Rare Books & Arts

Six Ft Hick live at The Tote, 2016. Photograph by Zo Damage. This work is in copyright. H2022.177/1-560.

40+ years of the Tote

December 23, 2022

Ask a librarian, Music, Our stories, Popular music, rock, Victorian history:

Music, protests and sticky carpet; as the Tote Hotel celebrates 40 years of live music, we look back on the long history of this iconic Melbourne pub.

Modern dance individualism: the art of Sonia Revid

Modern dance individualism: the art of Sonia Revid

November 22, 2022

Arts & literature, Ask a librarian, Dance, Such was life, Victorian history:

In 1932 Latvian born Sonia Revid brought expressionist dance to Melbourne. In Berlin in 1921 Sonia had studied under Mary Wigman, but developed her own unique style. Her performances included spoken word and introduced Melbournians to modern interpretive dance. She opened a dance school and was a notable figure in the local art scene of the 1930s. Unfortunately she died in 1947 at age 45.

Send in the clowns

Send in the clowns

October 31, 2022

Performing Arts, Photography, Theatre:

Happy or sad, straight-faced or bumbling, creepy or cute, there many different kinds of clown. Join us as we take a look at some of the lesser-known clowns in the State Library’s photo collection.

Home page of the 1999 Melbourne Fringe Festival Website

Two Decades of the Melbourne Fringe Festival Website

October 25, 2022

Changing libraries, Our stories, Performing Arts, Theatre:

State Library Victoria has been collecting the website of the Melbourne Fringe Festival since 1999 and will continue into the future. Here are some highlights from our online collection at PANDORA.

Fanny Anne Charsley: a legacy of flowers

Fanny Anne Charsley: a legacy of flowers

September 1, 2022

Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Rare Books & Arts:

Explore the life and art of Fanny Anne Charsley, a botanical artist who lived in Melbourne during the mid 19th century and painted Victorian wild flowers.

The A to Z of World of the book 2022

The A to Z of World of the book 2022

July 21, 2022

Exhibitions, Rare Books & Arts:

A is for Alhambra On display for the very first time is a magnificent work by English designer Owen Jones and French architect Jules Goury about one of the world’s… Read More ›

The Damian Smith Archive

The Damian Smith Archive

June 9, 2022

Rare Books & Arts:

A healthy art community relies on figures that move quickly between commissions, code-switch through high and colloquial cultures, and translate between foreign lands. The record of Damian Smith’s career is the archive of one such figure.

Journey through the collection: Georgia Metaxas

Journey through the collection: Georgia Metaxas

May 24, 2022

Collection spotlights, Photography:

Journey through the evocative early works of Greek-Australian photographer Georgia Metaxas, and be drawn into the world of community and performance.

Melba, Queen of Song

Melba, Queen of Song

May 19, 2022

opera, Our stories, Victorian history:

Dame Nellie Melba was a legend in every possible way: her voice of an angelic purity and perfect pitch, her fame never equaled by another Australian singer, a fame which extended worldwide from the time of her international debut in Brussels in 1887 until the late 1920s when she staged her final performances.

2002: A space oddity

2002: A space oddity

March 31, 2022

Rare Books & Arts:

With the help of the Women Writers Fund, the Library recently acquired Laura Dayton Fessenden’s most fascinating work of speculative fiction, 2002: Childlife One Hundred Years From Now.