Affordable Art Fair to host its biggest and boldest fair in Melbourne

Global art phenomenon Affordable Art Fair returns to Australia’s cultural capital, Melbourne, with its largest celebration of art to date over four inspiring and uplifting days from 28 to 31 August 2025.

Up to 70 Australian and international galleries will participate in the fifth annual Melbourne Fair with thousands of original works for sale under the World Heritage-listed dome of the Royal Exhibition Building, priced from $100 to $10,000.

The 2025 Melbourne Fair will welcome new artists and galleries, herald the return of fan favourites, showcase the next generation of emerging talent, feature interactive exhibitions and live painting experiences, and introduce a new Children’s Art Studio.

Melbourne Fair Director Georgia Heustis estimates that 18,000 visitors will browse and buy pieces from some of Australia’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, as well as exciting emerging artists and iconic galleries and studios.

“The 2025 Melbourne Fair will be the largest and most ambitious we’ve held in Australia, which is a testament to the growing popularity and accessibility of the event,” Ms Heustis said, adding that the Brisbane Fair (8 – 11 May) set new records and the Sydney Fair (6 – 9 November) was moving to Carriageworks to accommodate more art lovers.”

“We know that visitors appreciate that every piece at the Fair is the work of a living artist, every artwork on display lists a sale price, and every piece can be bought, wrapped and taken home to hang and cherish on the same day.”

New to the Melbourne Fair this year are the celebrated Brunswick Street Gallery in Fitzroy, representing emerging and established artists in partnership with leading Indigenous art centres; the iconic Ken Duncan Photography on NSW’s Central Coast featuring breathtaking landscape photography; and Maldon, Victoria’s Cascade Art Gallery with its roster of extraordinary fine painters and sculptors.

In a treat for collectors, Ken Duncan OAM has hand-picked a series of classic and never-before-seen landscapes, spanning a four-decade-long career that includes Rolling Stone, National Geographic and the cover of Midnight Oil’s ARIA-winning Diesel and Dust album.

Other 2025 highlights include the Manyung Gallery Group, one of Australia’s largest and longest-running contemporary art businesses, representing artists whose work appears in important collections such as the Vatican Museum Collection, as well as Salt Contemporary in Queenscliff, Hamley Studio of Fine Art in Hornsby, NSW, and Greenbridge Gallery.

The not-for-profit Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation is wholly owned by Aboriginal artists from the remote desert communities of Yuendumu and Nyirripi in central Australia. Its in-demand artists, including Karen Napaljarri Barnes, the granddaughter of famed Warlukurlangu artist, Judy Napangardi Watson, are extensively featured in exhibitions and publications nationally and globally.

International artists also have a strong presence, with galleries including China’s Tree Art Space, Korea’s Mookji, Malaysia’s Art WeMe Contemporary Gallery, Singapore’s REDSEA, Peru’s Diverso, and AM Art Gallery Collective and VANDAL LTD from New Zealand.

Fresh from a hugely successful Brisbane Fair are The Toowoomba Gallery, Yandina’s Stevens Street Gallery, inner-Brisbane’s Revival Art & Design Gallery and Aspire Gallery, Orange’s vivid Jumbled, Galley Alchemy from Milton, New South Wales, and Gallery NWC, a collective dedicated to helping regional artists exhibit outside their hometowns.

Returning to the Fair are the fascinating Artist in Action live art-making demonstrations with an incredible line-up of creatives, including three-time Archibald finalist Sally Ryan.

Visitors can take in the live demonstrations or ponder their next purchase with a glass of sparkling wine in hand from the new Bird in Hand Wine Bar.

Also returning to their hometown Fair are popular Fitzroy galleries, Outré Gallery and SOL Gallery. Outré exhibits must-see contemporary and pop art-inspired pieces by artists including Amy Sol, Stella Im Hultberg and the duo Creature Creature, while SOL showcases exciting talent from across Australia and Asia.

The family-friendly Fair unveils a new Children’s Art Studio, curated by artist Tenyka Jay, where budding artists of all ages can explore an underwater wonderland filled with sea life and submarines including a seven-metre hand-painted mural, watercolour whales, colouring activities and free face painting.

Affordable Art Fair Melbourne runs from Thursday 28 August to Sunday 31 August 2025 at the Royal Exhibition Building.

Tickets on sale now at affordableartfair.com/fairs/melbourne/.