On a quiet country road less than an hour from Melbourne’s CBD is an extraordinary art museum called TarraWarra Museum of Art (TWMA). Sitting low against the hillside in the Yarra Valley near the charming town of Healesville, there it stands, housed in a long, modernist building reminiscent of an Omani fort.
The striking form looks like it has pushed its imposing rammed-earth and polished concrete features straight out of the ridiculously green countryside around it. On a blue-sky day its commanding reflection is captured in the reed-fringed dam below, making the beautifully manicured setting look like an extraordinary artwork.
Where and how TarraWarra came to be
TWMA was the vision of the late philanthropists Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AC (founders of the iconic Sussan Clothing Group), who donated both an award-winning museum designed by architect Allan Powell and more than 600 works of Australian art to start its collection.
Opening in 2003, after more than two decades it has grown into one of the country’s most respected not-for-profit public galleries – a place where serious contemporary art meets one of Victoria’s most scenic wine regions, on Wurundjeri Country near Healesville.
Walk through the entrance and the building itself does a lot of the talking – earthen walls, long horizontal lines, and large windows framing the vineyards outside.
What’s on the agenda at TWMA
TWMA’s program rotates through exhibitions based on its own collection and touring shows, including the landmark TarraWarra Biennial and, returning in 2026 after the pandemic-era, the TarraWarra International Series, which brings leading Australian artists into dialogue with international peers from across the globe.
Past exhibitions have tackled everything from the boundary between the animate and inanimate to speculative readings of the archive, always with a strong line of First Nations thinking, place and Country.
‘Behind the Glass: Waterways‘ is an exhibition curated by Emma Nixon that explores how Australian artists depict water – a theme reflecting the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung translation of TarraWarra as ‘slow moving waters’. Iconic pieces include Brett Whiteley’s Sydney Harbour from Lavender Bay, Leonard French’s turtles and fish, Janet Laurence’s forest canopies, and Janet Dawson’s Ripple.
Located in the Eva and Marc Besen Centre (a part of TWMA), this dive into the museum’s permanent collection opened in September and visitors can partake in 45-minute or 60-minute tours every Thursday and Saturday at 11:30am, 1pm and 3pm.
‘Light Weight’ curated by Dr Emily Cormack, is a playful summer exhibition at TWMA running from November 28, 2026 until February 28, 2027. Bridging poetry and physics to explore the material, symbolic, and transformative properties of light and how it shapes human perception, this sensory showcase features a stellar lineup of works by 31 prominent Australian artists including Clarice Beckett, Arthur Boyd, Rosalie Gascoigne, Albert Tucker, and Brett Whiteley.
International & Biennial Exhibitions (2027)
TarraWarra International 2027: Under the Same Sky (co-curated by Dr Victoria Lynn and Puja Vaish) is a major joint exhibition exploring transcultural connections and contemporary global realities beyond traditional geography.
The collaborative project between the TMWA and Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation in Mumbai includes a diverse group of 17 international artists, with an interactive events program to engage local and diasporic audiences. The exhibition will run at TWMA from March 20, 2027 until July 11, 2027 before moving to Mumbai.
Following this the TarraWarra Biennial 2027: This Hand of Mine, runs from July 31 2027 to November 14 2027. The exhibition explores the intuitive, instinctual moments of the artistic process, where conscious thought gives way to an imperceptible, creative alchemy.
Live Performance & Music Programs
Taking place on November 29, 2026, TarraWarra Live features the Australian Art Orchestra in an afternoon of live music bridging sound and visual art led by artistic director Aaron Choulai.
The event features the world premiere of a new string quartet composition by TarraWarra’s composer-in-residence, Biddy Connor, which uses tuning forks and spatial improvisations across the museum’s gardens.
Following this, The TarraWarra Festival 2027 featuring the Australian Chamber Orchestra returns to the Eva and Marc Besen Centre on February 28, 2027 and March 1, 2027, for a weekend of music, art, and conversation in the Yarra Valley. Led by Artistic Director Richard Tognetti, the landmark summer event features three concerts and a workshop that connect music, architecture, and place.
The museum sits within a working estate, and a visit here is as much about the setting as the art. Wander the grounds and you’ll find sculptural works dotted among the vines, framed views back toward the Yarra Ranges, and a genuine sense of retreat that’s rare this close to the city.
Pair your visit with a lunch or a delicious tasting at the on-site winery – TarraWarra Estate, which has been producing cool-climate wines from the site for decades. The museum also has a lovely gift shop stocking work from Australian authors and makers.
If you enjoyed this story on TWMA, you might like our story on the Museum of Old and New Art ((Mona) in Hobart, which has been dubbed as a subversive Disneyland.
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