In 2024, Melbourne’s arts scene has never felt more exciting. From world premieres of award-winning musicals and blockbuster exhibitions to indie operations involving wildly talented individuals, our city is alive with awe-inspiring cultural offerings.
All year round, Time Out’s dedicated critics are busy catching musicals, plays and exhibitions around Melbourne to give readers the juicy coverage they want: independent critical reviews. What better way to shine a spotlight on the talented artists and performers we love to write about than by launching the very first Time Out Arts & Culture Awards, celebrating the best of the arts in our city from May 2023 to May 2024.
For the Best Art Exhibition, we looked for outstanding exhibitions that impressed us across a number of key criteria including visual impact, use of exhibition space, design, technical integration, accessibility, historical/cultural value and educational value.
And the winner is…
The NGV Triennial has won the Critics' Choice Best Art Exhibition Award 2024 in Time Out Melbourne’s inaugural Arts & Culture Awards.
Robotic dogs. Yoko Ono. A dragon-imprinted McDonald's sign. Paris haute couture house Schiaparelli. The NGV's Triennial returned bigger and better in late 2023, as an electric fusion of contemporary art, design and architecture that was free to attend. It featured creations from 100 artists, and included more than 25 world premiere projects commissioned exclusively by the gallery.
The exhibition allowed leading and emerging artists and designers to creatively respond to the most relevant and critical global issues of our time. Additionally, the free nighttime program (Triennial Extra) helped bring in a broader audience, thanks to activations, DJs and performances.