The Endless Interior : Exhibition
Continuing an ongoing survey into the role of the émigré on the post-war Australian design landscape, this exhibition focuses on the interior as a crucible for modernity including archival and exploratory research from Masters of Architecture students.
Fooks, E. & Fooks, E. (1957) Interior of house, probably George Smorgon’s home in East St. Kilda. State Library of Victoria
The Endless Interior comprises two parts, and borrows from Frederick Kiesler’s conceptual work of architecture of the same title - merging spirituality, ergonomics and pragmatics into a new housing typology - by applying a similar provocation to the antipodean context.
His is a city of interiors located in the heart of public spaces. The complex weave of the drawing links cave to cave in a web, as if the visible city is but the cover for a single vast interior, a system of chambers carved into the landscape like the interconnected spaces of a mine. He insists that there were not only extraordinary individuals, but extraordinary groups and, most significantly, meeting places, private apartments, studios, and above all cafés where we would gather.
Frederick Kiesler, Progressive Architecture, July 1961
Part 1_________________________
‘The Biography of the Émigré (Object)’ is an ongoing curatorial collaboration between independent researcher Jeromie Maver and Professor Alan Pert. Assembling a collection of never-before-seen furniture pieces and objects gifted from private collections across Melbourne, these “émigré objects” - central to the exhibition - tell the story of forced migration, antipodean exile, and new beginnings. Through engagement and interaction with these pieces, awareness of their value and merit – paired with biographical insight into their makers and designers - prompts dialogue around questions of attribution and recognition.
An archival assemblage in themselves, these biographies of object and maker reiterates interdisciplinarity that emerged between, architects, artists, designers, cabinetmakers, and their clients. Concurrently, their individual approaches legitimise issues of research into making, provenance, exhibition history, preservation, conservation, and reception. Many crucial pieces of émigré interiors are still to be found, elevated or even rescued from auction houses, mid-century stores and online marketplaces – an exercise in itself as endless as the interior Kiesler referred to.
Part 2 _________________________
‘From Austria to the Antipodes’ is an exhibition intensifying research and outputs previously produced by academics that sit within the Australian Centre for Architectural History, Urban and Cultural Heritage (ACAHUCH).
Notable outcomes include research exploring the oeuvre of Ernest Fooks and previous exhibitions like The House Talks Back (2016), Excavating Modernism : Stylistic Species (2019) and New Horizons (2023). European exiles cast their influence across Australasian artistic and built environment practice, contributing to Australian modernism through the nucleus of the fully designed and carefully crafted interior.
Significant material culture from this crucible of modernity seen in ‘The Biography of the Émigré (Object)’ inform exploratory artefacts produced by Melbourne School of Design students in Critical and Curatorial Practices in Design. This subject, led by Professor Alan Pert and Professor Philip Goad, creates a curatorial laboratory testing new interpretations of émigré practice.
Through these dual forces, this exhibition aspires - as a biographical exploration into émigré and object – to introduce our audience to the origins of ideas, the hidden histories of objects and the role and relationships of their makers and designer. We hope to stimulate new forms of research, exploration and dialogue by giving the object an opportunity to speak for itself and the audience a place in the narrative.
This exhibition, designed and produced by Theo Blankley is supported by The Jock Simmie Architectural History, Urban and Cultural Heritage Research Fund. Its generosity furthers knowledge and access to architectural history, conservation and heritage.
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THE CABINETMAKERS
Deutsch Cabinetmaking Workshop (1949-1969)
Ernst Deutsch/Ernest Deutsch
CabinetmakerBorn 19 September 1900 (Vienna, Austria)
Died 13 November 1970 (Melbourne, Australia)
Nationality Austrian; Australian
Lived/Worked Vienna; Lyon; MelbourneFutura Furniture (
1939/40 - 1971 )
Schulim Krimper
CabinetmakerBorn 28 July 1893 (Sereth, Bukovina, Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Died 18 August 1971
Nationality Austro-Hungarian; Australian
Lived/worked Sereth; Prague; Vienna; Berlin; MelbourneRosando Furniture (1953-1974)
Lacey Veneered Wood Products (c.1966-2008 )
Paul Rosta
Furniture designerBorn 16 September 1916 (Budapest, Hungary)
Died 18 July 1996 (Melbourne, Australia)
Nationality Austro-Hungarian; Hungarian; Australian
Lived/worked Budapest; Melbourne&
Michael Rosta
Cabinetmaker
Born 21 November 1926 (Budapest, Hungary)
Died 20 December 2008 (Melbourne, Australia)
Nationality Hungarian; Australian
Lived/worked Budapest; MelbourneRudowski Cabinetmaking Workshop (1959-1973)
Jacob Rudowski
CabinetmakerBorn 1 January 1927 (Janow, Poland)
Died 12 January 1996 (Melbourne, Australia)
Nationality Polish; Australian
Lived/Worked Janow; Tel Aviv; AustraliaSol Shapiro
CabinetmakerBorn 27 February 1914 (Brest Litovsk, Poland)
Died 24 July 1980 (Melbourne, Australia)
Nationality Polish; Australian
Lived/Worked Poland; Australia -
THE DESIGNERS
RiteLite (c.
1953-1962 )
Peter Bauer
Architect/Furniture and Lighting DesignerBorn 5 November 1906 (Vienna, Austria)
Died 22 April 1957 (Melbourne, Australia)
Nationality Austro-Hungarian; Austrian; Australian
Lived/Worked Austria; Shanghai; AustraliaZoureff Furniture (c.
1952-1969 )
Dario Zoureff & Associates (c.1972-2011 )
Dario Zoureff
Interior DesignerBorn 5 November 1906 (Vienna, Austria)
Nationality Austrian; Australian
Lived/Worked AustraliaErnst Anton Plischke
Architect, Town Planner and Furniture Designer
Born 26 June 1903 (Klosterneuberg, Austria)
Died 23 May 1992 (Vienna, Austria)
Nationality Austrian; New Zealander
Lived/worked Vienna; New York; Wellington -
THE SCULPTORS
Karol Duldig/Karl Duldig
SculptorBorn 29 December 1902 (Przemysl, Poland)
Died 11 August 1986 (Melbourne, Australia)
Nationality Polish; Austrian; Australian
Lived/worked Vienna; MelbourneLeopoldine Mimovich OAM
SculptorBorn 21 November 1920 (Neumarkt, Italy)
Died 20 December 2019 (Melbourne, Australia)
Nationality Austrian; Australian
Lived/worked Sankt Johan; Vienna; Melbourne -
THE INTERIORS
MAAS Cabaret (1954-1964)
Robert Maas
RestauranteurBorn 10 March 1907 (Vienna, Austria)
Died 23 February 1973 (Melbourne, Australia)
Nationality Austro-Hungarian; Austrian, Australian
Lived/Worked Vienna; AustraliaHelen Maas (nee Bresenska)
RestauranteurBorn 29 September 1915 (Loyvitch, Poland)
Died 17 June 1993 (Melbourne, Australia)
Nationality Polish; Australian
Lived/Worked Loyvitch; Australia
Full Title
The Endless Interior: (& The Biography of the Emigre)
Exhibition Location
Glen Eira Council Gallery, Caulfield
Dates
06.10.23 - 12.11.23
Exhibition Team
Professor Alan Pert (University of Melbourne)
Professor Philip Goad (University of Melbourne)
Mr Jeromie Maver (Independent Researcher)
Mr Theo Blankley (University of Melbourne)
Contact
Mr Theo Blankley (University of Melbourne)
theo.blankley@unimelb.edu.au