Adrian Raschella, ABC Arts Reporter, ‘Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum unveils four-year exhibition plan’, 7 News, 27 August 2014

When you are the boss of a major museum, long-term planning is part of the job, and the director of Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum is now thinking further ahead than ever before.

Rose Hiscock has announced a four-year program for the institution and its sister facilities, the Sydney Observatory and Powerhouse Discovery Centre at Castle Hill in Sydney’s north-west.

She said it was the first time an Australian museum had programmed its exhibitions so many years in advance and the focus was on home-grown, so-called blockbusters.

“Rather than buy in the blockbuster, we want to create our own,” she said.

Exhibitions to be curated locally a include a 25-year retrospective of designer Collette Dinnigan’s work, scheduled for August 2015, and A Fine Possession: Jewellery and Identity, displaying the museum’s collection of 700 pieces made in Australia.

Ms Hiscock said no other Australian museum had a similar brief to hers.

“Our vision is to be the best,” she said.

Ms Hiscock said the museum was also forging new partnerships with international institutions to bring exhibitions to Australia.

It will host an exhibition of 350 years of underwear fashion from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, and the London Science Museum will bring its multi-media exhibition explaining the history of the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Hadron Collider.

During the 2017 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardis Gras, the Powerhouse will host a history of men’s fashion curated by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The museum is also borrowing an approach from the festival circuit by introducing exhibition “seasons”, including programs covering China, the circus and social activism.

Ms Hiscock said the Powerhouse Museum would also improve its integration with Darling Harbour, which is undergoing a major redevelopment.

“We’re working on a master plan at the moment,” she said.

“This venue is in one of Sydney’s most dynamic parts of the city that’s changing radically.”