A selection of the Goldfields’ oldest engines will be on display at the Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder from 27 October, 2012.
The engines will form part of the WA Museum-curated exhibition, ‘This Working Life: the engines that put the go! into the Goldfields’, and celebrate the region’s rich industrial history.
Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder regional manager Zoe Scott said the exhibition provides a great insight into how life in the region was transformed by the introduction of engines.
“It’s easy to forget what life must have been like before engines came into our lives; when you think of all the industries the Goldfields is famous for, it’s especially hard to imagine how people got by without them.
“Working in the mines was backbreaking, cutting timber was gruelling, and every sheep had to be shorn by hand - after long days of physical work, people came home to houses without electricity, refrigeration or any of the comforts that we now take for granted,” Ms Scott said.
The exhibition features a loan collection of engines and vehicles from VT Engineering Kalgoorlie alongside images and objects from the WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s own collection.
Ms Scott said the exhibition illustrates the past industrial, pastoral and domestic activities, and will provide visitors with a great sense of what life was like in the ‘old days’.
“The exhibition paints the stark contrast between life in the Goldfields today and life on the Goldfields back then, and is a great celebration of the regions industrial and mining history,” Ms Scott said.
The WA Museum - Kalgoorlie-Boulder will host a public Open Day on Saturday 10 November, with quilt airing in the courtyard, working engines and vintage vehicles on the forecourt, and a sausage sizzle and Devonshire Tea to raise money for local charities from 10am to 4:30pm.
This Working Life: the engines that put the go! into the Goldfields will be open to the public on Saturday 27 October, 2012 and will be on display until Sunday January 13, 2013.
Media contact:
Niki Comparti
Western Australian Museum
6552 7805, niki.comparti@museum.wa.gov.au
