Checked out the new building of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and played with clay balls

📍 Sydney · 👁 72 reads

Dubbed the most important cultural construction project since the Sydney Opera House, the newly completed North Building of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, costing AUD 344 million, officially opened to the public on December 3, 2022, with AUD 100 million coming from private donations. On Sunday, we checked out this newly completed art museum.

Entrance to the new building of the Art Gallery of New South Wales

At the entrance of the new building, the most eye-catching feature is the undulating wave-like glass roof supported by a steel structure. The transparent glass roof makes the entire building lighter and adds a sense of three-dimensional flow.

In addition, at the entrance door, there are three friendly Middle-earth giant sculptures by artist Francis Upritchard, titled "Everyone's Here."

The new building of the Art Gallery of New South Wales has four floors, housing numerous works by artists from around the world and Australia, ranging from paintings to installation art to video displays.

The newly expanded building was designed by the Japanese architecture firm SANAA, costing AUD 344 million and adding 17,000 square meters of space. It comprises seven exhibition halls across four floors, as well as over 8,000 square meters of gardens, terraces, and green roofs, many of which are open to the public 24/7.

The new exhibition hall features works from over 900 artists from Australia and around the world, including three Chinese artists.

My favorite exhibition in the new building was the hands-on clay modeling. A huge table was filled with clay balls shaped by other visitors. The entire space was very quiet, with sunlight streaming through the full-length windows and bathing me in serenity. The soft, moist clay slowly changing in my palms was very relaxing.

There was also a large table full of "Tangyuan" (glutinous rice balls), haha.

Between the roof and the exhibition halls, there are 3,400 square meters of courtyards and rooftop terraces, which will be used for various art installations.

You can go to the rooftop viewing platform to take photos of the museum's treasure: "Flower That Blooms in the Cosmos" by Yayoi Kusama (Japanese artist).

Yayoi Kusama (Japanese artist) was inspired by a local plant in southeastern Australia and created a vibrant floral sculpture, "Flower That Blooms in the Cosmos." It is placed on the outdoor platform of the new building, overlooking Sydney Harbour, and can be viewed from both inside and outside the museum on the third floor.