Dark Horse Experiment
Our Armour, Our Guardian
Exhibition Date: 24 October to 1 November 2026
Opening night: 29th Oct 2026. 4-6pm
Artist: Barbara Anderson · Fiona Frew · Genie Lee · Karena Last
What protects us? Who guards us? And what do we carry to feel safe?
Our Armour, Our Guardian brings together contemporary jewellery, textiles, drawing and installation to explore protection, vulnerability and care. In a world that can feel increasingly unsafe, the exhibition considers how bodies marked by disability, migration, race, gender, trauma or difference navigate systems that promise safety, yet can leave people exposed.
Through knitting, felting, collecting and reassembling, the artists give familiar materials new forms and meanings. Discarded objects and worn garments carry traces of labour, faith, childhood and survival. Reclaimed materials gathered from the site and our everyday surroundings become intimate armour, reimagined as shields and ornaments.
Knitting, hand-spun silk and layered, needle-felted fibres explore protection through the calming act of making and the intimacy of touch. Worn on the body, knitted works offer a protective aura against the elements and human hostility. Textile forms inspired by microscopic cell imagery bring together the regular geometry of cellular growth and the irregular structures within and around cells, revealing a hidden world of delicate complexity.
Jewellery, drawings, suspended tools and high-visibility fabric extend these ideas into an environment poised between a shrine and a construction site, devotion and emergency response. Garments suggest absent bodies, while everyday objects carry memory, resilience and hope. Our drawings become spells for protection; our prayers become songs between two worlds, where the boundary between the living and the dead begins to blur.
On designated days, The Armour Ritual invites visitors to receive a “prescription”: an immediate drawing or a small handcrafted object made on site. The ritual opens a space in which protection can be performed, negotiated and collectively imagined.
These objects are our armour. Through the everyday performance of making and collecting what has been destroyed and abandoned, the artists become mediums between two worlds, transforming materials into gestures of care, protection and healing.
For more info about the the entire program pls visit https://www.radiantpavilion.com.au/program/
Platform Presents:
Opening night 23rd May 4:00 - 9:00pm
Exhibition: 19-31 May 2026
‘A Family Gathering’ for Asian Heritage Week Melbourne 2026
Platform Presents returns with 'A Family Gathering', a two-week group exhibition celebrating Asian Heritage Week through the work of 40 Asian Australian artists across painting, sculpture, textiles, photography, installation, new media and more.
Presented at Dark Horse Experiment, the exhibition runs from 20–31 May 2026 and brings together a wide range of artistic practices in a shared act of gathering, visibility and community.Led by Platform Presents, A Family Gathering is part of Asian Heritage Week, an initiative by Asian Hustle Network that continues to grow across Australia.
While the week is not yet formally recognised nationwide, it remains an important moment to honour histories, amplify voices and celebrate the breadth of creative practices across Asian diaspora communities.Rather than centring a fixed curatorial theme, A Family Gathering focuses on the experience of bringing artists into the same room to sit alongside one another and be seen together. The exhibition embraces diversity in medium, subject matter and perspective, reflecting the complexity and richness of Asian Australian identity and creative expression.
Works will be presented within a dense salon-style hang, creating a layered visual environment that mirrors the energy of collective gathering. Alongside the exhibition, Platform Presents is collaborating with local collectives to deliver a broader public program throughout the week including workshops and community-led sessions.
The exhibition’s opening night takes place on Saturday 23 May from 4pm–9pm and expands beyond the gallery into the surrounding courtyard with DJs, live performances, curated stall activations including live portraits, poetry and I-Ching fortune telling. Guests can expect an immersive multi-arts experience that moves between gallery and gathering, transforming the venue into a social and creative meeting point for the community. Capacity for opening night is limited.
get your ticket here