Majid Rabet – Engineer, Inventor and Artist
‘I like to create … to make people happy and do something positive.’
Handmade microphone
Majid Rabet is a mechanical and electrical engineer, inventor and artist whose natural curiosity has pushed him to constantly create. He has made his own tools and gadgets in the most challenging environments, and in his workshop has designed and manufactured everything from street art to a wind and solar energy capture device. After fleeing Iran to seek asylum in Australia, Rabet found himself in detention, but continued to draw from his skills and imagination to create objects to improve the comfort and enjoyment of those around him.
I started in the detention [centre] to become [an] artist, because I find that only art can help. Art help[s] you escape from the moment.
Object Lesson
Object Lesson is a Powerhouse digital content series that upends and inverts the legacy of a set of lesson cards held in the collection since 1880. Named for English educator. Elizabeth Mayo’s 1831 publication Lessons on Objects, the series is underpinned by a desire to learn more about the objects in our collection from people and communities who have special relationships with them.
‘Knowledge stems not only from teacher or institution or object alone — but at the intersection of all.’ – Agatha Gothe-Snape, Powerhouse artistic associate
Commissioned and produced by Powerhouse
Talent / narrator: Majid Rabet
Director and editor: Yeoseop Yoon
Creative producer: Cara Stewart
Director of photography: Christopher Miles
1st AC: Robert Tench
2nd AC: Georgina Veneziani
Researcher: Anna May Kirk
Commissioning editor: Lisa Havilah
Creative director: Callum Cooper
Curator: Damian McDonald
Special Thanks to Anna May Kirk, Brianna Ranieri, Nick McNamara, Craig Hull, Tom Wilcox, Bronwyn Dunn, Lucy Clark, Meredith Freeman, Mara Schwerdtfeger, and Keiran McGee
