Inter-narratives of hope: building catastrophe resilience
Join us for the first Curator-in-Residence exhibition of 2026 at the MADA Gallery.
This is the first of two exhibitions as part of the MADA Curator-in-Residence program, curated by Isabella Hone-Saunders and Paul Boyé, with links to Hone-Saunders' PhD research on hope as a generative curatorial methodology.
Contributing artists:
Wendy Hubert
Susan Norrie
Dani Marti
Joshua Petherick
Holly Childs + Gediminas Žygus
Rory Pilgrim
Polly Borland
John Berger once remarked, “It’s in hell where solidarity is important, not in heaven.”
However, from shared experiences of catastrophe within the Australian settler-colonial context, can solidarity be our highest hope without imagining a better alternative? Inter-narratives of hope: building catastrophe resilience takes on major themes of survival and belonging as a starting point, folding in a constellation of materially and geographically distinct works into conceptual alignment.
Through actual and potential forms of community collaboration and mutual affirmation – taken as solidarity frameworks for resilience – this exhibition poses a counter-narrative to the catastrophes of resource extraction, environmental devastation, grief and crisis. Inter-narratives of hope: building catastrophe resilience is a project that invites reflection on what support structures, both metaphorical and structural, are needed to navigate and mitigate harm in the uncertain collective present.
Exhibition text by Audrey Pfister, catalogue printed by Stray Pages, with design by Dennis Grauel.
With thanks to Creative Australia for funding support, to MUMA for collection loans and to MADA Gallery.
Event Details
- Date:
- 16 April 2026 at 12:00 am – 9 May 2026 at 12:00 am
- Venue:
- MADA Gallery, Building D, Caulfield campus
- Categories:
- Fine Art; Gallery / Exhibition; Gallery: MADA Gallery
Description
Join us for the first Curator-in-Residence exhibition of 2026 at the MADA Gallery.
This is the first of two exhibitions as part of the MADA Curator-in-Residence program, curated by Isabella Hone-Saunders and Paul Boyé, with links to Hone-Saunders' PhD research on hope as a generative curatorial methodology.
Contributing artists:
Wendy Hubert
Susan Norrie
Dani Marti
Joshua Petherick
Holly Childs + Gediminas Žygus
Rory Pilgrim
Polly Borland
John Berger once remarked, “It’s in hell where solidarity is important, not in heaven.”
However, from shared experiences of catastrophe within the Australian settler-colonial context, can solidarity be our highest hope without imagining a better alternative? Inter-narratives of hope: building catastrophe resilience takes on major themes of survival and belonging as a starting point, folding in a constellation of materially and geographically distinct works into conceptual alignment.
Through actual and potential forms of community collaboration and mutual affirmation – taken as solidarity frameworks for resilience – this exhibition poses a counter-narrative to the catastrophes of resource extraction, environmental devastation, grief and crisis. Inter-narratives of hope: building catastrophe resilience is a project that invites reflection on what support structures, both metaphorical and structural, are needed to navigate and mitigate harm in the uncertain collective present.
Exhibition text by Audrey Pfister, catalogue printed by Stray Pages, with design by Dennis Grauel.
With thanks to Creative Australia for funding support, to MUMA for collection loans and to MADA Gallery.