SECTORS

Gallery presentations are complemented by a dynamic program of live performances, major commissions, large-scale installations, international video art, and thought-provoking conversations.

COMMISSION

Established in 2006, the Melbourne Art Foundation Commission program provides a living artist with a rare opportunity to realise a large-scale work for unveiling at Melbourne Art Fair, which is later gifted to a prominent Australian institution.

Previous partners in the program have included AGWA, ACMI, HOTA Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, NGV, QAGOMA, the University of Queensland Art Museum, MCA, Art Gallery of South Australia, National Gallery of Australia; and artists Julie Rrap, Kaylene Whiskey, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Ronnie van Hout, Michael Parekowhai, David Griggs, Peter Hennessey, Jon Campbell, Ian Burns, and Mikala Dwyer.

The eleventh commission of the program will be unveiled at Melbourne Art Fair 2025.

BEYOND

Harnessing the monumental exhibition spaces within the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, BEYOND presents four large-scale installations and spatial interventions from leading contemporary artists. Melbourne Art Foundation supports the sector by providing a monetary grant to participating galleries.

VIDEO

VIDEO offers a dynamic presentation of thought-provoking and highly collectible contemporary works in moving-image art, featuring emerging and established artists from around the world.

PROJECT ROOMS

A platform for experimentation, PROJECT ROOMS provide an opportunity for public and independent art spaces from around Australia to present innovative and experimental work within the context of a major international visual arts event.

CONVERSATIONS

A platform for critical discourse and the sharing of ideas, CONVERSATIONS brings together cultural communities and thinkers from across the creative spectrum. The aim: to address the future of art and its relationship to interdisciplinary practices and the contemporary world through a series of talks and panels featuring artists, gallerists, curators, collectors, architects, critics, scholars and cultural luminaries.