Media and Copyright

Marking its 34th year, The West Australian Pulse 2026 reaffirms AGWA’s commitment to celebrating the artistic achievements of young Western Australians. This year’s exhibition brings together an outstanding selection of works by 2025 Year 12 Visual Arts graduates, offering compelling insights into the ideas and experiences shaping the state’s emerging creative voices.

Over 300 student works were submitted for this year’s exhibition, making the judging process both rigorous and challenging. Sixty-three works by students from 43 schools across Western Australia were selected, reflecting the diversity, ambition and technical strength of today’s young artists.

The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is thrilled to announce Cranky Pants, a bold new interactive exhibition, created in collaboration with UK artist Bruce Asbestos. This vibrant pop art playground invites visitors of all ages to embrace the full spectrum of human emotion, especially the cranky, chaotic and delightfully disobedient parts we’re usually encouraged to hide.

Stepping into AGWA’s Gallery 09, families and individuals of all ages are invited to design hyper-couture costumes and accessories. Visitors then reveal their new identities on a pop-up catwalk flanked by four larger than life wooden sculptures combining a riot of colour, character and monster energy that dare audiences to play.

The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) will present the first international survey exhibition of Trần Lương, one of the most influential and uncompromising figures in contemporary art to emerge from Vietnam.

Tầm Tã – Soaked in the Long Rain is the first significant presentation of Trần Lương’s work in Australia, marking a landmark moment for the artist and offering local audiences a rare opportunity to engage deeply with a pioneering voice in contemporary art from Vietnam. In Western Australia whose relationship with Vietnam is marked by decades of migration, exchange and shared histories, Trần’s work speaks with particular force by inviting connection, accountability and collective reflection when there is an urgent need for regional understanding.

The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is proud to announce I AM, a major new exhibition celebrating the depth, diversity and creative strength of Aboriginal artists, featuring a significant selection of new, recent and rarely seen works from the State Art Collection.

I AM brings together over 60 works by First Nations artists from across Australia and centres on personal and shared stories that elevate Aboriginal knowledge and perspectives on the world and our place in it. I AM reflects the dynamism of Aboriginal art, from deeply rooted traditions to bold contemporary expression.