Last Saturday, Australia’s art and fashion crowd gathered on the edge of Sydney Harbour for the MCA Artists Ball 2026. With a ‘Creative Couture’ dress code, it’s an evening that’s become a fixture on Sydney’s cultural calendar, and this year’s red-carpet arrivals didn’t disappoint.
MCA Chair Lorraine Tarabay stepped out in green Elie Saab, the museum’s director Suzanne Cotter donned a Common Hours coat dress, and artist Midori Goto, took the dress code to the next level in Nicol & Ford.
Now in its fourth year, the MCA Artists Ball 2026 paid tribute to one of Australia’s most extraordinary artists, Julie Rrap. For more than four decades, Rrap has used her own body to question how the female body is pictured, from the history of the nude to popular culture, working across photography, performance, painting, sculpture, installation and video.
With a theme of ‘Radical Embodiment’, guests became part of the artwork as the evening unfolded. Performances inspired by Rrap’s artworks, choreographed by Jenni Large, took centre stage, followed by a guitar solo by Bec Sandridge and a headline set by Meg Mac. After an epic art-inspired feast by The Big Group and an auction by Monika Tu and Tony Albert (featuring works by world-renowned artists such as Ai Weiwei and Daniel Boyd), Sneaky Sound System led the after-party with DJs Estée Louder and Charlie Villas.
The night’s guest list read like a catalogue of the city’s top creatives, including Goto, Rrap, Boyd, Tracey Moffatt AO, Janet Laurence, Danie Mellor, artists Tom Polo and Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett of fashion label Romance Was Born, Penelope Seidler AO, designer Jordan Gogos, and artists Jasper Knight and Jason Phu.
“Supporting and celebrating living Australian artists at all stages of their careers is core to what we do at the MCA, and events like the MCA Artists Ball are vital to the work we do,” said Suzanne Cotter, the MCA’s Director.
“In four years, the Ball has become one of the most anticipated events on the country’s arts calendar,” added MCA Chair Lorraine Tarabay, “On Saturday evening, we raised $1.6 million, ensuring that we can continue to showcase and support artists like Julie Rrap now and into the future.”
Below, Midori shares some of her favourite moments from an evening where art, fashion and community collided.
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