Hidden treasures from Melbourne's past are about to see daylight for the first time in decades, thanks to a new exhibition coming to the city gallery.
You Are Here exhibition has resurfaced these hidden historical photographs from the City of Melbourne’s archive treasure-trove.
You Are Here: Melbourne Memory-scapes opens at City Gallery next month, showcasing extraordinary aerial photographs that have been locked away in the City of Melbourne’s archives since the 1960s.
These forgotten gems were originally captured by aerial survey companies like Adastra Airways for practical mapping purposes, but they’ve transformed into something far more powerful – windows into a Melbourne that no longer exists. You Are Here: Melbourne Memory-scapes presents these rarely glimpsed historical documents alongside contemporary artistic responses that breathe new life into old landscapes.
You Are Here: Melbourne memory-scapes
- Where: City Gallery, Melbourne
- When: 2 October 2025 – 6 February 2026
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
The incredible exhibition presents these rarely glimpsed historical documents alongside contemporary artistic responses that breathe new life into old landscapes. Curated by Angela Bailey, the exhibition pairs these black and white aerial snapshots with a specially commissioned poetry work by Wergaia/Wemba Wemba writer Susie Anderson. Her words weave through the gallery space via animated projection, creating emotional geography that challenges the clinical precision of surveyor’s grids.
Wathaurung Elder Marlene Gilson’s powerful painting Land Lost, Land Stolen, Treaty anchors the show, depicting Bunjil and Waa overseeing Naarm as Batman’s treaty attempts unfold. Works by Joan Ross, Louise Forthun, André Bonnice and Anna Jankovic complete this journey through Melbourne’s multiple histories.
Rather than simply documenting urban development, these aerial perspectives reveal stories of First Peoples’ sovereignty, migration waves, queer gathering places, protest movements and personal connections that shaped the city.
From the Yarra’s sweep to public housing tower shadows, from remembered sharehouses to wattle-scented streets, visitors can locate themselves within Melbourne’s evolving memory-scape.
For more information, head here.
