the University College London, where the Petrie Museum was named in his honour. He excavated more than 60 sites in Egypt during his career and a number of others in the Levant in his twilight years, pioneering a range of methodologies and techniques that would become standard practice in archaeology in the 20th century.
Under the auspices of the Egyptian Exploration Fund (EEF), now E...
2021-05-2130 min
Object MattersThe Collection ManagersBehind the scenes it takes a mighty team to care for the Chau Chak Wing Museum’s vast collections. In this episode, Craig Barker invites nine CCWM Collection Management staff members to discuss how they document, digitise, register, monitor and care for the objects that matter so much to us all.
We explore their roles at the museum, the philosophy and practicalities of collection care and the processes the team undertook to move more than 110,000 objects physically into the museum in 2020.
Guests: Maree Clutterbuck (Head, Collection Management), Chris Jones (Collection Manager, Documentation), Julie Taylor (Museum Registration Officer), Madeleine Sneddon (Acting Muse...
2021-05-0640 min
The Fact DetectivesAnimal MummiesIn this episode, Anika and Dexter chat to Candace Richards who wraps up all the facts about animal mummies. Press play to listen to all the intriguing facts about animal mummies, including: Why were animals mummified in Ancient Egypt? How were they mummified? How do you know what’s inside a mummy if you don’t unwrap it? Guest: Candace Richards (Chau Chak Wing Museum) Hosts: Anika and Dexter Producer: Cinnamon Nippard Sound Design: Darcey Milne Executive Producer: Lorna Clarkson See omnystudio.c...
2021-05-0510 min
Object MattersDr Seppi Lehner on an Early Dynastic copper alloy axe from Ur in IraqMiddle Eastern archaeologist from the University of Sydney Dr Joseph ‘Seppi’ Lehner speaks to Dr Craig Barker about a number of bronze and copper alloy objects in the Museum collection, recovered in the British Museum and University of Pennsylvania excavations at Ur in Iraq, directed by Sir Leonard Woolley in the 1920s and 1930s.
In particular they discuss a copper alloy axe head found in one of the tombs dating to the Early Dynastic period (c. 2900-2350 BC), and talk more broadly about archaeology in Mesopotamia, the ancient trade in metals and resources, and potential links between metal objects in Ur and...
2021-04-0832 min
Object MattersTwo WWI photographs by Frank HurleyIn this special episode of Object Matters, Dr Craig Barker is joined by Toni Hurley, teacher, educator, historian, one-time president of the History Teachers Association and known to generations of school students as a co-author of the Antiquity series of textbooks. Toni is also the grand-daughter of renowned Australian photographer Frank Hurley (1885-1962).
In this podcast Toni and Craig discuss two lantern slides of Hurley photographs, formerly from the Geology Department collection. Both are images of the 1st AFC Australian Flying Corps campaigning in Palestine in World War One, and Hurley’s pioneering work recording the missions of the Fly...
2021-03-2943 min
Object MattersCellist by Walter BowringIn this episode of Object Matters Dr Craig Barker is joined by Chris Jones the Chau Chak Wing Museum’s Collection Manager, Documentation.
An oil painting by Walter Armiger Bowring (1887-1971) in the museum’s art collection titled Cellist of c. 1927 has long intrigued Chris. A musician in an artists studio looks not a musical score but rather an abstract painting. Chris ponders if Bowring is gently mocking the 1920s modernist concepts popularised by Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo, Roy De Maistre and others about the relationship between art and music and questions who the cellist in the painting may have been. Chris also...
2021-03-0425 min
Object MattersOn artists Lindy Lee and Wang YoushenDr Shuxia Chen, Curator of the China Gallery at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, joins Dr Craig Barker to welcome the Year of the Ox with two artworks from the collection. Photocopy works by Chinese-Australian artist Lindy Lee and Beijing artist Wang Youshen from the late 1980s and early 1990s are discussed in reference to Shuxia’s own art historical research and together we examine how artists were looking for new ways to combine Eastern and Western traditions during that creative and experimental period.
Artworks
Lindy Lee, Untitled III (after Antonello da Messina), 1987, JW Power Collection, PW1987.18.a...
2021-02-2335 min
Object MattersA Pompeian wall painting fragmentDiana Wood Conroy, Emeritus Professor of Visual Arts at the University of Wollongong is an artist, author and archaeologist with a long connection to the Chau Chak Wing Museum collections - as an undergraduate student in the 1960s she assisted in the Nicholson Museum stocktake and redisplay of the collection. Since the 1970s Diana has worked primarily in tapestry and has collaborated with Tiwi artists. Her practice explores relationships between classical, Aboriginal and personal worlds in tapestry and drawing, and her works are held in national and international collections.
A fragment of a Pompeian wall painting painted c. 60-79 AD is...
2021-02-0334 min
New Books in Pacific StudiesTrading Birds of Paradise: A Brief History by Jude PhilpLong praised for their splendid plumage, birds of paradise are a rare sight only to be found in the remote rainforests of New Guinea and associated islands. They are among the earliest animals to have the inglorious honour of obtaining legal protection against their trade. While the trade in the species is more than a millennium old, it was only in the late 19th century that globalisation pushed some bird of paradise species towards extinction.In this episode, Jude Philp, Senior Curator at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, explores the dark history of the trade in birds...
2021-01-2826 minSSEAC StoriesTrading Birds of Paradise: A Brief History by Jude PhilpLong praised for their splendid plumage, birds of paradise are a rare sight only to be found in the remote rainforests of New Guinea and associated islands. They are among the earliest animals to have the inglorious honour of obtaining legal protection against their trade. While the trade in the species is more than a millennium old, it was only in the late 19th century that globalisation pushed some bird of paradise species towards extinction.In this episode, Jude Philp, Senior Curator at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, explores the dark history of the trade in birds...
2021-01-2826 min
Object MattersNeo Assyrian ivory plaque from Nimrud in IraqConservation is one of the most important and often most misunderstood roles within a museum. In this episode of Object Matters Dr Craig Barker is joined by the Chau Chak Wing Museum’s former Conservator Alayne Alvis to discuss the function of conservation and the role of a conservator in the process of collection management and exhibitions. The object the pair discuss dates to c. 730-720 BC and is a Neo Assyrian carved ivory plaque of a female figure that Alayne has worked very closely with. Excavated by Sir Max Mallowan from Fort Shalmaneser at Nimrud in Iraq in the 1950s...
2021-01-2833 min
ARTY - ArtyArty. Let's go to Sydney - to study antiquities and interact with dinosaurs - Arty. Все в Сидней - изучать древности и общаться с динозаврамиA new The Chau Chak Wing Museum with the largest collection of antiquities in the Southern Hemisphere has opened in Sydney. At the same time, the Australian Museum opened its doors to visitors for the first time in 15 months. - В Сиднее появился новый музей с крупнейшей в Южном полушарии коллекцией древностей The Chau Chak Wing Museum. Кроме того, Australian Museum открыл двери для посетителей впервые за 15 месяцев.
2020-12-0414 min
Object MattersPromesse de mandat territorialMuseums often amass much ephemeral material as well as collection objects; these ‘minor’ pieces can enhance our understanding of the broader pattern of collecting.
In this episode, Dr Craig Barker is joined by Candace Richards, Assistant Curator of the Nicholson Collection. Together they discuss a ‘Promesse de mandat territorial'; a French bank note issued in 1796, two years before the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt. The note came to Australia via the family of the noted figure in Egyptology and University of Sydney alumnus Grafton Elliot Smith (1871-1937).
This single piece of paper provides an opportunity to talk about...
2020-12-0237 min
Object MattersCerussite specimen from Broken HillDirector David Ellis joins Dr Craig Barker to discuss his love of mineralogy and the remarkable history of a mineral from deep in the earth’s past, and its journey from Broken Hill to the Chau Chak Wing Museum.
Cerussite is a mineral consisting of lead carbonate and as such is an important ore of lead. Indeed the name is based on the Latin word cerussa or white lead. Cerussite mineral specimens can also be extraordinarily beautiful and highly valued by collectors. The specimen David has chosen for this episode is no different. Acquired at Broken Hill in Ne...
2020-11-1924 min
Object MattersNikolai Miklouho-Maclay’s jar of neurological specimensWhat can a jar of tiny brains tell us about human history and the role of museums in contextualising colonisation?
In this episode, Dr Craig Barker is joined by Dr Jude Philp, anthropologist and Senior Curator of the Macleay Collections. Together they discuss a jar of partially dissected bird and small mammal brains, each individually wrapped in muslin or gauze. These specimens were collected by Russian scientist Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay from the Madang province of Papua New Guinea in 1876-77 and donated to the University of Sydney by his Australian widow Margaret in 1889. From the jar tumble stories of M...
2020-10-0845 min
Object MattersDeep time in the Sydney basinDeep time is a geological concept - the idea of unimaginable lengths of time. Our guest this episode is Matt Poll, Curator of Indigenous Heritage at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, who selects a stone axe to illustrate the deep time history of Sydney.
The hand axe was found on the lands of the Deerubbin peoples of western Sydney, at Castlereigh, Penrith Lakes. Located by Father Eugene Stockton, it was donated to the Macleay Museum in 1984. It has since been dated using the scientific technique of thermoluminescence to c.45,000 years old: a true example of the deep time history o...
2020-09-0234 min
Object MattersJW Power and Femme à L’ombrelleSenior Curator of the University Art Collection, Dr Ann Stephen introduces us to Dr John Joseph Wardell Power (1881-1943), painter, author, medical doctor and philanthropist. In this episode, Ann introduces his life and work by focusing on a single painting, Femme à L’ombrelle (c. 1926), in the Chau Chak Wing Museum collection. JW Power, as he preferred to be known, is renowned in Australian art for his generous bequest to the University of Sydney which aimed to bring the latest ideas about contemporary art to the people of Australia; resulting in the establishment of the Power Institute and the foundation of the...
2020-08-0517 min
Object MattersThe scallop’s gaze: visual culture in the aquariumArt historian Dr Ann Elias came across the haunting image of a scallop in an aquarium while researching ocean histories and early 20th century underwater photography. Captured by the camera while opening its valves, the scallop almost appears to be grinning at us. Dr Elias was immediately reminded of the work of artist Odilon Redon, who created hybrid human and non-human creatures in his paintings and drawings. The gaze of the scallop also captured the attentions of philosopher Henri Bergson and University of Sydney marine biologist William John Dakin, who proposed contradictory theories about the similarities of scallop eyes and...
2020-07-0126 min
Object MattersGraveside Gifts - Three white ground lekythoiWhen Dr Paul Donnelly first saw the grieving figures depicted on this trio of white ground lekythoi, he felt an instant human connection. Created in the 5th century BC, these Greek ceramic vessels were intended as a graveside gift for a departed loved one, filled with oil for use in their afterlife. Paul speaks to Dr Craig Barker about these finely crafted vessels and their journey from ancient Athens to the Nicholson Collection in Australia, via World War Two Paris.
Download transcript (docx, 1.1 MB)
Guest: Dr Paul Donnelly, Deputy Director of the Chau Chak Wing Museum and practicing a...
2020-06-0322 min
Object MattersThe Venetian Queen of CyprusDr Craig Barker was an archaeology student when he first encountered the captivating painting of Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus, in his professor’s office. Venetian born Caterina’s rule began with tragedy in 1474, as she took the throne following the death of her husband King James II and infant son, and it ended with sorrow in 1489 as the last monarch of Cyprus was forced to surrender control of Cyprus to the Venetians.
Artwork: Caterina Cornaro Queen of Cyprus (artist unknown), Italian school, circa 1500, oil on canvas, donated by Sir Charles Nicholson 1865, UA1865.9
Download transcript (docx, 1.1 MB)
Ho...
2020-05-0515 min
Collège de France - SélectionGrand événement - Les grandes conférences du Collège de France : Frank Gehry, conversation avec Jean-Louis CohenGrand événement - Les grandes conférences du Collège de FranceConférences organisées avec le soutien de la Fondation Hugot 17 juin 2017 : Frank Gehry, conversation avec Jean-Louis Cohen Frank Gehry, Architecte Jean-Louis Cohen, Architecte, Professeur à l'Université de New York et au Collège de France Conférence en anglais avec traduction simultanée en français. Peu de concepteurs ont autant transformé la pratique de l'architecture au cours des dernières décennies que Frank Gehry, dont l'œuvre a...
2017-06-221h 23
Sydney IdeasArts and Aboriginal Australia: decolonisation or reconciliation?In the last 50 years museums have slowly changed from exhibitions ‘about’ Indigenous peoples to exhibitions by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander curators.
As the University of Sydney embarks on the building of the new Chau Chak Wing Museum, we consider what are the next steps and continue to question how exhibitions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections can engage all visitors meaningfully.
Speakers:
Sharni Jones, Manager of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections at the Australian Museum
Stephen Gilchrist, Associate Lecturer Department of Art History, University of Sydney
Rodney Kelly, Gweagal activist for the repatriation of ancestral collections to A...
2017-05-311h 36