What [*things*] are Melburnians Willing/Wanting to Share?
Presented by Lauren Brumley and Corey Ferguson
DETAILS
Free, no booking required
SO:ME Space
South Melbourne Market, Coventry Street, South Melbourne VIC, Australia
DATES
Fri 15 May 8am – 5pm
Exhibition/item check-in during SO:ME operating hours
Sat 16 May 8am – 4pm
Exhibition/item check-in during SO:ME operating hours
Sun 17 May 8am – 3pm
Exhibition/item check-in during SO:ME operating hours
Sun 17 May 3 – 5pm
Closing event / item collection
This pop-up, participatory Library of Things exhibition and event asks the question: what things are Melburnians willing/wanting to share?
At South Melbourne Market’s SO:ME Space, attendees are invited to practise letting go of material ownership by temporarily contributing an item they would be willing to share, leaving it for display and, in turn, requesting items they may not have and wish to borrow.
From excess materials or favourite books and magazines to sewing machines, special equipment, how-to guides and skills, items and requests will accumulate over the week-long exhibition, creating a growing and unfolding Library of Things and a visualisation of the community’s offers and needs.
Instead of buying and owning individual products, Library of Things offers a way for people to borrow and share as a community, contributing to new (and existing) ways of producing and consuming in urban space. To explore this shift, it is vital to understand what these libraries could offer local communities and what items Melburnians are already willing to share.
The exhibition concludes with a closing event featuring the contributed items and requests on display, as well as a community discussion on what this Library of Things shows. Which items were offered versus requested? What patterns, gaps and mismatches reveal barriers to sharing? How might trust, rules and reciprocity enable (or constrain) collective ownership?
The project invites participants to experiment with sharing, letting go and receiving as a community, and to reflect on what this can reveal for a more collective future.
Items can be checked in across opening hours of the exhibition and collected at its conclusion.
A collection window can also be arranged for checking in items before the exhibition week and picking them up after its end.
Items will not be available for borrowing during the exhibition, but will be displayed for others to view.
This exhibition is also open on Wednesday 13 May from 8am-4pm.