The National Gallery of Australia is the country's largest art gallery and houses permanent exhibitions featuring more than 100,000 works from Australia, the Pacific, Asia, Europe and the Americas.

The focus of the gallery is largely on protecting and displaying national pieces of art, including a significant body of works from indigenous artists. The artworks are therefore split into four main areas:

·        Australian art

·        Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art

·        Asian art

·        International art

Some of the main highlights featured in the permanent collection are detailed below.

The Aboriginal Memorial

The Aboriginal Memorial forms a tribute to the indigenous people who have lost their lives defending their land, and comprises of 200 hollow log coffins from the Arnhem Land. The pathway through the exhibit is designed to represent the flow of the Glyde River estuary, with the coffins placed along the river in the places which the artists originate from. The coffins are all decorated in different styles, relating to the social groups from which the artist comes, and generally represent the story of the artist’s paternal bloodline.

Indian Art Exhibition

The Indian art exhibition is a relatively recent addition to the gallery’s permanent exhibits, featuring ornate prints, wooden architectural features and carved statues of Indian icons, including many examples of Buddhist and Hindu artworks.

Indonesian Textiles

The National Gallery of Australia is also home to a huge collection of Indonesian textiles, with over 1200 pieces on display.

Kenneth Tyler Collection

This collection is a comprehensive archive of prints, screens, illustrations, proofs, photographs and film associated with Kenneth Tyler, a master printer who collaborated with many great artists over the course of his career. Some of these included David Hockney, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol, among many, many others.

TT Tsui Collection of Chinese Ceramics

Burial rituals have been a significant part of Chinese culture throughout the history of their civilization, and the TT Tsui collection presents an extraordinary set of ceramics associated with traditional funeral rituals. The collection is named after Dr. Tsui, a collector of these funeral ceramics, who donated the collection to the gallery in 1995.

Temporary Exhibits

In addition to these permanent exhibitions, the gallery also regularly plays host to travelling and special exhibits, featuring important artists and specific themed collections.

To find out more about the gallery, including information on its permanent and planned temporary collections, visit their Website. For more information on planning your trip to the National Gallery of Australia check out our information below for details of opening hours, entry costs, how to get there and places to stay nearby.