Robyn STACEY
Miss Eliza Wentworth's glassware 2008
courtesy of the artist, Darren Knight Gallery (Sydney) and Jan Manton Gallery (Brisbane)
MAPh is the proud custodian of over 3,860 Australian photographs and we aim to provide access to our collection beyond our exhibitions. We achieve this through an active touring program and updating our online collection resources that encourage engagement with Australian photography.
Explore the collection Touring program Request collection access
MAPh is Australia’s leading public art museum devoted to the collection and exhibition of photography. It is a cultural institution of regional, state and national importance with the only collection focused solely on Australian photographs.
Our growing collection aims to provide a cogent and refined account of Australian photographic practices from the perspective of an art museum.
Currently almost 43% of the MAPh Collection is available online with many records including extended texts and artist biographies to create a resource of Australian photographers and photographs for researchers, students, and the general public.
As well as gallery exhibitions, MAPh provides community access to our collection through an active touring program, external loans to art museums and galleries across the nation and updating our online resources that encourage engagement with Australian photography.
MAPh’s travelling exhibition program engages regional and interstate audiences with curated photography exhibitions that highlight the strengths of the MAPh Collection and showcase work by Australian artists. We currently have six exhibitions available to be hosted by other museums and galleries. Please click the link below for further information.
Venues considering hosting an exhibition can contact the museum with an expression of interest via:
03 8544 0500 or EloiseMaree.Crossman@monash.vic.gov.au
At MAPh we draw on our collection as the basis of our exhibition and public/education programs. Members of our community may also access the collection for study purposes. Requests can be made to the museum for collection access to works currently held on-site in collection storage.
MAPh will endeavour to respond to all requests within seven days and arrange a mutually convenient viewing time. Due to size and the fragile nature of some photographs, some viewing requests may not be possible. Requests will be processed on a case‐by‐case basis with preference given to researchers.
Details of collection artists and artworks held in the MAPh Collection and requests for collection access can be requested via: Stella.Loftus-Hills@monash.vic.gov.au
The MAPh Collection has its genesis in the late 1970s with the Waverley Art Gallery, an initiative of the former City of Waverley Council. The Waverley Art Gallery was conceived as a place to display Australian and International art, and the municipal collection was very broad in its focus, encompassing paintings, photographs, prints and textiles. Initially, the collection was housed in a residential home in Mount Waverley, before relocating to the purpose-built, Harry Seidler-designed Exhibitions Gallery on Jells Road, Wheelers Hill in 1990.
In 1980 an Acquisition Committee was formed to assess and develop the Waverley Art Collection, and in 1984 they resolved to establish a special collection of Australian photography within the broader collection. Today, the collection numbers more than 3,700 photographs, reflecting the history and development of Australian photographic practice from the 19th century to today. The collection is diverse and includes many iconic images and the work of photographers recognised as nationally significant.
