On Sale! Shops and Shopping

Overview

Remember all those angry op-eds about postmodernism and curriculum reform that had people shouting about how the children were going to read cereal boxes? "But there is such a person as the author!" they would cry, and do that ironic thing where anyone trying to explain why they thought it was a good idea to have cultural literacies that embraced interpretation of day-to-day systems of meaning was super-pretentious.

Anyway, sucks to be them right now because the State Library of NSW has just launched a show that is all about commerce and commercial communication. There is advertising and packaging, there are pictures of stores and examples of the things you could buy in them.

Curator Margot Riley has designed On Sale! as an immersive experience, recreating shopping in Sydney from its early days to the present. Tracing goods from the docks to postage delivery, and shopping experiences from market stall to department store to luxury boutiques, this is an historical survey that gives visitors an insight into the technologies and economy of the periods it covers, as well as an understanding of fashions and values through time. It's like peeking into the grocery basket of the person in front of you, except educational! (And not rude.)