Revealed!

Hurstville Museum & Gallery on Friday evening

The nature of collecting itself comes under scrutiny in Hurstville Library, Museum & Gallery's new exhibition Revealed! that opened last Friday evening.

What do we collect? Why do we collect? The sheer range of collections (anything from sci fi toys to doilies) is testimony to the strange, guilty passion that turns sane people into obsessives, and back rooms into Aladin's Caves.

Luckily, Hurstville secured guest speaker Claudia Chan Shaw to navigate the variety of collections and collection psychology. Claudia has a perfect background to discuss collecting: she presented the ABC TV Show Collectors; has an extensive collection of tin space toys and robots (among many other things); and has written a book called Collectomania: From Objects of Desire to Magnificent Obsession.  

Claudia Chan Shaw explains the ins and outs of Collectomania. Image courtesy of Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery.

Claudia explained the difference between hoarding and collecting (the former is an obsessive-compulsive disorder) but noted the downright weirdness of some collections. One man collects his belly button lint, coloured depending on the towel he uses to dry himself. Even weirder, the collection has been valued at a few thousand dollars. 

Visitors at the opening of Revealed!. Image courtesy of Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery.

In Revealed there was (thankfully) no lint on display but plenty of oddities to be found still. Hurstville Historical Society first began collecting objects related to the St George Region in the 1970s and, since then, the collections have grown predominantly through object donations. Curator Birgit Heilmann  has put together an exhibition that celebrates randomness, eclecticism and stories of unique objects and individuals. 

Here are a couple of my favourites:

This is actually a cake.

So is this.

The Library, Museum and Gallery actually has over 50 sugar art pieces like the above, inherited from the former Australian Cake & Sugar Art Museum and Gallery in Strathfield. The oldest cake in the collection dates back to 1989. 

The interpretation anticipated my one question: how do you preserve cakes like this for years? Well, sugar artists use a sugar substitute called Isomalt that is resistant to humidity and crystallisation. Also, Isomalt doesn't lead to tooth decay like sugar. 
 
The exhibition also featured a mystery object:

This is not a cake.

What is it? I have no idea. if you want to see the answer keep your eye on Hurstville's blog at http://hurstvillelmg.blogspot.com.au/

PS: Just as a side note about the ubiquity of collections. After the event, my companions and I ate at the Ritz down the street. In a glass cabinet right next to us was a boot worn by Muhammad Ali. Just awesome. 

Revealed! Treasures from the Hurstville Library, Museum & Gallery Collections is on until 14 April 2013. 

Contact: 9330 6444
Admission: Free
Website: http://lmg.hurstville.nsw.gov.au/