The best in free art and culture Sydney has to offer this summer

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In late 2025, Sydney’s leading museums and galleries put their heads together to develop a self-guided walk, pointing visitors to one another’s exhibitions and entertainments. While the city’s cultural institutions are arrayed mainly along Macquarie Street, the Domain and Hyde Park, there is also much to see beyond this museum mile.

The summer’s best free art and exhibitions unfold across a three-plus-kilometre circuit that can be tackled in sections or as a whole. All offer free entry.

On your Mark

Near Town Hall, Gadigal Metro Station has been named by the Prix Versailles design awards as one of the World’s Most Beautiful Passenger Stations for 2025. Artist Callum Morton played his part by creating two 13-metre high murals of train tunnels from 10,000 colourful porcelain enamel tiles. First Nations artists Rowena Welsh-Jarrett, Alison Page and Dakota Dixon cast aluminium necklace sculptures inspired by necklaces traditionally made from native reeds. Above Metro Station in Parkline Place on Pitt Street, catch Tomás Saraceno’s first permanent public art installation in Australia. His modular tetrahedrons, flying in squadrons of 15, appear to float midair.

Australian Museum

Exit Gadigal Station and walk 450m along William Street to the Australian Museum. Australia’s oldest museum holds a collection of more than 22 million specimens and objects. Until February 15, see the best in Australian wildlife photography and then drop in to see Unfinished Business, an affecting exhibition featuring 30 powerful 3D lenticular portraits of 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with disability. These images create an illusion of depth, appearing to move and shift as viewers walk past them.

Qingrong Yang captures a lady fish snatching its prey from right under this little egret’s beak.

The Domain

In Naalu Badu (northern building of the Art Gallery of NSW) lies the Yiribana Gallery, showcasing the richness and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art from across the country. Entry is free, with daily tours led by First Nations staff at 11am.

For kids and the young at heart, descend to the Tank Gallery where Mike Hewson’s The Key’s Under the Mat features a communal barbeque, swings, slide, steam room and sauna. While at the gallery, children can decorate a fabric square to contribute to The Patchwork Portal, a new commission by Sydney artist Raquel Caballero in the form of a growing, larger-than-life-size doll that comes to life in real time.

Macquarie Street

Continue to Hyde Park Barracks, one of the country’s best-preserved convict-era buildings. Thousands of convicts, migrants, and institutionalised women once crossed its threshold; today, recently upgraded cutting-edge audio installations and 4,000 original artefacts offer a moving journey through Australia’s complex early European history.

Next door is The Mint, built at a cost of 45,000 gallons of rum. Originally part of Governor Macquarie’s “Rum Hospital” for convicts, it later became the first branch of the Royal Mint outside London.

Next to Parliament House is the State Library of NSW, with its newly opened reading rooms, expanded cafe, and rooftop bar. A playful, interactive exhibition has been created based on the fictional world of children’s author Pamela Allen. Play in Mr. McGee’s tree, flip through giant pages of Bertie and the Bear, and make a splash with the animals from Who Sank the Boat? (Until July 2027).

Oyster, whelk and cockle shells unearthed from the site of the Museum of Sydney.

Down the road, the Museum of Sydney is showing Unearthed, displaying some of the 140,000 objects excavated from First Government House, including outhouses, kitchens, and servants’ quarters. A second exhibition, Dig It!, lets visitors search for artefacts using a family-friendly, digitally simulated excavation with 1980s video game vibes.

Circular Quay

On the lawns of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), catch the golden bronze bust Ancient Feelings by British sculptor Thomas J. Price. The braided figure questions which types of people are typically immortalised by statues. It is the first in a series of three public sculptures funded by a $3 million philanthropic gift.

Ancient Feelings by British sculptor Thomas J. Price on the lawns of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

At sunset, watch Badu Gili from the MCA lawn – a free, nightly, six-minute animated projection on the Sydney Opera House’s eastern sails. This year’s iteration, Badu Gili: Story Keepers, showcases the work of Mervyn Street, a Gooniyandi man and Kimberley stockman, and Kinngaimmiut Inuk storyteller Ningiukulu Teevee. It runs over four sessions most evenings in January.

The Rocks

Tucked within the winding streets of The Rocks is Susannah Place, a heritage-listed former grocery store and workers’ cottage. Visitors can enjoy a free 20-minute “welcome talk” about the families who lived here. These introductions run throughout the day (10.30 am to 4.30 pm); maximum 20 visitors per tour, no bookings required.

Each Friday from January 30 to February 27, Sydney Observatory is hosting a free summer music series on its lawns from 5pm to 8pm. Two exhibitions will be open after hours: Southern Sky Astrophotography and I Put the Stars on the Ground, which highlights First Nations custodianship of Sky Country.

Summer music series at Sydney Observatory.

Barangaroo

Barangaroo Reserve is scattered with public artworks, including Ngangamay, a multimedia experience where carvings in five rocks unlock short films. Nearby, catch Upside-Down Garden by Jumaadi at International House. These suspended metal sculptures are inspired by botanical forms and the tradition of wayang kulit (shadow puppetry).

Finish Line

At the Australian National Maritime Museum, Torres Strait Islander artist Brian Robinson incorporates icons from video games and Hollywood to reflect on Islander history and humour. Young visitors to Ur Wayii (Incoming Tide) can create an angelfish in the style of Robinson’s designs during daily drop-in workshops.

One Last Push

At the new Sydney Fish Market (opening January 19), three bronze sculptures pay tribute to local Aboriginal fishing traditions: The Nawi (a bark canoe) by Uncle Steven Russell, Birrang Narrami (Star Net) by Nadeena Dixon, and The Call of Ngura/Country by Leanne Tobin.

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