Kicking off next year’s program a little early will be QAGOMA’s summer blockbuster exhibition Fairy Tales. Casting a spell over Brisbane from December 2, 2023 to April 28, 2024, this enchanting exhibition will highlight the fantastical figures we know so well — wicked witches, stalwart princes and princesses, and magical animals – through paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, films, fashion and much more. From wandering into the woods to peering through a looking glass, you’ll be mesmerised by artworks and installations from leading international and Australian artists including Yayoi Kusama, Jana Sterbak, Kiki Smith, Patricia Piccinni, Abdul Abdullah, Ron Mueck and Charles Blackman, and maybe even discover the meaning of happily ever after. Then on March 23, 2024 to August 11, 2024, the captivating career of leading contemporary Queensland artist Judy Watson will be celebrated at mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri: Judy Watson. For more than four decades, Judy’s powerful art has told the stories of her family’s Waanyi Country in northern Queensland. Now, more than 130 paintings, prints, sculptures and installations will take over Queensland Art Gallery in a comprehensive survey of the renowned artist’s practice that is centred on truth-telling around the environment, historical government policy affecting Indigenous Australians, and the collection of First Nations cultural material and remains.

Mid-2024 will see the arrival of Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses – a collision of fashion, art, science and technology from internationally-acclaimed Dutch innovator and fashion designer Iris van Herpen. Exclusive to Brisbane, this awe-inspiring exhibition will showcase 100 garments, alongside artworks, historical specimens and cultural artefacts in which the designer has drawn inspiration. Created for the likes of Beyoncé, Björk, Cate Blanchett, Lady Gaga and Tilda Swinton, Iris’ spectacular sculptural silhouettes combine meticulous hand-crafting with sophisticated technologies such as 3D printing. Come November 2024, the next chapter of QAGOMA’s flagship exhibition series will see art lovers into 2025 with more 70 projects from more than 200 artists and makers from across Australia, Asia and the Pacific. Taking place across Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT11) will showcase artists not previously exhibited in Australia, reflect the region’s social and cultural diversity and build on three decades of engagement and storytelling in across the Pacific. APT11 will be accompanied by live performance, in conversations, cinemas programs and youth projects, alongside ongoing community engagement events and published digital essays.

For more information on QAGOMA’s awe-inspiring 2024 program, head to the QAGOMA website. 

_{Image one: Henrique Oliveira / Brazil b.1973 / Installation view of Baitogogo 2013, Palais de Tokyo, Paris / Plywood and tree branches / 6740 x 1179 x 2076cm / Image courtesy: SAM Art Projects, Galerie GP&N Vallois, Galeria Millan / © Henrique Oliveira / Photograph: André Morin / This work is indicative of a new commission by Henrique Oliveira for the exhibition ‘Fairy Tales’ at QAGOMA.
Image two: Iris van Herpen / Netherlands b.1984 / Hydrozoa dress, from the ‘Sensory Seas’ collection 2020 / Collection: Iris van Herpen / Photograph: David Uzochukwu / © David Uzochukwu
Image three: Judy Watson / Waanyi people / Australia b.1959 / moreton bay rivers, australian temperature chart, freshwatermussels, net, spectrogram(installation view) 2022 / Indigo dye, graphite, synthetic polymer paint, waxed linen thread and pastel on cotton / 247 x 488cm / Purchased 2023 with funds raised through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation Appeal / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Judy Watson/Copyright Agency / Photograph: N Harth/© QAGOMA
Image four: Mit Jai Inn / Thailand b.1960 / Planes (Electric) (detail) 2019 / Oil on canvas / Dimensions variable / Installation view, ‘Encounters’, Art Basel Hong Kong, 2019 / Image courtesy: The artist and Silverlens, Manila & New York / © Mit Jai Inn
Image five: Iris van Herpen / Netherlands b.1984 / Sensory Seas dress and Nautiloid dress, from the ‘Sensory Seas’ collection 2020 / Collection: Iris van Herpen / Photograph: David Uzochukwu / © David Uzochukwu
Image six: Sarker Protick / Bangladesh b.1986 / Ghore Fera 2011–23 / Inkjet print / 50.8 x 76.2cm / Courtesy: The artist and Shrine Empire, Delhi / © Sarker Protick
Image seven: Production still from Cinderella 1922 / Director: Lotte Reiniger / © and image courtesy: British Film Institute
Image eight: Iris van Herpen / Netherlands b.1984 / Synergia Series, from various collections 2021 / Collection: Iris van Herpen / Photograph: Carla van de Puttelaar / © Carla van de Puttelaar}