Sharing the National Collection
Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup I, 1968, installation view. National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, the Poynton Bequest 2006 © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./ARS. Licensed by Copyright Agency.
'Here's a work which you have for a period of something like 10 years that makes your gallery a destination and gives you a destination exhibit. It's a completely different way of using the national collection.'
Home to the most valuable collection of art in Australia, the national collection comprises over 155,000 works of art, including the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Our significant collection represents the whole of Australian art, modern art worldwide, particularly from Europe and America, and art from across Asia and the Pacific. The collection includes some of the finest examples in Australia of French Impressionism, Dada and Surrealism, the Russian avant-garde, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism and Conceptual Art.
Under the National Cultural Policy ‘Revive’, the National Gallery’s Sharing the national collection initiative will receive $11.8 million over 4 years. This support will allow us to share some of our much-loved works with regional and suburban galleries, and cultural institutions across the country on long-term loans.
The National Gallery welcomes expressions of interest from eligible cultural institutions across the country and partnering with as many as possible to share the national collection.
‘Sharing the national collection with people in regional Australia is something close to my heart. I started my career in a regional gallery and I want to see as many people as possible, regardless of where they live, experience and enjoy the national collection. This support will allow us to share more of the national collection with more Australians and local communities – making it a truly national collection.’
Eligibility for participation in sharing the national collection
This initiative is focused on regional and suburban Australia. In defining this, the National Gallery seeks to be as generous and inclusive as possible.
The primary criterion is that the institution must be in regional or suburban Australia. For the purposes of Sharing the national collection, regional and suburban Australia is defined as > 5km from the central business district (CBD) of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane. This means that all of Tasmania, the Northern Territory and Western Australia (including the CBDs of their state capitals) are included.
State collecting institutions in the jurisdictions of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia are ineligible to participate in Sharing the national collection.
Commercial galleries and private individuals are ineligible to participate in Sharing the national collection.
The sharing the national collection initiative is designed for requests of two years or more in duration. A loan period of less than two years will be considered via our ongoing outward loans program.
What the National Gallery provides to partner institutions
- Conservation (to enable the work to travel), packing and outgoing freight.
- Labels for the artwork being shared.
- A range of support materials (that may include branding, any available high-resolution image for the work, media release, curatorial and front-of-house notes to support visitor engagement).
- Care instructions for the work.
- Reactive conservation support (onsite or online, depending on need and type of work).
- Insurance cover (in transit and while in the custody of the partner institution) for the full value of the artwork.
A range of other support is available for institutions who may need it in order to participate in this initiative, including copyright assistance, installation support and curatorial advice.
Please note that capital purchases and/or upgrades to facilities are not able to be funded as part of Sharing the national collection.
Expressions of interest
To lodge an expression of interest, click here
(to continue viewing this page and open the form in a new tab, CTRL-click link (PC) or CMD-click link (Mac) )
The sharing the national collection initiative is designed for requests of two years or more in duration. A loan period of less than two years will be considered via our ongoing outward loans program.
Search the collection
Our collection search has a record for almost every work of art in the national collection (over 99%).
This database is the inventory management tool that allows you to research and select the work(s) of art you would like to express interest in.
Labels added to the record help to indicate if the work of art may be available for loan. For example ‘on display’ and ‘on tour’ mean the artwork is already being enjoyed.
There are a number of ways to search the collection, such as by keyword, curriculum term and geographically. See here for more information.
Frequently asked questions
Click below for FAQ answer reveals or download a PDF version here.
EOIs are now open for the full four-year period of Sharing the National Collection, with the final artworks to be dispatched early 2027. EOIs are processed in order of receipt and therefore we encourage organisations who have specific artworks and/or timing requests to express interest early.
Works are loaned through Sharing the National Collection for a minimum of two years. To ensure loan requests are captured within the funding agreement the deadline for applications must close by 31 December 2026 with final works dispatched by early 2027. Artworks may remain with you for the duration of the loan period, even if this extends beyond the program end date. As an example, an institution requests an artwork to come to them on 1 February 2027 for three years and the National Gallery agrees. The artwork would be dispatched to the institution before the end of the program and the institution would be able to keep that work until 31 January 2030.
At this stage, there is no limit on the number of works that can be requested or the number of Expressions of Interest (EOIs) that an Institution can lodge. As more EOIs are lodged and processed, the National Gallery of Australia will assess these for the needs and requests of regional and suburban institutions. At some point, there may be a need to place parameters, such as limiting the number of works that can be requested, to ensure that as many institutions as possible can participate in Sharing the National Collection.
The National Gallery’s evolving collection consists of over 155,000 works of art, created by more than 15,000 artists, including the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. The collection comprises Australian art, modern art worldwide, particularly from Europe and America and art from across Asia and the Pacific.
The public Collection Search contains over 99% of the artworks in the national collection. The only items not discoverable via collection search is material that is not able to be viewed or loaned due to cultural considerations. To aid your selection, there are a number of markers that appear next to the title of the artwork on Collection Search. When these appear, they list a certain type of status, for example ‘On View’ or ‘On tour’. This means that the works are currently in use and may not be available under Sharing the National Collection at the time you are interested in. You are welcome to explore and express interest in any of the works shown on Collection Search.
Within the >99% of the national collection that is searchable on Collection Search, there are no exclusions and regional institutions can express interest in any of these works. There are practical reasons that some works will not be able to be provided. For example, works may already be on loan, part of a travelling exhibition or already on display in the National Gallery of Australia. There are labels in collection search that denote this so that people browsing can see the status of works. In these circumstances, when an artwork is returned to us or taken off display, the specific label is removed, indicating to those looking that the work is likely available again.
While there are no overt restrictions, each work will require a specific set of conditions to ensure it is safe while on loan. If an institution does not have the requisite conditions to enable them to have their preferred artwork, the National Gallery of Australia will work with them to identify other suitable works. With 155,000 artworks, we have works that suit a huge range of conditions, including robust works suitable for outdoor display. We encourage you to list your first preferences within the Expression of Interest online form found here.
News
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Media Release | 23 Sep
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Media Release | 24 Jun
