All the Big Exhibitions, Installations and Art Festivals Around Brisbane That'll Dazzle Your 2023 Diary
Fill your year with Warhol pop art, glowing gardens, Monet's water lilies and street art everywhere.
Paris has the Louvre. London boasts the Tate Modern. New York is home to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. They're all stunning cities, and spectacular art galleries and museums within them — but peering at walls and halls filled with gorgeous, eye-opening and important creative sights is just as easy right here in Brisbane.
Across 2023, the River City is set to be teeming with art — the Gold Coast, too. Whether you want to fill your year with Warhol pop art, glowing gardens, Monet's water lilies or street art everywhere, there's an exhibition, installation or festival either on its way or already on display. Here's what you need to pop in your diary ASAP.
Top image: Brisbane City Council.
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Event
Australian Geographic: Our Country
Sat, 11 Mar - Sun, 7 May 2023
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Brisbane
Focusing on Australia's natural wonders, this immersive exploration features unseen footage from 25 different cinematographers — including a frequent David Attenborough collaborator.
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Event
Dinosaurs of Patagonia
Fri, 17 Mar - Mon, 2 Oct 2023
Queensland Museum, South Brisbane
A massive dinosaur exhibition featuring the largest-known land animal ever is roaring into Queensland Museum.
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Event
Play Moves
Sat, 10 Dec 2022 - Sun, 16 Apr 2023
Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane
Museum of Brisbane's latest free exhibition is filled with art you can interact with.
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Event
'Air' at GOMA
Sat, 26 Nov 2022 - Sun, 23 Apr 2023
Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art, South Brisbane
Expect an exhibition that works to peel back the layers of the invisible, ethereal element that life cannot exist without.
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Event
Pop Masters: Art From the Mugrabi Collection, New York
Sat, 18 Feb - Sun, 4 Jun 2023
HOTA, Home of the Arts, Surfers Paradise
The Gold Coast's Home of the Arts is bringing pop art royalty (with a side of New York cool) to the Sunshine State.
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Event
We Are Electric
Tue, 14 Feb - Sat, 24 Jun 2023
UQ Art Museum, St Lucia
This free exhibition explores energy through art, pondering extraction, extinction and the world's post-carbon futures.
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Event
Curiocity Brisbane 2023
Wed, 22 Mar - Sun, 2 Apr 2023
Various Brisbane venues, Brisbane
With each experience at the 2023 festival, you’ll be called to consider where art ends and science begins.
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Event
Imaginator Brisbane
Fri, 3 Sep 2021 - Wed, 31 Jan 2024
Queensland Maritime Museum, South Brisbane
This multi-sensory playground at South Bank boasts light-filled mazes and inflatable bubbles across ten dazzling rooms.
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Event
Making Place: 100 Views of Brisbane
Sat, 26 Mar 2022 - Sun, 31 Dec 2023
Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane
With artwork dating back two centuries, this city-focused exhibition surveys more than 100 pieces that've captured Brisbane and its changes.
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Event
Play/ground
Fri, 9 Sep 2022 - Sun, 16 Apr 2023
Various locations across Brisbane, Brisbane
Thirty-seven artworks have taken over the CBD's light boxes, banners and outdoor display cases — and some are being projected at Howard Smith Wharves, too.
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Event
Lost in Palm Springs
Sat, 11 Mar - Sun, 21 May 2023
HOTA, Home of the Arts, Surfers Paradise
The Gold Coast's HOTA, Home of the Arts is paying tribute to a different sunny city, taking inspiration from the Californian spot's art, architecture and design.
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Event
Meet the Artists
Sat, 25 Feb - Sun, 9 Jul 2023
State Library of Queensland, South Brisbane
Don't just check out pieces by Vernon Ah Kee, Judith Wright, Sandra Selig, Eugene Carchesio and more — watch interviews with them, too.
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Event
Brisbane Street Art Festival 2023
Sat, 6 May - Sun, 21 May 2023
Various locations across Brisbane, Brisbane
Get ready to look up — a huge citywide street art festival is taking over the city.
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Event
The Art of Banksy: Without Limits
Thu, 4 May - Sun, 6 Aug 2023
Queens Plaza, Brisbane City
This huge Banksy exhibition is filling Queens Plaza with more than 150 artworks, including photos, sculptures, simulations and an infinity room.
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Event
Botanica: Contemporary Art Outside 2023
Fri, 12 May - Sun, 21 May 2023
Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane City
Brisbane's glowing after-dark festival lights up the City Botanic Gardens with dazzling art, performances, food trucks and an outdoor bar.
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Event
Brisbane Art Design 2023
Fri, 12 May - Sun, 28 May 2023
Various Brisbane venues, Brisbane
Brisbane's art and design festival Is returning for three weekends filled with 150-plus events and exhibitions.
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Event
Monet in Paris
Thu, 8 Jun - Sun, 27 Aug 2023
Northshore Hamilton, Hamilton
This stunning new multi-sensory exhibition dedicated to Claude Monet and his contemporaries is making its world premiere in Brisbane.
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Event
Fairy Tales
Sat, 2 Dec 2023 - Sun, 28 Apr 2024
GOMA, South Brisbane
Wander through a twisted woodland, see David Bowie's 'Labyrinth' costume, and enjoy Yayoi Kusama and Patricia Piccinini's magical work at GOMA's blockbuster fairy tales exhibition.
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Event
Surface Miami Street Art Festival 2023
Sun, 2 Jul - Sun, 16 Jul 2023
Various Gold Coast venues, Gold Coast
Stunning street art pieces will take over the Gold Coast's footpaths, laneways and walls at this returning fest.
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Event
Swell Sculpture Festival 2023
Fri, 8 Sep - Sun, 17 Sep 2023
Currumbin Beach, Currumbin
Currumbin Beach's annual (and free) outdoor sculpture fest is back with 75-plus sculptures by 190 artists.
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Event
Luminous Lantern Parade 2023
Fri, 9 Jun, 2023
South Bank Parklands, Brisbane
South Bank is lighting up to celebrate multiculturalism.