National Gallery of Australia confirms $245 million southern wing expansion

The National Gallery of Australia has confirmed final design approval and Commonwealth funding of $245 million for the construction of a major southern wing that will double the gallery's total exhibition floor space and include a purpose-built Indigenous Australian art gallery of international significance.

The expansion, designed by Sydney-based architects Denton Corker Marshall in collaboration with Maggie Edmond Architects and informed by extensive consultation with First Nations communities, will add approximately 12,000 square metres of gallery space on the gallery's southern boundary facing the lake. The Indigenous art gallery, which will occupy approximately 3,500 square metres, has been designed in consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, communities, and cultural advisers to ensure the spaces are appropriate for the country's most comprehensive collection of First Nations art.

Arts Minister Tony Burke said the expansion would cement the NGA's position as one of the great art museums of the world, with a collection depth and diversity — particularly in Indigenous and Asia-Pacific art — that few international institutions could match. "We are building a gallery that tells Australia's complete cultural story, including the oldest continuous artistic traditions in human history," he said.

NGA director Nick Mitzevich said the gallery currently had fewer than 30 per cent of its collection on display due to space limitations. The expansion would allow the gallery to show substantially more of its collection of 175,000 works permanently, while also creating venues capable of hosting the world's most significant touring exhibitions that currently bypass Canberra due to the absence of appropriate gallery space.

Construction is expected to begin next year, with the expanded gallery targeted for opening in 2028.

This article was compiled by AI from the sources linked above and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.