Live at the MCA: More Than 50 Years of Deadly

An evening celebrating First Nations artists, poets and creatives.
Gather after dark as part of NAIDOC Week 2026 for a midwinter celebration of First Nations creatives through sound, spoken word, poetry, performance, workshops and contemporary art. Set against Warrane/Sydney Harbour, the evening invites audiences to reflect, connect and move through stories of place, culture and Country, featuring poets Nathan mudyi Sentance, Nicole Smede, Melanie Mununggurr and Lorna Munro.

Across two levels of the MCA, experience sounds not typically heard in a museum, including running water, birdsong and wind rustling through trees. Be immersed in the music of Country as Yuin-Walbunja sound artist Hayden Ryan mixes live soundscape compositions inspired by the nature around us.

Deepen your understanding of how living beings exist within shared systems of Country in a two-hour drop-in poetry workshop facilitated by storyteller Lucy Norton. In response to John Prince Siddon’s 2026 Circular Quay Foyer Wall Commission, participants will consider the ‘opposing’ perspectives of all living beings, revealing how differences are not resolved but held in relation with one another.

Live at the MCA brings this year's NAIDOC theme, 50 Years of Deadly, to the Museum in an ongoing testament to the ancestral strength, ingenuity and visionary offers of First Nations creatives.

Your ticket includes access to the program and all current MCA exhibitions including the incredible solo show by First Nations artist Tony Albert - Not A Souvenir. Tony Albert: Not a Souvenir brings together Albert’s work across sculpture, photography, installation, painting, and assemblage alongside major new commissions. The exhibition takes inspiration from the MCA’s location on Sydney Harbour at Tallawoladah and the surrounding precinct, The Rocks – a profoundly significant site of early colonial contact, now synonymous with tourism and souvenir culture. It considers the commodification and misrepresentation of Aboriginal people and culture, both historically and today, while celebrating survival and cultural pride.

Tony Albert: Not a Souvenir is guest curated by renowned Indigenous curator Bruce Johnson McLean (Wierdi people) and has been developed in close collaboration with the artist (Girramay, Kuku Yalanji and Yidindji peoples).

The 2-for-1 ticket offer automatically applies to matching ticket types at checkout. Free Mob Tix available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community. Free for MCA Members and under 18s.