Welcome to the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music

Latest News

• Innovative dance performance explores the relationship between humans and AI

  12 August 2026

  A new performance combining contemporary dance with augmented reality will premiere at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) as part of this year’s Now or Never festival, presented by the City of Melbourne.

  • News

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• Two VCA graduation films premiere as part of MIFF’s prestigious Accelerator Lab program

  28 July 2026

  Two Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) Film and Television graduation films will be premiered at the 2026 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) as part of its Accelerator Lab program.

  • News

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• University of Melbourne and ILBIJERRI Theatre Company partner to foster First Nations artistic excellence

  28 July 2026

  A new chapter in a long history of collaboration between ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and the University of Melbourne has been formalised in a new partnership, which will amplify both organisations’ shared commitment to fostering First Nations artistic excellence.

  • Indigenous Arts and Culture

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• New round of VCA50 Creative Development Grants supports seven emerging artists

  30 June 2026

  A creative practice grants scheme for graduates of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) will support seven talented artists this year.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• New art installation showcases work of four First Nations students

  26 May 2026

  A new art installation highlighting the creative voices of Indigenous student artists from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music will open this week at Melbourne Connect.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Theatre for young audiences should be seen as critical for children’s cultural agency

  17 May 2026

  Young children are spending less and less time outdoors. Most Australian preschool children don’t play outside every day.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• New intercultural music composition captures the fragility and wonder of unique Melbourne grasslands

  14 May 2026

  Ahead of its premiere at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Kate Tempany discusses her latest work, ‘Grasslands Suite’, which blends ecology with diverse musical traditions to give insights into — and celebrate — our connection with the ...

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

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• VCA filmmakers and former colleagues set sights on international success with new feature film

  30 April 2026

  A new Australian feature film now in cinemas nationally was first hatched almost a decade ago at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) by two self-described ‘film nerds’.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Restoration honours National Gallery Art School WWI students

  21 April 2026

  Almost lost to history, an honour board recognising National Gallery Art School students who served in the First World War has been expertly restored by the Robert Cripps Institute for Cultural Materials Conservation.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• New ‘ParaOrchestra’ for young musicians with disability seeks members for first cohort

  21 April 2026

  A new music performing ensemble for young people living with disability is currently seeking members for its inaugural cohort.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

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• University of Melbourne remains in global top 50 across all five QS subject rankings

  25 March 2026

  The University of Melbourne has ranked in the top 20 globally in three broad subject areas and in the top 50 for the remaining two in the 2026 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject.

  • News

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• John Davis receives prestigious Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award

  19 March 2026

  John Davis has been named the recipient of the 2026 Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award, recognising his outstanding contributions to music in Australia.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

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• The unseen environmental cost of a fleeting film set

  01 March 2026

  As climate concerns grow, the film and television industry is trialling new sustainable practices, with one new series focusing on eco-friendly materials to reduce carbon footprint, writes Nell Hanson.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Dr Evelyn Araluen Corr wins prestigious literary prize

  26 February 2026

  Dr Evelyn Araluen Corr has been awarded the prestigious Victorian Prize for Literature at the 2026 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for her poetry collection The Rot. The award is Australia’s richest state-based literary prize, valued at $100,000.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Heated Rivalry is everywhere (except it's not)

  12 February 2026

  The queer Canadian hockey romance has dominated social media and cultural conversation this summer, but viewing figures tell a very different story about who's actually watching, writes David Balfour.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Matt Laing named recipient of the Albert H Maggs Composition Award

  29 January 2026

  Composer and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music alumnus Matt Laing is the 2025 recipient of the Albert H Maggs Composition Award for his composition This Waking Moment.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

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• Top 50 placing for University of Melbourne in eight Times Higher Education subject areas

  21 January 2026

  The University of Melbourne is ranked in the top 50 globally for eight broad subject areas in the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by Subject.

  • News

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• A Copy of a Copy: Hany Armanious inspires graphic designers to embrace replication

  21 January 2026

  Inspired by Hany Armanious' work, Design academic Narelle Desmond at the Victorian College of the Arts developed a new research project in which students were challenged to rethink what it means to 'copy'.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• University of Melbourne confers Honorary Doctorate on First Nations theatre practitioner Rachael Maza AM

  18 December 2025

  The University of Melbourne has conferred an honorary doctorate on Rachael Maza AM, one of Australia’s most respected First Nations theatre practitioners and cultural leaders.

  • Theatre

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• Art illuminates science: Lionel Gell Art in Science Initiative inaugural artworks unveiled

  11 December 2025

  The first artworks created through the Lionel Gell Art in Science Initiative have been unveiled at the Doherty Institute in partnership with the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts (VCA).

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• VCA graduates showcase short films in partnership with Melbourne International Film Festival

  25 November 2025

  The next generation of Australian filmmakers will showcase their graduating works from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) from 2-22 December.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Inclusive music program for children with disability wins at the 2025 Melbourne Awards

  23 November 2025

  A University of Melbourne research program run in conjunction with Melbourne Youth Orchestras (MYO), the Adaptive Music Bridging Program, has won the Access and Inclusion Award at the 2025 Melbourne Awards.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Artists addressing military histories and Indigenous-settler relations awarded ARC Discovery Grant

  31 October 2025

  Artists at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM), in collaboration with Faculty of Arts researchers, have been awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects 2026 grant for their project, Living memorials, art in dialogue.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Celebrating ten years of Production Design for Film and Television at the VCA

  15 October 2025

  As the acclaimed program at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) turns ten, we look back on a decade of film production design and celebrate the work of students and alumni.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• New adaptation of Rebecca is visually haunting, but misses the core tensions of the original story

  07 October 2025

  Melbourne Theatre Company’s (MTC) latest offering is a striking adaptation of the 1938 gothic novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, writes Dr Sarah Austin from VCA Theatre.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Art and music therapies can be ‘life changing’ for people with disability

  30 September 2025

  From November, music and art therapists will be able to charge the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) the same as counsellors, after an independent review found they can be effective and “even life changing” for some people with disability.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

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• Indigenous songwriting project brings Kimberley languages to life through music

  18 September 2025

  A new album of children’s songs, launched today as part of a project led by University of Melbourne musician and researcher Dr Gillian Howell, is bringing Kimberley languages to life through music while offering a playful and practical way to learn.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

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• Hutchinson Indigenous Fellowship supports projects exploring truth-telling and celestial knowledge

  11 September 2025

  Themes of truth-telling, celestial knowledge and divinity will be explored as part of two new Indigenous theatre and circus projects supported by the 2025/26 Hutchinson Indigenous Fellowship.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Two profound but different ballet legacies: vale Colin Peasley and Garth Welch

  11 September 2025

  September has seen the passing of two of Australia’s ballet legends, Colin Peasley and Garth Welch. Their passing signals the end of an era—but not the end of their influence. An examination of their lives shows us how much has changed for men and ballet in Australia, writes Yvette Grant.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• The Art of Us: Celebrating disability art in all its forms

  10 September 2025

  A recent concert and multimedia exhibition The Art of Us celebrated the talents of artists and musicians living with disability from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

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• Destiny is a fierce new stage show exploring love, loss and rebellion under the shadow of apartheid South Africa

  28 August 2025

  Award-winning playwright and actor Kristy Marillier’s new work, Destiny, is an ensemble drama set in 1976 South Africa, against a backdrop of rising resistance to the apartheid regime.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Bumper crop of VCA alumni films screening at Australia’s premier film festival

  19 August 2025

  An abundance of alumni talent from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music is currently on display in cinemas across Melbourne and the state at this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF).

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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