Substantial and Significant by Mei Wah Williams

20 May 2025 - 13 Jun 2025
11:00am - 05:00pm
FREE
First Site Gallery Storey Hall Basement, 344 Swanston Street, Melbourne

Mei Wah Williams is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Naarm, Melbourne. William’s creative practice aims to bring attention to systems perpetuating gendered power imbalances, underpinning ecological harm and social issues such as violence against women.

Informed by a career in circus arts, specialising in aerial artistry, her work employs body movement and balance to physically express ideas. Stacking and assembling objects, reflect the mental and physical precarity in which beings and systems are contingent on each other for survival.

William’s practice takes place between the home and the studio, necessarily shaped by her dual role as both mother and artist. She subverts everyday domestic actions and household items such as dish racks, chairs, broken crockery, and craft items associated with maternal care, calling attention to the creativity to be found in the everyday.

Substantial and Significant is a multimedia installation, involving a combination of performance, projection and sculpture made from found materials associated with the domestic. The work addresses the complexities of family separation and the Family Court system. In family law, it is often advised that the changeover of a child between parents be done in a public place like a fun park, McDonald’s carpark, or shopping centre. These spaces become a happening of awkward and emotional exchanges that eventually become a normalised part of family life. For this work the term ‘substantial and significant time’ has a double meaning, indicating the labour of care disproportionately done by women past and present as well as a term used in family law. The work serves as a platform to initiate conversations about issues within the Family Court system, which reflect broader societal problems.

Opening Hours

11am - 5pm Tuesday to Friday

Closed on public and University holidays

Upcoming events

Monthly RMIT Games Day 2026

25 Jan 2026 - 14 Dec 2026

RMIT City campus

RMIT are back for RMIT Games Day 2026 tournaments!

The hybrid workplace: Leadership skills for the new normal

28 Sep 2026

Hybrid work has changed the way we lead. Explore the strategies, mindsets, and leadership capabilities needed to build trust, inspire teams, and create high-performing workplaces in an evolving world.

Melbourne Fringe Opening Night Gala

29 Sep 2026

Beneath the glowing arches of RMIT University's iconic venue, The Capitol, the Melbourne Fringe Opening Night Gala crackles with life. A 90-minute spectacle of everything Fringe does best: bold ideas, high-voltage performances, and independent art with heat you can feel from the back row.

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

Learn more about our commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Substantial and Significant by Mei Wah Williams