Galleries, libraries and readings rooms are part of the fabric of our metropolitan landscape. For them, location is everything when it comes to easy audience access. So to upscale, and get that location right, can be key.
Two Melbourne-based arts venues are doing just that.
As Melbourne wraps up Melbourne Art Book Week, Melbourne Art Library (MAL) has announced that it is moving to the Queen Victoria Market precinct, with a new reading room.
Founded in 2020, MAL is Australia’s only independent not-for-profit library that collects specialised art and design texts and lends them to the public, free of charge. Since opening, it has amassed nearly 4000 curated titles, and key is a program of regular events, forum discussions and research residencies. It is time to upscale and grow.
MAL’s new reading room is co-located with arts organisation Testing Grounds, an independent arts organisation that provides infrastructure for creative practices across art, performance, design and education.
Nell Fraser, MAL’s Library Coordinator and Founder says, ‘It’s wonderful that, only three years in, we’ve been able move to a large purpose-built space at Testing Grounds.’
‘The move allows great capacity for events,’ she adds. The market precinct will be a boost to visitor traffic.
The Library is supported by the City of Melbourne and the Besen Family Foundation, and is currently fundraising to extend its programs in its new home.
From neighbourhood to New York
Meanwhile, leading Australian Gallery D’Lan Contemporary has announced that it opened a gallery space this month in New York (US).
D’Lan Davidson, Director and Founder of D’Lan Contemporary, explains: ‘With an extensive network of valued clients and collaborators in the US – many of whom we have worked with for years – now feels like the right time to commit to a permanent base, so that we can focus on fostering further awareness of and appreciation for Australian First Nations art internationally.’
She continues: ‘This move represents our desire to provide a clear filter for the US market in what is often perceived as a complex segment of the art market. We believe it is important to share our knowledge while continuing to promote best practice, so that collectively we protect this incredibly dynamic industry, and the broader international marketplace, from unethical practices.’
Located on the Upper East Side, just moments from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, D’Lan Contemporary New York will occupy an intimate space, showcasing a select group of Australian First Nations artists. The first exhibition in the New York space will be Yulparitja/Mangala artist, Daniel Walbidi (11 May – 22 June).
Read: 26 new theatres and galleries opening in Australia in 2023, and beyond
The gallery was established in 2016. In late 2020, D’Lan Contemporary brokered the largest single private acquisition of Australian Indigenous art in history, with the sale of more than 250 works from the California-based Kelton Collection, the most significant collection of Australian Indigenous art in North America, to Swiss art collector Bruno Raschle.
The opening of the New York space follows several years of strategic growth for D’Lan Contemporary, including several international collaborations and exhibitions with gallerists including Gagosian (Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York, Paris) and, more recently, Ricco/Maresca (New York).
D’Lan Contemporary New York opened in May at 4 East 81st Street, New York. Showing Daniel Walbidi until 22 June.
Melbourne Art Library at Testing Grounds opens to the public on Saturday 3 June, and will be open 12pm-5pm Thursday to Sunday.
