Behind the curtain: the lives of Dolia and Rosa Ribush
Ask a librarian, Performing Arts, Theatre:
Dolia and Rosa Ribush arrived in Melbourne from Riga, Latvia in 1928. They played a pivotal role in the theatrical and cultural life of Australia.
Rare Books & Arts
40+ years of the Tote
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
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
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.
Two Decades of the Melbourne Fringe Festival Website
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
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
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
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
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
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.
