Treasures of Canberra

Every object tells a tale, and many of Australia’s most treasured possessions can be found in Canberra: now, these amazing artefacts and the stories behind them will be highlighted in a new book to be produced as part of the Centenary celebrations.

No one knows their way around the capital’s great collections better than Betty Churcher AO, former Director of the National Gallery of Australia and one of Australia’s most loved cultural authorities. 

Treasures of Canberra is a very welcome new book by Ms Churcher, to be published by Halstead Press and set for release in late 2012 in partnership with the Centenary of Canberra.

Paintings, drawings, maps and prints will be featured alongside monuments, historic documents, relics, books and specimens; each object provides a valuable insight into the past and offers an opportunity for reflection on the history and development of our national identity.

Treasures have been sourced from major national and local institutions, including the National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, National Museum of Australia, National Portrait Gallery, National Archives of Australia, Australian War Memorial, Australian National University, Canberra Museum and Gallery and the Noel Butlin Archives.

This book will be a personal showcase of some of the most loved and most precious items selected by Ms Churcher from Canberra’s glorious array of cultural riches.

CREDITS
The Centenary of Canberra is a proud partner of the Treasures of Canberra publication.

 100 Canberra House

From modest Workmen’s Cottages to prestigious Government House, from the 1913 Brickworks Camp to prefabricated student housing in 2009: Canberra is home to some of Australia’s most iconic buildings and if their walls could talk, they would speak of some of the most significant events and decisions in our country’s history.

The very best domestic architecture in the ACT will be celebrated with 100 Canberra Houses, a new book to be published by Halstead Press and set for national release in late 2012, in conjunction with the Centenary of Canberra.

Written by Tim Reeves and Dr Alan Roberts, the book will present a chronological selection that begins with the Administrator’s Residence built in 1913 and, averaging a house for every year, follows the city’s entire history through its residential constructions.

The houses are illustrated through paintings, photos and plans, and placed in context by descriptions of the architects and occupants, details of contemporary events, notes about urban styles, and the building’s life in later decades.

Some have social and historical significance as well as architectural importance—The Lodge for example, and the home of Soviet defectors, the Petrovs. Some, sadly, have been destroyed over time, but many remain in residential use.

Together, these places that many Canberrans have called home will fill a handsome hardback volume offering a different perspective through which to view the history of the nation’s capital.

CREDITS
The Centenary of Canberra is a proud partner of the 100 Canberra Houses publication.

Portrait of Canberra and of Canberrans 1979 - 2012