2026 AMaGA Award winners

2026 AMaGA Award winners, AMaGA, 4 November 2026

Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Australian Museums and Galleries Awards, announced on Tuesday 3 November 2026 at the National Gallery of Australia (Gandel Hall), Kamberri/Canberra, during the AMaGA National Conference.

Category awards were judged by industry peers, the Best in Show, Volunteer and Patrons Awards by the AMaGA National Council, and the People’s Choice Award by public vote.
 

Project awards

  • Branding Excellence: Western Australian Museum – Terracotta Warriors
  • Digital Excellence: Newcastle Art Gallery – Water Stories
  • Excellence in Print (Small Budget): Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki – Mark Adams: A Survey | He Kohinga Whakaahua
  • Excellence in Print (Medium Budget): National Gallery of Australia – Anne Dangar
  • Excellence in Print (Large Budget): National Gallery of Australia – 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain
  • Kids in Print: National Library of Australia – Flora: Australia’s Most Curious Plants
  • Collections Care: Redlands Coast Museum – Building a Sustainable Collections Care Framework: Governance, Collections Management and Access at Redlands Coast Museum (2024–2026)
  • Community Connection (Small Budget): National Archives of Australia – Wok Bung Wantaim / Working Together: Papua New Guinea 50th Anniversary Project
  • Community Connection (Medium Budget): Queensland Museum – Say Our Name: Australian South Sea Islanders
  • Community Connection (Large Budget): Western Australian Museum – From Nonna with Love
  • Exhibiting Excellence (Small Budget): Tweed Regional Museum – How to Draw a Dinosaur
  • Exhibiting Excellence (Medium Budget): Griffith University Art Museum – Craig & Karl: Double Vision
  • Exhibiting Excellence (Large Budget): Art Gallery of New South Wales – Creating an Art Park at the Art Gallery of NSW
  • First Nations Project (Small Budget): North Stradbroke Island Museum on Minjerribah – Ngali Dullan – We Remain
  • First Nations Project (Large Budget): Bathurst Regional Art Gallery – Dhuluny: The War That Never Ended
  • Social Impact: RMIT Galleries – The Mourning After

Individual awards and special recognition

  • Volunteer Award: Vicki Shuttleworth, National Trust of Australia (Victoria)
  • Patrons Award: Paris Neilson, The Neilson Foundation and Art Gallery of New South Wales
  • Best in Show: Queensland Museum – Say Our Name: Australian South Sea Islanders
  • People’s Choice Award: Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory – Cyclone Tracy Exhibition: Community Co-curation and Design

Highly Commended

Three projects were named Highly Commended:

  • Culture Dose for Kids – Art Gallery of New South Wales (Social Impact)
  • Make a Scene: Fashioning Queer Identity and Club Culture in the 90s – Queensland Museum (Social Impact)
  • Faces of Peace Digital Storytelling and Oral History Project – Bendigo Military Museum (Digital Excellence)