Arts Centre Melbourne today announced it will open the new Australian Museum of Performing Arts (AMPA) within its iconic Hamer Hall in December 2025.
Located on the Hall’s upper terrace overlooking the Birrarung (Yarra River), the new cultural destination in the heart of Melbourne will be dedicated to celebrating Australia’s extraordinary performing arts legacy and stories from the global stage. AMPA will present exclusive exhibitions, featuring both rare and treasured objects from the Australian Performing Arts Collection, while also showcasing the best touring international performing arts exhibitions.
The Australian Performing Arts Collection is the nation’s largest repository celebrating the performing arts, containing more than 850,000 objects relating to the history of circus, dance, music, opera and theatre. The Collection contains elaborate costumes and iconic rare objects from stars of the Australian stage including Kylie Minogue, Barry Humphries, Nick Cave, Hugh Jackman, Peter Allen, Chrissy Amphlett and the Dames – Nellie Melba, Joan Sutherland, Olivia Newton-John and Edna Everage – as well as famed performing arts institutions including The Australian Ballet, Circus Oz, Melbourne Theatre Company and Opera Australia. Arts Centre Melbourne is the custodian of the Collection and cares for it on behalf of the people of Victoria and Australia.
AMPA will be delivered in phases. In Phase 1, AMPA will open to the public in December 2025 with almost 500 square metres dedicated to showcasing curated exhibitions including international touring exhibitions. In Phase 2, AMPA will grow to approximately 800 square metres.
AMPA’s first exhibition will be announced this September, and the gallery will open in December. Phase 1 of AMPA is made possible via significant support from Melbourne’s generous philanthropic community in addition to seed funding from the Victorian Government, through Creative Victoria.
Minister for Creative Industries The Hon. Colin Brooks MP said:
“The new Australian Museum of Performing Arts will be an exciting new cultural destination in the heart of the city that will cement Melbourne’s reputation as Australia’s cultural capital. Victoria has long been the beating heart of Australia’s performing arts, and AMPA will honour that rich legacy while inspiring future generations. It will not only showcase our national collection at a scale never before possible but also strengthen our visitor economy and cultural reputation on the world stage.”
Arts Centre Melbourne CEO Karen Quinlan AM said:
“I’m so pleased to be bringing to life the long-held vision to make the riches of the Australian Performing Arts Collection more accessible to the Victorian community through new and expanded spaces. Through treasured objects, iconic performers and a rich theatrical legacy, AMPA will enable us to share with the world the incredible performing arts history and stories of the stages of Australia and beyond.”
About the Australian Performing Arts Collection
Arts Centre Melbourne is the proud custodian of the Australian Performing Arts Collection, the nation’s largest repository celebrating the performing arts, containing more than 850,000 objects relating to the history of circus, dance, music, opera and theatre.
The Australian Performing Arts Collection is dedicated to the collection, documentation, preservation and interpretation of Australia’s performing arts heritage. The Collection holds major acquisitions from performers such as Kylie Minogue, Nick Cave, Barry Humphries, AC/DC and Peter Allen as well as the work of leading Australian companies such as Bell Shakespeare, The Australian Ballet, Circus Oz, Sydney Dance Company, the Gordon Frost Organisation, Melbourne Theatre Company and Opera Australia.
The Australian Performing Arts Collection was established in 1975. Two early major acquisitions were the J.C. Williamson Theatres Ltd Archive – a vast photographic and paper-based collection generated by what was the largest commercial theatre enterprise in the Southern Hemisphere for almost a century – and Dame Nellie Melba’s exquisite stage costumes and accessories.
Objects are currently accessible to the community via foyer displays in Arts Centre Melbourne’s venues Hamer Hall and the Theatres Building, a searchable online catalogue, a dedicated Research Centre, loans to other cultural institutions and through the behind-the-scenes Collection Store Tours at Hamer Hall. Iconic objects from the Collection can also be found in the Australian Music Vault in the Theatres Building.
Notable objects in the Australian Performing Arts Collection
- A Jean-Philippe Worth cloak worn by Dame Nellie Melba as Elsa in Lohengrin (c.1891)
- Gold hot pants worn by Kylie Minogue in her ‘Spinning Around’ video from her 2000 album Light Years
- A visual journal compiled by Nick Cave known as the ‘Handmade Book’ (1987)
- Maracas used by Peter Allen in performance (1977)
- Costume worn by Dame Joan Sutherland in the title role of Lucrezia Borgia, Vancouver Opera (1972)
- Tutu worn by Marilyn Jones in Ballet Imperial, The Australian Ballet (1967)
- Costume worn by Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz (2006)
- Tunic worn by Chrissy Amphlett of band Divinyls (late 1980s)
- The Scream Dress worn by Dame Edna Everage (1993)
- AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott’s leather jacket (1975)
- Summer of the Seventeenth Doll set model designed by Tony Tripp (1995)
- Priscilla Queen of the Desert bus set model designed by Brian Thompson (2006)
- Ringmaster’s costume worn by Dale Woodbridge-Brown in Circus Oz’s TWENTYSIXTEEN (2016)
- Ossie Ostrich (1972)
- Helen Reddy’s Grammy Award for ‘I am Woman’ (1972)
- Costume worn by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon for her professional debut in White Baptist Abba Fan (1997)
For more information visit artscentremelbourne.com