Curatorial projects

The University of Melbourne's Faculty of Science, Burnley Campus, was formerly the Burnley Horticultural College amongst other incarnations. It has been teaching horticultural courses for a variety of educational institutions since 1891, although land was first put aside at the site for the Victorian Horticultural Society in the 1850s. The Burnley Campus Archives consists of over 15 metres of material that relates to the Burnley Horticultural College. The archive was initially assembled for the 1991 teaching centenary of the College and to form a research source for the publication, Green Grows Our Garden: A Centenary History of Horticultural Education at Burnley, by A.P. Winzenried, Hyland House, 1991. The Archive comprises of materials that date back to the 19th century including the College's official records (principals' administration records, registers, student attendance books, alumni deposits, student club documents etc.), photographs, news cuttings, maps, plans and films. It also contains artefacts such as ploughs, leadlight windows and jodhpurs.

Curatorial Research Project – Online Exhibition

This project offers the opportunity for original curatorial research interpreting selected materials from the Burnley Campus Archives collection for presentation in an online exhibition. Under guidance, you will have the opportunity to choose a theme for the exhibition while highlighting materials from the collections. This curatorial research project will increase public awareness of the rich history of the Burnley Campus and its archives.

Project guide

The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology cultural collections (FEIT) comprise the Mechanical Engineering Collection (which includes the A.G.M Michell Engineering Collection); the Electrical Engineering Education Collection; Surveying and Geomatics Engineering Collection;  and the Computing & Information Systems Collection. The School is currently creating a unified collection database for the distributed FEIT cultural collections.

Collection Documentation and Displays

This project involves working closely with the FEIT cultural collections and gives you the opportunity to document the diverse collections, undertake targeted research and assist in the development of new displays throughout the engineering precinct, including Melbourne Connect.

Project guide

The East Asian Collection, consisting of the General East Asian Collection and Rare East Asian Collection was established after Professor Harry Simon was appointed by the University as the foundation Professor of Oriental Studies (now absorbed into The Asia Institute) in the early 1960s. Since then, the collection has grown with an on-going program of new acquisitions. The Rare East Asian Collection comprises both Chinese and Japanese rare books. The Chinese collection has thousands of volumes dating from the 1600s, in the areas of history, literature, archaeology, art, education, daily life, and medicine. The collection includes books, facsimiles, paintings on scrolls, calligraphy, rubbings, and printed ephemera. The smaller Japanese component has a focus on history, art, architecture, language learning, teaching and popular culture. There are items relating to the Kanto earthquake (Kanto Daishinsai) of 1923 and ephemera relating to the Second World War. The Rare East Asian Collection was transferred to the Library’s Special Collections in 2008. The Rare East Asian Collection can be accessed by students, researchers and public in the Reading Room. In recent years, the Library has purchased important manuscripts of the Chinese Cultural Revolution diaries, booklets and posters which have attracted research interest from academics internally and overseas.

Curatorial translation project – 斯文在兹 (Here lives our cultures) (project assigned)

This project offers the opportunity to assist in the interpretation and translation of text for the object labels for the upcoming exhibition 斯文在兹 (Here lives our cultures). This bilingual exhibition to be held in the Noel Shaw Gallery in 2023 will showcase the breadth of the Rare East Asian Collection with an emphasis on Chinese culture and will increase awareness and appreciation of these significant collections to a wider audience.

Project guide

Curatorial research project – Display of Chinese scrolls (project assigned)

This project offers the opportunity for original curatorial research interpreting and providing insight into a reproduction scroll held in the Rare East Asian Collection. The project will involve selecting a scroll from the collection and undertaking research to produce an exhibition label which will accompany its display in the Arts West building.

Project guide