Cirrus@Austlit

'Howard Arkley (1951–99), one of the significant Melbourne artists who came to prominence in the 1970s, has become particularly well known, especially posthumously, for his vivid suburban house imagery. In fact, he explored a much wider variety of themes and styles during a 25-year career that developed from late modernist abstraction to stylised furniture installations, psychedelic- and drug-inspired imagery, urban subjects and portraits. These various subjects (and others) were obviously based on Arkley’s everyday and imaginative life but also drew on his extensive studio collection of references, source material, notes and drawings, the bulk of them now available publicly in State Library Victoria as the Howard Arkley Archive.1 Some of this material has been published and analysed previously. Arkley himself foregrounded his use of source material and working drawings several times, most explicitly in his Casual works exhibition, shown in Melbourne and Brisbane in 1988. After his death, privileged access to his library and other studio material was crucial to my own accounts of his art and working methods, and further research was carried out for the 2015–16 exhibition Howard Arkley and friends, curated by Anthony Fitzpatrick and Victoria Lynn. Despite these studies, though, much of the material in the archive remains unexamined.' (Introduction)

'Vali Myers (1930–2003) was known as a free-thinking artist and dancer who lived a unique bohemian life true to herself. In Vali’s own words, she was ‘born foxy, she escaped education and cultural conditioning, she was original, solitary and innocent, like a shooting star in the night sky’' (Introduction)

'Edna Walling, one of Australia’s best-known garden designers, lived from 1895 to 1973. Born in England, she moved to Australia in 1914 and graduated from the School of Horticulture, Burnley College, Melbourne, in December 1917. She was a household name from the 1920s to the 1940s, mainly due to her regular articles on gardening that appeared in the magazine The Australian Home Beautiful (1926–46). She was also known by reputation among her wealthy Melburnian clients, who included Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Dame Nellie Melba and Sir Frank Packer. As a pictorial collections librarian at State Library Victoria and the curator of the photographic content of the Edna Walling Website, I was privileged to catalogue the Library’s Edna Walling Collection, which comprises over 4900 of Walling’s photographs and 300 of her garden plans. This article features a small selection of the collection’s holdings to illustrate a discussion of her aesthetic roots: the drivers and influences which led to her picture-making.' (Introduction)

'This article draws on research I carried out as an honorary fellow of State Library Victoria for my forthcoming book, The unknown story of William Shum, editor of Australian Home Beautiful, 1926–1946 (to be published by The Beagle Press), which tells the story of my grandfather William Arthur Somerset Shum and his influence on the making of modern Australia. For my research I relied almost entirely on the Library’s extensive collections, in particular the diary and letter book of William Shum’s father, Arthur Hall Shum; the holdings of The Australian Home Beautiful, The New Idea and Everylady’s Journal; and William Shum’s brother-in-law William Moore’s publications City Sketches and Studio Sketches. The Library holds the complete collection of Home Beautiful – an important reference source for contemporary scholars that shows how the Australian dream of home ownership that emerged in the interwar period was nurtured and shaped during Shum’s editorship. Shum introduced fresh ideas, and specifically modernism, to his readers and profoundly influenced their homes and gardens.' (Introduction) 

'For 40 years, the Melbourne Fringe Festival has been both a mainstay and a disruptor in Melbourne’s cultural landscape. To celebrate the anniversary of this beloved festival, State Library Victoria teamed up with Fringe for The rest is up to you: Melbourne Fringe Festival 1982–2062' (Introduction) 

'In December 2022, State Library Victoria celebrates the first year of the Women Writers Fund. The pioneering fund seeks to redress the historical gender bias in the Library’s collection by acquiring works by under-represented women writers. It is helping the Library to fill gaps in all genres and to acquire works that have previously been unattainable due to budget limitations. Generous donations made to the fund have ensured the Library can build its collection into an important resource for all Library users seeking to learn about the impact of women’s writing in this era and on contemporary society.' (Introduction)