Past Programs
Craft - 2005
The People Who Brought us the Beanbag
26/11/2005
The Italian design and furniture company Zanotta has been around for more than fifty years now, and after a rather conventional start they burst out in the sixties with a range of items that now seem deeply representative of that decade, including the inflatable chair and the beanbag.
Martino Zanotta, head of the company and son of its founder, the late Aurelio Zanotta, in Australia for the launch of the latest collection from Zanotta, talks about its history and philosophy.
A Tour of the New Design Exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney
19/11/2005
One of the largest design and decorative arts galleries in Australia opened at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney on October 6. Covering 1,000 square metres, Inspired! Design across time is the biggest permanent gallery to open in the Museum since the Powerhouse opened in 1988.
The gallery presents over 800 Australian and international objects spanning 300 years, from the 1700s to now, drawn from Australia's foremost and extensive collection of design, decorative arts and crafts held by the Powerhouse.
Situated in the Museum's prime gallery at the main entrance, Inspired! showcases iconic as well as rarely-seen pieces of furniture, fashion, textiles, graphics, glass, ceramics, jewellery and metalwork.
Alan Saunders tours the exhibition with Eva Czernis-Ryl, the Museum's Curator of Decorative Arts and Design
Tartan
05/03/2005
Staying with our theme of the family, we explore the cultural importance and extraordinary history of a particular patterned cloth that has, rightly or wrongly, been associated with particular families.
We're talking tartan, which looks like a recognisable and ancient link to family traditions. But how old are family tartans really?
