First Site Gallery

First Site is RMIT's student gallery, that presents student exhibitions and events throughout the year. In the past First Site have been led by a student committee who rotate on a yearly basis. In 2021 First Site continues to be impacted by COVID-19 and as a result certain programs are on hold. 

First Site is part of RMIT Culture. 

RMIT Culture brings together the university’s cultural spaces, creative programs and art, film, design and research collections, providing opportunities to inspire the whole community and valuable support for the university’s learning and teaching activities. By showcasing and expanding RMIT’s cultural assets through new initiatives and vibrant partnered projects RMIT Culture helps facilitate an enterprise-wide approach to cultural engagement.

We look forward to welcoming you back to First Site!

Visitors aged 16 years and over must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a valid medical exemption, in line with the Chief Health Officer’s Directions. All people entering First Site who are over 16 years of age from 6pm Friday 29th October will be required to show one of the following upon entry:

• Your vaccination status via the Service Victoria app on your smartphone
  
• A printout of your MyGov COVID-19 Digital Certificate or an official Immunisation History Statement
• An official medical exemption. Details on proof of valid medical exemptions can be found below.
  

Without one of the above, you will not be able to enter First Site.

RMIT does not keep or store this information.

Once our staff have sighted your vaccination status, you will be asked to check in via the Services Victoria app using our venue QR code.

To make things as easy as possible for you and for our staff, we ask that you please link your COVID-19 digital certificate to the Service Victoria app before your visit to ensure a quick and efficient entry process. We ask that you please be patient and courteous with our Front of House staff who will be facilitating this process. Read how to link your COVID-19 digital certificate to the Services Victoria app.

For the safety of other visitors and staff, we ask that you adhere to the following guidelines to keep First Site COVIDSafe:

• Maintain at least 1.5m distance between yourself and others
  
• Wear a mask when maintaining 1.5m social distancing is not possible.
• If you are feeling unwell, please do not visit First Site
  

Other measures in place at First Site include enhanced cleaning throughout the gallery and hand sanitiser on offer.

Information on medical exemptions

You may be able to receive a medical exemption if you are unable to be vaccinated because you:

• have a medical contraindication to COVID-19 vaccines, or
  
• have an acute medical illness, including COVID-19 infection for up to 6 months (or earlier if the medical practitioner specifies an earlier date)

If you have a medical exemption, please let our staff know. You will need to provide:  

• a MyGov COVID-19 digital certificate that states you are unable to receive a dose, or a further dose, of any COVID-19 vaccine that is available in Australia or,
  
• a printed version of the COVID-19 digital certificate referred to above.

The antecedent of First Site Gallery can be traced back to the formation of a Gallery Collective in 1968 that was created soon after the establishment of RMIT Union (now RMIT Student Life). The first gallery, known as ‘The Collective Space’ ran exhibition programs from June to December each year as well as events, such as chess club nights, music performances and discussion groups. 

The union’s gallery was relocated and renamed three times over the next fifteen years until, in 1996, it was moved to its current site and named First Site. From its inception, First Site was conceived as a space to provide students with a conduit into creative practice, independently from RMIT’s teaching programs. 

As its founders imagined, First Site provided students with a space where they could experiment, take risks and learn about presenting their work publicly. In the past 23 years, First Site has presented over 850 exhibitions involving 4000 students that were appreciated by audiences of over 400,000. 

Stay in touch

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