Discover Canberra’s Alternative Art Scene

Located on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin’s western basin, this not-for-profit gallery is dedicated to displaying the works of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. The gallery displays a mix of traditional and contemporary canvas paintings, as well as beautifully crafted objects including didgeridoos. The gallery provides the opportunity for Indigenous artists to have meaningful employment and develop their artistic practices. It also runs community engagement programmes designed to improve the cultural connection of young people.

A visit to the Canberra Glassworks gives visitors the opportunity to see artists at work and to appreciate their finished products. You can watch the artists in residence as they work in the Hotshop – a workshop space where raw materials are manipulated at extremely high temperatures as artists melt, blow, twist and shape the glass. Exhibitions are held to display the finished products and the resident creatives also host public lectures. Members of the public can book private lessons to create their own piece of art or join a weekly historical tour to learn about the building’s fascinating beginnings as the Kingston Powerhouse.

At under six square metres (65 square feet) and housed in a converted 1960s laundry block in the suburbs, this gallery is a unique space. As Canberra’s tiniest walk-in gallery, the Gallery of Small Things aims to promote the Danish concept of hygee through the joy of little objects. Regular exhibitions from artists rotate through the tiny space, with a particular focus on creators from the local area. There’s plenty of variety in the forms of art, with jewellery, textiles, wood block carvings and ceramics all featured. Most of the pieces displayed are for sale if you’d like to introduce some hygee into your own home.

It’s appropriate that the school of Art and Design is situated in one of the most beautiful buildings on the Australian National University campus. The iconic Art Deco structure is home to studio-learning programmes for students to develop their skills in a multitude of mediums from ceramics, jewellery and painting to photography and media arts. The gallery spaces are open to the public and host exhibitions of work from graduate and postgraduate artists, as well as travelling exhibitions from around Australia and works from the broader arts community in Canberra. A favourite is the annual graduation exhibition which showcases the hard work of each next generation.

A more recent addition to Canberra’s dynamic art scene is Tributary Projects, a studio and exhibition space run by and for artists. It aims to support a wide range of creatives, focusing on diversity and inclusivity. As well as developing visual artists, the company also produces contemporary literature through their small-scale publishing project Heavy Water. Spirit Theatre is a space to showcase and support electronic music and sound work from alternative producers. The gallery produces a mix of shows, both group and individual exhibitions, with art that uses a variety of forms and materials. People at any stage of their career are welcome to take part in the projects with an aim towards developing and broadening the local and national arts conversation.

The Canberra Contemporary Art Space (CCAS) runs two separate galleries, one in East Space by Lake Burley Griffin in the Parliamentary Triangle and the other in Manuka. Both sites run exhibitions of contemporary Australian art by emerging and established artists. The CCAS galleries aim to promote a space where artists can take risks, be bold and showcase new and ambitious works. Established in 1981, the CCAS has long been an important part of the Canberra art community and over the course of its history has supported the development of many artists working in disciplines often overlooked by traditional art establishments.