Image: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
School groups can visit Ragnar Kjartansson’s 'Mercy' free of charge at NGV International in Melbourne, where the exhibition is open from 26 June to 4 October 2026. The National Gallery of Victoria is offering the artist’s new exhibition as a self-guided school excursion, with bookings required for all school groups. The online booking page lists the program as free for school groups, while tertiary students are charged $22.
The exhibition is presented at NGV International, Ground Level, and the gallery describes it as a self-guided viewing opportunity for educators and students. The NGV’s school-visit information says entry to the NGV Collection is free, but notes that some exhibitions are ticketed. 'Mercy' is one of those ticketed exhibitions, even as school-group access is waived under the education program.
Kjartansson is identified by the NGV as an Icelandic artist who was born into a family of artists, authors, theatre professionals and performers. The gallery says he frequently includes music and performance in his video works in order to explore the full spectrum of human emotion. According to the exhibition page, his practice uses video to uncover rehearsed truths, unanticipated candour, and the pleasures of participation, collaboration and choreography.
The exhibition brings together eight distinct video and film projects. The NGV says the works draw on a range of stylistic influences, including choreographed music videos, live musical performances, American video art of the 1970s, and stage traditions such as opera and ballet. Duration and repetition are presented as key elements across the exhibition, with the gallery describing those structures as central to how the works operate.
Across 'Mercy', Kjartansson adopts multiple personae, including a bathing band leader, a coiffed crooner, a Rococo dinner guest and a medieval troubadour. The gallery says these roles both celebrate and satirise the romanticised figure of the artist. In the NGV’s formulation, the video works reveal human truths through artifice rather than outside it.
The exhibition page also identifies 'No Tomorrow', 2022, as a six-channel video installation with sound lasting 29 minutes and 18 seconds. It was commissioned by Sigurður Gísli Pálmason, based on a commission by the Iceland Dance Company. The credit line lists Kjartansson alongside Margrét Bjarnadóttir and Bryce Dessner, with courtesy of the artists, Luhring Augustine, New York, and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik.
For schools planning a visit, the NGV requires four weeks’ notice for bookings, and changes must be made in writing up to 14 days before the visit. The gallery says all bookings are confirmed at the time of booking, invoices are sent before the visit, and payment must be made at least one week prior. School groups must be supervised at all times by a teacher or adult, and the exhibition remains available for self-guided viewing until 4 October 2026.
