Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA)

Museums
The Rocks
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Photograph: Anna Kucera | Museum of Contemporary Art
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Photograph: Museum of Contemporary Art Australia/Brett Boardman
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Photograph: Museum of Contemporary Art Australia/Ken Leanfore | Lindy Lee, Secret World of a Starlight Ember, 2020, installation view, Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop.
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Time Out says

Sydney's home of contemporary art on Circular Quay

Perched on Circular Quay and open six days a week, the MCA is Sydney's year-round desination for new age and left-of-centre art.

Once the administration offices of the Maritime Services Board, this waterside museum was overhauled head to toe (well, almost) in 2011 and re-opened in March 2012 with light, airy, uncluttered interiors, more floor space and a boxy new facade. It's not just good looks, either: the rooftop café and sculpture terrace, high-tech education centre, and 120-seat lecture theatrette and forecourt are all worth checking out.

And the original sandstone heart is still there. “We wanted to keep the old building but provide something next to it that says immediately that this is a contemporary building,” said MCA Director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE.

Inside, the galleries themselves are clean, logical and open – with long vistas to entice and draw you in further. While the design of the exterior is about drawing attention, the opposite is the case for the interior. “The most important thing is the art,” says architect Sam Marshall.

“In the perfect gallery there would be no architecture visible. For most of the MCA’s exhibitions they install walls, change colours and put different surfaces in. That requires a really simple space with a really simple circulation system.”

Written by Darryn KingThursday 31 August 2023

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Details

Address:: 140 George St; The Rocks; Sydney; 2000

Contact:: View Website; 02 9245 2400

Opening hours:: Mon 10am-5pm, Tue CLOSED, Wed-Sun 10am-5pm

What’s on

MCA Artbar

Digital and interactive
17 May 2024

The Museum of Contemporary Art knows how to party. This month, Circular Quay’s temple of future-forward art is entering a parallel timeline with one massive night of futuristic performances, sensory art activations, DJ sets and more. As part of The Biennale of Sydney, groundbreaking digital artist (and Time Out Future Shaper) Serwah Attafuah has curated an immersive night of art and entertainment for the latest edition of Artbar on Friday, May 17, in response to the theme of 'Tomorrow – 20 minutes into the future’. Attafuah’s cyber dreamscape is taking over every level of the MCA’s galleries, and you can experience the museum after-dark anytime between 7pm and 11pm. There’s an epic line-up of local and international artists on music duties, including genre-bending death metal from Dispossessed, experimental pop that channels techno-utopianism from DeepFaith, new wave pop-plasticity from multi-instrumentalist crwlr, hardcore punk from Persecutor, and Global Sounds will also be spinning forgotten gems of funk, disco and soul all night. You can also encounter a photography project that weaves art, politics and environmental concerns by Pieter Hugo; immerse yourself in a video game and sculpture work by Kal Dhir; watch an interactive performance from Bristol-based musician and game designer Llainwire; witness a '90s revival art installation and performance by ‘Cyber Dada Manifesto’; and interact with people from around the world as the virtual and real world collide at ‘Artbar M

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