Top 5 things to see & do in June

Fri 29 May 2026

Entertain the family at Brisbane's premier riverside art precinct. Stroll between our neighbouring Gallery's — the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) to see our historical and contemporary Australian and International Collections — then walk over to the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) to experience the mind-bending immersive installations of 'Olafur Eliasson: Presence' that play with light, colour and your perception.

If you're looking to unwind, wander through the spectacular Watermall within the cavernous interior of QAG. The water also extends far beyond the Gallery’s interior, past the Dandelion fountains, through to the Sculpture Courtyard's reflection pond and waterfall. Enjoy a quiet moment of contemplation, be mesmerised by the light dancing on the water or gaze at the sculpture garden’s artworks.

Double the art, double the fun during the upcoming Queensland school holidays. Keep the kids amused with two dedicated exhibitions at the Children's Art Centre, GOMA, and have a fun, creative day out for all the family with drawing and making, digital media activities, and non-stop dancing!

QAG Sculpture Courtyard & Garden

1. How often do you get the chance to touch or walk through a rainbow? Now you can during 'Olafur Eliasson: Presence'.

Walk into a darkened space and see this shimmering shifting veil of colour. Beauty takes a rainbow and brings it into the Gallery close enough for us to reach out and touch and even walk right through. What does a rainbow feel like: It feels beautiful and soft upon our skin.

'Olafur Eliasson: Presence'
Gallery of Modern Art
Gallery 1.1 (The Fairfax Gallery)
Exhibition: 10.00am–5.00pm until 12 July 2026 / Ticketed
Friday nights 5.30–8.30pm in June / Ticketed

Olafur Eliasson Beauty 1993

2. Recently opened: 'Worlds within Worlds'

The artists featured in 'Worlds within Worlds: Baroque Traditions, Contemporary Visions' activate a Baroque sensibility toward a world in flux, responding to the challenges of the twentieth century and into the present day to reflect on our similarly chaotic and unsettled modern world like their predecessors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

'Worlds within Worlds
Queensland Art Gallery
Gallery 4
Until 16 August 2026
Free entry

Patricia Piccinini The stags 2008

Zilvinas Kempinas Columns 2006

3. Just opened: 'Art Box for Kids' with Shannon Brett

When Queensland artist Shannon Brett was a child, drawing clothing and creating pattern designs filled school exercise books — today, Brett creates garments for the runway. As part of the 'Art Box for Kids' activity Fashion Show, Brett encourages children to be creative and make their own fashion model and outfits, decorated with patterns meaningful to them.

Art Box for Kids: Shannon Brett
Gallery of Modern Art
Children's Art Centre, Entry level
Until 8 November 2026
Free entry

4. Closing soon: 'Express Yourself' with Vipoo Srivilasa

Vipoo Srivilasa is a Thai-born, Melbourne-based ceramic artist who likes to make work that is beautiful, fun and adds a smile to people’s faces. The artist often incorporates flowers and imaginary characters into their practice, particularly characters covered in flowers, called ‘flower bears’. Explore Srivilasa's activities that span drawing, digital media and dancing.

Vipoo Srivilasa: Express Yourself
Gallery of Modern Art
Children's Art Centre, Park level
Until 13 September 2026
Free entry

5. Queensland Day

On 6 June, we celebrate Queensland Day (the day we separated from New South Wales in 1859), so this is the perfect opportunity to organise a visit and take a closer look at paintings by our 'Queensland Greats'.

William Robinson's (1936–2025) painting William and Shirley, flora and fauna 1985 shows the artist with his wife Shirley at their property at Beechmont in the Gold Coast Hinterland, some 100km south of Brisbane. Here we see the couple seated on a fallen log amongst their lush eucalypt and subtropical landscape with various native fauna — a mob of Kangaroos, a Carpet Python, and Major Skink, and various birds: the Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Australian Magpie, Sacred Kingfisher, and a Whistling Kite.

Margaret Olley (1923–2011) moved to Brisbane when she was 12 and was a boarder at Somerville House school for girls in South Brisbane from 1937 where they were quick to recognise Olley’s talents and recommended to her mother that she attend art school. Olley’s journey to becoming an artist began at the Brisbane Central Technical College in 1941 (now Queensland University of Technology, Gardens Point).

Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori (b.c.1924–2015) was born by a small tidal creek on the south side of Bentinck Island, of the South Wellesley Island Group in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Far North Queensland. Gabori began painting in 2005, around the age of eighty, her immediate love of paint triggered an outpouring of artwork depicting her country and her ancestral stories.

Robinson was a 'Queensland Greats' recipient in 2004, Olley in 2006, and Gabori in 2022, the award presented to coincide with Queensland Day celebrations.

Australian Art Collection
Queensland Art Gallery
Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries
Free entry

William Robinson William and Shirley, flora and fauna 1985

Margaret Olley Woodsman's house 1948

Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori Makarrki 2008

Located riverside across two architecturally-acclaimed neighbouring Gallery buildings in the Queensland Cultural Centre — Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) and Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) — QAGOMA is adjacent to Queensland Museum, State Library of Queensland, South Bank Parklands, and welcomes visitors of all ages, interests and abilities.

Getting Here: Both Gallery's are just a short walk from Brisbane's CBD, QAG's riverfront entry is near Melbourne Street and Victoria Bridge, and both buildings have an entrance from Stanley Place.

Transport: Parking is available in two neighbouring carparks both accessible via Stanley Place and QAGOMA is next to the Cultural Centre Busway station and a short walk from the South Brisbane train station and the South Bank CityCat and Ferry terminal.

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA)
Brisbane, Australia