2026 Miegunyah Student Project Awards announced

From colonial architecture and Indigenous histories to animation, dance and science, University of Melbourne students are bringing new perspectives to the Russell and Mab Grimwade Collection through the 2026 Miegunyah Student Project Awards.

Students from the Faculties of Arts, Fine Arts and Music, Science, and Architecture, Building and Planning undertook original research projects inspired by artworks, objects and archives from the Collection, uncovering new stories and interpretations through the lens of their own disciplines.

The six-month interdisciplinary program, delivered by the University’s Museums and Collections department, gives students the opportunity to work beyond the boundaries of their discipline and develop research skills through special access to the University’s cultural collections.

The 2026 cohort received AU$4000 in project funding, doubled from previous years, alongside specialist support to develop and communicate their research.

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Culture and Engagement), Professor Sara Wills, said the program connects academic learning with practical research and cultural engagement.

“What makes this program distinctive is the way it brings students from very different disciplines into conversation through a shared collection. By approaching these works through architecture, science, Indigenous studies, dance and animation, students are uncovering stories and interpretations that enrich our understanding of the collection itself,” Professor Wills said.

“The awards demonstrate how cultural collections can inspire research, discovery and learning, while helping students develop skills and perspectives that will stay with them throughout their careers.”

Among this year’s projects is Mythograph, a collaboration between mother Teeb Arallel, from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, and daughter Zofia Witkowski-Blake, from the Faculty of Science. Their project explores anonymity, reuse and missing domestic narratives through a hybrid stop-motion film inspired by the Grimwade Collection.

“It was an amazing opportunity for us to collaborate on a creative research project. It was really well supported, and the team were all lovely,” Teeb said.

“Zofia is studying science and this wasn’t exactly a science project, while I’m studying animation and don’t usually get to research collections.”

Zofia shared that the opportunity to access the collection was a highlight of the program.

“We were given so much access to the collection,” Zofia said. “We got to visit the Collections Store and engage directly with the artworks, which was such a unique opportunity.”

The experience also changed how Zofia approaches historical art, prompting her to look more closely at the context and decisions behind the works.

“Before I would have just been like, ‘Oh no, not that. I don’t want to engage with that,’” Zofia said. “But instead, I’m now approaching it from a different perspective and being a bit more curious about the intentions.”

Established in 2013, the Awards are generously supported by the Russell and Mab Grimwade Miegunyah Fund.

Selected collection works, alongside new creative outcomes developed by the students, will be on display at the Potter Museum of Art from 10 September to 3 October 2026.

The 2026 Miegunyah Student Project Award winners and their projects:

• Kleo Guthrie and San Clifford, Master of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning
  • The Melbourne Club: Picturing Permanence
• Jack Norris, Doctor of Philosophy (Indigenous Studies), Faculty of Arts
  • Reinterpreting John Skinner Prout’s Melbourne from Collingwood 1847
• Hugh Magnus, Art History (Honours), Faculty of Arts
  • Dobell among the Demimonde: the story of sketch for ‘the yellow glove’
• Wawe Ransfield, Master of Cultural Materials Conservation, Faculty of Arts
  • Making Space - Cary's New Terrestrial Globe and the cartographical imaginary of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa
• Peter Spring, Master of Dance, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music
  • An Embodied response to the Trophy won by Bronze Fuze and the events of the Tirranna Picnic Race Meeting in 1929 through Dance and Movement
• Teeb Arallel, VCA Animation, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music and Zofia Witkowski-Blake, Master of Science, Faculty of Science
  • Mythograph