Studio Shields Proves the Most Memorable Interiors Are Layered by Many Hands.

Unfer Ruby Shields’ curation, Synthesis brought together work by Amy Vidler, Anne U, Angela Hayes, Astrid Salomon, Bel Williams, Bolaji Teniola, Cameron Green, Carl Broesen Studio, Craig Shanahan / Mood Workshop, Curtis Bloxsidge & 2am Close, Culture Cush, Dean Norton, Em Frank, Femme Brutale, Fools Glass, Georgia Harvey, Hannah Nowlan, Indigo Tolhurst, Jenny Jones, Kelly Brown Ceramics, Locki Humphrey, Marlo Lydia, Martyn Thompson, Max Copolov, Melvin Josy, Nicole Lawrence, Objects for Thought, Patrick Scott, Patrick Shields, Studio Dokola, Studio Kaytar, Studio Tops, Space-man Studio & Studio Blank, Tantri Mustika, Thannie Phan, Theodosius Ng, Thomas Maxam & Zoe Diacolabianos. Not pictured but part of the exhibition: Jordan Fleming, KOEH Studio, Ro Noonan, Saturday Yard Work, Sundance Studio.

What happens when an exhibition stops asking to be looked at and starts asking to be lived in? That was the premise behind Synthesis, an immersive installation curated by Ruby Shields, Principal of Melbourne-based Studio Shields, staged within the historic Bishop’s Parlour at Abbotsford Convent during Melbourne Design Week 2026.

Bringing together more than 45 Australian artists, designers and makers within a fully realised domestic setting, Synthesis traded the familiar plinth-and-product format for something closer to a home. Visitors passed through a threshold of burgundy velvet drapery, met a bespoke scent created exclusively for the installation, and sank into furniture designed to be used rather than admired from a respectful distance. Colour, material, light, texture and scent all pulled in the same direction—towards slowing down, lingering, and connecting with the space emotionally. The result felt less like consuming design and more like inhabiting it, which was the entire point.

The convent’s Victorian bones did plenty of heavy lifting too. Terracotta-drenched walls, a moody green antechamber and richly patterned rugs grounded the work of contributors including Martyn Thompson, Nicole Lawrence, Tantri Mustika, Fools Glass and Kelly Brown Ceramics, each holding their own identity while serving a shared narrative. It’s collective authorship in action—proof that the most memorable interiors are layered by many hands, never just one.

For Shields, the project points to something larger than a single week on the design calendar. “Rather than walking through exhibitions and observing beautifully curated pieces, we’re beginning to immerse ourselves within fully realised interiors, to sit, touch, smell, linger and feel them,” she explains. “It’s a different way of engaging with design. One that feels far more emotional, accessible and, dare I say it… a little Milan arriving in Melbourne.”

That comparison feels earned rather than aspirational. International festivals have long treated immersive interiors as cultural experiences in their own right, and Synthesis suggests Australia is finding its own version—one grounded in collaboration, craftsmanship and the way we actually live. Rather than asking whether a room feels fashionable, Synthesis posed a better question: how does it make you feel? On the evidence of this room, the answer is: reluctant to leave.

Ross Didier Returns to Fine Art Roots with Gallium.

Named after one of the world's most strategically critical minerals—essential to electronics, renewable energy and AI infrastructure—Ross Didier’s Gallium explores the tension between permanence and transformation, translating that push-pull into furniture that feels both precise and slightly elusive.

[Images courtesy of Studio Shields. Photography by Martina Gemmola.]