09 March 2010

Celebrating 100 years of the Mitchell Library, 1910-2010, Sydney (9 Mar 2010)

Mitchell Library, Shakespeare Place Sydney NSW 2000

The Mitchell Library turns 100

This special event was officially opened by Her Excellency the Governor of NSW, Marie Bashir AC CVO, in the magnificient reading room of the Mitchell Library which coincided with the opening of the new exhibition ONE hundred. Guests were welcomed with glasses of Robert Oatley wines from Mudgee and Chandon Vintage Brut which was nice on the palate. Catering was provided by Lasissez-faire which did a great job in circulating the food by friendly and professional waitstaff. Generously stacked bowls of fresh prawns was a definite highlight for many guests including myself. It was good to see there was no shortage of plenty of other satisfying canapés throughout the night.

The Mitchell Library opened on 9 March 1910 and for the first time, it was possible to research the history of Australia and the Pacific through access to the original records. David Scott Mitchell's 1907 bequest of books, manuscripts, maps and pictures — the most comprehensive collection of its type in the world — had provided Australia, in one fell swoop, with its first major research library.

ONE hundred is a major exhibition of objects that reveal aspects of Australian history in a unique and surprising way, from 9 March to 16 June, 2010, and the centrepiece of the Library's centenary celebrations this year. Ranging in date from the late 1400s to 2008, it is a rollcall of the famous and the notorious; the quiet achievers and the noisy larrikins; the conventional and the rebels; the remembered and the unjustly forgotten, all with a fascinating story to tell.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Free exhibition, historic building, interesting stories
CONS: Lots to read and learn so will take time
MUST TRY: Reading all the exhibition captions

Mitchell Library entrance & welcome




Canapés

Bowls of peeled cooked king prawns dressed with sweet lime extra virgin olive oil
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Olive, persian feta & semi dried tomato tartlet with green and purple basil

Chicken and dill sandwiches

Warm Peking duck pancakes with cucumber, shallot and hoi sin sauce

Wild mushroom risotto

Angus beef & carmelised onion homemade pithivier (mini pies)

Robert Oatley Sauvignon Blanc, Chandon Vintage Brut

Napkins with new State Library of NSW logo

Mitchell Library vestibule

Mitchell Library Reading Room


Music
Australian Youth Orchestra

Paper sculptures


The Library Shop
ONE hundred exhibition catalogue

Souvenir
Commemorative fan

Staff afternoon tea preview

State Library of NSW logo cupcakes — so cute!

4 comments:

YaYa said...

woohoo, front doors open again at last! The underground route never feels as grand as coming through the Mitchell proper, happy 100th!

Simon Leong said...

hi yaya, doors a now open finally. exhibition has been very popular too :-)

Cougar Vox said...

wow, who made the paper sculptures? they are amazing! we will have to visit the slnsw over the easter break ... also love the new logo! who is responsible???
cb-l

Simon Leong said...

hi carla, actually not sure but they're pretty cool. Frost design did the new logo and library has taken on the new branding. all coming together now :-)

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