If you have been meaning to catch the free exhibition of migrant portraits by Swinburne visual arts students at the Wantirna campus gallery, you have until Sunday 26 July. After that, the photographic works and digital lightbox displays are packed away.
The ‘Belonging’ exhibition brings together collaborative portraits created with adult learners from the Migrant English Program at Swinburne’s Wantirna campus. Each photograph incorporates personal objects brought in by the migrants – a piece of home, a keepsake, a symbol of a journey – paired with shared storytelling.
Students from Swinburne’s visual arts and photography courses worked one-on-one with the learners over portrait sessions, building intimate visual narratives of settlement and identity in Melbourne’s outer east. The result is a collection that feels less like an art school assignment and more like a quiet act of welcome.
Alongside the portraits, digital works by high-school students in the VDSS Program (Vocational Education and Training Delivered to School Students) are showing in the Paloma Lane Lightboxes, adding a younger generation’s perspective on belonging.
If you want to hear directly from the creators, there is a free floor talk on Wednesday 22 July from 11am to midday. No bookings needed, just turn up. The talk is the only scheduled event of its kind, so it is the best chance to understand the stories behind the images before the show ends.
The gallery is in Building WA at 369 Stud Road, Wantirna, and is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm. Entry is free. On-site parking is available at the campus, and local buses run along Stud Road. If you are driving, keep an eye out for any event-specific restrictions on the 22nd.
With the exhibition closing on Sunday 26 July, weekday-only hours mean families with school-aged children may only have a few evenings or the final weekend. The campus is a short drive from Knox City Shopping Centre, so combining a visit to the gallery with a coffee or afternoon errand makes for a low-effort outing with a meaningful payoff.
July is also the month of Knox’s Immerse 2026 arts program, with other free community activations scattered across the municipality. You can check the council’s website for what else is on – a gallery visit pairs well with a look at what else is happening in the area.
The ‘Belonging’ show is part of Knox’s Community Creations collection, a series designed to put local emerging artists and community stories in public view. That it also captures something as delicate as the experience of building a home in a new country – with a borrowed object and a shared moment between a photography student and a learner – is what makes it worth the drive.
Quick Facts
City of Knox
Local government authority in Melbourne’s outer east serving approximately 160,000 residents across suburbs including Wantirna, Boronia and Ferntree Gully. It runs extensive arts, community and events programs including the annual Immerse festival and Community Creations exhibitions.
Swinburne Gallery
Purpose-built exhibition space at Swinburne’s Wantirna campus used for student and community art shows. It hosts free public exhibitions and educational events that connect university students with local residents.