Molonglo

The One Day Shops series was a simple idea that served a number of purposes. A few times a year, Molonglo turned the library at Hotel Hotel or the Nishi Gallery at NewActon into a small shop for one day. Perimeter Books brought their Melbourne bookstore and distributor’s stable of European, US and Australian publishers. Mr Kitly brought a collection of objects made by artists and makers from Australia, Japan, USA, UK and France. Pan After brought their focus on ethically produced objects sourced from around the world.

One Day Shops was part of an ongoing series of interventions that played with the idea of public and private realms. It was a way to invite local Canberrans into what would usually be a private place; a hotel lobby. It was also a humble experiment in the way we use spaces. Architecture is perpetually unfinished; built structures are ultimately defined by the people who use them rather than by the people that designed them. With each shop, the library was activated in a different way by the shop holders, the objects they brought and the people who came to browse.