Art lovers rejoice! The National Gallery of Australia today announced they will reopen to the public on Tuesday 2 June, after the ACT Reconciliation Day long weekend, with a raft of safety measures in place.
The announcement follows the ACT Government declaring earlier this week that Canberra’s galleries, museums, national institutions and historic places prepare to come back online from 30 May.
While galleries and museums across the world have done their best to share their collections and new exhibitions with the public digitally during the COVID-19 shutdown, nothing quite beats the real thing.
Initially guests will have access to the exhibitions Belonging: Stories of Australian Art and XU ZHEN®: ETERNITY VS EVOLUTION.
The Gallery’s International Art collection galleries will also be available to the public, while all other exhibitions and displays will remain closed.
The Gallery’s director Nick Mitzevich said his entire team is excited to recommence sharing their collection and exhibitions with everyone.
“Art has been a salvation for many people in these uncertain times and we know immersion in art and culture will play an important role in bringing our local and national community back together,” he said.
The National Gallery’s reopening follows recent advice from the ACT Government that galleries can reopen with up to 20 visitors at a time.
Safety measures designed to protect visitors will include timed entry, a 20-person limit in galleries, sanitiser stations throughout the building, additional cleaning and the closure of small exhibition spaces.
Visitors to the Gallery will need to pre-register for a timed ticketed session, which will run every 30 minutes.
First release of timed sessions, which are available for bookings now, will include entry from Tuesday 2 June to Tuesday 30 June. Timed sessions will run throughout the day from 10am to 4pm.
Visitors will be required to arrive 10 minutes prior to the commencement of the session for a group briefing.
“We will, of course, be ensuring a controlled environment that will safeguard the health and wellbeing of visitors,” said Mitzevich.
Visitors will also be asked to provide their first name and contact number, which will only be used should contact tracing be required.
Further details on the Gallery’s safety measures and how to plan a visit is available here.
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