Melbourne Art Fair, now running annually, has announced its 2025 gallery list featuring 60 Australasia galleries and First Nations art centres, alongside two international commissions. This is the first fair under the helm of new Fair Director Melissa Loughnan, who comes from a background in art consultancy and returned to Australia to take up the role in August this year.
Matching the refreshed annual model is a wave of young newcomers (galleries established after 2017) to the 2025 fair, including Animal House Fine Arts, C. Gallery, Jennings Kerr and Redbase.
Arc One, Australian Galleries, BAProjects, Egg & Dart, Hugo Michell and Sabbia Gallery will also be participating in 2025, following an absence in this year’s edition.
Meanwhile, some notable names seem to have dropped out of Melbourne Art Fair’s circuit, including Anna Schwartz Gallery, Darren Knight Gallery, This Is No Fantasy and Vermilion Art. Additional gallery inclusions are yet to be confirmed.
The William Mora Indigenous Art Centre program will once again support Moa Arts, Munupi Arts & Crafts Association, Papunya Tjupi Arts and Wik & Kugu Arts Centre to attend the 2025 fair.
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In 2025, Melbourne Art Fair (running 20-23 February) will also offer visitors a glimpse into the Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair, set to launch in 2027, with a showcase exhibition. It’s a collaborative effort between the Melbourne Art Fair Foundation and Creative Victoria’s First Peoples Directions Circle to highlight the work of 20 unrepresented Victorian First Peoples artists, along with Kaiela Arts, Baluk Arts, Perridak Arts and The Torch.
In 2027 the full-scale Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair will coincide with Melbourne Art Fair.
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Two new commissions with institutional partnerships
The Melbourne Art Foundation 2025 commission program will present new works from Singaporean artist Dawn Ng, represented by Sullivan+Strumpf and in partnership with Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA); and South Korea-born Auckland-based Yona Lee, represented by Fine Arts, Sydney, in partnership with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre, Aotearoa New Zealand.
Ng’s moving image work will continue her exploration into the trajectory of time via a cascade of colour, while Lee will develop a large-scale installation that investigates the digital age through found objects. The two pieces will enter the permanent collections of the partnering institutions after the duration of 2025 Melbourne Art Fair.
Four programming pillars for 2025 Melbourne Art Fair
The broader 2025 Artistic Program of the Melbourne Art Fair features four platforms – Video, Beyond, Conversations and Project Rooms.
Rachel Ciesla, Senior Curator for the Art Gallery of Western Australia’s Simon Lee Foundation Institute of Contemporary Asian Art, was announced as the curator of Video this month.
Taking charge of Beyond, which will present three large-scale installations and spatial interventions, is Anna Briers, Curator Len Lye and Contemporary Art, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. While Project Rooms, presented by Alpha60, will host independent art organisations West Space and Adelaide Contemporary Experimental.
Melbourne Art Fair’s 2025 talks program, Conversations, will be presented by The Guardian, with speakers to be announced.
The full 2025 Melbourne Art Fair program and exhibiting artists will be announced in January.
