The Rest Is Up To You: Curator Talk – Curating at the margins

Join The Rest Is Up To You exhibition co-curators, Kate Rhodes and Simon Abrahams, as they discuss the experience of curating at the margins to develop this unique exhibition.

From the design elements of the exhibition to an exploration of the Library’s Fringe archive, Kate and Simon will trace the festival’s beginnings up to the present day, highlighting the importance of democratising the arts, championing the experimental, and empowering everyone to find their creativity.

After the talk, you can leave your own story about the future of artmaking at the Fringe.

The exhibition is a high sensory space, with overlaid audio recordings and screens that use flashing text which may affect visitors with photosensitivity.

Auslan Interpreted discussion.

About Kate

State Library Victoria Curator Kate Rhodes was born and grew up on Latje Latje country in regional Victoria and is a PhD candidate in the Architecture and Curatorial Programs at Monash University.

Kate was Foundation Curator at RMIT Design Hub Gallery and has worked on art, craft, design and architecture exhibitions, workshops and creative activities in Australia and internationally since 2000. She was Creative Director of the State of Design Festival and Curator of its Design for Everyone program.

Kate has held the position of Curator at the Australian Centre for Design, Craft Victoria, Melbourne Fashion Festival and the National Design Centre and was Assistant Curator of Photography and Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. As editor of architecture and design magazine Artichoke, Kate founded Artichoke Night School—a forum for taking design ideas in print into a live discussion which still runs today. In 2019 she co-edited the book An unreliable guide to jewellery by Lisa Walker with Nella Themelios, which has won national and international awards.

About Simon

Melbourne Fringe Creative Director & CEO Simon Abrahams is recognised as one of Australia's arts and cultural leaders. Simon is a life member of Theatre Network Australia, an organisation he co-founded then chaired from 2010-2017. He is an arts advocate, programmer, creative producer, performer and cultural consultant and his work is driven by a commitment to cultural democracy.

Since joining Melbourne Fringe in 2015, Simon’s leadership has driven the organisation's focus on cultural democracy, delivering the largest festivals in its history, reaching over 350 000 people at 450+ events each year.

Simon sat on the Victorian Government's Ministerial Council for Volunteering (2017-19). In 2013-14, Simon held the position of Head of Programming at the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, where he conceived, curated and programmed over 250 events annually.

Simon is well known for his transformative work as Executive Producer and co-CEO of Polyglot Theatre (2007-12), where he led the organisation’s strategic transformation into an internationally renowned creator of experiential work for children, in partnership with irrepressible Artistic Director Sue Giles.