Activate, animate, complicate, grow: what new acquisitions can do to and for the collection

The Ian Potter Museum of Art houses and manages the University of Melbourne Art Collection. Comprising over 16,000 objects this collection documents Australian artistic practice since the early nineteenth century and also includes holdings of European art, Australian and International Indigenous art and classics and archaeology objects. The collection continues to grow through acquisitions and donations ensuring the ongoing documentation of artistic practice.

This exhibition presents a number of acquisitions from the last two years in dialogue with existing works from the collection, presented as individual ‘case studies’ that demonstrate what additions to the Collection can do. As a university art museum the Potter is committed to extensive participation in the University’s interdisciplinary degree structure. The ongoing development of the University Art Collection ensures that the visual arts play a central role in object-based teaching and learning, across disciplines.

The exhibition reveals the commitment of the Potter and the University of Melbourne in maintaining a significant public collection while also demonstrating the continued links between a diverse range of artistic mediums and voices. Furthermore, it reveals the capacity of the visual arts to enhance student learning, a central role of a university art museum.