City Collection | City of Melbourne

Art and Heritage Collection Store - Level 4, Melbourne Town Hall

Art and Heritage Collection Store - Level 4, Melbourne Town Hall

In May 2023, the Art and Heritage Collection store officially opened in its relocated home of the historic and iconic Melbourne Town Hall. Displayed across 16 heritage rooms, the collection is arranged according to thematically and theatrically organised 'chapters'. This new open display storage method aligns with the more recent museological trend to promote public access to collections material.

Explore the Collection

Public Tours

Public Tours

The relocation of the collection to the supremely central civic location of the Melbourne Town Hall has facilitated a new era of accessibility for the collection.

Free guided tours of the collection are now available to the public on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Book Now

City Gallery

City Gallery

Located in the Swanston Street facade of Melbourne Town Hall, the City Gallery presents free, specialist curated exhibitions on city life, past and present.

Upcoming exhibition:
Colonial Confusion
Curated by Megan Evans
26 October 2023 – 26 February 2024

Exhibition Archive

Public Art and Memorials

Public Art and Memorials

The city’s permanent outdoor collection is very public – out in the elements, on the streets, in the parks, day and night. From ‘River God Fountain’ (1863) to ‘Vault’ (1980) and ‘Standing by Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner’ (2016), the city’s 180-odd pieces of public art have become part of its cultural DNA.

Public Art and Memorials Map

The collection – it’s a
thing composed of 13000 things.

Occupying a museological halfway point between the idiosyncrasy and eclecticism common to a private collection and the ambition of the state museum, the Art and Heritage Collection is big enough to reflect the city and its narratives and small enough to stay connected to the street and its stories. Some of its items were created for posterity, such as the memorials and the mayoral portraits. Others, such as a series of photographs of potholes, a bottle of Moomba spumante and an Aboriginal scar tree, were not.

It is characterised by dualities: outdoor/indoor, contemporary/historical, prosaic/artistic. It can be laudably democratic and comically stuffy.

It also happens to be the best capital city collection in Australia.