If you love being part of an enthralled theatre audience, dancing to international music, listening to readings from the world's great writers, laughing at cheeky comedians, or being mesmerised by innovative visual arts, then come to South Australia. We're widely recognised for our rich artistic heritage and arts events. You really don't want to miss them.

Galleries situated within a 10 minute walk from the campus

See the work of generations of artists who have been inspired by South Australia - its landscapes and towns, its people and their lives and its ideals and ideas. Painters, sculptors, weavers, photographers, musicians, writers - you'll find their work in galleries, museums, studios and arts centres (and wineries, visitor centres and public spaces) all over South Australia.

Our major art museum is the Art Gallery of SA on North Terrace. It is home to one of Australia's finest art collections, housed in one of Adelaide's most beautiful historic buildings  and has been an important cultural focus since its establishment in 1881, only forty-five years after the first European settlers arrived. The gallery has the most comprehensive collection of Australian colonial art (including the much-loved Australian Impressionists), and  fine examples of Western Desert dot paintings, Rodin sculptures, British art, Islamic Art, with a collection of Southeast Asian trade ceramics from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Within close proximity to the Art Gallery of SA is the Flinders University City Gallery, housed in the State Library of South Australia. Its dynamic exhibition program includes the National Touring Network and the Adelaide Festival of Arts.

Adelaide Festival Centre has an ever-growing art collection, displayed throughout the foyers and grounds of the centre, with special exhibitions held in the ArtSpace. The performing Arts Collection is based here and its treasures are shown in the main box office.

You can watch artists in action at the JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design in the West End. Its four studios specialise in glass, ceramics, furniture and metal design, and its three gallery spaces show works by established and emerging Australian craft designer and makers. The shop is perfect for unique gifts.


Adelaide Art Tours offers several themed tours that visit quality galleries and art museums.
 

Museums

South Australia's flagship museums are easily found on leafy North Terrace in the heart of Adelaide.

At the South Australian Museum, explore the life and science of explorer Sir Douglas Mawson. You can see his sled, tools, boots, camel-hair sleeping bag and a model of his Antarctic hut. Find the opal-ised skeleton of a six-metre-long plesiosaur and other stunning opal fossils in the Fossil Gallery. Wander through six floors of exhibits revealing fascinating stories. See the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, the largest Aboriginal cultural exhibition in the world, with more than 3000 items on display.

There's an exhibition devoted to ancient Egypt, rare fossils of the Flinders Ranges and more. You can even see one of Adelaide astronaut Andy Thomas's space suits. See 40,000 year old mega-fauna fossils in the Origin Energy Fossil Gallery, as well as 120 million year old opal-ised fossils and Ediacaran fossils, such as the 550 million year old chordate, possibly the oldest ever found.

See the Bradman Collection, a tribute to Australia's cricketing icon, Sir Donald Bradman at the Adelaide Oval. See memorabilia documenting his career from 1925 to 1948, plus personal items including trophies, bats, clothing and oral recordings. Other items from the collection can also be found at the State Library of South Australia.

Learn the stories of the many immigrants who helped to shape South Australia at the Migration Museum. And in nearby Prospect, see the RM Williams Outback Heritage Museum for an insight into his life and successes. "Do time" at the old Adelaide Gaol historic site. Take a tour - you can even sleep there overnight on the ghost tour.

Just 20 minutes from the city centre, visit Port Adelaide- it's an amazing hub of museums all within walking distance of each other, including the South Australian Maritime Museum and National Railway Museum.

The ETEA Adelaide staff can assist you in locating these venues and planning your activities

Arts festivals

South Australia is widely recognised for our rich artistic heritage and arts events which include but are not restricted to the following:

The Adelaide Festival of Arts is one of the world's great arts festivals. This is a large-scale multi-arts event of extraordinary diversity. Our Adelaide Fringe is so popular; it's become an annual event. It's the second biggest Fringe in the world after Edinburgh. The Adelaide Fringe features theatre, comedy, dance, circus, spoken word, poetry, film and video, visual arts and more, from some of the finest independent artists from Australia and overseas.

The exciting Adelaide Film Festival is where you'll catch movie world premieres, film forums and more. It's the only Australian festival that both screens and finances films.

WOMADelaide is three nights and two days of dazzling music from around the globe. Set in the heart of the city at Adelaide's Botanic Garden, giant Moreton Bay Fig trees provide shady groves for performances, while the lawns provide plenty of room to dance.

The Cabaret Festival, as the name suggests, offers a dazzling assortment of old-worlde and innovative cabaret acts. And our Feast Festival is one of the three major queer festivals in Australia. Enjoy a program of theatre, cabaret, comedy, film, forums, literature, dance, visual arts, tourism, sporting and community events.

Find more details of these events, including the dates and venues, on the SA Events pages. You can also find details of upcoming theatre, dance and visual arts events on the Adelaide Festival Centre website