The best free museums and art galleries in Melbourne
Take a cultural tour of Melbourne’s world-class museums, edgy artist-run spaces and blockbuster exhibitions. All without spending a cent!
NGV International
Old and new, beautiful and challenging, NGV International brings a world of art to Melbourne. The city’s premier art gallery has an ever-changing slew of free exhibits to peruse. Browse the permanent collection of international art. Then explore homegrown art and exhibitions at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV. The current exhibition, Making Good, explores great design in everyday life. Think adaptable fashion and edible coffee cups.
ACMI
From films to video games, ACMI celebrates screen culture past and present. Get behind the camera at ACMI’s free exhibition, The Story of the Moving Image. From the birth of film to today’s digital wonders, there’s more than a century of movie history to explore. And you can get hands-on at this fun cinema showcase, with animation and sound effects to play with.
Tolarno Galleries
For a small gallery, Tolarno sure has hosted some big names in art. Step inside this hidden space to see incredible exhibitions of contemporary art and design. The early days saw the likes of Picasso, Bonnard and Matisse gracing the walls of the gallery. More recently, art lovers admired works by legendary Aussie artist Patricia Piccinini. Whoever is showing, you're bound to see something special.
Art and Heritage Collection Tour
See a Foster's beer tower from the good old days, retro Moomba Monarch crowns and a bottle of spumante dating back to who knows when. For the first time ever, City of Melbourne's Art and Heritage Collection is opening its doors to the public for free guided tours. This is your chance to access to some of Melbourne’s most weird and wonderful treasures and historical archives.
Buxton Contemporary
Explore a stunning collection of Australian art at this Southbank gallery. The latest exhibition to land at Buxton Contemporary is The Veil. An exploration of identity and cultural resilience, the show features film, sculptures and photography.
Australian Music Vault
If you’re musically inclined, the Australian Music Vault is a must. It’s a great overview of Melbourne’s backstage sounds and stories. Watch rare footage and see iconic objects like Kylie Minogue’s stage outfits and notebooks belonging to Nick Cave. The free exhibition is permanently on show at Arts Centre Melbourne.
City Gallery
The City Gallery presents free, quarterly exhibitions on city life; past and present. Pop in to the gallery at Melbourne Town Hall to see the city's collection, an eclectic range of 13,000 artworks and artefacts. Right now you can catch The Dirty Dozen. Expect ceramic street food and rare menus. Plus works highlighting the dining habits of the 19th-century elite.
Science Gallery Melbourne
Mix a dose of science, with a dash of art, and a pinch of innovation and you get Science Gallery Melbourne. This is where art and science meet. A unique cultural space, it aims to inspire curiosity and critical thinking through the fusion of art and science. Part of Melbourne University, it’s designed to engage young people in the creative industries and science. On now is Distraction. Ponder the art of time wasting at this immersive exhibition dedicated to distraction and doom-scrolling.
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA)
From music to educational talks, screenings and more the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) will have you coming back again and again. Spot the iconic rust-red building along Southbank and head in to explore local and international art. Keep an eye out for pop-up events and teachings.
Victoria Police Museum
Explore the state's crime history at this free museum in Docklands. History buffs will be amazed by Australia's largest collection of Kelly Gang armour. Dig through major investigations and learn how animals have served in the police force all the way back to the 1960s.
Melbourne's best small, independent and artist-run galleries
Flinders Lane Gallery
Exhibiting collectable artworks and featuring solo exhibitions every three weeks.
West End Art Space
A contemporary art gallery with a focus on living artists that strive for excellence.
Kings Artist-Run Initiative
Space for contemporary art practice and gallery showcasing experimental projects.
Anna Schwartz Gallery
The gallery represents over 30 established and emerging artists on individual projects.
More free museums
Victoria Police Museum
Explore the social history of policing through interactive displays and over 300 collection items.
Mary MacKillop Heritage Centre
A place of inspiration and vitality, that promotes the spirit and charism of Saint Mary MacKillop.
Medical History Museum
A free museum focusing on medicine's contribution to scientific discovery and community wellbeing.
The best free exhibitions
The Story of the Moving Image
A permanent exhibition that journeys through the past, present and future of the moving image.
Yarra: Stories of Melbourne's River
Explores the chequered history of the stream we call the ‘city’s river’.
Babies and Barking Dogs: Keith Haring and Melbourne
A talk about the late artist's 1984 Melbourne works, now on display at NGV International.
Piotr Sobiesiak: The Night When Clouds Had Dreams
The exhibition presents sculptures from the Polish-born artist’s acclaimed series Nubes Formales.
Festival of Veterans Arts
Enjoy this veteran-led arts festival with exhibitions, performances, workshops and family events.
ANZAC Day Commemoration March
Watch and thank veterans, descendants and service members marching to the Shrine of Remembrance.
Bloom: By Melbourne Central x Melissa Likes Sushi
Step inside the immersive installation wrapping the historic Shot Tower in vibrant greenery.
Rigg Design Prize: Next in Design
The Rigg Design Prize is Australia’s most prestigious accolade for contemporary design.
Anna Pelc: All the Places I’ve Been
A retrospective exhibition that brings together artworks created over the past decade.
Behind the Lines: Are We Rolling?
An exhibition exploring all the twists and turns of another turbulent year in Australian politics.
Frances Loriente: What Would We Be if We Were Under the Sea
This exhibition by Frances Loriente explores our connection to the sea and its creatures.
Hany Armanious: Stone Soup
An exhibition of ordinary objects transformed into near-perfect doubles that unsettle what we know.
Cameron Grant: Australian Theatres Unveiled
Featuring theatres from around the country, revealing the physical spaces that shape their identity.
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Presence (Performance)
A Midsumma exhibition of six artists responding to the theme of being present/performing.
ANZAC Day Dawn Service
A solemn early-morning ceremony honouring the service and sacrifice of Australia’s veterans.
World of the Book
Explore the rare, the sacred and the iconic in the 20th anniversary of this annual exhibition.
Yehonatan Koenig: in-Coherence
The first Australian solo exhibition by the guest artist since his relocation from the US.
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Party Hard – After The Party: Soirée
An after-hours conversation on art, fashion and queer self-expression at Tasma Terrace.
Silent Hand Catches Silver Bell
An exhibition showcasing 25 years of Speak Percussion’s boundary-defying experimentation.
Play School: Come and Play
A hands-on, playful exhibition where families can discover how the beloved TV show comes to life.
Sangeeta Sandrasegar Atrium Commission
Discover a new textile installation using natural plant dyes in Fed Square's Atrium.
MECCA X NGV Women in Design Commission: Nipa Doshi
Designer Nipa Doshi explores beauty, plurality and diversity in her handcrafted cabinet.
Party Hard: After the Party
An exhibition exploring celebrations from Edwardian times to the first Sydney Mardi Gras and beyond.
Rewind Forward: Creative in Residence Group Exhibition
Drawing from state archives, artists create works that reawaken Victoria’s historical narrative.
Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday
NGV's exhibition brings together the work of more than 50 designers.
Making Memoir of a Snail
Explore handmade sets, props and characters from Adam Elliot's claymation film Memoir of a Snail.
Rebel Heart: Love Letters and Other Declarations
A stirring exhibition exploring romantic love through the State Library's extraordinary archive.
Swinging 60s
Did the sixties really swing in Victoria? A new exhibition from the Old Treasury Building.
Ria Green: Liminal Fields
A visual arts exhibition by Ria Green exploring the resonance and effect of the environment on self.
Alison Russell: Memories - Vivid, False and Lost
An exhibition that examines the fragile, shifting and often contradictory nature of human memory.
Beyond the Binary: Marlow Moss
NGV celebrates Marlow Moss’s Composition (1956–57) and their queer art legacy.
You Are Here: Melbourne Memory-scapes
An exhibition that engages with a collection of 1960s aerial photographs of Melbourne/Narrm.
Last updated on Wed 27 Aug 2025
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Shrine of Remembrance
The national war memorial of Victoria, honouring all Australians who have served their country.
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The Potter Museum of Art
The Potter has supported generations of artists, curators, writers and academics for over 50 years.
