Where to see Aboriginal art in and around Sydney

Aboriginal rock art 

There are around 100,000 significant Aboriginal sites in NSW, with many containing millennia-old artworks either carved, painted or drawn on rocks and cave walls. Just in the bushlands around Sydney there are thousands of artworks showcasing the local artistic style, many engraved into the area’s iconic sandstone.  

National Indigenous Art Fair, The Rocks

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in Sydney’s north, the traditional home of the Darramuragal or Darug peoples, is a nationally recognised hub for Aboriginal art (it was named by National Geographic as one of the seven top rock art sites in the country, as it has countless artworks spread across its spectacular, rugged headlands). On West Head, scenic tracks like Elvina Trailhead, The Basin track and Mackerel track and America Bay walking track (easy access via West Head Road) take you past many sites including engravings and painting, including depictions of wildlife, people and Daramulum (a dreamtime figure and the son of creation deity Biiami). The Aboriginal Heritage walk takes in many well-known sites including Red Hands Cave, painted with vibrant ochre handprints. Hundreds more sites are scattered around Bobbin Head – find many on the Bobbin Head Loop Track and Gibberagong walking tracks.  

Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, West Head

In the heritage-listed Royal National Park south of Sydney – traditional land of the Dharawal people – a union of rugged cliffs, dreamy coastal coves and dense bushland houses many meaningful sites. Hike the Jibbon Loop track, a brisk five-kilometre circuit that starts in Bundeena and presents a parade of coastal drama, to see carvings made by the Dharawal people thousands of years ago, some of the most significant rock art in the Sydney region (a conservation project in the Royal National Park is working to preserve the Jibbon Headland Aboriginal engravings).  

Swim at the national park’s famous Wattamolla Beach, and, from there, you can see rock art with a short walk in almost any direction you go. From Waterfall Station in the east of the park, the 11-kilometre one-way Uloola Track, weaves past multiple engravings and the Uloola Falls campground. To explore these spectacular national parks with an expert, join a Natcha Cultural Tours with founder Eric Brown, a proud descendant of the Yuin, Bidjigal, Dharawal and Gundungarra peoples. 

Natcha Cultural Tours, Mascot - Credit: Natcha Cultural Tours

You don’t need to trek far into the bush to find Aboriginal rock art, there are a number of sites in Sydney's inner suburbs and around Sydney Harbour. Along the popular Spit to Manly Walk, a signposted site at Grotto Point features millennia-old engravings of kangaroos and boomerangs as well as a whale and other depictions. Lane Cove National Park, an expansive and calm spot for picnics, hikes and kayaking in the Lower North Shore, feels a continent away from the surrounding suburbia and also hosts many significant sites. A large, distinct kangaroo engraving (as well as several smaller artworks) can be found next to the Max Allen Track, and on a rock platform above Riverside Drive, there’s an engraving that’s caused debate amongst locals and experts. 

Grotto Point Aboriginal engravings, Spit Bridge to Manly walk

Also in the Lower North Shore, Balls Head Reserve has a site that shows two figures, one, intriguingly, depicted within a whale. Further north, the Garigal National Park has more than 100 Aboriginal sites recorded, with Bantry Bay being a particularly incredible site, featuring red ochre hand painting and a huge number of engravings.  

The Bluff Lookout, Garigal National Park

Art galleries and museums  

Aboriginal art is as diverse in medium, style and story as the many Aboriginal cultural and language groups spread across the country. Sydney’s lauded galleries and museums are a chance to experience the rich diversity and history of Aboriginal art in one place.  

Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney - Credit: Zan Wimberley

Take the Art Gallery of New South Wales, home to the Yiribana Gallery, which means ‘this way’ in Eora, is a nod to the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, Traditional Custodians of the land on which the gallery sits. Do as its name suggests and follow a trail of eye-opening works across a broad range of mediums. 

In the city centre, the Australian Museum hosts both permanent and one-off exhibitions featuring Aboriginal artworks, artefacts and cultural objects, curated in collaboration with Aboriginal communities. Across the harbour, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia has hosted some of the most important Aboriginal collections and exhibitions in Sydney for decades. Nearby, the Argyle Gallery is dedicated to Australian art, with a particular focus on Aboriginal artists, sourced directly from artists and communities.  

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, The Rocks

The Aboriginal & Pacific Art Gallery in Waterloo works with community- and government-owned art centres to show works from up-and-coming creatives across the country. One suburb over, Redfern is home to the esteemed 40-year-old gallery Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art), which hosts monthly exhibitions and has a storeroom with more than 3,000 artworks across an incredible range of traditional and contemporary mediums.  

Art Leven gallery, Redfern - Credit: Art Leven

Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative in Leichhardt is a historic (founded in 1987 by ten artists), Aboriginal-owned arts organisation showcasing NSW language group artists. And the similarly historic Utopia Art Sydney (which has been running since 1988) in Alexandria brings in Aboriginal artworks from the Western Desert and the Utopia community in the Northern Territory, as well as both local and international non-Indigenous artists.  

Boomalli Gallery, The Rocks - Credit: Boomalli Gallery

One of the biggest exhibitions is outdoors, projected nightly onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House, Badu Gili is the name, and it features Aboriginal art and stories through light projections onto the sails of the iconic building. 

Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay

Where you can buy Aboriginal art 

The National Indigenous Art Fair is one of the most significant Aboriginal art showcases in the country. Every year, the fair assembles significant Aboriginal art centres, makers and artists from across country at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in The Rocks. The event is run with a focus on ethical procurement and also includes performance art, demonstrations and workshops. More regular markets are run by the First Hand Solutions Aboriginal Corporation, a social enterprise with the mission to empower Aboriginal communities and close the gap. Look for the Blak Markets popping up around Sydney with stalls showcasing Aboriginal makers and artists working in homewares, jewellery, fashion, food and more.  

National Indigenous Art Fair, The Rocks

Sydney has a group of small, boutique galleries with a focus on showcasing and selling Aboriginal art. Kate Owen Gallery in Rozelle, collects contemporary Aboriginal artworks. The gallery-shop runs an artist studio in Alice Springs and includes a specialised collection of significant artworks from well-known artists and art communities. In Manly, Aboriginal Dreamtime Fine Art Gallery has been sourcing works from around Australia for more than 20 years, with its walls showcasing both emerging and established artists with artworks across a range of prices. Both galleries are Aboriginal Art Association of Australia members, an organisation that promotes and defends fair trade, attribution and renumeration for Aboriginal artists.  

In The Rocks, Spirit Gallery is an Aboriginal art gallery and store specialising in premium, digeridoos, with many of the country’s best Aboriginal makers’ works under one roof.  

Kate Owen Gallery, Rozelle - Credit: Kate Owen Gallery