2023 Australian Heritage Festival – Nineteenth Century Fashion & Design
22 April – 7 May
A nationally significant collection of gowns and accessories from the collection of the Kew Historical Society. The central elements of the exhibition are costumes owned by three families with connections to Kew. The earliest costume is a wedding dress, worn by Mary Ann Lawrence on her marriage in Launceston to Francis Henty in 1842.
Together with other gowns from the newly acquired Henty Collection, are costumes and accessories owned by Edith Weir, the wife of the Manager of the North Broken Hill Mine, and Caroline Coombs, the wife of an early settler in Studley Park and Taggerty.
Melbourne Design Week
18 – 28 May
For the second consecutive year, Villa Alba Museum will open its doors to Melbourne Design Week 2023. With the support of Winnings and Spence & Lyda, a curated display of contemporary furniture, textile, and object design will once again be on exhibition within the heritage walls of the Villa. Under the same roof, an experimental group show titled No Things, facilitated by Marlo Lyda, will also be showing some of Australia’s brightest designers and thinkers with an exhibit focused on ‘design process’.
Pen & ink (fineliner) drawing workshop with Melbourne artist Robert Kingdom
Postponed until 2023
The workshop will include a demonstration of fineliner pen drawing techniques followed by preparatory drawing exercises to develop your skills. Participants will then explore Villa Alba’s elaborately decorated interiors and its heritage garden and sketch details/features that catch their eye.
Check back later for more details or follow us on Event Brite.
Next Open day at Villa Alba Museum
The Museum is open to the public on the first Sunday of the month: full details of times and bookings. 
