Keeping Up Appearances: Curators and the Australian historic house museum interior with Suzanne Bravery

House museum interiors connect the present with our shared domestic past. In the Australian context, fashioning the appearance of these once private interiors into a more publicly accessible space is often the work of the professional Curator. 

This presentation looks at the challenging role of the Curator in creating and then keeping up the appearance of several historic interiors of significance. Discussion focusses on three properties of the Museums of History NSW, which the speaker has curated: Elizabeth Farm, Parramatta; Vaucluse House, Vaucluse; and Meroogal, Nowra; and explores the bespoke approaches to the interpretation of each of the fascinating interiors and to the lives of the houses and of their occupants. 

Your ticket includes tea or Market Lane coffee served before the presentation, and time to browse our exclusive range of books, gifts, and homewares at TJC Emporium.

This event is presented on-site at The Johnston Collection. Please see your ticket for details. NOTE: Tickets for this event do not include access to our exhibition-house, Fairhall. Guided tours of the current exhibition can be booked separately.

This program is generously supported by The Sir Wilfred and C H (Roger) Brookes Charitable Trust.

Image: Tenant's kitchen in the back bedroom, Meroogal. Photo: Katherine Lu for Museums of History NSW.