The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney is currently hosting an exhibition of possessions and gowns and other memorabilia related to Diana, Princess of Wales.
Lots of women there - very few men. At the (approx 5 min running loop) videos of the wedding and the funeral, there were people with surreptitious hanky-dabbing, reminded of their happiness and sadness.
It was fascinating to see the wedding dress up so close, and the sheer length of the veil and train (St Paul's would dwarf any gown...). Lovely handpainted detail on the underside of the wedding shoes. Extraordinary embroidery on others of her evening gowns, also on display - cornelli, and beading, and beautiful fabrics cut so cleverly.
After Diana, we spent just as long, if not longer, in the design exhibition on the entry level of the museum - some of the items are on long-term display, while others rotate, so there's always something new to see. It covers centuries of design, from eighteenth century gowns to Droog Design's drawers held together with a mover's strap.
Then we headed over to Kinokuniya, catty-corner from Town Hall. Ah. Bliss. Didn't emerge for three hours...Their range is absolutely huge, great depth, wonderful for browsing and planning what to buy now, what to buy next time. How could the internet ever replace books? - the smell of them, the satisfying heft and physical existence of them, flicking back and forth without waiting for a server or electricity, being carried away to different places, with pictures to engage your mind, ideas to engage your imagination.
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I have almost four thousand books in my library and nothing will ever replace them. I love to look at them, touch them and read them, of course.
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