The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia) has announced the artist line-up for Primavera 2026: Young Australian Artists showcasing emerging artistic talent from across the country.
This year’s exhibition features new work by Mark Maurangi Carrol (NSW), Stanton Cornish-Ward & Trent Crawford (WA/VIC), Callum McGrath (QLD/VIC), Jahkarli Romanis (VIC), Linda Sok (NSW), Jack Wansbrough (WA) and Rudi Williams (VIC).
Featuring photography, film, installation, textiles and painting, this year’s Primavera exhibition presents work by artists preoccupied by the legacies of the past in the present. Opening on 27 June 2026, Primavera 2026: Young Australian Artists is curated by MCA Australia Curator, Antares Wells.
“Since the sweeping cultural and political shifts of 2020, from the global Covid-19 pandemic to Black Lives Matter and MeToo, there has been an international resurgence of practices that explore history, memory and the archive,” said Wells.
“Over the course of over 60 studio visits I conducted across Australia, I saw the diverse ways these shifts have registered locally in the work of young artists. This exhibition surveys these practices in Australia.”
Primavera is the MCA Australia’s annual exhibition showcasing the work of Australian artists aged 35 years and under. Since 1992, Primavera: Young Australian Artists has featured the work of over 250 artists and 30 curators and launched the careers of many of Australia’s most significant contemporary artists. It continues to be a significant platform for early-career Australian artists and curators to present exciting new work to a broad audience.
Primavera 2026: Young Australian Artists is on display at MCA Australia from 27 June 2026. For more information about the artists, visit: www.mca.com.au for details.
Image: Linda Sok, Deities in Temples XIV, 2025, visuals drawn by family members, silk threads (printed then woven), dye, air-dried clay, 137 x 213 cm, installation view, Linda Sok: Reincarnations of an altar cloth, Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2025 – photo by Silversalt Photography