Connections

Like currents between islands archipelagos, objects forge connections between museums around the world. Museums are not defined by their walls, but by the objects in their collections, and the connections they represent.

This exhibition explores how certain objects in the Nicholson, Macleay and University Art collections are intimately connected to objects in museums elsewhere in Australia and overseas. These connections tell us more about the objects themselves, and the circumstances that saw them divided and dispersed.

Many of these connections have been known for decades. Other connections are new discoveries.

Connections is the last exhibition at the Nicholson Museum. As we prepare to move the Nicholson, Macleay and Art Gallery collections to the Chau Chak Wing Museum in 2020, we will discover more connections between objects at the University of Sydney and those in collections beyond our walls.

The exhibition is structured in 4 sections:

• Statues – connected identities
• Monuments – connected structures
• Groups – connected assemblages
• Interpretations – connected meanings