Rehearsing the City: Exhibition launch

Rehearsing the City reflects on public space as a stage, a place where meaning is constantly performed, contested, and redefined. On display are photographs sourced from the vast collections of our State and National Archives as well as work by contemporary photographers, responding to Victoria's urban environment:

Chris Bekos, Melanie Cobham, Michael Currie, Mark Forbes, Sande Harsa, Adrian Leung, Hashem McAdam, Suzanne Phoenix, Ted Richards, Deb Stembridge, Ai Tam Do and Andrew Tan.

Through past and present imagery, we examine how public space is not just shaped by architects and urban planners, but also by protest, improvisation, and even neglect. Communities and individuals constantly use the built environment in creative or unexpected ways, reinterpreting or subverting its intended design. These acts of resistance show that urban environments are not static, they grow and adapt with their inhabitants. Design can guide, but it’s the everyday actions of people that give public space its meaning, and its future.

This event is part of Melbourne Design Week 2026, an initiative of the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

Please RSVP so we know numbers for catering.

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Host or Publisher Public Record Office Victoria