Ruth Höflich is an artist and filmmaker, born in Munich, Germany, and currently based in Melbourne. In 2019, Höflich was awarded the Georges Mora Fellowship, which allowed her to undertake extensive research at the State Library of Victoria.

Höflich drew particular inspiration from the WG Alma Conjuring Collection. William George Alma (1904–93) was an Australian magician as well as a fine craftsperson and manufacturer of conjuring apparatus and props. His collection of around 5000 items, includes books and magazines about magic, photographs, posters, detailed research files on individual magicians, and other magic memorabilia, including small tricks and models.

This exhibition explores the concept of magic, which the artist relates to perception, visibility and invisibility, and imagination. Höflich’s work acknowledges that what we see, experience and remember is always limited or mediated.

I was always interested in the idea of there being other knowledges or different epistemologies. Magic is a sort of theatrical, playful way of thinking around these ideas … If you are open to the notion that everybody perceives things differently, you can be more open to what other people might be experiencing.

Ruth Höflich, 2021