Why? ...And Because: Master of Communication Design exhibition
15 Oct 2026 - 31 Oct 2026
Melbourne City
Jewellery is humanity’s oldest form of non-verbal communication. For over 80,000 years, before written language existed, humans made and wore adornments to communicate identity, status, belonging and spiritual belief; testifying to humanity’s capacity for abstract thought: the ability to assign meaning beyond the physical.
Jewellery is a repository of knowledge that parallels that of a library, but instead of using words, knowledge is stored in its form, materials and tactile experience.
This Jewellery Library celebrates knowledge in the forms of layers and layers of thinking that come to life, in the democratic accessibility of wisdom, and in libraries as communal spaces for shared experiences. It also celebrates jewellery as a communicator before words, bridging understanding across difference and revealing the invisible threads of human connection.
During the Radiant Pavilion Biennale, the pieces from the Jewellery Library will be available for loan, inviting visitors to carry the conversation forward.
Where: RMIT University Swanston Library, 360 Swanston St, Melbourne, Building 10, Level 5
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
