The best art and exhibitions in Melbourne this month

ACMI's incredible new exhibition, Game Worlds, is a blockbuster celebration of video games that will transport you into the worlds of more than 30 iconic titles, including Final Fantasy XIV Online, Minecraft, Doom and Stardew Valley. Also featured are classics like Maze War and Zork, fan faves with cult followings like The Elder Scrolls Online, and new releases like Guardian Maia. Spanning games from the 1970s right through to this year, you'll be able to check out rare concept art, original design materials, early hands-on protoypes and so much more. 

Almost a decade ago, metal detectorists in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, went hunting for lost treasure. To their amazement, they would go on to discover the richest collection of Viking Age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland in a ploughed field. The Galloway Hoard has been hailed as a remarkable discovery, with more than 100 gold, silver, glass, crystal and earthenware objects being uncovered. Now, for the first time ever in Australia, you will be able to see the most important Viking Age discoveries of the 21st century up close at the Melbourne Museum.

The Potter Museum of Art has reopened to the public with a spectacular new exhibition recognising the great wealth of culture in this place: 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art. Celebrating the remarkable diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creativity, the exhibition showcases more than 400 artworks from the likes of Destiny Deacon, Yhonnie Scarce, Albert Namatjira and Emily Kam Kngwarray, including rare cultural works. Curated by Professor Marcia Langton AO, senior curator Judith Ryan and associate curator Shanysa McConville in consultation with Elders, 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art directly addresses the scars of colonial invasion. 

Traversing time and space, Wurrdha Marra is an ongoing exhibition celebrating the diversity of First Nations art and design. Since late 2023, the ground floor and foyer of the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia has become home to a dynamic and ever-changing exhibition space that displays masterpieces and never-before-shown works from the NGV’s First Nations collection.

As you enter the tranquil space of the museum’s living Forest Gallery, you’ll encounter portraits of Elders and community members of the Eastern Kulin Nations. Use your phone to listen to their stories, detailing their unique and personal relationships to Country.  

Joy features seven brand new commissioned installations from leading Victorian-based creatives, each expressing the artists’ own personal joy. You can expect an emotive adventure where colour and storytelling combine, and big happy moments that sit alongside more reflective ones. 

Melbourne Holocaust Museum’s Hidden: Seven Children Saved exhibition is focused on educating Melburnians on the Holocaust experiences of seven (now-local) children, to inspire greater understanding of these vital lessons. Interactive displays show visitors what it would have been like for a child to hide in such a volatile time, and how acts of kindness from the community made all the difference. Replica rooms, mini towns, soundscapes, moving images and projections make it an interesting and educational display for families (with kids ten years plus) to visit during the school holidays.