A new Melbourne exhibition brings costumes, instruments, props and personal objects from Australian performance history into one visitor experience. It is designed for people who want a clear way to see how music, theatre, dance, opera, circus and screen culture have shaped the country.
The exhibition is useful for locals because it connects familiar performers and productions with the physical objects that helped create their public stories. Visitors can approach it as a cultural outing, a piece of Melbourne history, or a starting point for introducing younger audiences to Australian performance.
What is ENCORE! at Arts Centre Melbourne?
ENCORE! is an exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the Australian Performing Arts Collection. ABC News reported on 15 September 2026 that the exhibition brings together 50 objects selected from a collection of more than 875,000 items.
The selection covers Australian circus, dance, music, opera and theatre. It includes costumes, instruments, props, scripts and other material that can show how a performance was made and remembered. The Arts Centre Melbourne exhibition information is the best place to check visitor information and current details before travelling.
The exhibition opens on Wednesday and is scheduled to run until 9 May 2027, according to the ABC News report on ENCORE!. Because the exhibition runs across seasons, visitors have time to plan a visit around school holidays, a city trip or another Arts Centre performance.
Which objects are on display?
The most recognisable item is Kylie Minogue's gold hotpants from the Spinning Around video clip. The object matters because it links a small piece of clothing to a major moment in a performer's career and to the visual language of Australian popular music.
Other highlights give the exhibition a wider scope. The display includes Peter Allen's maracas, a custom-made vest associated with Gunditjmara and Bundjalung singer-songwriter Archie Roach, and a gown worn by Olivia Newton-John during a 1978 United States television special featuring ABBA.
Visitors can also see the Grammy Award presented to Helen Reddy for I Am Woman, a Nick Cave visual journal from 1987, and a neon L'amour sign made for the stage production of La Bohème by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin. The sign later appeared in films including Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet and Strictly Ballroom.
An important part of the exhibition is material that may be less familiar to casual visitors. Rob Hirst's Midnight Oil drum kit is being shown publicly for the first time, while a Wirth's Circus scrapbook gives a sense of how performance companies preserved their working history.
Why collections make live performance easier to understand
Live performance disappears when the curtain closes. A costume, instrument or prop gives audiences something physical to examine after the original moment has passed. That changes the way a visitor understands performance because the object carries evidence of craft, use, wear and design decisions.
The Australian Performing Arts Collection began in the 1970s, but its holdings include artefacts dating back 170 years. The long time span makes the exhibition more than a celebrity display. It places contemporary popular culture beside older traditions in theatre, opera, circus and music.
Arts Centre Melbourne's director of collections and exhibitions, Sandra Bruce, told ABC News that the exhibition took three years to plan. The curatorial challenge was to choose only 50 pieces from a very large collection while still showing the range of Australian performing arts.
That selection approach gives visitors a practical way to read the display. Instead of trying to cover everything, the exhibition uses a small group of objects to open larger stories about performance, identity, technology and memory.
A local outing for different audiences
ENCORE! can work for several kinds of visitors. A fan of Kylie Minogue, Olivia Newton-John, Archie Roach, Nick Cave or Midnight Oil may come for one familiar object and discover a different part of the collection. A student can use the exhibition to connect classroom topics with real costumes, props and instruments.
Families may find the objects easier to discuss than an abstract history of performance. Ask what an object was designed to do, who used it, how it was preserved and what changes when it moves from a working stage environment into a museum display.
Older visitors may recognise television, theatre or music references from their own lives. Younger visitors can see how a performer builds an image before the era of social media and streaming platforms. The exhibition therefore offers shared conversation across generations without requiring specialist knowledge.
For Melbourne residents, the exhibition can also sit within a broader day in the city. Visitors can combine it with another performance, a walk through the Arts Precinct or a meal nearby. Check the official exhibition page for current opening information, access details and ticket arrangements before setting out.
How to plan a visit responsibly
A few simple checks will make the experience easier:
- Confirm the opening date, session details and any ticket requirements on the official Arts Centre Melbourne page.
- Allow enough time to read object labels rather than treating the exhibition as a quick photo stop.
- Check access information if you need step-free entry, seating, captioning or other support.
- Follow display rules because many costume and paper objects are sensitive to light, touch and crowd movement.
- Use the exhibition as a prompt to explore more Victorian arts venues and collections.
The Greater Melbourne suburb guides can help visitors explore the region around Melbourne before or after a city outing. The live Greater Melbourne listings and tag page provides another route into local communities and services. For statewide context, the Victoria local guide brings together suburb and locality information across Victoria.
What ENCORE! says about Melbourne
The exhibition makes a simple point about Melbourne's cultural identity: performance history is also local history. Objects connected with Australian music, theatre, circus and opera have passed through stages, rehearsal rooms, workshops and audiences in the city and beyond.
ENCORE! is timely because it gives visitors a physical way to revisit that history while new performances continue around it. The exhibition does not replace a live show. It explains the work, people and objects that make live performance possible, then sends visitors back into Melbourne's cultural life with more context.
Photo: Arts Centre Melbourne, north view, by DXR, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. File page. The image shows the exhibition venue, not an ENCORE! display object.
Works Cited
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "Kylie Minogue's Gold Hotpants in 50th Anniversary Australian Performing Arts Collection Exhibition." ABC News, 15 Sept. 2026, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-15/kylie-minogue-gold-hotpants-in-50th-anniversary-exhibition/107155076.
Arts Centre Melbourne. "ENCORE!" Arts Centre Melbourne, 2026, https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/.
DXR. "Arts Centre, Melbourne, North View 20230219 1." Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arts_Centre,_Melbourne,_north_view_20230219_1.jpg.