Brisbane Arts and Culture Guide: GOMA, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre and South Bank

Brisbane's arts and culture landscape has been transformed over the past two decades, with the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA, opened 2006 and now the most visited contemporary art museum in Australia), the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, the State Library of Queensland, and the Queensland Museum all concentrated in the extraordinary South Bank Cultural Precinct. The pre-2032 Olympics cultural investment is accelerating this transformation, with significant new arts infrastructure planned or under construction. Brisbane's live music and independent arts scenes have also flourished, particularly in the Fortitude Valley and West End creative precincts.

Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) — Australia's most visited contemporary art museum (opened 2006 on the South Bank), GOMA's collections and major exhibitions programme have made it the centrepiece of Queensland's cultural ambitions. The 2022 GOMA expansion (the new Level 4 and the additional wing) increased gallery space and confirmed GOMA as a major international contemporary art institution. GOMA's collection includes outstanding Australian and international contemporary art, with particular strengths in Indigenous Australian art and Asia-Pacific contemporary art. Entry to the permanent collection is free.

Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) — the QPAC's four performance spaces (the Lyric Theatre, the Concert Hall, the Playhouse, and the Cremorne Theatre) are the home of Opera Queensland, the Queensland Ballet, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and Queensland Theatre. The QPAC presents major national and international touring productions across all performing arts disciplines and is one of the finest performing arts venues in Australia.

Fortitude Valley arts and music precinct — the Valley's network of live music venues (the Tivoli, the Fortitude Music Hall, Woolly Mammoth, the Black Bear Lodge), galleries, and creative spaces provides Brisbane's most vibrant arts and entertainment precinct. The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in the Valley is a major hub for contemporary and experimental arts.

West End creative precinct — Brisbane's bohemian inner suburb provides excellent independent bookshops (Avid Reader, Archives), galleries, and the La Boite Theatre Company at the Roundhouse Theatre, creating a creative precinct that complements the South Bank institutional arts scene.

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