Opening: Rachel Morley 'Art is not going to help this town' + 'Around the Block' final tour

Join us for the opening of Rachel Morley's Art is not going to help this town and the final series of works in Around the Block – two moving image exhibitions running at Next Wave and beyond this August.

Rachel Morley: Art is not going to help this town

Art is not going to help this town is a love letter to family, car trips, suburban housing estates and train stations.

Reflecting on the ways that housing and travel infrastructure shape our lives, Rachel Morley and her family recreate their shared memories of Melbourne’s western suburbs through a series of short films on super 8.

The title 'art isn’t going to help this town' is taken from a Facebook comment by a local resident of Wyndham City Council. It encapsulates the anxiety felt by many in outer western suburbs communities, faced with the overwhelming problem of current infrastructure straining under an influx of new residents. Rachel appropriates the sentiment with irony, acknowledging that while art won’t fix these problems, it can still change our approach to them.

Showing until Friday 21 August.

Artist Talk: Thursday 13 August, 6pm

Around the Block (Final Series)

Around the Block is an outdoor exhibition of moving image works unfolding across Bulleke-bek/Brunswick.

Featuring works by Lesley Wengembo and Pierra Van Sparkes at Blak Dot, Aarushi Chowdhury and ARTStop at Next Wave, Lily Houbert at Counihan Gallery, and Jack Hodges at Michelle Guglielmo Park.

Showing until Thursday 20 August.

Next Wave

270 Sydney Road, Bulleke-bek (Brunswick)
nextwave.org.au

Accessibility

Brunswick Mechanics Institute is a step-free venue with accessible bathrooms. 

Video tour of Brunswick Mechanics Institute

Download the Brunswick Mechanics Institute visual story (.docx) 
Download the Brunswick Mechanics Institute visual story (.pdf)

Download the Brunswick Mechanics Institute transport and parking information (.docx)
Download the Brunswick Mechanics Institute transport and parking information (.pdf)

Image:

Rachel, Matilda, Janet & William Morley, Art is not going to help this town, 2026, Narrm/Melbourne. Courtesy the artist.

Acknowledgements

Art is not going to help this town was developed through Next Wave’s 2024-25 Kickstart program with the support of Creative Australia and Wyndham City Council.

Blak Dot Gallery and Next Wave’s Around the Block programming is supported by Arts Merri-bek Flourish Arts Grants 2025–2026