We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of New South Wales stands.

Our art museum campus

Welcome to Sydney’s newest landmark, where art, architecture and landscape connect.

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The Sydney Modern Project has transformed the Art Gallery of New South Wales into a unique art museum campus with two buildings and an art garden, on Gadigal Country, overlooking one of the world’s most beautiful harbours.

From our reimagined original building to our stunning new building, you’ll find art, both historical and contemporary, from across Australia and around the world, enriched by a diverse and engaging program of events.

Through art, we hope to inspire your curiosity and ignite your imagination. We invite you to explore.

A glass-walled building on left and a sandstone building on right with a covered plaza and large tree in between

Exterior view of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Naala Badu (left) and Naala Nura (right), photo © Iwan Baa

A building made up of a series of white and glass pavilions and terraces with the Sydney city skyline in the background

Aerial view of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Naala Badu building, photo © Iwan Baan

A sandstone building with Art Gallery of New South Wales written at the front above columns, and a panel featuring hooded heads above the door

Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Naala Nura building, featuring Karla Dickens To see or not to see 2022 © Karla Dickens

Naala Badu, our north building

Our award-winning new building – Naala Badu, which means ‘seeing waters’ – is a series of light-filled pavilions and graceful outdoor terraces that step down towards Sydney Harbour. On the lowest level of the building, discover a space like no other in Sydney: a reclaimed underground fuel bunker built during World War II and previously inaccessible to the public, which is now home to a series of art projects.

Naala Nura, our south building

Our revitalised original building – Naala Nura, which means ‘seeing Country’ – combines the 19th-century Grand Courts with later modernist additions, behind a sandstone facade that faces the Domain parklands and the city beyond. Among its many different spaces, you will find a beautiful library and archive, which is home to Australia’s first children’s art library.

  • Precinct map

    Map of the area around the Art Gallery showing various roads, pedestrian routes and accessible routes

We believe that historical and contemporary art are inextricably linked, and there is no chronological dividing line between our two buildings. However, the buildings do have different personalities, so in our original building you’ll see historical works inflected with the contemporary, while in the new building the contemporary is inflected with the historical.

The first gallery you’ll encounter in Naala Bada is Yiribana, our permanent space for the display of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Works by Indigenous artists are also shown across the campus and an Indigenous lens has been held up to other works and displays.

The Art Gallery’s new building is designed by SANAA with Architectus as executive architect. It was delivered by Infrastructure NSW with Richard Crookes Constructions as builder.