Exhibitions and events
Explore our current and past exhibitions

Epic and Divine: Dante's World
Exhibition, Noel Shaw Gallery, Level 1, Baillieu Library
3 March - 26 June 2022
The Noel Shaw Gallery is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 11am to 5pm, Saturday & Sunday
Epic and Divine: Dante’s World is a celebration of the life and works of Dante Alighieri. Drawn from the University of Melbourne’s Archives and Special Collections, it showcases rare books, artworks and other materials that explore Dante’s seminal poem The Divine Comedy, its context, themes and ongoing influence. The exhibition features incredible works from our collections by artists and authors such as Sandro Botticelli, William Blake, Gustave DorĂ©, and Salvador Dali – and Australian artists such as Sydney Nolan, Bruno Leti and Angela Cavalieri.
700 Years of Dante Alighieri: Representation, Reception, and Legacy
Faculty of Arts Exhibition, Ground Floor, Arts West Building
The 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death is celebrated in Italy and globally. The great Florentine poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) is considered the father of the Italian language. Every year, the Italian Studies Program at the University of Melbourne offers a subject on the work of Dante (To Hell with Dante). This subject provides students with the opportunity to undertake an in-depth analysis of the Inferno and to appreciate its linguistic tradition, historical context, and critical reception.
Our colleagues in Italian Studies in the Faculty of Arts have staged an exhibition, 700 Years of Dante Alighieri: Representation, Reception, and Legacy, currently on display on the Ground Floor of Arts West. The exhibition features Special Collections holdings relating to Dante Alighieri and his iconic poem, The Divine Comedy.
Discover the exhibition in person and hear Elisabetta Ferrari, Lecturer, and Andrea Rizzi, Associate Professor, from Italian Studies speak about the exhibition here.


80 Years of Meanjin
Online exhibition
80 Years of Meanjin is a collaboration between Archives and Special Collections and Meanjin, using our collection of Meanjin material to celebrate the literary magazine's 80th year.
Past Exhibitions
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Horizon lines
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The Universe Looks Down
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Monkeemania in Australia
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Dark imaginings: gothic tales of wonder
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Art on the Page
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Plotting the Island
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Tee Vee at sixty
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Shakespeare 400
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Radicals, slayers and villains
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Aftershocks
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From botanical illustrations to research
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LHD244
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Gutenberg Bible
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Reading Adventures
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Somewhere in France
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Libri: six centuries of Italian Books
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Take A Breath
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Meanjin
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Epic and Divine