Gazelli Art House and Land Securities are delighted to announce Saad Qureshi as the first artist to be selected for the NOVA public art commission. ‘Places for Nova’, Qureshi’s installation of six site-specific Corten steel vitrines portray dusty red monochrome landscapes that have been derived from the stories of people who live, work and travel through Victoria. The result will be an installation of reimagined collective memories firmly rooted in the community where it is displayed, demonstrating once again the important role art plays, both for a specific development and for the community of which it is a part.

Qureshi’s ‘mindscapes’ explore the portability and ephemerality of remembered places, transforming them into hybrids of recollection and fantasy. The sculptures allow the public to interact and immerse themselves by re-creating the space according to their own vision and personal memories. While representing a place somewhere between the imagined and the real, the miniature scale of the environment also symbolises the intimate topographies we carry within us.

One of the key commitments of Land Securities is to support artists directly in the communities where they operate, beyond simply acquiring and commissioning art, providing residents and visitors with the opportunity to access inspiring public art in the spaces around them.