Urgent times. Emergent futures.
EMERGENCE[Y] brings together artists, scientists, and collaborators from around the globe to explore how we adapt to a world in flux. In an age marked by ecological collapse, technological acceleration, and social upheaval, adaptation becomes not only a biological imperative but a creative and ethical act. How might we not only survive through change but emerge in a critically reimagined future?
Spanning from the cellular to the planetary, EMERGENCE[Y] explores how adaptation unfolds in every layer of life – from the regenerative promise of stem cells to the movement of Martian winds. Engage with the interconnected crises and possibilities of our time through regenerative coral soundscapes, resilient fungal fashion, First Nations knowledge of the Birrarung and a vertical city farm.
Conceived as a living, adaptive ecosystem this exhibition is both a warning and an invitation – to grow, to listen, to reconfigure, and to act.
FREE ADMISSION
Open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm.
Content warning: Contains potential allergens, references to the climate crisis, the concept of death and medical themes.
EVENTS
EXHIBITS
-
Tilly Boleyn, Melinda Brook, Jeanette Chan, Bern Hall, Shirley Liu, Qian Mo Cui, Cass Norland
-
Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher, Professor Todd Lane, Professor Megan Munsie, Professor Jacqueline Peel, Angharad Wynne-Jones
-
A Climate For Art, Katharina Amman, Anna Anderegg, Rebekka Anker-Møller, Ryuta Aoki, Jake Archbold, Prof Ken Arnold, Art2M, Dr Linden Ashcroft, Marco Barotti, David Bowen, N’arweet Professor Carolyn Briggs AM, Simone Browne, Daniel Browning, Tega Brain, KS Brewer, Holly Jean Buck, Edie Bush, Gabriele Castellani, Liu Chuang, Creative Climate, Kate Coleman, Yann Coppier, Yaraan Couzens Bundle, Aunty Vicki Couzens, Bethany Dean, Martine de Vries, Chelle Destefano, Disnovation, Expression Australia, A/Prof Claire Farrell, Prof Michael-Shawn Fletcher, Helen Flett, Peter Fox, Nick Fox, Jessie French, A/Prof Sigfredo Fuentes, System Garden, Baruch Gottlieb, Greenspace, Jasmine Griffiths, Amias Hanley, Camilla Hannan, Harry Brookes Allen Museum of Anatomy and Pathology, Prof Lesley Head, Dr Jacqueline Healy, Johanna Hedv, Peter Hennessey, Dr Sara Howden, Wei Huang, Malene Hviid Saxtorph, IFT Pari, Troy Innocent, Miyuki Jokiranta, Jordana Maisie Design Studio, Mukundwa Katuliiba, Jarra Karalinar Steel, Imogen Keen, Ben Kirby, Takeshi Kondo, Luca Larson, Luisa Lauer, Sam Lavigne, Sophie Lewis, Léo Lim, Prof Melissa Little, A/Prof Nir Lipovetzky, Rohan Long, Amy Lucassen, Nicolas Maigret, Martti Maimets, Matrice.io, Paris, Pernille Matzen, Virginia McNally, Monash University Museum of Art, More-Than-Planet, Isobel Morphy-Walsh, Prof Megan Munsie, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lana Nguyen, Other Matter, overlapping_studio, Alia Parker, Luisa Pereira, Patricia Piccinini, Dr Adam Piers, Senem Pirler, Prof Enzo Porrello, Eliki Reade, Geoff Robinson, Dr. José A Rodríguez-Manfredi, Anthony Romano, Maria Roszkowska, Hayden Ryan, Mara Schwerdtfeger, Rahul Sharma, Sunshine College, SWISP Lab, Aunty Angela ten Buuren, The Orbweavers, Romain Theron, Jeppe Thorup, Sammy Trist, Mattia Tuliozi, Dr Jessica Vanslambrouck, Dr Kellie Veen, A/Prof Silvia Velasco, Victorian College of the Deaf, Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm, Dr Wang Zhigang, Mathias Warnich, Laure Weir, Dr Rhiannon Werder, Louise Whiteley, White Rabbit Collection, Sydney, Angharad Wynne-Jones, Xcenter Nova Gorica.
-
Studio Peter King, io Design Company
-
Andrew Goddard, Floreancig Smith, Flys Alone Painting, Get Rigged, Image Box, Modular Components & Automation, Paul Masson, RMG, Studio Tops, Synthesis Design & Build, Theatre Safe Australia
-
Tilly Boleyn, Chris Bennett, Ian Bunyi, Jesse Chambers, Charlie Christie, Jack Farley, Gabrielle Capes, Bern Hall, Louis Kennedy, Shirley Liu, Vhairi Mackintosh, Hannah Miller, James Paul, Meg Taylor, Grace Terry, Erin Milne, Nicky Pastore, Bridgette Van Leuven, Ethel Villafranca.
With the spark and support of the entire Museums and Collections Department at the University of Melbourne.
LEARN MORE
![EMERGENCE[Y]: Student soundwaves](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5dc2cd8defa71b41e983be85/c1dd5129-f270-4802-9198-463deee6a48e/2026_SGM_EMERGE+websiteBanner.jpg)
EXHIBITION ZINE
Journey through bold ideas, personal reflections and creative provocations that explore how we might adapt.
SUBSCRIBE
Find out what emerges during our EMERGENCE[Y] season. We’ll send occasional emails about exhibitions and events.
