1950s Australian TV miniature

Australia, 2019

Designed by Graham McGuffie, Emily Boutard and Megafun

Film On display
Photograph by Egmont Contreras

“Good evening … and welcome to television.” Those were the famous words of television pioneer Bruce Gyngell that first launched television in Australia in 1956 on Sydney’s TCN9. Experimental transmissions had been taking place as early as 1929. Yet the delay in broadcasting came from heated public debate over what kind of television the nation would have: government-run, like Britain, or commercial, like the US. The result was a uniquely combined service, utilising elements of both. The medium reached the masses just in time for the Melbourne Summer Olympic Games in September.

We dare you not to smile at the sight of these small sofas, teensy televisions and itty-bitty bookshelves. Lawyer by day, model maker by night, Emily’s been crafting miniature TV rooms – complete with little working television sets.

How are these works connected?

Explore this constellation

Related works

Content notification

Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.

Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.

Collection

In ACMI's collection

On display until

16 February 2031

ACMI: Gallery 1

Credits

manufacturer

Megafun

Production places
Australia
Production dates
2019

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

P183626

Curatorial section

The Story of the Moving Image → Moving Pictures → MI-07. Birth of Television → MI-07-000 TV Stack

Object Types

Exhibition Prop

Moving image file/Digital

Collected

62899 times

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/113971--1950s/ |title=1950s Australian TV miniature |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=7 July 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}