Galleries and design in Tasmania

Discover fascinating heritage collections and world-class exhibitions at major institutions.

Find new perspectives and local insight in regional spaces where meeting with the artists is common. And be challenged and inspired by the legendary cheek of Mona. 

Best galleries and design

Mona 

The Museum of New and Old Art, aka Mona, inspires a gamut of reactions, and that’s just the way they intend it. Housing one of the world’s most controversial private art collections, Mona is experimental, experiential – and the fun begins with a river ride on a camouflaged ferry from Hobart’s waterfront.   

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG)

The second oldest gallery in Australia, Hobart’s TMAG has a breadth of art that includes the First Peoples Art and Culture department, which has a global indigenous collection of more than 12,000 objects and artworks. TMAG hosts blockbuster travelling exhibitions and houses other unique collections such as one dedicated to colonial decorative arts and the poignant thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) collection.

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) 

A remarkable and varied collection of Australian and international art and design awaits at this gallery-museum in Launceston’s Royal Park, including a large collection documenting influential Tasmanian printmaker Bea Maddock’s work. Find also Tasmanian colonial art, contemporary Australian art, and a fascinating decorative arts collection.

Design Tasmania

This light-filled gallery in Launceston’s City Park is the best place to check out the island’s design credentials in ceramics, metal, wood, glass and wicker. The showpiece is a permanent collection of more than 70 pieces of contemporary wood design assembled since 1990, including Tasmanian design hero Kevin Perkins’s acclaimed Cape Barren Goose cabinet made from Huon pine and silky oak. The reputation of this small but powerful not-for-profit has gone global with pieces from the collection exhibited in many other places. 

Salamanca Arts Centre

In the Georgian-era sandstone warehouses of Salamanca Place, Salamanca Arts Centre spans a raft of retail galleries and studios selling the works of artists and artisans from Tasmania and beyond. Wander through to the outdoor installation garden and venture upstairs to the (long) Long Gallery.