Melbourne-based, interdisciplinary artist Zoe Meagher has been awarded the 2026 Georges Mora Fellowship, including a $15,000 grant, a residency at State Library Victoria, and one year’s premium membership to the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA).

Meagher, an interdisciplinary artist working across audio, performance and visual arts. Her projects have ranged from an audio tour of a derelict former space museum to performance as the Ghost of Computers Past to a comic book about failed time travel.

The Georges Mora Selection Panel comprising; Pip Wallis (Curator, Monash), Raafat Ishak (artist and academic (Melbourne), Caroline Field (Curator, ACU), Kirsty Grant and Jane Scott (Independent Curators), Michelle Moo and Clare Needham (Curators, SLV) were greatly impressed by Zoe Meagher’s proposed project: Space Tuber.

Artist’s statement:

‘The Space Tuber project will focus on the fascinating ‘Space Tube’, which was a cylindrical, 61-meter-long multimedia exhibit designed by renowned Australian architect and Exhibits Architect Robin Boyd for the Australian Pavilion at the 1970 Osaka World Expo, Japan. This short-lived audiovisual experience remains little-known despite being designed by the significant Melbourne architect Robin Boyd. It presented an optimistic, idealised view of Australian innovation and futures to an international audience, who experienced the work by riding a travelator through a semi -subterranean tunnel. The original design documents are held by the State Library as part of the Records of Grounds, Romberg & Boyd.

My aim is to explore the concept of persistence of past aspirations through a speculative scenario: imagining that the Space Tube, has been buried for fifty years and has since developed into labyrinth network of travelator tunnels and exhibits, ghostly echoes of space age and Metabolist dreams. How might this past presentation of Australian identity continue to echo through hand influence our futures?’

Chairman of the Georges Mora Fellowship Board, Clive Scott AM, commented:

“We are delighted to award Zoe Meagher the 2026 Georges Mora Fellowship. Her proposal demonstrates an imaginative and compelling approach to revitalising and reinterpreting library materials. Drawing on her strong and established practice across audio, performance and visual arts, Meagher is uniquely positioned to bring these archives to life in innovative and engaging ways.

The selection panel was particularly impressed by the project's ability to connect historical material with contemporary artistic practice, creating exciting opportunities for both creative exploration and audience engagement. As a mid-career artist, this Fellowship will provide a significant platform for further development of her already successful career.

We look forward to following Zoe Meagher’s journey throughout the Fellowship and to experiencing the outcomes of this exciting project alongside our supporters and the broader arts community.”