In any city there are certain places you walk past or visit all the time—the milk bar, a record store, a building. Years go by and it’s still there, like an old friend. You get older, visit less frequently, but it’s comforting to know the old haunts remain. Then one day, suddenly, it’s gone. You thought it would be there forever.

As a young, growing city, Canberra is changing all the time. Old shops close and new ones open. Buildings are torn down and new ones built. Rescued from shops, cinemas, workplaces, ephemeral sites, play spaces, accommodation and hotels, signage from around the city is an important part of the CMAG collection. While each sign is visually unique, it’s the individual memories, emotion and association attached to each one that makes them so evocative.

When viewed together, they provide a unique portrait of the culture and community that blossomed here, and offer a glimpse of the people who worked, shopped, strolled, lingered and conducted the business of their lives here. 

So, take a moment to wander down memory lane and revisit the Canberra of old. 

And … if you do have a favourite store or place, go and take a photo of it. One day, when you least expect it, it will disappear, and become just be a memory for you too.

For an overview of the exhibition and its themes you can read the curator’s essay here

Sign of the Times is an exhibition curated by the Canberra Museum and Gallery and supported by The Modern Creative.