The Art Gallery of NSW, Museum of Contemporary Art and Carriageworks launch The National: New Australian Art.

The past 12 months has felt like a year of incessant decline for Australian arts. The Federal funding fiasco, galling MYEFO cuts, and startling blows to major institutions like the Melbourne Art Fair and Adelaide Festival have made pessimists of almost all of us, so it’s hugely welcome news that three of Sydney’s top cultural locations have joined forces to hatch a new biennial festival celebrating contemporary Australian art.

The Art Gallery of NSW, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the ever impressive Carriageworks will present The National: New Australia Art from 2017, with a commitment to stage the event in 2019 and 2021. As its name suggests, the exhibition will feature only contemporary Australian art, with events planned across all three institutions. Perhaps the most inspired aspect of the newly announced event is that it will dovetail with the Sydney Biennale, occuring on alternating years. This means that Sydney will now have one major visual art festival annually, and what’s more, the exhibitions will be completely free.

Launched today at Sydney Central Train Station – the main travel hub equidistant from the...