A silver gelatin dry plate glass negative in landscape format.

Country Always

Caring for Country

A Corner of the Empire

The Garden Palace

Sepia photograph of the Technological Museum and a cow in the foreground

The Holding Pen

The Agricultural Hall

Sepia photograph of the Technological College and Museum in Broken Hill

Regional Networks

Across New South Wales

A Museum of Doing

Technological Museum

Black and white photograph of man walking through eucalyptus plantation

Expanding Stories

Evolution of the Castle Hill site from botanical research station to Museum Discovery Centre

Colour photograph of red corrugated iron building from a high vantage point

Transforming the Tramsheds

Powerhouse Stage 1 and the Harwood Building

A Symbol in Time

Sydney Observatory

Powerhouse Museum, Stage 2 exterior from high angle, city skyline in background

Ongoing Transformations

Powerhouse Ultimo

Blurred image from film with museum object number

Applied Arts and Sciences

Defining the terms in the 21st century

Western Sydney Hip Hop Archive

Powerhouse Music

Powerhouse Renewal

Artist Xin Liu floating with arm outstretched against a black background. She wears a full-length grey body suit with long sleeves with bare feet and hands.

Sydney Science Festival

Across Sydney10—17 Aug
Shadows cast by the Powerhouse Parramatta exoskeleton on concrete

Exoskeleton

Powerhouse Parramatta

A woman stands on stage in front of a large audience. She has her left hand raised in the air and a microphone in her right hand. The audience are holding their phones up recording the woman.

Blak Powerhouse

Powerhouse x We Are Warriors

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Stories

Western Sydney Hip Hop Archive

Powerhouse Music

The Western Sydney Hip Hop Archive is a major new initiative that engages and connects with industry and community to build and elevate Hip Hop's history and profile. Developed in a collaboration between Powerhouse Parramatta, Vyva Entertainment, Blacktown Arts and pioneers of Sydney Hip Hop, the archive will give depth and context to a generation of artists as well as creating a space to celebrate how Western Sydney Hip Hop is a vital part of Australian and international music culture.

Object Lesson – Sharline 'Spice' Bezzina

‘People often say Subway Art was what brought it to Australia, but we were already doing it.’
Sharline 'Spice' Bezzina

The first Western Sydney Hip Hop story shared through the Archive is the story of Sharline ‘Spice’ Bezzina, a graffiti artist, former B-girl, breaker, rapper and Australian HipHop pioneer who has been involved in the Western Sydney scene since its inception in the 1980s. Spice’s song Hard Core Love was featured on Australia’s first commercially released Hip Hop compilation ‘Down Under by Law’ (1988) and she was the support act for Ice-T during his Australian tour in 1989. Spice has kept an impeccable archive, some of which is part of the Powerhouse Collection

A lot of breakers, a lot of writers all came up from this area.

Raised in St Clair, Spice has kept an impeccable archive of her accomplishments, community and the scene around her – some of which are already housed in the Powerhouse Collection.

Autographed letterman jacket worn by Spice
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Object No. 2012/89/1
Autographed letterman jacket worn by Spice
Autographed letterman jacket worn by Spice
Aerosol paint cans used by Spice
Figure sits at a desk writing on an illuminated surface, at a birds eye view

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