Free, doubled in size in 2022, and holding the best collection of Aboriginal art in any state gallery.
The gallery has two buildings joined by a landscaped walkway. Naala Badu, opened in December 2022 and designed by SANAA, doubled the floor area and gave the institution what it had lacked — proper contemporary space.
The name is Gadigal, meaning “seeing waters”.
Entry to the permanent collections is free in both buildings, which in a city this expensive is worth stating first.
The Tank
Beneath Naala Badu is a decommissioned Second World War oil tank, 2,200 square metres, with 125 concrete columns holding up a low ceiling, kept almost entirely dark. It is used for large commissioned installations and it is the most extraordinary gallery space in Australia.
The Aboriginal collection
The Yiribana Gallery was moved into the new building and given a prominent position at the entrance level rather than, as previously, the basement — a change the gallery has been explicit about.
The collection covers bark paintings from Arnhem Land, Western Desert acrylics from Papunya onwards, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Rover Thomas, and contemporary urban Aboriginal artists. It is the strongest holding in any Australian state gallery and it is the reason to come.
The rest
Australian art from the colonial period through the Heidelberg School to Nolan, Whiteley and Boyd. European old masters and nineteenth-century work. A substantial Asian collection in a purpose-built wing.
The Archibald Prize — Australia’s portrait award, running since 1921 — is exhibited here each winter alongside the Wynne and Sulman prizes, and is a national event with a reliable annual controversy. Ticketed.
Practicalities
Free, open daily, late on Wednesdays. Temporary exhibitions are ticketed.
Allow three hours for both buildings. There are cafés in each and a restaurant with a harbour view.
It sits at the edge of The Domain, and it is a fifteen-minute walk through the Botanic Garden from the Opera House.
The other galleries
Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay, also free. White Rabbit in Chippendale holds Chinese contemporary art and is free and remarkable. Carriageworks in Eveleigh for large-scale contemporary work.
More Museums
Australian Museum
The oldest museum in Australia, with a First Nations gallery that has been substantially rethought.
Museum of Contemporary Art
An Art Deco maritime services building on the quay, full of contemporary art, free, with a rooftop café.
Australian National Maritime Museum
A submarine, a destroyer, a replica of the Endeavour, and a serious attempt at telling the story from both sides of the shore.