Australian Centre for Contemporary Art facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA)

Established	1983
Location	111 Sturt Street, Southbank, Victoria, Australia
Type	Contemporary art museum

The Australian Centre For Contemporary Art (ACCA) is a contemporary art gallery in Melbourne, Australia. The gallery is located on Sturt Street in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, in the inner suburb of Southbank. Designed by Wood Marsh Architects, the building was completed in 2002. It incorporates facilities for Chunky Move, ACCA and the Malthouse Theatre.

In December 2015, Max Delany was announced as the new Artistic Director of ACCA, replacing the outgoing Artistic Director Juliana Engberg.

Design

ACCA consists of four large gallery spaces, and together with the neighbouring Malthouse Theatre and ACCA form a courtyard at the centre of the complex which is used as an outside performance and exhibition space. The building also includes two rehearsal studios and an administration facilities for dance company Chunky Move as well as a large set construction facility for the Malthouse.

Openings in the distinctive rusty steel façade are kept to a minimum to support a broad array of installations, temporary and digitally projected work, which contrasts with the inter-pressed metal and glass surfaces in the interior. The design references the European model of the Kunsthalle, acting as a flexible shell for the display of art.

Exhibitions

In its first decade, ACCA had already commissioned over 200 new works by both Australian and International Artists. Every year ACCA commissions six or seven new Australian artists for exhibition. Featured Australian artists have included Pat Brassington, Patricia Piccinini, alongside international artists such as Martin Creed, Barbara Kruger, Tacita Dean, Jenny Holzer and Joseph Kosuth. ACCA also presents many thematic exhibitions, as well as public art through initiatives such as the Big Wall project.

Sculpture

Following the completion of construction, the infamous sculpture Vault by Ron Robertson-Swann was relocated to the building's forecourt, where it remains today.

The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. The Vault sculpture can be seen far left and the Malthouse Theatre is on the right.

Gallery

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  Main entrance

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  Interior

Awards

• Institutional Architecture Award, 2003

• National Awards 2003