Tucked away in the Dungog Museum is a beautifully ornate National Cash Register, a relic of a bygone era when pounds, shillings, and pence were the currency of the day. Once a centerpiece in Skillen’s grocery shop, this historic register served the community until 1966, when Australia transitioned to decimal currency. The shop, formerly located where Dungog Medical Surgery now stands, is brought back to life through this fascinating artifact.
This cherished piece of history is now at the heart of Arts Upper Hunter’s “This Here Then Now” (THTN) Museum Activation Residency Program, supported by the Regional Arts Fund. The initiative seeks to breathe new life into small local museums by fostering creative collaborations between artists and their collections, spaces, and stories. Dungog-based artist Helene Leane has been selected to collaborate with Dungog Museum to interpret this ornate cash register, offering audiences a fresh perspective on the historical currency system of pounds, shillings, and pence.
” I feel very fortunate to be selected for the THTN Museum project, said Helene Leane, I have a keen interest in history and to be able to combine this passion with my visual art practice is something very important to me. The museum is a space with so much artistic inspiration – whether from the objects, stories or people. It is an open space where anybody can access information about the past – and thereby acquire a deeper understanding of the society in which they live.”
As part of the THTN Residency, Helene will reawaken the public’s interest in the commercial history of Dowling Street, Dungog, during the pre-decimal currency era. ‘It is a large, beautiful machine – so elaborate and flash for a small country town.,” she remarked. Engravings taken from the register will be used to create a large centrepiece in the exhibition space at the museum. Other artworks will be designed using advertisements from the Dungog Chronicle and from goods that were packaged during the first half of the 20th century. The exhibition promises to be bold and colourful.
In addition to the visual feast, the exhibition will feature educational elements to help children explore how the imperial currency system worked and the intriguing process of its conversion to dollars and cents. Helene also plans to document the current shop fronts and their owners, bridging the gap between the past and present.
Dungog Museum President Maureen Kingston said: “The project is a novel and new one for the Museum. It will showcase our predecimal cash register, which was the state of the art for its day. It will also have large photographs of the shops of the era as well. The Museum is delighted to be able to collaborate with a local artist for this most interesting display”
“We’re very excited to see what Helene will create,” said Suzannah Jones, Project Officer at Arts Upper Hunter. “The cash register is a showpiece in the Museum, and like many objects here, it deserves to be brought to life and shared with the community in new and engaging ways.”
Stay tuned for more updates, including the exhibition opening and upcoming workshops.
Photo taken by Jan Lyons.