Creative Acts unveils the extreme lengths artists go to for their work

Where does creativity come from? This timeless question is at the heart of State Library Victoria’s exhilarating new exhibition, Creative Acts: Artists and their inspirations, opening on 15 August.

Delve into the thrilling stories behind the frame and beyond the page to find out why the process is just as powerful as the outcome. Featuring new commissions by Australian creators including Peter Carey and Deanne Gilson, the exhibition uncovers the spiritual connections, fascinating rituals and deeply personal quests that shape their work.

Through rare items from State Library Victoria’s archive, step inside the unseen inner worlds of artists to discover the intense, sometimes otherworldly forces that drive them to bring something entirely new into being.

Witness how Peter Carey’s decades-long obsession with Ned Kelly drove him to write True History of the Kelly Gang, how Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock came to her from a series of dreams and how Howard Arkley’s iconic Tudor Village series was inspired by a late-night visit to Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens.

Explore the creative consciousness of celebrated Australian artist and bohemian icon Vali Myers (1930–2003), whose life and work were shaped by her spiritual relationships with animals – especially her beloved vixen, Foxy, who she referred to as her daughter. In 2018 the Vali Myers Art Gallery Trust donated her archive to the State Collection, fulfilling Myers’ final wish that her life’s work belongs to the people of Victoria. Creative Acts will showcase highlights including Myers’ brass bedhead, photographs, jewellery, original works and diaries – some of which have never been publicly displayed until now.

New commissions by 5 visionary Victorian artists invite us to put their methods under a microscope:

Peter Carey’s new writing for Creative Acts reveals how he approached the creation of True History of the Kelly Gang like a man walking a tightrope, straddling the worlds of fact and fiction. The Library cares for the Peter Carey Collection – comprising all draft manuscripts and research for the Booker Prize-winning novel – alongside the Ned Kelly Collection. Highlights from both will be displayed side-by-side, including Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter – one of the first sparks of inspiration for Carey more than 30 years before he ever put a word on the page.

Dr Chandrabhanu OAM is a master dancer who has dedicated half a century to the Chandrabhanu Bharatalaya Academy, the classical Indian dance school he founded in 1973 from his Melbourne home. The dance work Dasamahavidya is his magnum opus and the culmination of his decades-long practice, which oscillates between research and the spiritual. Dasamahavidya is featured on film in Creative Acts and has only been performed a handful of times.

Deanne Gilson generously shares her Wadawurrung ancestors’ Creation story through a powerful new work, Bundjil Morrgalyu Turt Barram Murrup / Bundjil and the Evening Star Spirits, featuring textural and cultural elements of ochre and charcoal she has gathered from her local area.

Barry William Hale, a globally renowned occult artist, conjures art from otherworldly realms by bridging the gap between the conscious and unconscious. His monumental automatic drawing on aluminium sheets taps into the State Collection’s rare books on ancient magic and Surrealist texts.

Bundit Puangthong’s commissioned piece functions as a memory palace, starring a splendid 12-metre painting that weaves together ingrained stories from his childhood with images and ideas drawn from the Library's collection. Puangthong’s practice sees his formal training in traditional Thai temple painting meet the influence of Melbourne’s graffiti culture to celebrate the ‘in-betweenness’ of living amid two cultures.

Enjoy exclusive late-night access to Creative Acts at Library Up Late on 22 August, when the Library transforms into an after-hours playground for collective creative expression as part of Now or Never. Tickets are on sale now for a transcendent night featuring curator talks, live performances, and a vibrating dancefloor under the iconic dome soundtracked by Melbourne’s best DJs.

Creative Acts is open daily from 15 August in the Victoria Gallery at State Library Victoria. Entry is free.