Melbourne is about to throw open the curtain on some of Australia’s most iconic performance relics, with a major new exhibition set to bring costumes, props and memorabilia out of the archive and back into public view.
ENCORE! 50 Objects. 50 Years. One Collection will open at the Australian Museum of Performing Arts (AMPA) at Arts Centre Melbourne from 16th September 2026 to 9th May 2027, celebrating 50 years of the Australian Performing Arts Collection, which holds more than 850,000 objects.
From Kylie’s hot pants to handwritten scripts
The exhibition pulls together 50 objects spanning roughly 170 years of Australian performing arts history, mixing pop culture heavyweights with rare archival pieces. Among the headline-grabbers are Kylie Minogue’s gold hot pants from the Spinning Around video, the original red L’Amour sign created for Opera Australia’s La Bohème, and Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst’s drum kit, alongside costumes linked to Olivia Newton-John, Hugh Jackman and more.
Arts Centre Melbourne describes the exhibition as both nostalgic and revealing, pairing household names with stories many visitors may not know. CEO Karen Quinlan says the show offers an “exclusive backstage pass” to moments from across the nation’s creative history, while curator Ian Jackson notes that several featured objects have never been publicly displayed before.
That wider lens is part of what makes ENCORE! especially compelling. Alongside famous performers, the exhibition highlights milestone moments such as signed pointe shoes worn by Ella Havelka, the first First Nations dancer with The Australian Ballet, and a costume worn by the late Russell Page in Rites (1997), the first collaboration between Bangarra Dance Theatre and The Australian Ballet.
Music, theatre and a healthy dose of larrikin spirit
Music fans will find plenty to linger on, from Peter Allen’s maracas to Helen Reddy’s Grammy Award for “I Am Woman”, while theatre lovers can expect everything from Dame Nellie Melba’s silk cloak to a gown worn by Dame Joan Sutherland in La Traviata. There is also a distinctly irreverent Australian streak running through the exhibition, with costumes linked to Roy Rene, Reg Livermore, Barry Humphries’ Dame Edna Everage and Denise Scott.
Circus history also gets a welcome turn in the spotlight, an area often overlooked in broader arts programming. Objects from Holden Bros Circus, material linked to famed First Nations tightrope walker Con Colleano, and the enormous Wirth’s Circus scrapbook—reportedly so heavy it takes two people to lift—all feature in the lineup.
The exhibition will be staged at AMPA inside Hamer Hall, the museum that opened in December 2025 with DIVA from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Arts Centre Melbourne describes AMPA as a space dedicated to bringing stories of the stage to life, making ENCORE! a particularly fitting local follow-up to its debut international blockbuster.
For Melbourne audiences, ENCORE! looks less like a static museum show and more like a surreal walk through the country’s cultural memory (sequins, scripts, satire and all).