un Retrospective: 'un Magazine's' curatorial project for the NGV's Melbourne Now

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: un Retrospective was a curatorial project that was part of Melbourne Now, a landmark exhibition that celebrated the latest art, architecture, design, performance and cultural practice to reflect the complex cultural landscape of creative Melbourne. Held across both NGV sites, the exhibition presented the work of more than 400 artists and designers across 170 projects. un Retrospective was a curated section within Melbourne Now. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: un Magazine is a contemporary art magazine published in Melbourne since 2004. Generating independent and critical dialogue around contemporary art and ideas, it is a vital part of Melbourne's contemporary art community and a unique platform for emerging and established artists and writers. un Retrospective featured a selective history of artists, writers and art practice in Melbourne since 2004 as featured in the back-catalogue of un Magazine. More than 30 artworks were presented alongside the correlating text from the pages of un Magazine, highlighting the relationships between criticism and practice, writers and artists, that have been fostered in the publication. Showcasing contemporary art in Melbourne through ten years of un Magazine, it provided a point of historical context within the newness of Melbourne Now. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: un Magazine was one of five guest curators invited to develop a project for Melbourne Now, and it was the only publication allocated exhibition space. Melbourne Now was a critical appraisal of significant practice currently undertaken in Melbourne, and the inclusion of un Magazine acknowledged the centrality of the magazine to leading-edge contemporary practice. Over 2 months, more than 725,000 people visited. It was reviewed in 'The Age' (Ray Edgar, 'Cheering on Melbourne's indie publishing scene at Melbourne Now', 20 Dec, 2013). The NGV filmed a video portrait about un Magazine, and hosted a public program that explored independent publishing in Melbourne.