Imagine this giant crab sitting atop Canberra House. That’s one of the exhibitions to see for the 2026 Canberra Biennial. Photo: Harrison Witsey/Instagram.
A giant crab (who’s also a professor of architecture) atop the lower roof of Canberra House. A three-day art fair at the Hyatt. And a major commission from 2024 Venice Biennale Golden Lion winner Archie Moore.
These are just some of the diverse artworks and experiences that will be on offer across the Territory for the sixth Canberra Art Biennial.
Newly commissioned, site-specific work by more than 50 Australian and international artists will be spread across 20 venues and public spaces for the capital’s public art biennial.
Artists have spent months researching the capital’s gardens, lakes, plantings, buildings and pathways to shape their sculptures, installations, performances, printmaking and new media – making the 2026 program as diverse as Canberra’s landscape.
“Unlike many cultural experiences that occur behind the walls of galleries or theatres, public art meets people where they are, allowing people of all ages, backgrounds and circumstances to participate in cultural life,” Arts Minister Michael Pettersson said.
“Through contemporary public art, artists help us explore the relationship between people and place.”
The Biennial program feature’s a major new work from Kamilaroi and Bigambul artist Archie Moore, whose geological project ‘kith and kin’ won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2024 Venice Biennale (the first time an Australian artist has received the award).
He’ll present ‘Walk around like you own the place’ at Reconciliation Place.
The Australian National Botanic Gardens’ rainforest gully will host a new work by Canberra artist Jacqueline Bradley.
She’s cast in bronze objects she and her two-year-old son collected on walks through the Gardens in bronze. These include correas dropped by birds, half-eaten Jatz, seedpods, and mulch.
Ms Bradley then embedded them in a bench of recycled timber, alongside bronze casts of the Gardens’ own tools of care: the calico bags used by the Seedbank collection team and the rocket pots staff use to raise plants.
“Public spaces are full of private memories – the moment you met a friend under the tree, the first encounter with a magpie on the lawn, a moment of falling in love in the rainforest, or nursing your baby on the bench,” she said.
“Public artworks have the potential to make space for both of these experiences – the shared and the private – to exist in tandem.”
Butchulla and Burmese artist Mia Khin Boe’s ‘The Aboriginal Robot’ will stand at the ANU School of Cybernetics – this time with the narrative presented as an installation of painting and sculpture blown from borosilicate glass.
It continues her science-fiction narrative of an Australia ravaged by human extraction, in which a government-built AI (equipped with the wisdom of Aboriginal land management) learns the history of those who profited from the land. It then sparks a revolt.
ARI BANAL(E) is Canberra’s first hotel-based art fair, setting up for the festival’s opening weekend at the Hyatt Hotel Canberra.
It will showcase the artists of six ARIs (artist-run-initiatives) across three days.
Hyatt Hotel Canberra general manager Shane Jolly said art played an important role in the character of the space.
“Beautiful artworks are featured throughout the hotel, and more recently, one of our lounges has been transformed into a dedicated gallery space. With this growing connection to art, the opportunity to partner with the Canberra Art Biennial felt like a natural fit,” he said.
Mr Jolly explained six of the heritage rooms would become backdrops for contemporary art and creative expression, allowing visitors to meet the artists and buy pieces as they explored.
“This will be the first time a hotel-based art fair is presented in Canberra, and we think it is fitting that it is happening here at Canberra’s first hotel. The first major hotel-based art fair took place in New York in 1994 at the iconic Gramercy Park Hotel, so this kind of event carries a lot of history and legacy,” he said.
“We are excited to take part in this tradition and continue contributing to Canberra’s history … and we look forward to future partnerships with Canberra Art Biennial.”
The 2026 headline exhibition ‘Takeaway – Tales from the Flavour Superhighway’ will be presented at Canberra Contemporary.
A giant crab will peer down on people passing Canberra House at 40 Marcus Clarke Street. Harrison Witsey’s creation is also a professor of architecture and will tell his audience facts about the building he sits upon.
And there will be much, much more.
Mr Pettersson encouraged all Canberrans to discover what exhibitions had been installed near them.
“It sparks conversations between strangers, it encourages curiosity and debate,” he said.
“The festival reinforces our city’s position as a place where artists want to live, work and create.”
The full 2026 program, including artist talks, events and opening weekend events, can be found at Canberra Art Biennial. The event will run from 11 September to 31 October across Canberra.
Original Article published by Claire Fenwicke on Region Canberra.
