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 2022 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 to First Site Gallery! 

The Victorian Government announced changes to COVID settings which came into place at 11:59pm, Friday 22 April. To ensure continuity as we fully assess the changes, and the implications for the RMIT community, RMIT will retain its vaccination requirements until further notice. All students, staff and visitors must continue to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or hold a valid medical exemption to attend any RMIT campus or facility.

We will review our vaccination requirements in the context of the most current government orders, community feedback and public health advice, to determine what vaccination requirements will be in place in future.

All people entering First Site Gallery who are over 16 years of age 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 Gallery. 

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 strongly encourage visitors to maintain at least 1.5m distance between yourself and others, and mask-wearing is strongly encouraged.

If you are feeling unwell, please do not visit First Site Gallery.

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

For more information, visit www.rmit.edu.au/covid.  

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. 

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