Melbourne: the Triennial returns, and the whole building gives way to it

Every three years the National Gallery of Victoria hands its building over to a single idea, and the result has become one of the most visited exhibitions in the southern hemisphere. The fourth NGV Triennial brings together art, design, architecture and performance across every floor — and, as with every edition, entry is free.

Among the names announced: Jenny Holzer, whose text works have moved from New York billboards to the Guggenheim's spiral; Wolfgang Tillmans, the photographer who made club nights and abstraction sit on the same wall; Zanele Muholi, the South African visual activist whose portraits of Black queer life have changed what a photographic archive can be; and the writer Ocean Vuong.

The Triennial sits inside a busy year for the museum. CARTIER, an Australian exclusive, gathers nearly 400 jewels, tiaras, necklaces and watches. Ragnar Kjartansson gets his first Australian solo exhibition — the Icelandic artist whose durational performances, among them the nine-screen The Visitors, turn repetition into something close to heartbreak. Passage: The Art of Atong Atem is the first major solo show for the Melbourne-based photographer. MOTHER takes on motherhood across art history, and Plant Life: The Nature of Design looks at plant-based materials as a way out of plastic.

Practical: NGV, 180 St Kilda Road and NGV Australia at Federation Square, Melbourne. General entry is free; ticketed exhibitions are booked separately.

More about the NGV · Tickets and what's on

Photos: National Gallery of Victoria