In 2013, the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) ground-breaking exhibition, Melbourne Now was born. It showcased Victoria’s incredible creative talent and broke box office records for the NGV. It was a brave initiative that was wildly successful and the large-scale exhibition set the scene for design, firmly establishing Melbourne as the design capital of Australia.

After a 10-year hiatus, Melbourne Now will return in 2023, running from 24 March 2023 to 20 August 2023 and once again will be free to attend. The exhibition will feature within all levels of The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square and promises to be bigger, brighter and bolder than the first edition.

On show will be the work of more than 200 Victorian-based designers, studios and artists who are shaping the cultural landscape of Melbourne and Victoria. With 60 never-before-seen and world premiere works commissioned by the NGV, Melbourne Now is certain to delight and impress while showcasing the talent, vitality and abundance of great design in Victoria.

For 2023, the offering has been increased, and is truly multi-dimensional with design of every shape and form front and centre. Architecture, fashion, jewellery, painting, sculpture, video, virtual reality, performance, printmaking, photography, ceramics, product design and publishing will all be on display and exhibiting artists include, Christian Thompson, Esther Stewart, Atong Atem, Mia Boe, Sean Hogan and Lisa Reid among many, many more.

One of the most popular exhibitions from 2013 was Design Wall, a large-scale installation celebrating consumer products, and a new iteration will again display the extraordinary ingenuity of our talented local designers, companies and brands who are shaping the way we all live, work and play.

Tony Ellwood AM, director of NGV, says, “The 2023 exhibition marks the ten-year anniversary of the inaugural presentation and offers an unprecedented opportunity to reflect on how Melbourne and Victoria have transformed, changed and grown over the past decade. No other exhibition series reflects Victorian life and culture with such depth, nuance and breadth. We are excited to build upon this incredible legacy with this new, blockbuster presentation of Victorian creativity in 2023,”

So, mark your diaries and see you in March for Melbourne Now and the opportunity to experience the very best design that Melbourne and indeed Victoria has to offer.

Melbourne Now
ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/melbourne-now-2023

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