The University of Melbourne’s Ian Potter Museum of Art has announced Collective Unease; a bold new exhibition examining the legacies of colonisation and imperialism in the University of Melbourne’s collections, running 27 September – 9 December 2022 and then 14 February – 2 June 2023.

Co-curated by Samantha Comte, Senior Curator and Jacqueline Doughty, Head Curator, Art Museums, the exhibition forms part of the Ian Potter Museum of Art’s artistic program, inviting three contemporary artists to respond to and reframe objects from the University collection. Collective Unease is presented inside the Old Quad at the centre of the University’s Parkville campus, with the works in part inspired by the Oxbridge-style architecture of this historic building.

Through these newly-commissioned works, artists Andy Butler, Lisa Hilli and James Nguyen move beyond colonial narratives to a complex, multi-voiced understanding of Australia inflected by experiences of migration and diaspora.  In the face of difficult histories and an uncertain future, these works emphasise themes of self-representation, empowerment and optimism.

Image: Andy Butler, The Agony and the Ecstasy, 2022, video still. Courtesy of the artist.