2025 Creative in Residence group exhibition announced
After receiving more than 70 applications for our 2024 Creative in Residence Program, we were truly overwhelmed by the exceptional quality of proposals from a diverse group of artists, designers, writers, performers, and musicians. We wanted to see more of these impactful projects being realised at the Victorian Archives Centre.
PROV is excited to announce that in May 2025, the VAC Gallery will launch a group exhibition showcasing an additional five Creatives from that initial call-out. Congratulations to our 2025 Creatives in Residence, Emile Zile, Sam Wallman, Shannon Slee, Susan Fitzgerald and Queer-ways. We'll be sharing more about their research and work in progress over the upcoming six months.
L-R: George Keats, LUCIANO, Sam Wallman, Susan Fitzgerald and Shannon Slee at the Victorian Archives Centre.
Emile Zile
Project: Creating a personal essay film exploring social relationships mediated by documents, state administration, handwriting and the act of recording.
"The opportunity to work with PROV on a wide-ranging large-scale public project is both thrilling and daunting. The immense, almost unfathomable collection that PROV offers to work with is a storyteller's dream, each archival drawer opening offering multiple narratives and ways of telling stories of our shared history. Having created performances and films in the past from historical archives and legacies, this opportunity to work in the belly of PROV to generate new creative work is a compelling offer and one I take seriously."
Photo credit: Image supplied by artist, cropped from original.
Susan Fitzgerald
Project: A survey of public transport ticket design, production and related ephemera.
"I'm interested in taking people on a trip down memory lane, showcasing a range of material from the recent and distant past, and considering their context within broader social, economic and technical developments."
Photo credit: Image supplied by artist.
Queer-ways (LUCIANO and George Keats)
Project: Victorian Vagrants examines the history of gender non-conforming presentation in the Victorian era, focusing on the punishment of gender non-confirming expression and the historical and contemporary trailblazers who have used personal presentation as a form of self-expression and resistance.
"As two queer people with gender non-conforming presentations, we both connect to this history and are driven to amplify the stories of the gender non-conforming people before us, to both pay respect and ensure that their stories are maintained for posterity."
Photo credit: LUCIANO and George Keats in front of the Retracing St Kilda's Queer Footprints mural as part of the Urban Canvas Festival, Yoshi Travel. Image cropped from original.
Shannon Slee
Project: Public Record Office Victoria contains 916 Inquest Deposition Files associated with Victorian women's deaths caused by abortion from 1859 to 1973, a grim reminder of the effects of state controls on women's bodies. This project will be a memorial quilt for these women.
"This project presents the opportunity to 'bring to fabric' the names of women who are hidden in the archive, and for us to remember them."
Photo credit: Image supplied by artist, cropped from original.
Sam Wallman
Project: Research the history of the waterways and wharves of Naarm.
"The archives are a collective property, a kind of commons, and I am grateful to have an excuse to sniff around them. Vijay Prashad once said that “You go to the past not as a destination but as a resource. This is why we go back to the past, to learn in defeat. In the ruins. To learn what shines, like a magpie. That is what a historian should be, a magpie in the ruins.” I always liked that quote."
Photo credit: Sam Wallman photographed by Jamie Wdziekonski. Image cropped from original.
Inaugural Creative in Residence exhibition
“occupation studies” is an installation of audio-visual works made by Tahlia Palmer during the first Creative in Residence Program at the Victorian Archives Centre. The physical exhibition was held at the Victorian Archives Centre Gallery from 20 June to 19 July 2024. An online version of “occupation studies” will be available to view here in early 2025.
Palmer is an interdisciplinary artist of Murri and European descent, living in Narrm / Melbourne, who explores history, identity and perception. She works to interrogate the impact of colonisation on people and Country, and to unpack and heal inter-generational trauma in her own family.
In February 2024, Palmer was selected as the first Creative in Residence at Victoria's State Archives. Following a competitive judging process of more than 70 applications from artists, musicians and writers across the state, our independent judging panel were impressed with Palmer’s demonstrated ability to navigate archival materials with sensitivity and appreciation for the power of public records in storytelling.
From March to June, Palmer used this residency to research into Public Record Office Victoria's land and water management records, learning "glimmers of intimate details of the bureaucratic processes which enabled bending and breaking of Country according to biopolitical racism and profit driven directives." These explorations have resulted in a series of hypnotic video works that "invite audiences to reflect on their relationship with history, Country, and the socio-economic disparity on this continent."
Information for Creatives
There is no current call-out for the Creative in Residence Program, but keep an eye on this page for updates. If you're interested in applying for a future call-out, please read through the information below.
About Public Record Office Victoria
Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is the archive of State and Local Governments in Victoria. We hold over 100 km of digital and physical records from 1836 to the present day, from maps, plans and photographs, to written documents, files, and books. Many records are accessible to the public either online or for viewing in our Reading Room in North Melbourne. Our records include passenger lists, wills and probate documents, First Nations records, coronial inquests and court records, education, health, railway records, old maps and historic photographs of Victoria and Melbourne. For more examples of the types of records we hold please look at the following online resources:
Look history in the eye (downloadable booklet with examples of the stories within our collection)
Flickr albums (images from our live events and our photographic collections)
Popular topics (search tools for finding records by topic)
YouTube channel (video resources and recordings of our talks)
Online exhibitions (photographic exhibitions that use our collection)
Photographic collections (search for images within the different series)
Maps (search for historic maps)
What is the Creative in Residence Program?
The Creative in Residence Program is a paid opportunity for a creative person in Victoria to use the State’s public archives as a starting point or feature in a new creative work. The program is designed to provide a professional opportunity for a creative outcome that showcases the value and potential of using archival records. The successful applicant (the Creative) will be able to access public records on-site or remotely online to develop and create a new body of work, and will be given research support and guidance from programming and collection staff for 3 months during their residency.
Applications can be submitted by artists, musicians, creative writers, performers, photographers or creative collectives - who can demonstrate the value of our records in a unique creative response. The finished work(s) must have a public outcome, for example, something we can share online, or an exhibition or performance at the Victorian Archives Centre, or other public location in Victoria. We’re open to new ideas and challenges.
You’ll also need to document your creative process from initial inspiration to completion, so that we can share regular updates through our online channels. This could be in the form of video footage or photographs, alongside working drawings, journals or writing.
The residency takes place at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne during the specified year and requires an expected time commitment equal to 3 months full time, along with an expected exhibition timeframe of within 12 months. Please read the FAQ section below for commonly asked questions.
What is PROV looking for?
PROV is seeking original projects that make significant use of PROV’s collections in the creative work and process. We are open to all artists or collectives who can demonstrate a commitment to their creative practice. We’re particularly interested in applicants who wish to re-contextualise historic records for contemporary conversations, and projects which aim to explore under-represented perspectives. The final work must feature our records or clearly draw inspiration from PROVs archival collection. Applications should demonstrate how both the work-in-progress and final project outcomes will engage audiences.
A panel of external judges will assess all applications within the following criteria:
- Proposal concept.
- Experience and skills.
- How the work will connect to PROV's archival records.
- Potential to encourage engagement with the State collection in ways that are meaningful for Victoria’s diverse communities.
- The applicant has demonstrated how their project is achievable within the timeframe of 12 months.
Who can enter?
- Applications are open to Australian citizens and permanent residents
- All forms of creative expression and creators working either in collaboration or independently are eligible to apply.
- Applicants must be able to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to their creative practice.
- Projects that have already commenced, are supported by other funding bodies, or are covered by a publishing contract, are eligible to apply but must demonstrate an alignment to the same end piece of work, as well as the goals of this creative residency program.
- Projects that are supported by university-derived funding are not eligible to apply.
- Projects that have planned public outcomes within the 12 month timeframe, whatever the format, are desirable.
Why be involved?
The PROV Creative in Residence Program is an opportunity to explore the state’s rich archival resources with personal assistance from PROV staff and a dedicated workspace for viewing records at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne.
The Victorian Archives Centre has a gallery and a performance space that seats up to 100, which can be utilised by the Creative. PROV will also promote the project through our online channels.
The Creative receives a professional fee of $15,000 (including GST) paid in two instalments, plus a budget of up to $10,000 (including GST) for resources needed to deliver the project, paid upon delivery of invoices. These resources might include:
- Tools and materials
- Transportation or installation of work
- OHS and risk management requirements
- Advertising outside of PROV’s usual channels
- Costs associated with an exhibition launch