The rapidly approaching new year is going to be filled with cool, weird and interesting things to do, from solar eclipse parties to gigantic city centre installations. But if you’re specifically looking for a culture fix, we’ve scoured the planet to find the biggest and best exhibitions happening in 2026.
On the list? Fashion retrospectives, a deep dive into ‘90s culture and a multimodal installation in the world’s most famous nightclub. But our pick of the bunch, the very best exhibition worth travelling for this year, is a city-wide showcase in Sydney.
The Aussie city is about to host its 25th biennale, and five brilliant venues will be showcasing art as part of the project. Across each venue, there promises to be a host of impressive, moving and thought-provoking art.
The venues in question are the White Bay Power Station, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney and Penrith Regional Gallery.
So what can you expect? Well, everything featured will be centred around the theme of ‘rememory’, which has been curated by artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi and inspired by the work of esteemed late author Toni Morrison.
It invites artists (and audiences) to revisit and reconstruct marginalised personal, familial and collective histories that have otherwise been forgotten. Artists from all over the world are participating, and 15 of the first 37 to be announced were from Australia’s First Nations. Below are some snaps of the artists’ work.
You can read more about what to expect on the official website. The best part? All venues involved in the 25th Biennale of Sydney are free to visit.
The 25th Biennale of Sydney runs from March 14 – June 14, 2026.
Check out Time Out’s full list of the biggest and best exhibitions worth travelling for in 2026.
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