Skint! Making Do in the Great Depression, at the Museum of Sydney

ANYONE who has ever wondered why a grandmother saves old bits of soap or hates to see food wasted should see Skint! Making Do in the Great Depression.

Out of Work, Hyde Park (1930), by E.O. Hope, one of many historical photos from the Depression in the Skint! exhibition.

ANYONE who has ever wondered why a grandmother saves old bits of soap or hates to see food wasted should see Skint! Making Do in the Great Depression, at the Museum of Sydney.

Less a collection of art than of documentary images and artefacts – including makeshift toys composed of recycled materials and children’s clothes cut out of sugar bags – this exhibition gives a vivid sense of the ordeal of the Great Depression, and in the wake of our own seemingly narrow escape from the Global Financial Crisis, provides an opportunity for reflection on wealth, poverty and contemporary consumerism.

Skint! Making Do in the Great Depression is at the Museum of Sydney until July 25.

Read Christopher Allen's full report in tomorrow's Review in The Weekend Australian and come to The Australian Online for a gallery of more fascinating historial pictures from the exhibition.