The best exhibitions to see in Sydney this week

Since its launch at Casula Powerhouse in 2017, Soft Centre has cemented its reputation as one of Australia’s most avant garde events, consistently delivering an epicly obscure program featuring commissions from the likes of MONA, the Sydney Opera House, and CTM Berlin. Last year, the event received a Green Room Award from Australia’s peer-to-peer arts industry body and was twice named FBi Radio’s Best Music Event. And it’s not just good by Aussie standards – in 2023, Soft Centre earned a place on Resident Advisor’s list of the Top Ten Festivals worldwide. All that’s to say: this is an event worth locking into your diary – and this year’s edition is set to be its biggest yet. Running from Thursday, August 28 to Sunday, August 31, this year’s festival will take over some of the city’s most iconic and beloved buildings – with the main event unfolding inside the historic, heritage-listed White Bay Power Station. The four-day program includes a series of interactive workshops and insightful talks; a night of experimental cinema and audiovisual performance (Para.Cine); a closing concert featuring Aarti Jadu, beloved NTS resident Malibu, and more; plus the flagship multi-stage event, which will transform White Bay Power Station with radical performance art, bold site-specific installations, mesmerising light shows, and a soundtrack the organisers describe as “adventurous club sounds,” on Saturday, August 30. Highlights from the line-up on the big day incldue Pink Siifu, Queen...

At the northern tip of Australia, in north-east Arnhem Land, lies Yirrkala  – it’s an internationally renowned arts community whose work has shaped history and challenged convention. The good news? You don’t need a plane ticket or a 4WD to experience its power. From now until October, Yolŋu power: the art of Yirrkala brings the beauty and brilliance of Yirrkala’s art to Sydney.  Featuring nearly 300 works by 98 artists, the exhibition spans bark paintings and wooden sculptures to video art and digital installations. Each piece speaks to the deep cultural, political and social histories from which it emerged – revealing tradition not as static, but as a living force of innovation and resistance. Our hack? Explore the exhibition on a Wednesday night at Art After Hours – not only will it feel like you’re making the most of your week, but you can score two-for-one tickets* from 5pm to 10pm.  Catch Yolŋu power: the art of Yirrkala at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until October 6. Tickets start from $13 for youth (free for children under 12) and $20 for members. Book yours here.  Yolŋu power: the art of Yirrkala is supported proudly by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. The exhibition is presented in partnership with the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre. *Terms and Conditions apply, head to artgallery.nsw.gov.au for details.

If you can’t quite hack the requisite international airfare and/or annual leave to explore the Amazon, meet polar bears, or go deep sea diving right now, there is another method for getting up close and personal with some of the world’s most incredible animals.  For the 60th year in a row, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will arrive in Sydney on loan from London’s Natural History Museum. Taking root at the National Maritime Museum, this stunning collection of photographs will be on show in Sydney from Thursday, May 15 until Sunday, October 19.  This incredibly prestigious photography event is centred on drawing attention to the wild beauty and fragility of the natural world. This year, judges had to look at a baffling 59,228 entries from photographers of all ages and experience levels from 117 countries and territories, and were faced with the near-impossible task of whittling these down to just over 100 photo finalists. The images that made this year’s exhibition captures mesmerising snapshots of fascinating animal behaviour and stunning secret moments in the hearts of the world’s most unreachable places.The prestigious Grand Title this year went to Canadian Marine Conservation Photojournalist, Shane Gross, for his incredible underwater image of a community of western toad tadpoles. The award for Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year went to German photographer Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas for his up-close image Life Under Dead Wood. Of the talented Aussie...

Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) presents the first solo museum exhibition by Kamilaroi artist Warraba Weatherall, whose work has been exhibited widely nationally and internationally over the past decade. Through a dynamic combination of installation, sculpture and video works, Shadow and Substance turns a critical eye to the colonial record – reframing existing narratives about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culture found within archival and museum collections.  Drawing on his own family’s experiences, Weatherall’s work draws attention to the ethics of how Indigenous property, cultural information and materials have been historically acquired and displayed. A refined display that invites contemplation, this exhibition curated by MCA Australia Curator Megan Robson premieres several brand new artworks, including ‘Trace’ (2025) a major new co-commission between the MCA and the Hawaiʻi Triennial 2025, which resembles a giant spinning toy. ‘Dirge’ (2023) is a particularly fascinating piece, which draws attention to the ways in which information is “translated and transmitted”. Weatherall has created a large-scale, custom-built polyphon – a disc-operated mechanical music box – and the score it plays is a Braille translation of a colonial document relating to Aboriginal land rights found in an Australian museum.  Running until September 21, Shadow and Substance is part of the MCA’s autumn 2025 exhibition program. You can spend up to an hour inspecting...

Ever wondered what Sydney would have looked like without all the clustered skyscrapers, scenic foreshores and sprawling suburbs? Seeing Sydney, Knowing Country strips the Harbour City right back to reveal the land as it once was. Running until November, the exhibition at the Museum of Sydney shows how the British colony took shape — and how knowledge of Country has continued to shape Sydney across generations. Travel back to the late 18th century when Governor Arthur Philip drew Sydney’s first boundary line in the sand of what we call Manly Cove. This marked the beginning of dispossession from the First Nations peoples after 60,000-plus years of custodianship of the land. The first land grant issued in the colony is one of many artefacts, sketches, plans and objects in this fascinating collection.  This free exhibition was created in collaboration with artist and designer Alison Page, a proud descendant of the Dharawal and Yuin peoples. Through her Aboriginal design agency and roles on numerous cultural boards, Page is a leading voice in contemporary Indigenous art and storytelling. Her innovative artistic intervention runs throughout the exhibition, layering First Nations understandings of Country over the colonial view of Sydney’s past. The exhibition was also developed in collaboration with the Sydney Coastal Aboriginal Women's Group.  Seeing Sydney, Knowing Country is open seven days a week at the Museum of Sydney until November. Find out more about this free...