Exhibition | My learned object: collections and curiosities | Ian Potter Museum of Art

J Carney Corrosion cast of the kidney blood vessels 1968 resin Harry Brookes Allen Museum of Anatomy and Pathology, the University of Melbourne

J Carney, Corrosion cast of the kidney blood vessels 1968, resin, Harry Brookes Allen Museum of Anatomy and Pathology, The University of Melbourne

Saturday 5 Dec 2020 to Sunday 28 Feb 2016. Guest curator: Dr David Sequeira.

My learned object: collections & curiosities draws its content from over 25 of the University of Melbourne’s cultural collections. Rich and varied, the cultural collections form an integral part of the workings of the University.  Primary documents—decorative arts, botanical specimens, zoological specimens, paintings, models, furniture, bones, photographs, books, scientific equipment, ephemera (the list goes on… ) from across all university collections can be largely divided into three main categories, namely the arts, the sciences and the archives. There is considerable overlap amongst these areas andMy learned object is a rare opportunity to explore the possibilities of these intersections.

The exhibition’s four main themes—people and personalities, same but different, chromatic variation and mapping Melbourne—connect objects from diverse collections to create unique resonances, removing items from the specificity of the collections in which they are characteristically both understood and housed. My learned object highlights the ways that disparate collections can be combined to tell new stories and form a new interface. Many of the university’s cultural collections were born out of the needs of a growing city and as a result the exhibition articulates the intimate relationship between the university, the city of Melbourne and the state of Victoria.

Curator talk | Saturday 5 Dec 2015, 1.00- 1.30pm

Dr David Sequeira

The university’s collection is dynamic and diverse. My learned object: collections & curiosities demonstrates that authentic first-hand experience of objects remains an important aspect of teaching, learning and research at the University of Melbourne. Hear guest curator, Dr David Sequeira talk about the fantastic objects choosen for this exhibition.

The Ian Potter Museum of Art The University of Melbourne | Swanston Street (between Elgin & Faraday sts), Parkville

Website: www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au

Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 10am – 5pm: Saturday and Sunday 12 – 5pm.

Free Exhibition