April 16, 2026 — 5:00am
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The deep-pocketed supporters of the National Gallery of Victoria’s latest blockbuster contemporary art Triennial have been revealed and it is a who’s who of some of Melbourne’s wealthiest families and private foundations.
The details of the exhibition, which will open in December, were unveiled at the St Kilda Road gallery on Wednesday, in a space where guests were surrounded by large – occasionally floating – inflatable penguins.
Director of the NGV Tony Ellwood, surrounded by inflatable penguins, at the announcement of the gallery’s 2026 Triennial.AAP
In what read like a mini Rolodex of the top end of Melbourne, Triennial backers including Lisa Fox, Alana Kirby on behalf of the Sun Foundation, Connie and Craig Kimberley, Tania Austin’s Decjuba Foundation, the Fox Family Foundation, Krystyna Campbell-Pretty, property developer Michael Gannon, Carol and Alan Schwartz’s Trawalla Foundation, the Loti and Victor Smorgon Fund and the Bowness Family Foundation among many others, were thanked in a cinematic snapshot of the exhibition shown at the launch.
NGV director Tony Ellwood told CBD that this fourth edition of the NGV’s Triennial had attracted $17 million of private support from the gallery’s donors and benefactors, enabling the gallery to commission, as well as buy, major art works.
“Most people don’t realise the government, as great as they have been for the arts here, they don’t give money for acquisitions,” Ellwood said.
“If we want to do an ambitious exhibition and have a legacy from it and acquire, we have to go to the community and for this Triennial it is around $17 million [that has been donated]. We are very proud of that.”
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Ellwood launched the first Triennial in 2017, with the aim of elevating contemporary art at the NGV. That goal is being furthered with the construction of the NGV Contemporary, a gallery dedicated to contemporary art and design.
“Because of the legacy of Triennial, and the other collecting that we have been quietly doing, it will be a magnificent building with one of the best contemporary art collections in the world, no question,” he said.
Contemporary art is a broad and wild playing field, with highlights of this year’s Triennial exhibition to include a ceramic urinal bubbling rose scented water, and a kinetic sculpture named WTF featuring a swinging LED sign displaying tweets from US President Donald Trump during his first term in office, along with social media posts from a conspiracy theorist.
And then there are the helium-filled penguins. The blow-up birds are apparently a statement by Danish artist Benedikte Bjerre on the impact of climate change on penguins – when they are not going rogue and floating in the face of MPs as happened at Wednesday’s event.
Virgin Australia exec feels cancellation pain
Virgin Australia’s corporate affairs boss Christian Bennett appears to have only just discovered how annoying cancellations can be.
Virgin’s corporate affairs chief Christian Bennett pictured in 2023.Alex Ellinghausen
In a sprawling post to LinkedIn earlier this week, clocking in at more than 300 words, Bennett was outraged about how an Airbnb host cancelled accommodation for he and his wife for their trip to the United States next month to celebrate their son’s college graduation. The post described Airbnb as “a bad gamble at best, and mercenary at worst”, before calling on hosts who cancel to be “penalised”.
A little too on the nose, even for us! This from a guy who, in his day job, is the mouthpiece for an airline that spent years resisting stronger passenger rights in the aviation sector, which loves a cancelled flight.
In its submission to the 2023 Aviation Green Paper, Virgin Australia argued that Australian consumer law was “fit-for-purpose” and suggested that industry-specific regimes “such as a Passenger Bill of Rights or a fixed compensation regime” could negatively impact customer outcomes and operational performance.
Of course, the airline has since warmed up to the idea of strengthening consumer rights. Earlier this month, the Albanese government introduced new legislation aiming to establish a new Aviation Consumer Ombudsperson to help resolve complaints; a new Aviation Consumer Protections Charter, to set minimum standards for airlines and airport services; and a new Aviation Consumer Protection Authority, to enforce compliance.
Bennett snapped into action to remind us of how “constructively and co-operatively” Virgin has been in its engagement with the federal government. It was the first airline to invest in “great customer-centric IT solutions”, Bennett said, and was “the fastest airline to resolve complaints to the customer advocate last year”.
“But is my employer perfect? Of course not – but what I like about them is that it does try to constantly learn and improve wherever it falls short, and deliver on its value promise to customers,” Bennett told CBD.
“Did we feel that in dealing with Airbnb over the last 12 months trying to prepare for an important family event? No.”
Victorian made ‘Thrash’ a turn on for streamers
The reviews might be less than stellar, but Thrash, the big budget film thriller starring Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor and shot in Melbourne, has turned into a global hit for Netflix.
The project has landed on top of Netflix’s English film list with 37.7 million views in its first week on the platform and is the number one most viewed new release movie in 82 countries. The success of the film comes hot on the heels of the extraordinary success of War Machine, another Netflix offering shot in Melbourne.
Phoebe Dynevor, who made her name in Bridgerton, stars in the shark thriller Thrash. Alberto Pezzali
War Machine was released on March 6 and debuted as the No.1 English film in 93 countries with 39.3 million views according to figures released by Netflix last month.
While Thrash, which was filmed at the Dockland Studios, in Maling Road, Canterbury, and in Mornington in 2024, has attracted plenty of eyeballs, it has been deemed rubbish by some critics. Melbourne doubled for South Carolina in the flick where a coastal town is terrorised by sharks after being flooded by a colossal hurricane – you read that right.
Thrash was spruiked as injecting more than $30 million into the economy when it was shooting in Victoria, and reportedly generated almost 700 jobs.
VicScreen chief executive Caroline Pitcher said the film was a calling card for the Victorian film industry.
“It stretched every single screen worker’s craft and that is what is so exciting about Thrash and also War Machine. Victoria has a beautifully balanced screen ecosystem,” she said.
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Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners