Curator’s statement

Amy

Questionable Internet connections, endless Teams notifications, video calls and bedroom turned office, were all part of the making behind ‘Museum of Me’. At a time when we are all physically apart, ‘Museum of Me’ of Me brings us together and reminds us of the unity we each share with our unique passions as well as our place within the RMIT student community. I am both honoured and happy to have worked alongside my fellow students Cristina and Beverly as we brought our knowledge together. I have enjoyed interacting with the student exhibitors as well as learning about their individual creative practice and I hope we can remember the Museum of Me as a collective of students who supported each other through this particularly difficult time. That is what I believe makes MoM special.

Beverly

This year is a very different year for all of us - Covid 19. Students were affected by not being able to go to school, or hang around with their friends and are instead stuck at home due to lockdown measures. The sense of belonging is not as strong as before and hence, ‘Museum of Me’ is a good way to connect people together. I am really happy that I’m part of the team as I have learnt a lot of things from the curator side. Even though the team have not met in real life and its always on screen, I feel that we have bonded and connected well. As a design student, I’m glad that I am able to do the digital graphics for Museum of Me and get the intended message across clearly.

Cristina

Right now, students are missing out on that on-campus experience – seeing our peers and tutors, and being able to learn hands-on. This is why I think it is so important to find alternative ways of cultivating a sense of student belonging and ‘Museum of Me’ is one of those ways. Working on this exhibition has been both challenging and rewarding, and I feel like I have really connected with the whole team, especially with Amy and Beverly despite not having met each other in person. As a media student, I believe it is so important for student works to be seen, shared, and appreciated, and I’m very proud of what we and all the exhibitors have achieved with ‘Museum of Me’

How will you remember 2020? When you look back on this disrupted year what will you recall of the cultural inspiration that helped you get through social isolation? Think of the music, online streaming, cooking, Zoom sessions and memes and art that provided a sense of hope and belonging over the long months of lockdown and social distancing.

‘Museum of Me’  is an upcoming RMIT Gallery online student exhibition showcasing creativity across the university.

RMIT students have been invited to participate in curating an exhibition about themselves, submitting photos, music, creative writing, drawings, soundscapes, or videos they have created this year.

Students were also asked to select creative works from the public domain, as well as RMIT’s very own Cultural Collections (RMIT Design Archives, AFI Research Collection, RMIT Art Collection), that  have provided a jolt of inspiration, or simply brought joy.

The exhibition is completely student run – a creative team of RMIT Culture interns are responsible for ‘Museum of Me’ design, curation, promotion and an accompanying digital publication.

As we found ourselves confined to the indoors, ‘Museum of Me’ was born. Transcending the traditional notion of what we understood the Gallery to be, this exhibition has been produced purely online and created by a creative team who have only ever seen and spoken to each other through a computer screen.

It is in this way, that ‘Museum of Me’ is unique and representative of the future of RMIT student work and collaboration. ‘Museum of Me’ is an introspective of the self. Who am I? Where have I come from? Where will I go? These are the questions that are interwoven throughout the exhibition.

As someone who is a ‘digital native’, this project supports the coming together of creativity and technology. This is something I am deeply interested in. Upon completing my own ‘Museum of Me’ submission, I found myself looking back at my childhood and the artworks that have come and gone throughout my life into adulthood to shape me into who I am today – and who I will become.

Through this reflection I only hope that the students involved in this project discover more about themselves. Learning who we are, and to be able to share that with others, is a valuable thing.

Now more than ever it is important to foster this student bond at a time that we may feel detached from both each other and the University. ‘Museum of Me’ brings creativity and cultural inspiration into the light at a time when many of us may feel we have been caught in the dark.”

Incorporating works from RMIT’s impressive Cultural Collections, and presented alongside students’ creative practice, ‘Museum of Me’ celebrates resilience and the connection we have with each other throughout this pandemic.