RMIT joins NGV as Futures Partner

RMIT joins NGV as Futures Partner

RMIT renews NGV partnership up to 2029 as new exhibition shines a light on designs for a better future.

RMIT has extended its decade-long collaboration with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) with a new focus as ‘Futures Partner’, aligning with RMIT’s 'Knowledge with Action' strategy and its move towards regenerative futures across all university activities.

The partnership will co-design research outcomes for public audiences, amplifying RMIT’s focus on developing multiple perspectives in regenerative knowledge, and broadening out to include RMIT’s education, social science and built environment specialisations.

The first exhibition arising from the renewed partnership, Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday, will open at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia (Fed Square) on 29 August 2025, alongside a public program presented as part of the partnership.

Making Good explores how innovators are reshaping the objects and systems we use daily – transforming them into solutions that do less harm, disrupt norms and advance regenerative practices that can heal people and the planet. From reimagined products that improve health, to lab-grown textiles and living building facades, this exhibition highlights inventions and designs that reduce waste, extend product life cycles, and rethink the systems that support us day to day.​

RetroFITting by Floppy_Lab, RMIT Architecture and Urban Design, Leanne Zilka and Jenny Underwood RetroFITting by Floppy_Lab, RMIT Architecture and Urban Design, Leanne Zilka and Jenny Underwood. Photo © Lachlan Hartnett

Featured works demonstrate how material innovation, ethical production, and user-centred design can create products as thoughtful as they are practical. The exhibition will showcase creative and research outcomes by a range of RMIT researchers, PhD candidates, and alumni including Professor Sarah Bekessy and Professor Mark Jacques and team who are tackling the challenge of improving biodiversity in urban development, and Dr Rajeev Roychand and colleagues from RMIT’s School of Engineering whose 'Coffee Concrete' uses ground coffee waste to produce a 30% stronger concrete, now being used in real-world applications.

Professor Naomi Stead, Interim Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor Engagement in the College of Design and Social Context, said there are strong synergies between RMIT's areas of expertise and NGV's curatorial and collection strategy:

"For nine years RMIT has been NGV’s Design Partner, and we have formed a close relationship grounded in shared values, creativity and inventiveness.

"Now, as NGV Futures Partner, we have ambitious plans for transformational teaching and learning experiences, and new forms of research translation and impact.

"Through collaborative exhibitions and programming we will explore possible regenerative futures for our world, and how we can move towards them together."

Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV said:

"The NGV is delighted to announce RMIT as our inaugural Futures Partner, continuing our decade-long partnership and marking the first collaboration of its kind in our history. Together NGV and RMIT hold a shared belief that design can be used as a powerful force to improve the social and environmental health of the planet, and this renewed partnership will deliver important research and exhibition outcomes to spotlight future focused design solutions."

Burial Shroud by Pia Interlandi, Maree Clarke, Kerri Clarke and Hini Mhairi Hanara. Burial Shroud by Pia Interlandi, Maree Clarke, Kerri Clarke and Hini Mhairi Hanara. Photo © Sarah Malone

Through the partnership, RMIT seeks to bring stories to a public audience – showcasing next stage research and its potential impact, to share knowledge and engage in thought leadership. This includes supporting Melbourne Design Week, Australia’s leading annual international design event, and RMIT engagement with the NGV Triennial – the next edition of which will open in 2026.

Other past collaborations include NGV exhibitions of large-scale works by RMIT researchers Roland Snooks, Philip Samartzis, Pirjo Haikola, Jenny Underwood and Leanne Zilka, as well as collaborations with RMIT Health Transformation Lab, the NGV Architecture Commission and the annual Melbourne Art Book Fair.

The partnership also enriches RMIT’s learning and teaching, offering student internships, partnered studios, and collaboration opportunities with NGV curators on real world projects. RMIT has extraordinary breadth of expertise in design and creative practice fields, all of which engage with the NGV partnership – including the Schools of Art, Design, Fashion & Textiles, Media & Communication, and Architecture & Urban Design – via flagship programs and mentoring opportunities.

More information about these areas of study and research can be found here.

Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday will be on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia from 29 August 2025 – 1 February 2026. Free entry. Further information is available via the NGV website.

24 July 2025

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24 July 2025

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