MONTHLY OPEN DAY
Red in the Powerhouse Collection
Saturday 13 February 2010 | 10.00am—4.00pm
Join us on Saturday 13th February when the Powerhouse Discovery Centre explores the colour red, celebrating the museum’s Asian collection, the Chinese New Year heralding the Year of the Tiger and Saint Valentine’s Day. Red is known as the colour of love and in China, as the colour of happiness and prosperity, but it is also a colour that symbolises danger, heat, fire and much more. Highlights of the open day include a Chinese Lion Dance performance by the Sydney Chinese Dance Group, an illustrated lecture by Powerhouse Principal Curator of Design & Society, Christina Sumner, an object short talk on a selection of objects related to love and passion and activities for children.

OPEN DAY PROGRAM

ILLUSTRATED LECTURE
Red is for Marriage, White for Death: Colour and Meaning in Asian Arts
11.00am (Duration: 30 minutes)
Presented by Powerhouse Principal Curator: Design & Society, Christina Sumner
Join Christina Sumner, Powerhouse Principal Curator, Design and Society, for a lecture on the traditions and significance of colour as they relate to objects in the Museum’s Asian collection. Highlights of the Asian collection include carved pieces, lacquerware and some costume items from Japan, China and South East Asia. FREE with General Admission.

FUN FOR KIDS & FAMILIES
Seeing Red: A Make-and-Do Activity
10.30am—2.00pm
(Please note that this activity will not run during the Chinese Lion Dance.)
Delight your eyes and trick your mind with optical illusions made by you! Turn red into blue, see colours that are not really there and make a paper bird change colour. Take your optical illusions home to fascinate your family and friends.Suitable for 5+ years. FREE with General Admission.

Chinese Paper Lantern Make-and-Do Activity
10.30am—2.00pm (Please note that this activity will not run during the Chinese Lion Dance.)
The Chinese New Year traditionally ends with a lantern festival where people carry decorated lanterns or hang them in temples. Celebrate the Year of the Tiger by making your own Chinese paper lantern to take home. Suitable for 5+ years. FREE with General Admission.

PERFORMANCE
Gung Hay Fat Choy: Chinese Lion Dance
11.30am (Duration: 30 minutes)
Celebrate the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Tiger by joining our Chinese Lion Dance. The Chinese Lion Dance tradition goes back some one thousand years and is performed to express joy and happiness. From the fourth day to the fifteenth day of the New Year, lion dance groups toured from village to village in traditional China. One of the top professional performance organisations in Sydney, the Sydney Chinese Dance Group, will perform the lion dance for our open day. The Sydney Chinese Dance Group often represents the Sydney Chinese community in performances attended by a wide cross-section of diverse cultural communities in Sydney. Their cheerful spirit and use of traditional Chinese elements in the lion dance will leave an indelible impression. FREE with General Admission.

OBJECT SHORT TALK
Love and Passion
12.30pm
Join Powerhouse Discovery volunteers as they explore the stories behind three objects of love and the use of the colour red. Find out more about the heart-shaped shellwork box made by the women from La Perouse; the 'Love' shoes designed by Jan Jansen, which play on the theme of love and the story of Dante and Beatrice featured on the Royal Doulton Dante Vase. The Dante Vase portrays scenes from the Divine Comedy by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri and was designed by Charles Noke and hand-painted by Leslie Johnson for Royal Doulton, Burslem, Staffordshire, England, (circa1905). FREE with General Admission

DISPLAY
Modern Redwork—The Quilt Project
10.00am—2.00pm
Inspired by her great grandmother’s beautiful traditional redwork quilt, ‘The Quilt Project’ is a community-based online friendship quilt initiated and coordinated by Kirsty from www.kootoyoo.com. ‘The Quilt Project’ is the ultimate contemporary quilt, made up of 66 squares worked in red in a range of mediums by a group of people connected via the internet by a common interest in creating. Showcasing techniques ranging from embroidery to gocco, patchwork, appliqué and crochet, ‘The Quilt Project’ is a wonderful testament to one person’s idea of encouraging creativity, unity, friendship and a sense of belonging in the digital world. ‘The Quilt Project’ will be displayed at the Powerhouse Discovery Centre for one day only. FREE with General Admission.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOUR
Cars in the Powerhouse Collection
10.30am (Duration: 60 minutes)
$16 adult / $10 concession (includes General Admission). As spaces are strictly limited to a maximum of 20 participants per tour, pre-booking is essential. Limited to visitors aged 12 years and over. Conditions apply.
Go behind-the-scenes to explore the hidden treasures in the Powerhouse Museum's car collection, including early horse-drawn vehicles, a Stanley Steamer, an Australian Six and a Sheffield Simplex, a 1915 Detroit Electric, a Nota Fang Australian built sports car, an EAW Special racing car, an Australian Leyland Mini K, an FJ Holden, a red Goggomobil Dart, a vice-regal Rolls Royce, a red Dick Smith Bash rally car, and a range of motorshow cutaway display cars.

MUSEUM STORAGE GLIMPSE
Highlights of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Furniture and Music Collections
1:00pm (Duration: 30 minutes)
FREE with General Admission. As spaces are strictly limited to a maximum of 20 participants per glimpse, pre-booking is essential. Limited to visitors aged 12 years and over. Conditions apply.
Led by Discovery Centre volunteer guides, go behind-the-scenes for a sneak peek into collection storage areas not normally accessible to the public. Marvel at Sydney 2000 Olympic Games ceremony costumes created by celebrated Australian fashion designers, Jenny Kee and Lisa Ho and view a selection of objects from both the Museum’s furniture and music collections.

OUTDOOR VEHICLE DISPLAY
Campbelltown Historic Vehicle Club Inc. :10.00am—2.00pm
The Campbelltown Historic Vehicle Club Inc. is a family-oriented club catering for enthusiasts and their families, particularly in the Macarthur and Liverpool areas of Western Sydney, who are interested in the preservation, restoration and use of historic or special interest motor vehicles or motorcycles. To celebrate our Open Day theme, the Club display will also include a red Dennis fire engine. FREE with General Admission.

HIGHLIGHTS TOURS
The Display Store
10.30am or 1.30pm (Duration: 30 minutes). FREE with General Admission.

STORYBOOK ACTIVITY & DISCOVERY TRAILS
Young visitors can create their own personalised storybook of their visit to the Powerhouse Discovery Centre or enjoy our self-completion activity trails that take young visitors on a journey of discovery, focused on critters and creatures, wheels or wings. Suitable for visitors 4–10 years. Bookings not required. FREE with General Admission.

FOOD & DRINK: rave MOBILE coffee
Rave Mobile Coffee provides a full range of fresh speciality espresso coffees, as well as high quality teas, hot chocolate and a range of soft beverages from a professionally trained barista. Fresh, locally produced sandwiches, wraps and warm pastry products including homemade pies, sausage rolls and quiches, and a selection of cakes and snacks will also be available.

Open Day Hours
10.00am—4.00pm

General Admission
$8 adult / $5 concession/ child / seniors and pensioners, $25 family (2 adults + 2 children). Free entry to PHM Members and children under 4.

Parking and Access
On-site parking available. Vehicle and pedestrian entry via 172 Showground Road, Castle Hill.

For further information or to make a booking please contact us on 02 9762 1300.