Sprung from the page
Book Tales to Animal Tails
Spotlight on: Artists’ books and zines with Gracia and Louise
Leigh Scott Room, Level 1, Baillieu Library
The University of Melbourne, Parkville
Thursday 2nd of April, 2026
NGV Creativity Club presents Zine Worlds with Gracia & Louise
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square
Friday 10th of April, 2026
NGV Creativity Club presents Paper Worlds with Gracia & Louise
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square
Thursday 16th of April, 2026
On a blue sky day, just before the Easter break, we gave an artists’ talk and zine making workshop in the Leigh Scott Room, of the Baillieu Library, at The University of Melbourne. Presented as part of Archives and Special Collections Spotlight On series, in partnership with the Public Galleries Association of Victoria (PGAV)’s Analog Art Club, such opportunities are a wonderful way for us to continue weaving the many strands of the things we care about, as we leap from early artists’ books and zines, printed largely single-colour for affordability, to learning from the wildlife in our care, through observation, patience, and the recognition of different ways of being. Thursday’s talk and workshop was also a chance to see a few familiar faces, to meet, in person, people we know online, and to learn some new faces.
It was a thrill to see a selection of our artists’ books laid alongside Jan Swammerdam’s The book of nature or, the history of Insects: reduced to distinct classes confirmed by particular instances (1758) and Jean-Henri Fabre’s Fabre’s Book of Insects (1937). Resting upon their supportive, spine-cushioning pillows, Donovan’s An epitome of the natural history of the insects of New Holland, New Zealand, New Guinea, Otaheite, and other islands in the Indian, Southern, and Pacific oceans (1805), Lewin’s A natural history of the lepidopterous insects of New South Wales (1822) and the Scott sisters Australian lepidoptera and their transformations drawn from the life (1864), these books have been, and continue to be, a guiding light.
Seeing these natural history books up close in all their rich colour and texture is a gift. The wings, they are radiant. The foliage, a delicate wisp. The coloured bands on the caterpillars, a vivid fever dream. An inhalation! A stimulant! In such handsome company, we relished the opportunity to talk about our artists’ books, spanning from Find your place (2007), which, like The Wizard of Oz (1939), transforms into technicolour part way through, to today’s peepshow, How will they know there’s no-one left (2025), and delighted in seeing the array of fantastical zines made by everyone afterwards. With our stall at the Melbourne Art Book Fair just around the corner, a room full of people with their heads’ bowed as they collaged wings upon caterpillars and a tumble of pixels was also the encouragement we needed as we began making a new selection of printed tales this Easter.
Here’s to pausing the clock to make a universe on the page! Wonderful, heartening, yes.
(Additional landscape images, below, courtesy of Rare Books Curator Susan Millard. Thank-you for having us, @uomcollections.)
Just like the drawn, printed, and hand-coloured animals on the page we’d earlier been admiring, we headed to the soft release site to check on the living, furred, and wild counterparts, Homer, Pansy, Albertina, and Humphrey. Equally, the chance to learn, this time from a coil of possums, is not to be missed. And if the page has extended from the library to Sutton Grange, so, too, the notion of a pillow for support. Inside the nest box within the trailer, two of the four plush possums snoozed, their fleecy pouch tucked in the corner.
Homer and Pansy (distinguishable by their short white tail tips), Albertina and Humphrey (with their long white tail tips) have settled into their surrounds and, as suspected and hoped, are thriving. Their soft release trailer has been open for over a month, and checking the recorded footage on the two nearby trail cameras, we can now see them leaping at speed or paused upon a branch, surveying the scene, in all their inquisitive brilliance. The camera tethered to the trunk was also set to take still images, and, as you can see below, in addition to Homer and friends, the site has been visited by a quick-smart Krefft’s glider and a Boobook owl, recorded in a reflective moment by the water dish.
Closer to home, we have welcomed in two new Tiny but Wild arrivals, Verbena, a microbat (all 4-grams of her), and Periwinkle, a red-furred ringtail joey.
Here’s to Homer, Pansy, Albertina, and Humphrey, and the soft release ringtails before them. To the pepper shakers, and their descendants! To Periwinkle, Asta, and Echo following suit, come spring, and Verbena, once she learns to fly, returning home as well. To a marvellous Easter! From the page ever unfurling.
On the subject earlier of zines and workshops, this school holidays, for those in years 9 and 10, join us at the NGV, as part of the NGV Teens line-up.
NGV Creativity Club presents Zine Worlds with Gracia & Louise
Levels 9–10
Friday 10th of April, 2026
10am–3pm
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square
Book a (free) spot!
Explore, design and bring ideas to life with Melbourne-based artists Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison in an immersive gallery day culminating in the creation of original artist zines.
Spend the morning with NGV Educators investigating diverse representations of the Australian environment, from historical and contemporary landscapes to works of art and design that communicate complex ideas about place, perspective and identity. Through close analysis of selected artworks, you will interpret visual language and develop concepts through observational drawing and critical annotation.
In the afternoon, collaborate with artists Gracia and Louise, renowned for their richly layered paper work, to plan and create a folded and stitched zine. Using collage, drawing, and imagery, develop a personal and conceptual response to environment and place. Guided by the artists, explore how image, text, sequencing and composition can transform landscapes, animals and natural textures into richly crafted artist zines.
NGV Creativity Club is a series of targeted masterclasses for high achieving students in Years 4–10. Offered during school holidays at the NGV the programs will be led by industry professionals including visual artists, writers and designers. These targeted programs will give students access to opportunities to develop technical skills and extend their creative talents beyond the classroom.
NGV Creativity Club is funded by the Department of Education as part of the Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Series. The masterclasses are offered exclusively to Victorian Government School students who are achieving above standard level in a relevant subject area (e.g. Visual Arts, English).
About the artists:
Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison are a collaborative duo based in Melbourne, Australia. They have been working together since 1999, creating a diverse range of artworks that often address themes of conservation and biodiversity. Their work includes artists’ books, zines, collages, stories, prints, and drawings. They are also wildlife carers, fostering and caring for various species, including grey-headed flying foxes and ringtail possums. Their collaborative approach allows them to bring different skills and interests together, creating unique and impactful works.
—NGV Australia
We will also be holding a collage workshop the following Thursday, along the same lines, but for grades four to six. It is currently booked out, but you can add your details to the waitlist.
NGV Creativity Club presents Paper Worlds with Gracia & Louise
Levels 4–6
Thursday 16th of April, 2026
10am–3pm
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square
Booked out (join the waitlist)!
Explore, create and bring new worlds to life with Melbourne-based artists Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison in an immersive gallery day for high-ability learners.
Spend the morning with NGV Educators analysing diverse representations of the Australian environment, from historical and contemporary landscapes to works of art and design that communicate ideas about place. Students will engage closely with selected artworks, building observational skills through focused sketching and drawing.
In the afternoon, students work with Gracia and Louise who are celebrated for their richly layered paper works. Students will assemble expressive works that celebrate the diversity, fragility and wonder of the natural world. Guided by the artists, they will explore scale, composition and imagery to create dynamic collaged environments inspired by flora and fauna.
—NGV Australia
Image credit: “Sometimes the Scarab seems to enter into partnership with a friend.” ‘The Sacred Beetle’, from Jean-Henri Fabre’s Fabre’s Book of Insects, 1937, p. 13.
