Bundoora Homestead Art Centre

Join us for our Winter School Holiday Program 🎨

📆 Dates: Wed 1, Fri 3, Wed 8 & Fri 10 July
⏰ Time: 11:30am – 12:30pm
🎟️ $10 per class. Bookings essential

Enjoy some cosy crafting at the Homestead these holidays. Winter is here and we've been spending lots of time indoors — a puppet made from recycled materials might be just the friend you're looking for on a cloudy day! Or make a gorgeous garland to brighten up a cosy nook.

Get in quick as these tickets are booking out fast! Find out more via our website: https://tinyurl.com/3ayu86wj

Don’t miss Elyas Alavi’s stunning installation 𝑊𝑒, 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝐾𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝐻𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛 — showing now as part of the Darebin Art Prize.

A rich tapestry of symbols, poetry, body language, and shared community codes. The work tells an intimate story drawn from the artist’s own life. It is decorated with illustrations, drawings, and poetry, alongside censored poetry by q***r poets writing in Farsi/Dari. Together, these elements reveal how q***r identities and contributions have often been overlooked or reduced to a single narrative, leaving q***r bodies and voices invisible, hidden, or erased from public history.

👉 Coming soon: Elyas will be curating 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐠𝐡 چوغ a new exhibition at the Homestead, opening 1 July. Find out more via our website: https://tinyurl.com/ysarwe2j



Image credit: Elyas Alavi. We, of Secrets Kept Hidden 2024 gold leaf, iron, steel, prints on velvet. Courtesy of the artist. Commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Photo: James Henry

Last chance to lodge your vote! 📣

Voting for the 𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑟𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑒: 𝑃𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒’𝑠 𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 closes next Friday 12 June, 4pm sharp.

Select your favourite artwork from 53 incredible entries in this national multi-medium art prize celebrating excellence in contemporary visual art.

To view the Darebin Art Prize 2026 and cast your vote visit us! Find out more via our website: https://tinyurl.com/mu7ahb4j



Credits: 1. Darebin Art Prize (install view) 2026. 2. Left- Felix Oliver. Gavain 2025. Right- Abbra Kotlarczyk. Love Triage I & II 2024 Photography: Lucy Foster

Don't miss 𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟔𝟓𝟒 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 - a new video work by Damien Shen that combines storytelling and magic with Aboriginal excellence and optimism.

The multi-part card trick, Sam the Bellhop was created in Chicago in the 1930s and made famous by the legendary magician Bill Malone. Here, it is adapted and performed by Shen in the guise of a professional magician, for an audience of Aboriginal spectators. The intricate script of the trick is updated to become a story of Aboriginal joy and celebration, with culturally authentic slang prompting genuine, unrehearsed reactions.

Inspired by Shen’s childhood fascination with stage magic, this work provides important cultural diversity to the predominately white history of stage magic.

Showing as part of the Darebin Art Prize 2026. Plan your visit via our website: https://tinyurl.com/mu7ahb4j



Damien Shen. ‘My Cuzzy Nate and the 654 Club’ 2025 single-channel video, 5 mins 31 secs. Courtesy of the artist and MARS Gallery, Narrm Melbourne

Learn the art of 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 📚

📆 Date: Sat 13 June & Sat 20 June
⏰ Time: 10am- 3pm
📍 7 Prospect Hill Drive Bundoora

Join award-winning artist Deanna Hitti for a two-day masterclass in the craft of hardback bookbinding.

Designed for beginners and those looking to deepen their bookbinding practice, this masterclass guides you through the complete process of making a traditional hardback book.

By the end of the two days, you’ll leave with a beautifully handbound hardcover book—and the knowledge, skills, and confidence to continue binding at home.

Register via the Darebin Arts website: https://tinyurl.com/58j3e632



Image courtesy Deanna Hitti

Visita guidata alla mostra Darebin Art Prize 🇮🇹

Join us for an Italian language tour of the Darebin Art Prize! This exhibition tour will be in English with an Italian translator.

📅 Giovedì 11 giugno | Thursday 11 June
🕦 dalle 11:30 alle 12:30 | 11:30am - 12:30pm
📍 7 Prospect Hill Drive Bundoora
🎟️ Visita guidata gratuita. Free to attend!

Venite con noi al Bundoora Homestead Art Centre per una visita guidata alla mostra "Darebin Art Prize". L'esposizione riunisce alcuni tra i più stimati artisti contemporanei australiani, che lavorano con diversi mezzi espressivi e affrontano molteplici tematiche. La visita guidata si terrà in inglese con un interprete italiano.

Bookings encouraged. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/ypzcyjx7



Image credit: Something like a dream (install view) 2025. Photography: Lucy Foster

The Darebin Art Prize has transformed the Homestead!

Explore the work of over fifty renowned Australian artists in this standout exhibition and don't forget to lodge your vote in the People's Choice Award.

Plan your visit via our website:
https://tinyurl.com/mu7ahb4j



Image credit Darebin Art Prize (install view) 2026. Photography: Lucy Foster. 1. Artists (Left to Right): Setareh Hosseini, Shannon Lyons, Pia Johnson.
2. L- Darcey Bella Arnold R- Jessica DiCosta
3. Tara Denny

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑘𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑦 is a five-year moving image project by Nikki Lam on the spectres of Hong Kong.

The series explores art-making in the diaspora as a witness to the shifting political conditions in Hong Kong after 2019. 𝑅𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒 逆行 2025 concludes the trilogy with a two-channel film that returns to the city in fragments. Partially scripted, the Hong Kong-born artist is joined by performer Felix Ching Ching Ho in a journey to remember, rehearse and perform in the city they once called home.

Showing as part of the Darebin Art Prize 2026. Plan your visit via our website: https://tinyurl.com/mu7ahb4j



Credit: Nikki Lam. Retrograde 逆行 (detail) 2025 two-channel, 4K digital video with sound, 29 mins, 22 secs. Courtesy of the artist

Join us for 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤 — a hands-on watercolour workshop led by artist Christina Darras

📆 Date: Saturday 6 June
⏰ Time: 11:30am- 1:00pm
🎟️ Standard $30 | Blak Tix $10

A meditative watercolour workshop to relax, explore and create.

Discover the intersection of mindfulness and creativity in this immersive session designed to help you quiet the mind and find your "flow" through the fluid beauty of watercolours.

This guided workshop serves as both a gentle introduction to meditation and a practical exploration of watercolour painting. Participants will learn how to use art as a moving meditation, shifting the focus from "perfection" to the calming process of creation.

Register via the Darebin Arts website: https://tinyurl.com/636zhyd2



Image: Christina Darras. 2026. Image courtesy the artist.