The World Today, Through a Creative Lens – NGV Triennial 2023

Highlighting the work of 120 artists, designers and collectives, the NGV Triennial 2023 offers a powerful insight into the ideas empowering creative practice across the globe.

The NGV Triennial 2023 – at the NGV International in Melbourne – explores how artists, designers and architects help navigate and understand a complex, ever-changing world. The four-month-long exhibition features more than 75 works and projects led by creatives including Yoko Ono, American sculptor and textile artist Sheila Hicks, Britain’s Tracey Emin and Maison Schiaparelli artistic director Daniel Roseberry, in disciplines ranging from robotics and AI to sculpture, textiles and film. In addition, 25 projects commissioned by the NGV will make their world premiere.

The 2023 Triennial is grounded in three thematic pillars – Magic, Matter and Memory.

The 2023 Triennial is grounded in three thematic pillars – Magic, Matter and Memory. Magic explores belief systems, allegory and symbolism, revealing the ways that human spirituality has shaped the world, while Matter focuses on nature, materials and making, highlighting the pivotal role that elements of the natural world play in shaping culture. Memory illuminates the histories of people, places and objects.

Highlights include an exciting selection of works by Tracey Emin, whose autobiographical and confessional practice spans film, painting, drawing, installation and sculpture, with featured pieces including a five-metre-high text-based neon light installation featuring the artist’s handwriting. Sheila Hicks’ Nowhere to go 2022 is a major sculptural installation utilising brightly coloured fibre, while Yoko Ono will present a large-scale text-based work on the façade of the NGV International.

Other stand-outs include Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country), an epic work by Anangu Pitjantjatjara senior woman Betty Muffler, which examines Country from the perspective of an eagle; a selection of recent couture clothing, accessories and body adornments by Daniel Roseberry, the visionary creative mind behind Maison Schiaparelli; and a mind-bending project by Polish-born artist Agnieszka Pilat, where two robotic dogs will create a monolithic artwork over the duration of the Triennial.

NGV Director Tony Ellwood AM says the Triennial “offers audiences a valuable opportunity to experience new and surprising forms of creative expression from around the globe, which, together, present a compelling snapshot of the world as it is, while also asking how we would like it to be.”

The NGV Triennial 2023 will be held from 3 December to 7 April 2024; NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Entry is free. More information here.