Discover some funky new techniques including upholstering, felt riveting and leather work. Learn how to resurrect your favourite chair with upholstery or construct an iPad cover with designer felt, rivets and customised leather stamping. Plus join our drop-in sessions and create a knitted collar scarf in a jiffy or take part in the big knit!

Craft Punk: Cover your bits! is the latest in a series of weekend programs aimed at harnessing the creative energy of a vast community of people crafting beautiful and edgy work. The program offers a space where people can meet, make and share skills. Be inspired to start a new project, learn a new skill, tackle a tricky pattern or just rekindle your love of making. Craft Punk is all about giving you the tools to take making into your own hands!

DROP-IN SESSIONS

Collar cuddler: knit a short scarf
26 and 27 May, 10.00am – 4.00pm
Let our fabulous experts show you how to knit a short scarf in rapid time with some intriguing mixed threads. For ages 12 years and over (children must be accompanied by an adult).
Free with Museum admission. No bookings required. Beginners welcome.

Zoom in: The Big Knit!
26 and 27 May, 10.00am – 4.00pm
Have some fun trying to knit with our giant Knitting Needles and French Knitting Nancy…and see how fast the loops grow! Free with Museum admission. No bookings required. Beginners welcome.

WORKSHOPS

Cover your iPad: felt and leatherwork
26 and 27 May, 10.30am – 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 3.30pm
$45 adult, $40 Powerhouse member (includes Museum admission)
Suitable for ages 14 and over. Beginners welcome.
Bookings essential at powerhousemuseum.com

Have you ever lusted after 100% wool manufactured felt? Silvia Guerrera will show you how to rivet 3mm designer wool felt to make a small pouch suitable for your iPad or diary (19 x 24cm). Featuring customised leather strap detailing, you can personalise your cover by stamping or embossing the strap with your name, picture stamps, embossed pattern or leather dye. The design can also be adapted for an iPhone. All materials and equipment is supplied including pre-cut 3mm designer felt in a choice of dark or light grey.

Silvia Guerrera is a highly skilled leather-craft teacher with over 30 years experience. She teaches in the costume department at NIDA and at a leather wholesale and retail establishment in Sydney. Silvia is a member of the Leatherworkers’ Guild of NSW.

Kerbside Coverings: Re-upholstering your favourite chair
26 and 27 May, 10.30an – 3.30pm
$85 adult, $80 Powerhouse member (includes Museum admission)
Suitable for ages 16 and over. Beginners welcome.
Bookings essential at powerhousemuseum.com

Maaike Pullar will show you how to re-invigorate a simple dining chair or stool and create a bespoke piece with attitude. Bring along that kerbside find or op-shop treasure. This is re-upholstering the sustainable way: reusing foam, springs and other salvaged materials. Learn how to use basic upholstery tools, apply hessian webbing and springs, pintuck foam, stretch fabric, slip stitch by hand and collage fabric designs using fusible webbing. Suitable projects include stools, ottomans, dining chairs and occasional chairs. Bring 2 metres of your own fabric to upholster and protective cloth gloves. All other materials supplied.

Maaike Pullar trained as a designer and has a passion for resurrecting furniture. She has been specialising in art upholstery for five years, creating one-off pieces on commission. Maaike is a founding director of He Made She Made, a design concept gallery in Darlinghurst.

Further media information, images or interviews:
Hayley Gallant, Powerhouse Museum
Tel: 02 9217 0169 / 0413 985 277 or email: hayleyg@phm.gov.au

Through the profiles of a group of Australian designer-retailers, the exhibition showcases a new generation of brands that are designing, retailing and marketing stylish clothing for Muslim women to meet their desire to dress creatively and fashionably while still expressing their faith.

Glynis Jones, curator of Faith, fashion, fusion at the Powerhouse Museum, said: “The words ‘faith’ and ‘fashion’ do not often appear in the same context. This exhibition aims to show that they are not incompatible; rather ‘modest fashion’ is one of the fashion industry’s largest potential growth areas.”

“The market for these designers is not limited to Muslim women and women of other faiths, but any woman who for various reasons may not feel comfortable in the often body-conscious styles currently available, but want looser, fashionable clothing that offers more coverage.”

Faith, fashion, fusion features garments, fashion shoots and interviews with six Sydney-based fashion brands – baraka, Fay Tellaoui, Hijab House, Integrity Boutique, Ahiida® and Aida Zein. Whilst most of these brands are based in Western Sydney, their reach is much further with some selling globally through their online stores. In fact, Aheda Zanetti, founder and designer of modest swimwear brand Ahiida®, proudly notes that she has sent her famous Burqini® swimwear to countries where even global delivery company TNT does not go.

“Through bricks and mortar boutiques, Facebook pages and online e-tailing these designers are rethinking the model for retailing and marketing modest fashion,” said Glynis Jones.

Also featuring in the exhibition is the online commentary of two influential Australian fashion bloggers, Mya Arifin and Delina Darusman-Gala, Sydney’s first Muslim fashion bloggers. They share their love of clothing and offer advice on modest fashion, where to buy outfits and accessories, how to make mainstream fashion trends more modest, and their own dressing dilemmas!

The Faith, fashion, fusion exhibition opens up a space where Muslim women can speak more broadly about themselves, their experiences and faith, countering some of the misconceptions and prejudice that exist in Australian society. Through photographs, treasured objects and interviews, a group of well-respected Australian Muslim women share their opinions, challenges and achievements in the exhibition. These women include: author and lawyer, Randa Abdel-Fattah; academic and media commentator, Susan Carland; Australia’s first Muslim surf lifesaver, Mecca Laalaa; members of the Auburn Tigers football team; author Arwa El Masri; academic and activist, Oishee Alam; and President of the Lebanese Muslim Women’s Association at Lakemba Mosque Mona Marabani and her daughter Rayan.

Inspired by the work of photo bloggers like American Scott Schuman and his influential fashion blog The Sartorialist, the exhibition also captures the diversity and creativity of Muslim women’s style through our own street style photo shoot undertaken at events and locations around Sydney.

Faith, fashion, fusion: Muslim women’s style in Australia is showing at the Powerhouse Museum until February 2013. It will be accompanied by a publication of the same name featuring stories, interviews and photographs from the exhibition, with background essays by writer and academic, Shakira Hussein, and Powerhouse Museum design and society curator, Christina Sumner. Paperback, 80 pp. RRP $19.95.

On View: Faith, fashion, fusion: Muslim women’s style in Australia
Dates: 5 May 2012 – February 2013
Address: Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney
Telephone: (02) 9217 0111 or infoline (02) 9217 0444
Website: www.powerhousemuseum.com
Hours: 10.00am to 5.00pm (closed Christmas Day)
Admission: General admission $12 adult, $6 child, $8 student/concession and $30 family. Powerhouse Museum members and children under 4 years admitted free.

Note to media:
Go to http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/media/?p=120
for media backgrounder on the designers behind Muslim women’s style in Australia.

Media information, images or interviews:
Mandy Campbell, Powerhouse Museum, Tel: 02 9217 0551/0422 9299 27 or mandyca@phm.gov.au

Opening 5 May 2012, Faith, fashion, fusion showcases a new generation of Australian brands that are designing, retailing and marketing stylish clothing for Muslim women, to meet their desire to dress creatively and fashionably, while remaining committed to their Islamic faith. The brands and the designers behind them are revealed below.

baraka: Kath Fry and Eisha Saleh are business and creative partners in the modest fashion label baraka which in 2009 won Muslim Business of the Year. The two met while studying Islam at the Daar Aisha Sharia College in Lakemba and had an instant rapport over their mutual love of fashion. Finding it difficult to buy modest clothing that was also fashionable they decided to do it themselves translating high fashion trends into more modest styles for a diverse customer base from women from various faiths to those who want to dress in flattering clothing that offers more coverage.

Fay Tellaoui: Fay Tellaoui had always loved designing and making her own clothing and started out testing her designs on family and friends. She soon found there was a gap in the market for fashionable modest clothing and expanded into wholesaling to traditional Muslim clothing stores in Western Sydney. With the support of her uncle she opened her eponymous boutique on South Terrace in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown in February 2008 and two years later launched a second store in Coburg, Melbourne.

Hijab House: Established by Tarik Houchar, Hijab House was one of the first Australian Muslim women’s fashion retailers to open inside a mainstream shopping centre. The flagship store opened in Bankstown Centro, Sydney in September 2010 and in the following April a second store opened in Stockland Mall Merrylands. Tarik introduced a fresh take on what it is like to be a fashionable, young Australian Muslim woman using striking fashion photographs which appear in the store windows, a playful, carefully co-ordinated store environment and engaging Facebook and online store conversations.

Integrity Boutique: Sisters Howayda Moussa and Hanadi Chehab set up Integrity Boutique at the end of January 2010 “I had just put on the scarf,” says Howayda. “I was looking for new places to shop…but everywhere had the same traditional clothes…I couldn’t find any variety!” As a result, Integrity Boutique was founded as a designer-retailer of modest evening and formal wear aimed at both Muslim and non-Muslim woman who wants to dress stylishly, but with that extra coverage.

Ahiida®: Aheda Zanetti is founder and designer of Ahiida™, one Australia’s best known swimwear and sportswear brands. Designed to assist Muslim women comfortably and modestly take part in competitive and recreational sports her swimwear is also in demand from women who want sun safe garments and styles that provide more coverage.

Zanetti’s designs and story have resonated culturally, socially and politically both here and overseas and appear in some surprising contexts. The name of her modest swimwear design, the Burqini®, was selected as Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year in 2011 and her story was adapted for the short play ‘The Modest Aussie Cozzie’ by award-winning writer Alana Valentine. Zanetti’s first name is listed on the online parenting resource BabyCenter India under the article for baby names inspired by fashion designers. Aheda (Zanetti) appears alongside Stella (McCartney) and Gabrielle (Chanel).

Aida Zein: Aida Zein is an independent designer-retailer specialising in modest street and casual wear for Muslim women. Her signature fabric is denim which she loves for its ease of wear and care and the flexibility of layering her designs for denim skirts, tunics and dresses with tops, bolero jackets, vests and scarves to dress them up or down.

Media information, images or interviews:-
Mandy Campbell, Powerhouse Museum, Tel: 02 9217 0551/0422 9299 27 or mandyca@phm.gov.au

Since 1993, Student Fashion has provided a glimpse of the exciting potential of the next generation of Australian fashion designers. Past exhibitors who have gone on to enjoy successful careers in fashion both here and overseas include Michelle Jank, Toni Maticevski and Dion Lee.

Illustrating their diverse design signatures and technical skills, this year’s display showcases outfits from the final year ranges of top students from four Sydney-based fashion design schools. They include: Anna Langdon from the Fashion Design Studio, TAFE NSW, Sydney Institute; Claudia Adinda of Raffles College of Design and Commerce; Simone Latham from the University of Technology, Sydney; and Madalaine Blythe from the Whitehouse Institute of Design.

Anna Langdon’s Arabesque evening gown is inspired by the dramatic costumes of the Ballets Russes and intricate carvings found on ancient Middle-eastern architecture. Toying with kitsch and irony, Anna’s men’s outfit from her Kitschfolk und Kindheit graduation collection references German folk dress combined with Australian fauna motifs.

Claudia Adinda’s Digital Dimensions collection is influenced by the Japanese paper folding art of origami. Inspired by contemporary Japanese fashion designers, her work transforms unusual materials into what she describes as ‘nonsensical-shaped wearable structures’. Her monochrome palette and exaggerated proportions form, like origami, an array of visually intriguing shapes. Folded around the body, her garments re-shape the human form.

Light, landscape and photography are deeply embedded in Simone Latham’s collection Reverie. Through colour blocking and digitally printed landscapes, a vivid interplay between light and colour is revealed. This is further enhanced by the use of Electro Luminescent Panels and Swarovski Elements Crystals, which intensify the light and shadow areas and create a brilliance of colour.

Madalaine Blyth’s graduation collection Gloriana, ‘celebrates the romantic, the feminine and the artisan’. She explains that her collection ‘speaks of fated women, who reach out through time and revolution, whose stories still resonate with today’. Each outfit in her collection incorporates some reference to these women.

Exhibition: Student Fashion
Dates: 26 March to 26 August 2012
Address: Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney
Website: www.powerhousemuseum.com
Telephone: 02 9217 0111 or infoline: 02 9217 0444
Hours: 10am to 5pm (closed Christmas Day)

Media enquiries:
Hayley Gallant, Powerhouse Museum
Tel: 9217 0169 / 0413 985 277

From 10 April, ‘Bling, the Greedy Wizard’ will star in a daily, 20-minute live show at the Museum during the school holidays. Bling’s hilarious Museum antics, wizardry magic and clever riddles will delight and amuse young audiences. Fictitious character and Potions Master, Professor Pickles, will run his first series of all-day science workshops at the Museum where children will explore and concoct liquid and powder potions! More on these holiday program highlights follow.

Harry Potter: The Exhibition has been extended in Sydney to now close on Monday 9 April 2012. It will be open for extended hours over the Easter break from 9am to 7pm on Good Friday through to Easter Monday. To avoid the queues and sold-out sessions on the final weekend, buy tickets in advance at www.ticketek.com.au

Bling the Greedy Wizard Holiday Show
When: Daily, 10–25 April, 11am, 1pm, 3pm
Cost: Free with Museum admission ($5 for slime activity)
Suitable for: Ages 8–12 years
Bookings: n/a
Help stop ‘Bling, the Greedy Wizard’, as he attempts to steal our favourite objects from the Powerhouse Museum, in an all-new holiday show. Solve Bling’s riddles and then, with a little bit of magic, help hide the objects. Will we get to them before Bling does? Get hands-on with Potion Master Professor Pickles and use a pinch of this and a squirt of that to mix up your very own batch of slime!

Professor Pickles’ Advanced Potions Class
When: 10-13, 16-20 April, 10am – 4pm
Cost: $75 child, $60 member child (refreshments/lunch not included)
Suitable for: 8-14 years (not suitable for under 8 years)
Bookings: play.powerhousemuseum.com
Potion Master Professor Pickles from the esteemed Institute of Applied Sciences and Magic will be taking this advanced class in potions and powders. In the all-day workshop children will use chemistry to identify mystery powders, mix magical potion and to make their own slime.

Thinkspace workshops: Creative Computing with Scratch (ages 6+ years)
Thinkspace, the Powerhouse Museum’s digital learning precinct, is hosting workshops during the school holidays to inspire and develop creative minds!

Scratch Discovery Session
When: 7-15 April, 11am-12pm, 1pm-2pm
Cost: $10 ($8) members
Bookings: powerhousemuseum.com/thinkspace/
Learn to create animations, games and puzzles and find out about the world-wide Scratch community online. Scratch is multimedia art and science using free, state-of-the-art software Scratch, designed by MIT Media Labs.

Scratch and LEGO Jam Session
When: 7-15 April, 10am – 4pm
Cost: $100, $80 (members). Discounted rate of $90/$75 for 2 or more days.
Bookings: powerhousemuseum.com/thinkspace/
Build highly engaging, video games, animated stories and interactive art with Scratch and Lego. Use motors, motion sensors, light sensors and your imagination. Each day a different skill area is introduced, for example, music, image re-mixing, stop frame animating, and rule based games. The possibilities are limitless!

Minecraft Discovery Session
When: 17-22 April, 11am-12pm, 1pm-2pm
Cost: $10, $8 (member)
Bookings: powerhousemuseum.com/thinkspace/
Discover today’s fastest growing virtual world. Minecraft is creativity and building-orientated ‘sand-box game’. Players build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D world.

Minecraft Jam Session
When: 17-22 April, 10am-4pm
Cost: $100, $80 (members) Discounted rate of $90/$75 for 2 or more days.
Bookings: powerhousemuseum.com/thinkspace/
Come help us build the Powerhouse Museum of tomorrow in our unique Powerhouse Museum Minecraft world, featuring an exclusive collection of textures, objects, rules and game play. The best constructions and designs are published to the Powerhouse Museum’s online Minecraft gallery.

Preschoolers will not want to miss the Museum’s popular Wiggles exhibition. Upon entering The Wiggles exhibition, children will enjoy a multi-sensory experience in four themed spaces, colour co-ordinated and individually named after the four Wiggles with fun activities that encourage kids to discover, interact and play. Dorothy the Dinosaur’s garden, featuring Wags the Dog’s kennel, the underwater world of Henry the Octopus, and Captain Feathersword’s pirate ship are also exhibition highlights. A stage show where visitors can sing and dance to Wiggles song classics, and the Big Red Car where children can sit and have their photo taken also feature.

On View: April School Holiday Program
Dates: 6-25 April 2012
Address: Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney
Telephone: (02) 9217 0111 or infoline (02) 9217 0444
Website: www.powerhousemuseum.com
Hours: 9.30am to 5pm
Admission: General admission $12 adult, $6 child, $8 student/concession and $30 family. Powerhouse Museum members and children under 4 years admitted free (additional admission charges for Harry Potter: The Exhibition).

For further media information, images, interviews:
Mandy Campbell, Powerhouse Museum, tel: (02) 9217 0551 or mandyca@phm.gov.au

Harry Potter: The Exhibition, which made its debut in Australia at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, has driven record-breaking traffic to the Museum with the best ever recorded summer attendance to date, with more than 325,000 visitors to the Powerhouse over summer. The Museum has also seen a significant boost in tourist visitation, with almost half the visitors coming from beyond Sydney’s city limits.

During the exhibition’s Sydney run at the Powerhouse, the Museum has broken a number of visitor records. The exhibition has contributed to the Powerhouse Museum’s biggest December ever with more than 109,000 visitors; busiest day for paid entry with 7,140 visitors on Friday, 6 January 2012; and biggest month with over 153,000 admissions in January 2012.

“We have been absolutely delighted by the incredibly positive response from visitors and are pleased to announce a three-week extension,” said Powerhouse Museum Director, Dr. Dawn Casey.

“As a museum for inspiring and engaging young minds, it was so fitting and such a wonderful opportunity for the Powerhouse to stage this unique exhibition, and we hope to inspire future generations of writers, filmmakers and costume designers!”

Harry Potter: The Exhibition showcases hundreds of original film artefacts from the entire Harry Potter film series. In partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, Global Experience Specialists, Inc. (GES) created the 1,400 square-metre exhibition, allowing visitors to experience dramatic displays inspired by the Harry Potter film series and see up close the amazing craftsmanship behind the authentic costumes, props and creatures that appeared throughout the films.

Many of the great Hogwarts™ moments that the young wizards encountered in the films are replicated in the exhibition. Visitors may be sorted into Hogwarts’ houses by the Sorting Hat™, toss a Quaffle in the Quidditch™ area, pull a Mandrake from its pot, and even take a tour of Hagrid’s hut and sit in his oversized armchair.

In addition to the hundreds of film artefacts on display, two new showcases were added for the Sydney exhibition and feature several items on display for the first time — the Deathly Hallows™ case displaying the Resurrection Stone, the Invisibility Cloak and the Elder Wand; and the Horcrux case containing five of the notorious magical items used to safeguard pieces of Voldemort’s soul.

Exhibition tickets can be purchased online with pre-allocated session times. Fans are encouraged to book in advance to avoid queues and sold-out sessions. Ticket prices will vary for peak times (Friday evenings, weekends and school holidays) and off peak times (Monday to Friday, excluding school holidays). Buy tickets online now at www.powerhousemuseum.com or www.ticketek.com.au

On view: Harry Potter: The Exhibition
Dates: 19 November 2011 – 9 April 2012 (extended closing date)
Address: Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street Ultimo, Sydney
Telephone: (02) 9217 0111 or infoline (02) 9217 0444
Website: www.powerhousemuseum.com
Hours: 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (open at 9 a.m. on weekends and during school holidays for Harry Potter: The Exhibition only)
Admission:
Peak sessions (Fri. 5 p.m.– 7.00 p.m.; weekends Sat. 9 a.m.– 7.00 p.m. & Sun. 9 a.m.– 5 p.m.; and school holidays 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.). Families $95, Adults $32, Children (4 – 15 yrs.) $22, Student card holders, pensioner and concession $32, Groups $32, Schools $22 per person.
Powerhouse members peak sessions: Families $71, Adult $24, Child $16.50
Off-peak sessions (Mon.– Fri. 9.30 a.m. – 5 p.m.)
Families $79.50, Adults $28, Children (4 – 15 yrs) $19 Student card holders pensioner and concession $25, Groups $23.50, Schools $19 per person
Powerhouse members off-peak sessions: Families $60, Adult $21, Child $14.25
Audio guides: Be guided through the exhibition by the films’ creators. Available in English at $7.50 per guide. Pre-book at ticketek.com.au

For further media information, interviews and images contact:
Mandy Campbell, Powerhouse Museum
tel: (02) 9217 0551, 0422 9299 27 or mandyca@phm.gov.au

About Global Experience Specialists (GES)
Global Experience Specialists, Inc. (GES), a Viad Corp (NYSE: VVI) company, is a leading marketing agency that produces exhibitions, events, exhibits and retail environments. GES provides a wide range of services, including turn-key official show services, cutting-edge creative and design, marketing and measurement services—all with an unrivalled global reach. GES partners with leading shows and brands, including the International CES, Spring Fair Birmingham, International Woodworking Fair, CONEXPO-CON/AGG and IFPE, Bell Helicopter, Genzyme, L’Oreal, Warner Bros., and Simon Property Group. The GES National Servicenter℠ has been recognized with certification under the J.D. Power and Associates Certified Call Center Program℠ for the past four years, and Ad Age has twice named GES a “World’s Top 50 Agency Company.” For more information, visit ges.com or the GES blog at defyingconvention.ges.com.

About Warner Bros. Consumer Products
Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world.

About the Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum is a NSW Government Agency supported by strategic partner, Destination NSW. The Museum, located next to Darling Harbour in Sydney, has an extraordinary array of treasures from planes, trains and steam engines to fashion, furniture, design and scientific innovations. More than 250 interactives and an ever-changing program of exhibitions and events bring the collection to life.

About Destination NSW
Destination NSW is a new tourism and events statutory authority bringing together the former Events NSW, Tourism NSW and the Homebush Motor Racing Authority, underpinning the Government’s goal of doubling expenditure by tourists in NSW by 2020. Destination NSW works with Government and industry partners to deliver events which showcase the full potential of Sydney and NSW as a global tourism and events destination.

TM & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JKR.  (s12)

Through booked workshops and drop-in sessions craft enthusiasts can learn beautiful dyeing techniques and funky silk-screen patterns. Update or create a new garment and learn dyeing textile techniques that are sensitive to the environment and guaranteed to demonstrate your creative achievements. Or try your hand at designing your own tea towel using some funky fabric-ink stamps and rubbing blocks.

Craft Punk: To Dye For is the latest in a series of weekend programs aimed at harnessing the creative energy of a vast community of people crafting beautiful and edgy work. The program offers a space where people can meet, make and share skills. Be inspired to start a new project, learn a new skill, tackle a tricky pattern or just rekindle your love of making. Craft Punk is all about giving you the tools to take making into your own hands!

Dye-ception screen printing workshop: Up-cycle your garments
17 and 18 March, 10.30am – 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 3.30pm
Age 14 years and over, beginners welcome
$45 adult, $40 Powerhouse member (includes Museum admission)
Bookings essential at powerhousemuseum.com
Fashion designer Donna Sgro, will use her quirky trompe l’oeil silk-screen pattern range to show you how to value-add to your favorite garments. Learn the basic principles of silk-screen printing using pre-prepared photo-sensitive stencil designs as well as how to customise screen patterns for maximum effect. Silver foil application to garments is also taught. Bring your own garments to up-cycle i.e. jeans, shirts, t-shirts, dresses. All materials and equipment supplied.

Donna Sgro is a proponent of the slow fashion movement and lectures at the University of Technology, Sydney. Her work was showcased at Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo in 2009 and she was recently part of the inspiring Trash Fashion exhibition at the London Science Museum.

Dye-linquent Shibori workshop: dyeing and up-cycling garments
17 and 18 March, 10.30am – 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 3.30pm
Age 14 years and over, beginners welcome
$45 adult, $40 Powerhouse member (includes Museum admission)
Bookings essential at powerhousemuseum.com
Karen Davis and Pepa Martin take you through the paces of Shibori dyeing with a twist. Learn the slow art of creating beautiful textiles through folding, twining, and much more. Pepa and Karen will demonstrate how to prepare the synthetic indigo dye vat and textiles using four techniques – Perspex and wooden shape resist, Yanagi (Pleat and rope), Mokume (Pleat and stitch) and Ashi (pole and rope).
Bring your own natural fibre garments such as cotton, linen, hemp or silk to dye with indigo. All materials and equipment supplied including a length of textile (large scarf size) for dyeing.

Karen and Pepa are the driving force behind their company Shibori, where they have created the Dye Da Vida range of boutique fabric dyes, cultivating a new generation of free thinking crafters. They have worked alongside some of Australia’s best known architects and interior designers on recent interior design projects using their Shibori dyed textiles.

DROP-IN ACTIVITY
Dye hard a tea towel: fabric ink stamping and crayon rubbing
17 and 18 March, 10am – 4pm
Age 10 years and over – children must be accompanied by an adult.
Free with Museum admission. No bookings required.
A bumper selection of cool fabric stamp designs and rubbing plates will be available for you to create a funky tea towel that will be a knock-out near your white goods. You can also bring your own garments to up-cycle. All materials and equipment supplied including one cotton tea towel (stock limited) or fabric for each participant.

Further media information, images or interviews:
Hayley Gallant, Powerhouse Museum
Tel: 02 9217 0169 / 0413 985 277 or email: hayleyg@phm.gov.au

The Quad Squad, which included Sydneysiders Valerio De Simoni (aged 24 years), Jamie Kenyon (aged 25 years) and Ted Davant (aged 27 years), achieved a new world record for the longest ATV (all terrain vehicle) journey, smashing the previous record by over 30,000km.

Tragically, the youngest team member Valerio De Simoni was involved in a fatal accident in Malawi, Africa, half way through the expedition in March 2011. However, fellow riders Jamie and Ted continued the journey-of-a-lifetime in honour of their mate Val, and officially broke the Guinness World Record when they rode into Sydney on 22 October 2011.

The Yamaha ATV ridden by Jamie in the extraordinary expedition from Istanbul to Sydney, through Europe, Africa and Australia, will be displayed at the Powerhouse Discovery Centre, the Museum’s publicly accessible collection stores in Castle Hill. The Yamaha ATV is a 4WD work vehicle normally used by farmers and not designed for long distance travel.

The quad bike will join the Powerhouse’s historic collection of material from other notable Australian expeditions over the past century that have survived some of the world’s most extreme regions in some of the most daring journeys.

Powerhouse Museum’s Senior Curator of Transport, Andrew Grant, said: “It is interesting that more Australians per capita have broken long distance records by bicycle, car, plane and boat in some of the world’s most harsh and remote environments.

“I am not sure if it is our climate, outdoor lifestyle, or the fact that we live in such a vast and rugged country that has inspired Australians for a long time, to go places where no-one else has been and to achieve something amazing.”

Among the famous adventurers whose feats are represented in the Powerhouse collection is Donald Mackay, who in 1899 cycled around Australia covering 11,000 miles or 17,700 km in a new record time of 240 days, 7 hours and 30 minutes. His bike is on show in the Transport Gallery of the Powerhouse Museum, along with Sir Patrick Gordon Taylor’s Catalina flying boat, Frigate Bird II, in which he piloted the first flight from Australia to South America in 1951 across the vast South Pacific Ocean.

For over twenty years the helicopter that renowned Australian adventurer Dick Smith flew in 1982 in the first solo circumnavigation of the world was suspended from the roof of the Powerhouse Museum. The small yacht of another solo record-breaker, Dr David Lewis, who sailed his 32 foot (9.7m) ‘Ice Bird’ in the first single-handed voyage to Antarctica in 1972 is currently undergoing critical restoration work by the Museum.

On display at the Powerhouse Discovery Centre in Castle Hill is a wheel and undercarriage leg from the Lockheed aircraft “Lady Southern Cross” that pioneer aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith flew in his fatal flight in 1935 when attempting to break the England to Australia speed record.

“Ted and I have memories as children of visiting the Powerhouse Museum in awe of the displays. It is a real honour to think that generations ahead will be able to visit the small part of history the Quad Squad created,” said Jamie Kenyon.

-Ends-

Media information, images or interviews: Mandy Campbell, Powerhouse Museum, Tel: 02 9217 0551/0422 9299 27 or mandyca@phm.gov.au

The annual Powerhouse exhibitions, Engineering Excellence (open), designTECH (open) and Student Fashion (opens 24 March), unveil the best in engineering today, as well as the potential of our next generation of designers and innovators in New South Wales.

Powerhouse Museum Director, Dr Dawn Casey said: “These three displays offer such an exciting start to the year as we get to see and enjoy the creativity and enormous potential of our school leavers and graduating tertiary fashion students, to the revolutionary work continuing in our engineering industry.”

Engineering Excellence features the latest award-winning Australian engineering projects that have been undertaken in Australia and other countries. This year’s display includes the ground-breaking Flexigrid™ system developed by Finisar Australia, which allows telecom carriers to easily route the huge daily volume of virtual information along specially designed flexible channels. The system creates ‘slices’ for customers to use to create their own fixed frequency bandwidth for communication needs. Flexigrid™ was the winner of the prestigious Bradfield Award for the 2011 Engineering Excellence Awards program, an annual awards program held by the Sydney Division of Engineers Australia.

The work of a great humanitarian cause and project, Engineers Without Borders, is featured showcasing the education and training work of engineers to improve the quality of life and disaster recovery in areas of Australia and less-developed countries. Engineering solutions to achieve stable temperature and relative humidity conditions in and around traditional Indigenous log coffins that feature in a new extension to the National Gallery in Canberra is shown. A new idea, the Floating Solar Array, which floats solar arrays on water to produce electricity whilst reducing water evaporation on farm damns is displayed. The engineering behind the new city-bound bus lane on one of Sydney’s busiest roads, Victoria Road, to allow for the fast and clear transition between lanes and upgraded urban parkland, is also featured in the exhibition.

More than twenty major works by the 2011 HSC Design and Technology students – from household products, furniture and fashion to packaging and transport systems – present some clever ideas and solutions for everyday products and lifestyle needs.

Some of the unique projects on display in designTECH include: The Anzac Express, a non-stop train or light rail system that slows down to pick up a carriage of commuters whilst simultaneously dropping off a carriage of disembarking commuters; No Stale – Mate, a system for storing bread to limit bread from growing mould; Bin Buddy, which is attached to a car’s tow bar to help with moving heavy wheelie bins up and down driveways; DoorBrell that attaches an umbrella to the outside of a car to assist with getting in and out of a car in wet weather; and Shopalert, which attaches to the shopping trolley and scans product barcodes to keep a track of the total grocery bill and has an ‘allergy watch’ function to alert customers to certain allergens in products.

A spectacular display of eight garments by the top fashion students who graduated last year is on show again in Student Fashion next month. It features the work of the top student from four of Australia’s finest fashion design schools:- The Whitehouse Institute of Design, The University of Technology Sydney, The Fashion Design Studio at Sydney Institute of Technology, and Raffles College of Design. Since 1993, the Powerhouse Museum has provided a glimpse at the exciting potential of Australia’s next generation of fashion designers through the annual Student Fashion display, some of who are now well-known names in the fashion industry.

On View:
Engineering Excellence (1 February 2012 to February 2013)
designTECH (18 February to 13 May 2012)
Student Fashion (24 March to 28 August 2012)
Address: Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney
Telephone: (02) 9217 0111 or infoline (02) 9217 0444
Website: www.powerhousemuseum.com
Hours: 10.00am to 5.00pm (closed Christmas Day)
Admission: General admission $12 adult, $6 child, $8 student/concession and $30 family. Powerhouse Museum members and children under 4 years admitted free.

NOTE: Link below for more on Engineering Excellence and designTECH

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/engineeringexcellence/finalists.php

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/exhibitions/destek11.php

Media information, images or interviews:
Mandy Campbell, Powerhouse Museum, Tel: 02 9217 0551/0422 9299 27 or mandyca@phm.gov.au

Harry Potter film stars James Phelps and Oliver Phelps, who play Fred and George Weasley, arrived in Sydney this week for the grand opening of the exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum, which is the only venue to host the exhibition in Australia and the first stop outside North America.  The Powerhouse Museum marks the exhibition’s sixth tour destination.

“This is an amazing film archive that is a testament to the many highly creative and skilled artists and designers who work behind the scenes to create the enchanting worlds that we escape to by film.  We believe that this exhibition will inspire future generations of artists,” said Dr. Dawn Casey, Director, Powerhouse Museum.

In partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, Global Experience Specialists (GES) created the 1,400 square-metre exhibition, which allows visitors to experience dramatic displays inspired by the Hogwarts™ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry film sets and see up close the amazing craftsmanship behind the authentic costumes, props and creatures that appeared throughout the entire Harry Potter film series.

“Harry Potter: The Exhibition captivates fans from the moment they step inside and truly embodies the magic that has produced the most successful film franchise in history,” said Karen McTier, Executive Vice President, Domestic Licensing and Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “Australia has given Harry Potter a legion of passionate fans and we couldn’t be happier to provide them with this once-in-a-lifetime experience.” 

Eddie Newquist, Chief Creative Officer of GES added: “We are delighted to bring this immersive Harry Potter experience toAustralia.  Following the release of the finale in cinemas in July of this year, the exhibition is a wonderful way to celebrate the legacy of the films, where guests can get close and really appreciate the design and artistry that went into creating so many memorable movie moments.”

In addition to the hundreds of iconic props and costumes on display, two new display cases have been added for Sydney that feature several items on display for the first time — a Deathly Hallows™ case displaying the Resurrection Stone, the Invisibility Cloak and the Elder Wand; as well as a Horcrux case containing the notorious magical items used to safeguard pieces of Voldemort’s soul.

Many of the great Hogwarts moments that the young wizards encountered in the films are also replicated in the exhibition.  Visitors may be sorted into Hogwarts houses by the Sorting Hat™, toss a Quaffle in the Quidditch™ area, take a tour of Hagrid’s hut and sit in his oversized armchair, or pull a Mandrake from a pot and hear it screech!

Exhibition tickets are available now with pre-allocated session times. Fans are encouraged to book in advance to avoid sold-out time slots and lengthy queues.  Ticket prices will vary for peak times, which are the first two weeks after opening, all weekends and school holidays, and off peak times, which are Monday through Friday (first two weeks of opening excluded). Purchase tickets online at www.powerhousemuseum.com or www.ticketek.com.au

On view: Harry Potter: The Exhibition
Dates: 19 November 2011 – 18 March 2012
Address: Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street Ultimo, Sydney
Telephone: (02) 9217 0111 or infoline (02) 9217 0444
Website: www.powerhousemuseum.com
Hours: 9.30am to 5pm (open at 9am on weekends and during school holidays only for Harry Potter: The Exhibition)

Admission: Peak sessions (weekends: Fri 5pm-9pm, Sat 9am-9pm, Sun 9am-5pm; and school holidays 9am-5pm). Families $95, Adults $32, Children (4 – 15 yrs.) $22, Student card holders, pensioner and concession $32, Groups $32, Schools $22 per person.
Powerhouse members peak sessions: Families $71, Adult $24, Child $16.50                                           

Off-peak sessions (Mon-Fri 9.30am – 5pm). Families $79.50, Adults $28, Children (4 – 15 yrs) $19, Student card holders, pensioner and concession $25, Groups $23.50, Schools $19 per person
Powerhouse members off-peak sessions: Families $60, Adult $21, Child $14.25

Audio guides: Be guided through the exhibition by the films’ creators.  Available in English at $7.50 per guide. Pre-book at ticketek.com.au.

For further media information, interviews and images contact:
Mandy Campbell, Marketing Communications, Powerhouse Museum tel: (02) 9217 0551, 0422 9299 27 or mandyca@phm.gov.au