Monash
university
museum
of art
media kit
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Introduction
Unveiling a new home for Monash University Museum of Art, and the inaugural exhibition Change
Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) is delighted to announce the opening
of a new architecturally designed museum, located at the heart of Monash University’s art and design precinct.
MUMA’s new site on the University’s Caulfield campus encompasses a suite of
dynamic gallery spaces; an expansive landscaped sculpture court; a major public
sculptural commission by artist Callum Morton; and a series of distinctive threshold spaces, including the canopy, spine, and light-well.
Designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects, the flexible form of MUMA’s new architectural design provides increased gallery space and the capacity for the museum
to present an expanded program of exhibitions, special projects, education and
public programs; alongside exhibitions from the Monash University Collection,
which includes over 1800 works spanning five decades of contemporary Australian art.
With spatial clarity, exposed framework and dialogue between interior and exterior, the new museum provides an inspiring platform for MUMA to explore the
recent history of contemporary art, whilst being forward looking in the production,
research and support of new art and ideas.
Key features of the new premises include the Ian Potter Sculpture Court, the
Merlin Myer Gallery, the Helen Macpherson Smith Education Space, and Callum
Morton’s Silverscreen, The Marc and Eva Besen Commission, in recognition of
MUMA’s key philanthropic partners.
The new Museum will be able to display changing exhibitions from the Monash
University Collection, alongside its program of special exhibitions, projects and
education and public programs.
MUMA’s Director Max Delany looks forward to welcoming new visitors, and is
delighted at the prospect of MUMA’s new location, increased space and neighbourhood:
“With inspiring architecture and expanded space in which to present our exhibitions, collection and public programs, MUMA’s new museum and inner city
location, alongside Monash’s Faculty of Art & Design at Caulfield, offers the possibility for the transformation of a university art museum into a museum of contemporary art of national significance.”
Professor Ed Byrne AO, Vice-Chancellor and President, Monash University, continues:
“Monash University has a long-term vision for MUMA to become a leading museum of contemporary art nationally and an international centre of excellence
in the research and collection - as well as the presentation and promotion - of
contemporary visual art.”
Monash
university
museum
of art
The development of MUMA’s new facility has been made possible through the
generosity of four of Melbourne’s most prominent philanthropic foundations and
families:
•
•
•
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The Ian Potter Foundation
The Sidney Myer Fund
The Helen Macpherson Smith Trust
Marc Besen AO & Eva Besen AO
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Philanthrop-
Marc Besen AO
& Eva Besen AO
ic partners
An Abridged
history of
muma
Since its foundation, Monash University has made a significant commitment to
the patronage, scholarship and advancement of the visual arts. The focus of
these endeavours has been the development of the Monash University Collection (since 1961) and the establishment of the Monash University Museum of Art
(MUMA), which began as the Monash University Gallery in 1975.
MUMA has established a reputation as a leading public art museum with the
principal goals:
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To foster an appreciation and understanding of the visual arts among the
University and visual art communities and members of the general public;
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To present and promote innovative contemporary Australian and international art; and
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To continue to develop a major, forward-looking and adventurous public
art collection, with an emphasis upon the period from the foundation of
Monash University until the present day, for the purpose of demonstrating the University’s ongoing commitment to the patronage and
advancement of the visual arts in Australia.
MUMA pursues these goals by:
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Presenting a dynamic program of contemporary art exhibitions,
publications and education programs noted for their innovation and
quality;
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Providing opportunities for visitors, students, artists and researchers to
access and engage with the Monash University Collection; and
•
Developing academic and community access and engagement.
The Museum is an active and energetic contributor to the intellectual and cultural
life of the University, the Australian and international visual arts communities. The
Museum engages and educates various audiences – local, national and international – and generates creative partnerships with other cultural institutions.
MUMA exhibitions regularly tour nationally and internationally. MUMA is also an
active lender of works from the Monash University Collection to exhibitions at
major galleries in Australia and overseas.
Monash
university
museum
of art
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An Abridged
history of
muma
Timeline
1961 – the Monash University Collection was established with the commission
of John Perceval’s Homage to Lawrence Hargrave, completed in 1962, a major
ceramic mural which is a keynote work in the history of Australian ceramics.
1968 – Patrick McCaughey was appointed as advisor to the Monash University
Collection.
1975 – Establishment of the Monash University Gallery. Professor Patrick McCaughey was appointed first Chair of Visual Arts at Monash, and the Monash
University Gallery (later the Monash University Museum of Art) was established
alongside the Department of Visual Arts.
1988 – MUMA moves to new purpose-built premises on the Clayton campus.
1980s and 1990s – Under Director Jenepher Duncan, Monash University Museum
of Art established a reputation for leading exhibitions, and a collection of national
significance, evidenced by the publication in 2002 of Monash University Collection: Four Decades of Collecting.
2004 – Appointment of MUMA’s current Director, Max Delany (previously Director
of Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces 1999-2004, and Curator at Heide 19951999).
2005 – Monash University Council approves relocation and development of new
premises for MUMA
2006 – Kerstin Thompson Architects commissioned following a limited architectural competition to develop new premises for MUMA on the Caulfield campus.
2010 – MUMA moves to a new architecturally-designed facility at the University’s
Caulfield campus, alongside the Faculty of Art & Design, with greater access for
external audiences, and enhanced facilities to present an expanded program of
exhibitions and events.
Monash
university
museum
of art
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about the
inaugural
exhibition
The inaugural exhibition Change offers a showcase of the Monash University Collection and MUMA’s striking new premises at Caulfield.
Change explores the breadth and depth of the Monash University Collection,
reflecting on the changing forms, circumstances and developments in contemporary art practice from the 1960s to the present day – from late modernism to
our contemporary situation. Artists include John Brack, Charles Blackman, John
Perceval, Gareth Sansom, Howard Arkley, Tracey Moffatt, Juan Davila, Mike Parr,
Susan Norrie, Lydia Galbal Gjinabalyi, Daniel von Sturmer, and Raquel Ormella,
among many others...
Inspired by – and drawing its title from – a neon work of the same name by the
late Blair Trethowan, the exhibition signals the potential for institutional change
that MUMA’s new situation represents. The opening of MUMA’s new premises
also coincides with the unveiling of Callum Morton’s Silverscreen, The Marc and
Eva Besen Commission, a major, architecturally integrated public sculpture by
one of Australia’s leading artists.
“Change challenges us – to change our minds, our thinking, our behaviour, our
ways of being, ourselves. This appeal to our senses is amongst the most vital
roles contemporary art can play, and a guiding principal of the Monash University
Collection since its establishment in 1961.”
– Max Delany, Director, Monash University Museum of Art
change
Coinciding with the exhibition is the
launch of a new, generously illustrated
190 page publication which brings
together essays on the collection,
programs, architecture and sculpture
commission by Max Delany, Shane
Murray, Anthony Gardner, Geraldine
Barlow, Juliana Engberg, Anne Marsh,
Kyla McFarlane and Daniel Palmer.
Electronic and printed versions are
available on request.
Change opens on 27 October and runs
through to 18 December 2010.
1. Blair Trethowan,
Change 2005
Monash University Collection
2. Howard Arkley,
Family Home suburban exterior 1993
Monash University Collection
3. Daniel Von Sturmer,
The Field Equation, 2006 (detail)
Monash University Collection
4. Tracy Moffatt,
Untitled 1989
Monash University Collection
Monash
university
museum
of art
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About
muma’s new
architec-
Occupying the ground floor of a 1960s modernist building on Dandenong Road at
Monash University’s Caulfield Campus, MUMA’s new facilities present opportunities for exchange between the internal program of the museum and the daily life
of the campus and wider community.
A variety of elements bring the inside out so that – in combination with the Ian
Potter Sculpture Court – contemporary art will infiltrate the surrounding landscape
to greatly enhance the campus grounds and wider urban context and provide it
with a significantly enhanced cultural identity.
Kerstin Thompson Architects’ design exploits the pivotal location of the museum
at the heart of Monash’s Art & Design precinct, situated between Fine Arts, Architecture, Design and History and Theory departments. The introduction of a major
canopy along the southern edge of MUMA reinforces a key pedestrian link between these contexts, whilst Callum Morton’s sculptural commission Silverscreen
projects the museum to the wider world.
As Shane Murray, Foundation Professor and Head of Architecture Professor,
has noted: “Kerstin Thomson Architects’ design for the new Monash University
Museum of Art is an intriguing exploration of architecture’s spatial and experiential
potential.”
ture
MUMA’s Director, Max Delany continues: “As we traverse from north to
south, we move from a relatively classical white cube, through an industrial
spine, and back into the gallery, which
then opens to the outside, to the
adjacent sculpture court and beyond.
These relationships between interior
and exterior, and back to front, establish a labyrinthine itinerary, of archaeology and expectation, linking past,
present and future.”
“The design of MUMA is a contribution to the ongoing debate about the
relationship between architecture and
art. Our response has been to balance
moments of architectural expression
with others of relative silence.”
- Kerstin Thompson, Principal, Kerstin
Thompson Architects
A statement by the Architect, and an
essay by Professor Shane Murray, is
available for architecture and design
and general media.
1. Kerstin Thompson Architects,
Monash University Museum of Art 2010,
Photo: Trevor Mein
2. Kerstin Thompson Architects,
Monash University Museum of Art 2010,
Photo: Trevor Mein
3. Kerstin Thompson Architects
Monash University Museum of Art 2010
Site Plan
Monash
university
museum
of art
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About
callum
morton’s
silverscreen,
the marc and
Callum Morton’s Silverscreen 2010, The Marc and Eva Besen Commission, is
an ambitious, public sculpture which will become a major feature of the urban
context. Part architecture, part sculpture, part screen, billboard and scaffold,
Silverscreen is inspired by the mid-twentieth century form of the drive-in cinema
screen, a modern technology related to economies of entertainment, spectacle
and visual modes of public address.
Morton’s Silverscreen makes reference to a number of canonical sculptural,
museum and architectural forms: Vladimir Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International 1917, a utopian albeit unrealised symbol of modernity; Cedric Price’s Fun
Palace 1961, with its experimental urbanism and interest in processes of transformation and play, information and identity; and Rogers and Piano’s Pompidou
Centre 1972-76, with its principles of transparency and circulation, daring structural assemblage and interaction between museum and urban context.
Silverscreen will engage viewers through its dynamic opticality and light play, of
shadows by day and illumination at night. Propped between two buildings on
Dandenong Road, the work provides a declarative identity for the museum, and
a ceremonial entry for visitors to MUMA, ushering them from the street to the
sculpture court and the entrance to the museum.
Callum Morton is one of Australia’s leading and most distinguished artists. He has
represented Australia at the Venice Biennale, 2007, and has participated in a wide
range of prestigious exhibitions nationally and internationally. Recent architectural and public projects include Valhalla, Venice Biennale 2007 and Melbourne
International Festival 2009; Hotel, Eastlink Freeway 2008; and Grotto, Fundament
Foundation, Netherlands, 2009.
eva besen
commission
As the artist has noted: “The brief was
to suggest the design for a type of
screen. I have been using the drivein screen for a long time, as a type
of object sitting somewhere between
painting, sculpture and the moving image. More recently I have been scaling
these up into full blown structures. I’ve
been interested in the almost baroque
iteration of that form, an over-zealous
engineering if you like.
I am interested in Silverscreen working on a number of levels. On the one
hand it’s a type of strange archaeological artefact from the recent past that
has been plucked out of the urban
landscape and wedged into a relationship with the museum as a type of
oversized object from the collection.
It is also an entrance from Dandenong
Road, a processional space through
to the sculpture court. Equally it’s an
armature for the Museum’s signage
and perhaps to broadcast other activities. I was looking at Cedric Price’s Fun
Palace, which connects to the Pompidou Centre, which in turn connects
to Palais de Tokyo etc. In keeping with
these works I was quite happy for it to
be something that could alter over time
and be adapted... It will have a lighting
sequence that announces its presence
at night.”
–
Callum Morton, artist
1. Callum Morton,
Silverscreen 2010 (artists render)
Monash University Collection
Monash
university
museum
of art
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Address
Opening hours
Monash University Museum of Art,
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145
Tuesday to Friday, 10am-5pm
Saturday, 12-5pm
Phone: 03 9905 4217
muma@monash.edu
location,
hours and
contact
details
Getting there
Car
The nine kilometres trip from the city of
Melbourne will take about 25 minutes
in peak hour traffic and 15 minutes at
other times.
Train
Cranbourne, Dandenong, Frankston
and Pakenham lines. Approximate
train travel time from Flinders Street
CBD is 15 minutes.
Bus
Bus Route 624 & 900 to Caulfield
Parking
A user pay, multi-level car park is
available on campus for the general
public, staff and students. Entry is from
Princes Avenue. Ticket machine parking ranging from one to five hours is
available in surrounding streets, as well
as some free two hour parking.
Tram
The No. 3 tram from Swanston Street
will take you directly to the Caulfield
campus.
Contact Details
For all media enquires please contact
Leith Thomas on 0411 055 299 or lt@
leiththomas.com.au
An electronic or print version of the
Change publication is available upon
request.
For all other enquires please contact
Sarah Morris, Program Administrator,
MUMA, on 03 9905 4217 or sarah.morris@monash.edu
muma@monash.edu
www.monash.edu.au/muma