Treasures of the Stage: 50 Years of Australian Performing Arts on Display
Kylie Minogue's gold hotpants are among the treasures on display in a new exhibition celebrating 50 years of the Australian Performing Arts Collection. The collection features over 875,000 items from Australian circus, dance, music, opera, and theatre performances.
Treasures from the stage and screen are back in the spotlight with an exhibition celebrating 50 years of the Australian Performing Arts Collection.
The exhibition, titled Encore!, features 50 costumes, instruments, and props from Australian circus, dance, music, opera, and theatre performances. These items have been chosen from more than 875,000 in the collection, which began in the 1970s and contains artifacts dating back 170 years.
Exhibition Highlights
Highlights of the exhibition include Kylie Minogue's gold hotpants from her Spinning Around music video and the gown worn by Olivia Newton-John while performing with ABBA in her 1978 US television special.
Other notable items on display include the maracas used by Peter Allen, the Grammy Award bestowed to Helen Reddy for her Billboard number one hit I Am Woman, and the L'amour sign from La Bohème, which featured in several Baz Luhrmann films.
Nick Cave's personal visual journal from 1987 will be on display, along with the original neon red L'amour sign created by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin for La Bohème.
Drum Kit Makes Debut
Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst's drum kit will be on display for the first time, having been donated to the collection by a fan group who crowd-funded to buy the drums at auction.
Bringing Beloved Memories 'Back to Life'
Arts Centre Melbourne's director of collections and exhibitions, Sandra Bruce, said the exhibition took three years to plan.