Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

Yesterday our major summer exhibition ‘Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory’ was buzzing for Telstra Free Day.     Over 2000 people saw the exhibition for free, capturing their moment with Julie Mehretu’s monumental paintings.     A big thank you to our major partner Telstra for making it all possible.      Don’t miss your chance to experience the exhibition described as a ‘Sydney summer must’ by Arts Hub.     ‘Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory’ Presented as part of the Sydney International Art Series, until 27 April    —    Images: Telstra Free Day, 2025, installation view, 'Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of a Radical Imaginatory', Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, photograph: Ken Leanfore    #MCAAustralia #JulieMehretu 

VALE Balang Nakurulk (Mr Mawurndjul) 1952-2024 We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of revered cultural leader and iconic senior artist John Mawurndjul AM (who in respecting cultural protocols will be referred to as Balang Nakurulk, his subsection everyday name). Balang Nakurulk was born at Kubukkan near Marrkolidjban in remote Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australiato Anchor Kulunba, a renowned weaver and sculptural artist, and Mary Wurrdjedje, a skilled craftswoman, Balang Nakurulk’s artistic career spanned four decades. Balang began painting in the late 1970s, his work quickly entering major Australian public collections and gaining significant international recognition. He is celebrated for his mastery of rarrk (fine-painted cross-hatching), a tradition shared by generations of Kuninjku artists. Working primarily across bark painting and sculpture, his innovative and mesmerising works captured a deep knowledge of Kuninjku culture and the significant locations surrounding his home in western Arnhem Land. The MCA is fortunate to have several important works by Balang Nakurulk in its Collection including the first two acquisitions undertaken by the museum. In 1989, his inclusion in the momentous exhibition 'Magiciens de la Terre' (Pompidou Centre, Paris 1989) cemented his place within a global contemporary art discourse. In 2004, Balang was selected alongside seven other Indigenous artists to create a site-responsive commission for the Musee du Quai Branly, Paris. In 2006, the Museum Tinguely, Basel, mounted his first major survey exhibition and in 2018, the MCA held the most significant survey show of Balang Nakurulk’s practice to date. He has received numerous awards and honours, including the Clemenger Contemporary Art Award. In 2010, as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the preservation of Indigenous art and culture. In 2018, Balang Nakurulk was awarded the Australia Council Red Ochre Award, for lifetime achievement in the arts. The MCA extends its deepest condolences to the artist's family, community and staff at Maningrida Arts and Culture and Djomi Museum. —    Image: Balang Nakurulk, ‘Ngalyod’ (detail), 2012, earth pigments on Stringybark (Eucalyptus tetrodonta), Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, purchased with funds provided by the MCA Foundation, 2015 © John Mawurndjul | Licensed by Copyright Agency, 2025, photograph: Jessica Maurer.

Happy Lunar New Year! 🐍    As we welcome the Year of the Snake, we're reflecting on Guan Wei's large-scale mural painting 'Feng Shui', a work that contemplates a harmonious relationship between all living things and the planet. Wei's visual language blends his Chinese cultural heritage, Western influences and contemporary culture, offering rich, striking narratives.    While not currently on display, 'Feng Shui' is one of more than 4,700 artworks within the MCA Collection.    —    Image: Guan Wei, ‘Feng Shui’, 2004. Installation view, ‘Guan Wei: MCA Collection’, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2019. Acrylic on composite board. Museum of Contemporary Art, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Cromwell Diversified Property Trust, 2017. Photograph: Anna Kučera    #MCAAustralia #GuanWei 

In the January edition of Harper's BAZAAR Australia, our Chair Lorraine Tarabay and Artistic Director Suzanne Cotter reflect on their shared vision for bringing contemporary art into people’s lives and ensuring the MCA thrives as a space for creativity, connection, and innovation.    As women at the helm of the MCA, their leadership reflects the strength of female voices in the arts, inspiring the future of contemporary culture.    Read the full feature in Harper’s Bazaar. 

Enjoy late opening hours and free after-dark programming on three special Wednesday nights in January from 5–9pm during Sydney Festival. Experience current exhibitions, film screenings, plus live music and performance that celebrates our major exhibition 'Julie Mehretu'.     Stay up late, head to our rooftop bar for drinks and eats, and soak up some sunset sounds.    Presented as part of Sydney Festival’s Art Up Late series.    Wed 8 Jan  Music from folk-soul singer and guitarist Malaika Mfalme Film screening of Promises: Through Congress    Wed 15 Jan  Jazz performance by pianist and composer Wilbur Whitta   Wed 22 Jan  Joyful and energised cuts from DJ BRIA   Head here for details: https://lnkd.in/g48qqS2w — Images: Julie Mehretu, 'TRANSpaintings (night seam)', 2024, installation view, 'Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory', Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2024, ink and acrylic on monofilament polyester mesh in an aluminium sculpture, 'Upright Brackets', by Nairy Baghramian, private collection, New York, image courtesy and © Julie Mehretu, photograph: Zan Wimberley #MCAAustralia #MCAUpLate #SydneyFestival

How does non-representational art engage with the politics of visibility? This Friday, join us after-hours for ‘Unnatural relations’, a talk by David Getsy, one of today's most dynamic thinkers on art, performance, and queer and transgender world-making. Discover the relationship between art, performance and queer studies, and the power of queer abstraction in contemporary, followed by a Q&A. This event is co-presented with The Power Institute at the University of Sydney as part of our ongoing Visual Research Program. Tickets: https://lnkd.in/g4ZTxdFn   —   Image: David Getsy, Siskel Film Center, photograph: suppied      #MCAAustralia #PowerInstitute

Congratulations to artists Isaac Julien, Julie Mehretu, and Brook Andrew on being included in the ArtReview 2024 Power 100 celebrating the most influential figures in global contemporary art. We’re proud to be currently exhibiting works by these important artists. Experience their work for yourself in ‘Isaac Julien: Once Again... (Statues Never Die)’, ‘Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory’ and Brook Andrew’s ‘Loop. A Model of how the world operates’ in 'MCA Collection: Artists in Focus' as well as ‘Warrang’ outside the Museum. https://lnkd.in/dq-E9-g —    Images: Isaac Julien, featuring: ‘Once Again… (Statues Never Die)’, 2022, installation view, ‘Isaac Julien: Once Again… (Statues Never Die)’, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney 2024, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Zan Wimberley; Julie Mehretu, image courtesy and © Julie Mehretu, photograph: Josefina Santos; Brook Andrew, image courtesy and © Brook Andrew, photograph: Trent Walker  #MCAAustralia #IsaacJulien #JulieMehretu #BrookAndrew

Announcing our 2025 artistic program! Next year the MCA will present an exciting program celebrating Australian contemporary art in all its forms as well as international firsts, new commissions, and a new large outdoor public sculpture. We will stage two major exclusive international exhibitions over winter and summer alongside a dynamic program of exhibitions, commissions and artist led projects. Cerith Wyn Evans will create epic contemporary environments of light and sound for our major winter exhibition. In spring, we will unveil the inaugural Neil Balnaves Tallawoladah Lawn Commission by British artist Thomas J Price, supported by The Balnaves Foundation, and our major summer exhibition will be ‘Data Dreams: Contemporary Art in the Age of AI’ presented as part of the Sydney International Art Series 2025–26. 'The 2025 program speaks to our contemporary world in all its richness and complexity. These exhibitions ask profound questions ranging from the significance of First Nations art and cultures in a museum context, to the impact of artificial intelligence at a time when the boundaries between culture and technology are being radically redefined.' – MCA Director Suzanne Cotter 'From the big Thomas J Price sculpture on the shore of Circular Quay, to the series of international and Australian artists inside, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia is set to have another spectacular year of engaging locals and visitors with the best contemporary art on the planet.' – Minister for the Arts, Music and the Night-time Economy, and Minister for Jobs and Tourism John Graham Major summer and winter exhibitions are proudly supported by the NSW Government via its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW. Autumn 'The Intelligence of Painting' (7 Mar–20 Jul) 'Warraba Weatherall ' (21 Mar–7 Sep) Circular Quay Foyer Wall Commission: Diena Georgetti 'Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory' (until 27 Apr) Winter 'Cerith Wyn Evans' (6 Jun–19 Oct) Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission: Ricky Swallow Spring Neil Balnaves Tallawoladah Lawn Commission: Thomas J Price 'Primavera 2025: Young Australian Artists' (29 Aug 25–8 Mar 26) 'Yasmin Smith' (3 Oct 25–8 Feb 26) Summer 'Data Dreams: Contemporary Art in the Age of AI', Sydney International Art Series, (21 Nov 25–26 Apr 26) 'MCA Collection: Artists in Focus' Gordon Bennett, Rosalie Gascoigne, Rosemary Laing, Patricia Piccinini, Jessica Rankin and Julie Mehretu, Mulkun Wirrpanda, Timothy Cook, Raelene Kerinuaia, Nina Puruntatameri, Cornelia Tipuamantumirri, Bede Tungulatum and Pedro Wonaeamirri. (Feb–Nov 25) Two C3West projects, in partnership with ACON, and Bayside Council Touring ‘Primavera: Young Australian Artists’ ‘Maria Fernanda Cardoso: Spiders of Paradise’ — Image: Cerith Wyn Evans, installation view, ‘Cerith Wyn Evans. Borrowed Light Through Metz’, Centre Pompidou-Metz, 2024–25, image courtesy the artist, photograph: Lewis Ronald.

Today is International Day of People with Disability – a day to amplify the leadership and creativity of persons with disabilities for a more inclusive future.    We're celebrating this Saturday with a free relaxed day of learning this Saturday, networking and art-making, for creatives working in the arts who identify as d/Deaf, neurodivergent and/or disabled.     On the day, experience ‘Julie Mehretu: Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory’ with Auslan-interpreted and audio-described tours and take part in creative workshops inspired by Mehretu’s powerful themes.    Head here to access visual stories of the MCA and galleries, sensory map and more: https://lnkd.in/e4XpdG7z   Art Network: Julie Mehretu Sat 7 Dec NCCL, Level 3 Free, booking required —    Image: Installation view,' Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory', Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2024, image courtesy and © Julie Mehretu, photograph: Zan Wimberley    #IDPwD #MCAAustralia #JulieMehretu 

‘She refuses to be limited and defined, and instead reaches for new and expansive ways of seeing, looking and existing in the world’  – The Saturday Paper      Learn more about Julie Mehretu’s artistic practice, inspirations, and the complex layers of her works that blend political, historical and social narratives through abstraction.    Read on: https://lnkd.in/gij8S7Ve    Tickets to ‘Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory’ are on sale now.    —    Image: Julie Mehretu working in her studio, image courtesy and © Julie Mehretu, photograph: Sarah Rentz    #MCAAustralia #JulieMehretu