We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of New South Wales stands.

Making Worlds

An adult and a child in a room full of coloured mirror-like windows

Installation view of Making Worlds featuring Ugo Rondinone clockwork for oracles 2010 © Ugo Rondinone, photo © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Zan Wimberley

A display of contemporary art from across the globe from the Art Gallery’s collection

Making Worlds

Ongoing

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Naala Badu, our north building

Lower level 1

Free

🛈 Find out what you need to know before visiting

Making Worlds brings together artists whose work reflects on the complex worlds we create and share, both real and imagined.

Occupying a vast column-free gallery on lower level 1 of Naala Badu, the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ north building, it includes new acquisitions and much-loved collection highlights.

Visitors walk into the gallery through Ugo Rondinone’s immersive mirror installation, clockwork for oracles 2010, while within the display Gail Mabo’s Tagai joins major works by Rashid Johnson, Sally Smart, Shireen Taweel, Guan Wei and many others which reflect on ideas of personal representation, time, mapping and exchange.

In a recent change to the display, a visitor favourite by Ernesto Neto has been installed next to the windows overlooking Sydney Harbour and the suburb of Woolloomooloo. Neto’s room-sized sculpture, Just like drops in time, nothing is often smelt before it is seen. Its intense aroma derives from spices suspended within a translucent, pendulous fabric membrane. Like many of the works in the exhibition, Neto’s sculpture draws our attention to the physicality of bodies, inviting a sensory and immersive engagement with art.

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  • Visit information and accessibility

    • Bring your own device, with earbuds or headphones, to listen to our free audio guide in the exhibition.

    • Visitors with intolerances or allergies are advised that Ernesto Neto’s artwork Just like drops in time contains large quantities of aromatic spices: turmeric, paprika, cumin, cloves, pepper and fenugreek.

    • Children under 12 must be supervised by an adult at all times.

    • Please ask a host if you’d like further information or suggestions about any aspects of the exhibition.

    • For more information about visiting, including physical access and facilities, see Plan your visit

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