Residents and tourists are being encouraged to visit the Colonial and Federation galleries before July 1, when the two will close for an anticipated twelve-month modernisation process set to be the biggest shake up of the site since the First Tasmanians exhibition opened in 2017.

The galleries, located on the upper floor of the Royal Park building, are home to some of the museum's most recognisable works from artists including John Glover and Robert Dowling.

QVMAG's curator of visual arts and design, Ashleigh Whatling, said the current format needed refreshing to ensure it remained culturally accurate, accessible and utilised emerging storytelling technologies.

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By keeping the galleries the way they are, showing only one perspective of colonisation or federation, "we're missing out on all these other stories which are part of Tasmania's history and our identity today," Ms Whatling said.

"It will be a more fun show," she added. "This will be an easier to understand, more dynamic, more interesting space that [will have] way more stories than just colonisation and federation."

The update will also allow QVMAG to relocate sections of its collection into the closed galleries while storage areas are upgraded. Work on the galleries will also be undertaken to improve the protection of artworks in the reopened exhibition.

From September, while the two galleries are closed, significant artworks will be rotated through a spotlight space in Gallery 8. All oil paintings in the current arrangement are digitised and available to view online.

The changes are not being made in a vacuum either, with the reinterpretation of museum and art gallery collections into more accessible offerings part of a broader international trend.

"This is tried and tested and it will be so much more interesting," Ms Whatling said.

Beyond the context of how the historic works are displayed, further consideration will also be given to how the spaces can be accessed by visitors with disabilities.

"So part of this rehang will be ... about ways people who are hearing impaired, sight impaired - all kinds of different disabilities - can engage better," Ms Whatling added.

"It won't just be 2D works on the wall. There might be things you can touch, there might be sounds."

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