A Day of Slow: Listening, Writing and Looking with Objects

An intimate day-long series of workshops on the theme of looking at, living with, and thinking through objects.
About this Event

We’re thrilled to announce our second Day of Slow program: an intimate day-long series of workshops on the theme of looking at, living with, and thinking through objects.

Continuing our focus on the art of looking slowly, this time around we’ll be focussing our attention on objects of all kinds: personal, natural and art historical.

Due to the nature of this intimate event, the number of participants will be strictly limited to 20. All participants will take part in all workshops.

We’ve structured the day in such a way that each session builds on the one that comes before it. No prior experience is necessary! Everyone is welcome.

When: 9:30am for a 10am start, to 5pm on Saturday 19th July

Where: Coates Community Arts, Suit 6, Level 4, 20 Collins St, followed by the NGV International on St Kilda Road

Cost: $140

Places are strictly limited! Booking is essential!

Here’s how the day will unfold:

9:30-10:00 Registration and time to settle in with tea and coffee on arrival

10:00-11:00 Welcome! Followed by ‘Listening with Objects’ led by Olivia Meehan

This workshop will help to ground us for the day ahead, and will explore how objects can shape our aural experience.

11:00-11:30 Morning Tea (catered by us)

11:30-1:30 ‘Writing with Objects’ led by Vanessa Berry

Objects are central our daily lives and our memories, and developing careful and thoughtful object writing practices enriches the work of writing. This workshop session guides you through a process for attentively working with material objects and attuning to their resonances and connections.

1:30-2:30 Lunch (you’ll be on your own for lunch, with time for a breath of fresh air)

2:30 Meet at the City Square tram stop on Swanston St to travel together to the NGV International

3:00-5:00 ‘Looking with Objects’ led by Olivia Meehan

For this workshop, we'll be moving through the permanent galleries of the NGV, looking closely at specific objects and drawing on our listening, looking and writing practices to explor the ways we relate to them.

Bios:

Olivia Meehan is an art historian and teaching specialist with a focus on slow looking and contemplative pedagogies. She received her MPhil and PhD in the History of Art from the University of Cambridge. Since graduating Olivia has worked in museums and galleries, and as a lecturer and tutor in the History of Art. Her research practice focusses on Observation, Imagination and Slow Looking. She is the author of Slow Looking: The Art of Nature published by Thames & Hudson (2025).

Vanessa Berry is a writer who lives and works on Gadigal land. She is the author of five books of essays and memoir including Calendar, an autobiographical daybook of 365 objects (Upswell, 2025) and Gentle and Fierce, a collection of essays on animals (Giramondo, 2021), as well as the zine series I am a Camera. Vanessa's books are praised for their ability to encourage close and careful noticing of the everyday, and she is known for her attentive approach to writing place, material objects, and memory.