The story of this place
Founded in 1871, the Art Gallery of NSW is Australia's oldest museum and the custodian of 36,000 artworks that tell the visual story of the nation. Its collection spans Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art—some of the world's oldest continuing artistic traditions—to contemporary works that define Australia today. The gallery's identity was transformed in 2022 with the 'Sydney Modern Project,' a massive expansion that doubled the exhibition space. What began as a colonial repository has become a living archive of Australian identity.