Friday, July 25, 2008

Ekka exhibition opens at Museum of Brisbane

An exhibition showcasing 132 years of memories from the Ekka has opened at the Museum of Brisbane today.

Vintage showbags, souvenirs and historic photographs are among the items on display.

The museum's Leanne Kelly says the exhibition explores changes in society since the late 1800s.

"It says a lot about how we have changed because there are lots of things that the Ekka was that it won't be again," she said.

"It won't be a place where you see electricity and cars for the first time ever because culture has changed so much ... the internet being the least of those things."

Ms Kelly says a collection of photographs from the first show in 1876 are a highlight.

"Somebody gave us a photograph album that they'd found on the dump and it's actually a photo album of that first Ekka," she said.

"About 20 or 30 photos from that show and it shows basically the view from where the Royal Brisbane Hospital is over this big site, it shows the Governor approaching, it shows the people coming to see the Governor's opening remark.

"It's fantastic ... it's a really nice historical record."