State Library Victoria’s major new exhibition unlocks surprising past

Victorians will soon uncover the surprising connections between some of Victoria’s greatest stories when State Library Victoria unveils a ground-breaking new exhibition, Velvet, Iron, Ashes, open from 24 October 2019 until 12 July 2020.

The free, interactive exhibition draws on the experience of using a library to offer a new way of discovering Victoria’s history. Visitors will learn about the unexpected links between some of the state’s most influential people, events and icons including Ned Kelly, the Ashes Urn, Yallourn Power Station and even Nappie Wash. A retro-style Map-o-matic device will allow visitors to print out a map giving them a personalised tour of the exhibition.

State Library Victoria Lead Curator, Carolyn Fraser, said Velvet, Iron, Ashes will open up a world of storytelling to a new generation of Victorians who may not know the secrets of their state’s history.

“We want this exhibition to reflect what it feels like to explore a library. By discovering one story, visitors will stumble upon another unexpected, but connected, tale from Victoria’s past. Visitors will learn how fairy floss is linked to fancy dress, how the Freddo Frog is tied to one of the greatest air races in history, and what the Ashes Urn and Ned Kelly’s armour have in common. We’re excited to welcome Victorians of all ages and backgrounds to Velvet, Iron, Ashes and we encourage them to become their own detectives as they unlock the secrets of our wonderful state.”

The exhibition will showcase more than 200 items from the Library’s vast collection and from other major institutions and private collections. Highlight pieces include Ned Kelly’s armour, a glittering costume designed to represent modern Victoria in 1934 and the Ashes Urn – which is being exclusively loaned from Marylebone Cricket Club in London and will be on display from November 2019 until February 2020.

Some of the stories featured in the exhibition include:

• The birth of the Ashes Urn
• One of Victoria's greatest philanthropists of the nineteenth century
• One of Melbourne's first professional social workers turned pioneering businesswoman
• Australia's answer to Willy Wonka
• The rise and fall of Victoria's first 'model town'
• Melburne's part in the world's greatest air race
• Melbourne life 100 years after European settlement

Velvet, Iron, Ashes is the inaugural exhibition in the new world-class Victoria Gallery, endowed by the John and Myriam Wylie Foundation, and established as part of the Library’s transformative $88.1 million Vision 2020 redevelopment.

About Victoria Gallery:
Victoria Gallery, endowed by the John and Myriam Wylie Foundation, is a brand new world-class exhibition space at State Library Victoria. It has been designed by multi-award winning Australasian firm, Architectus and one of Scandinavia’s most recognised architectural practices, Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. Victoria Gallery occupies a 500-square-metre grand heritage space that originally opened in 1892 as the home of National Gallery of Victoria (until 1968). It subsequently housed Melbourne Museum’s ethnographic collection (until 1998–99) and then served as a workspace for librarians. Now, the original architecture has been carefully restored to create a home for the Library’s great treasures, telling the stories of the state of Victoria over the past 180 years. It opens as part of the Library’s Vision 2020 redevelopment, an ambitious project that will transform the Library’s incomparable heritage spaces, creating destinations for myriad purposes and enabling the Library to offer a range of new services.

About the John and Myriam Wylie Foundation:
The John and Myriam Wylie Foundation provides financial and non-financial support for worthy and well-run charitable organisations in all walks of life, especially in education, the indigenous community, health and sport, and medical research in Australia. It has to date supported over 50 organisations and causes. It aims to make an impact, not a statement, and seeks to assist charitable organisations in meaningful ways over and above pure financial support. It is privately funded by John and Myriam and incurs no administration costs. Its directors are John and Myriam, and independent director Roger Harley.