Museums and cultural institutions around the world house unique collections of objects, photographs and archival material that document our shared histories. But have you ever wondered why we collect and preserve these things?
Hawkesbury Regional Museum presents a new exhibition series, What We Keep: The Art of Collecting, exploring the universal human impulse to gather, organise and preserve objects.
Featuring collections from passionate collectors, What We Keep explores the motivations behind collecting; from nostalgia and identity to curiosity, memory and creativity — while considering the role and responsibility of museums in safeguarding objects and the stories they carry for future generations.
The exhibition series has developed from research undertaken following the launch of Hawkesbury City Council’s Cultural Plan 2025–2029. As part of the Plan, Council’s Arts & Culture team is reviewing its Collection Policy across the Library Archive and Local Studies, Museum and Gallery collections.
What We Keep will contribute to Council’s understanding of what our community values, why we preserve particular objects and stories, and what our contemporary collections should represent for future generations.
The first instalment of What We Keep: The Art of Collecting opens to the public on Saturday 14 November 2026, featuring objects from Australian content creator Christian Hull’s Mini Museum collection.
The Mini Museum: A Growing Archive of Small Objects
In early 2025, Christian Hull connected with his online audience over a shared love of all things miniature. What began as simply sharing his latest collectables soon evolved into an international callout to his more than five million social media followers, inviting them to contribute their own miniature objects to a collection that could be shared with the world.
Over the past year, people from around the world have mailed Christian tiny objects — from miniature furniture, food and handmade pieces to treasured heirlooms and objects carrying personal memories. More than 1,500 parcels have been sent, with Christian unboxing each contribution on camera and cataloguing the objects as part of what has become The Mini Museum: a growing archive of small objects and the stories behind them.
Hull has also created a book celebrating the collection, set to be released in 2026.
Christian Hull: ‘What started out as a fun little video hit a nerve and it turns out so many people are obsessed with miniatures. I had no idea I would get sent so many beautiful things. My two-bedroom apartment is now a one-bedroom with a warehouse. This wasn’t ever going to be a project that lasted more than a few weeks but here we are. It’s taken on an amazing life and the journey ahead is insane and exciting. We have created a proper Mini Museum, and I want to travel and take it all around Australia and even the world.’
What We Keep: The Art of Collecting opens at Hawkesbury Regional Museum on Saturday 14 November with an official opening event on Saturday 21 November 2026. The first instalment, featuring Christian Hull’s Mini Museum, will continue until winter 2027.
Museum entry is free for all ages. Open 10am – 4pm weekdays, 11am – 4pm weekends, closed Tuesdays. Hawkesbury Regional Museum is a wheelchair accessible venue.
