Sculptures and art from Brisbane's Expo '88 will be relocated to new locations across the CBD next year as one way of marking 30 years since the event.

World Expo '88 is regarded as a "game-changer" for Brisbane, pushing what was still a big country town towards a modern capital city.

"I think it's a very important milestone in Brisbane because Expo 88 was the game changer for this city," Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said.

"The event allowed our city to open its eyes to the world and to grow up and, in that 30 year period, we have become a very modern city and one with a great lifestyle."

Brisbane City Council allocated $555,000 to mark the 30th anniversary of Expo in its Wednesday Budget.

"The money will be used to identify and obtain artworks from the Expo '88 era and relocate them the key citywide locations for everyone to enjoy," Cr Quirk said.

Some of the sculptures need repairs and re-casting, Fairfax Media has been told.

Many of them can be seen on this Brisbane City Council Expo 88 Flickr account.

Peter Rasey, the acting chair of a community group co-ordinating 30th anniversary of Expo '88 events, welcomed the council's funding.

"Basically we want to pull all the sculptures back into the CBD and give them a new tourism boost to remember World Expo '88," Mr Rasey said.

Two big sculptures - The Chair, which is now at The Fernhouse at Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens and Showdown, which is at Boondall - will come back into the CBD.

Some of the money would also go towards upgrading sculptures, some of which have been out of the public spotlight for 30 years.

"The idea is to raise the profile of these sculptures around inner-city Brisbane in a revamped Expo '88 Art Trail," Mr Rasey said.

Artworks from international sculptors were chosen for World Expo 88 by its artistic director John Truscott.

"What we hope to do is show off this collection of world-famous sculptors' works that were specifically chosen for Brisbane by John," Mr Rasey said.

The John Oxley Library will also host an exhibition of slides, photographs and Expo memorabilia in 2018.

Part of that will be the visitors book from the original Kookaburra Queen, donated by Broncos co-founder Gary Balkin last month.

That book includes the signature and comments of Rolling Stones singer, Mick Jagger, who was touring Brisbane in 1988.

Expo '88 director Ric Birch has already donated thousands of slides to the planned exhibition, Mr Rasey said.

He encouraged both the council and the Queensland government to support plans to commemorate World Expo '88.

"Almost nothing exists recording the 1982 Commonwealth Games, in the public realm," Mr Rasey said.

"We can't afford the same mistake with Expo '88, which was the biggest event in Queensland's history.

"It's memory needs to be preserved, but not as a stale static piece of history."

It is unclear if the Queensland government has plans to recognise World Expo '88 next year.

Several calls to Arts Queensland and the Premier's department since Tuesday were not returned.