Perth's cultural precinct evolves as AGWA expansion and Yagan Square activation deepen city's arts offer

The Art Gallery of Western Australia has been expanding its physical footprint and programming ambitions in a way that is beginning to give Perth a cultural anchor comparable to those enjoyed by eastern state capitals. The gallery's collection of Australian art, including Indigenous Australian works that are of exceptional cultural significance, provides a foundation for exhibition programming that is increasingly attracting visitors who come to Perth specifically for its arts offer.

Yagan Square, the public open space near the Perth train station that was developed as part of the broader inner-city activation program, has matured into a functioning public space that attracts both passing foot traffic and deliberate visits for events, food and the Indigenous cultural features that are central to the design. The square's acknowledgment of the Whadjuk Noongar people on whose country Perth is situated has been incorporated into the built environment in ways that are both educationally significant and artistically compelling.

The broader cultural precinct that includes the Art Gallery, the Western Australian Museum (WA Museum Boola Bardip), the Perth Concert Hall and Northbridge's hospitality and arts scene has developed the critical mass of offerings that a genuinely functional cultural precinct requires. Day and night activation in this precinct is improving, with the museum's strong visitation since its reopening in 2020 drawing families and tourist visitors who then explore the surrounding neighbourhood.

Perth's Indigenous arts scene is among the most significant in Australia, reflecting the strength of the artistic traditions of Western Australia's many First Nations communities and the concentration of galleries and institutions that support, represent and market Indigenous creative work. This strength is increasingly recognised internationally, with Indigenous Western Australian art finding collectors and institutions in Europe, North America and Asia.

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