New Horizons: Through Darkness comes Light

The first Dulux Gallery exhibition for 2023 showcased work from Perth-based émigré Iwan Iwanoff alongside a collective chorus of artists, designers, architects and creatives of European origin and education who practiced in Melbourne.

See a recording of the panel discussion with Professors Harriet Edquist, Alan Pert and Philip Goad below.

About the exhibition

The interwar and post-war period was a time of major global upheaval.

Across Europe, designers, artists, architects, and other creative people experienced major prejudice, persecution and a resounding rejection of modern ideas in favour of a stifling return to tradition.

Escalating xenophobia and anti-semitism in the early decades of the 20th century meant that many countries treated their most innovative, esteemed, revered and established practitioners with increasing suspicion and criticism. This reached a devastating conclusion during World War Two that resulted in many European thinkers and makers realising that their country of birth or their newly adopted homes were now untenable and life-threatening.

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This exhibition aims to present the beginnings of an ongoing survey into the migration of some well-known and some lesser known designers and practitioners, and the deeply influential place they cemented in the burgeoning art and design landscape of Australia in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.

By showcasing the Perth-based émigré Iwan Iwanoff alongside a collective chorus of artists, designers, architects and creatives of European origin and education who practiced in Melbourne, we hope to contribute to the redress and revival of their careers: through great duress and loss often came new horizons and prolific legacies.

This exhibition is part of an ongoing survey by the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning into the role, impact, and influence émigré creatives have had on Australia's design landscape.

An ongoing visual repository will be showcased on the Australian Centre of Architectural History, Urban and Cultural Heritage (ACAHUCH) website throughout 2023 - click here for more information.

Event program

Tuesday 14 March, 12pm - 1pm
Dulux Gallery, Glyn Davis Building
Floor Talk #2 - Warren Andersen on The Studio of Iwanoff
A comprehensive review of the art and architecture of architect Iwan Iwanoff in Western Australia.

Tuesday 21 March, 12pm - 1pm
Dulux Gallery, Glyn Davis Building
Floor Talk #2 - Warren Andersen on The Studio of Iwanoff
A comprehensive review of the art and architecture of architect Iwan Iwanoff in Western Australia.

Tuesday 28 March, 7:30pm - 9pm
B120 Singapore Lecture Theatre, Glyn Davis Building
Panel Discussion - Émigrés and the Interior
Join Professors Harriet Edquist, Alan Pert and Philip Goad for a conversation about émigrés, the designed interior and the extraordinarily rich creative and collaborative landscape present in Victoria after migration. Followed by a Q&A session.

Wednesday 29 March, 6pm - 7pm
Dulux Gallery, Glyn Davis Building
Live music in the gallery - International Karate
For the first-ever live music performance in the Dulux Gallery, the Melbourne School of Design welcomes the elusive, beloved Melbourne band International Karate.

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Major partner