Mollie Holman Award celebrates curator Kate Rhodes’ visionary research on Melbourne’s architecture exhibitions

Dr Kate Rhodes at MIRROR exhibition 2023

Monash University PhD in Curatorial Practice alum and Senior Curator at the State Library Victoria, Dr Kate Rhodes, has been awarded the prestigious Mollie Holman Medal for her exceptional doctoral research, which reimagines the way we understand and experience architecture exhibitions from Melbourne’s cultural past.

The award, which recognises excellence in doctoral research across Monash faculties, is a significant milestone in Kate’s already impressive career as a curator of art, design, architecture and social history. Known for her innovative approach to exhibition-making and deep commitment to site-specific storytelling, Kate has spent more than two decades shaping the public’s experience of creative and cultural practice.

A creative reimagining of exhibition history

Kate’s PhD project Show of Shows: Exhibiting Architecture in Melbourne 1979–1989, revealed four overlooked architecture exhibitions staged in Melbourne during a pivotal decade. Using a unique blend of archival research, interviews and creative reinterpretation, Kate developed a new curatorial methodology that transformed historical exhibition material into immersive ‘parafictional’ experiences. These were delivered through cinematographic tours that placed the viewer in the liminal space between fact and fiction—reimagining how curators might work with memory, evidence and historical material in the present.

“The project was both an academic study and a creative practice,” Kate explains.

“It offered a way of bringing forgotten curatorial moments back to life and allowed audiences to experience these exhibitions through a new lens. My aim was not just to reconstruct the past, but to reflect on how we remember and what remains when exhibitions are no longer physically present.”

Show of Shows: Exhibiting Architecture in Melbourne 1979–1989

Curating with memory and meaning

This interest in memory – how it’s formed, preserved, and shared – continues to guide Kate’s curatorial work. Her current exhibition-in-development at State Library Victoria explores the nature of memory – how personal stories enter the public record, how institutional memory is formed, and how seemingly anonymous artefacts in a collection can still hold imaginative potential.

“I love working collaboratively to turn a concept into a lived experience,” she says. “Curating, for me, is always about asking: why this, why now, and who is it for?”

From practice to PhD

Before joining the Library as Senior Curator in 2020, Kate spent a decade as the Foundation Curator at RMIT Design Hub, and earlier held a curatorial post at the National Gallery of Victoria. These positions laid the groundwork for a career shaped by curiosity, collaboration and a strong sense of place. Her decision to undertake a PhD after more than ten years in the industry was driven by a desire to deepen her theoretical understanding and contribute to the broader curatorial field.

“When I applied to Monash, I wanted to explore the intersection of curatorial practice and architecture,” she says. “And I wanted to create a project that would be valuable to other curators, museum professionals and designers. Looking back, I feel like I achieved that. The research gave me greater confidence to lead major projects and taught me how to work more independently and rigorously,” she says.

Despite completing her research during the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic—while working part-time and homeschooling - Kate describes the PhD experience as a “great source of pleasure” and intellectual growth.

Reflection on recognition

Winning the Mollie Holman Medal is a deeply meaningful honour for Kate.

“A PhD is a huge undertaking, and to have this work recognised by Monash and by the subjects of my research is extremely gratifying,” she says. “It’s made me seriously consider how academic work might figure more significantly in my future, and how I can stay connected to the university and to research-led projects.”

Advice for fellow curators and creative researchers

For other curators and art professionals considering a PhD, Rhodes offers this advice:

“Choose a subject you're passionate about – it’s a long road. And spend time shaping the project early on. Once I understood the design of my research, it became a highly enjoyable and educational experience.”

Kate's achievement exemplifies the kind of boundary-pushing, interdisciplinary research that the Mollie Holman Medal was established to celebrate. Her work not only revives Melbourne’s curatorial past but also offers new methodologies for understanding cultural memory – ensuring that forgotten exhibitions continue to speak to the present and future.