NGV Friday Nights: Yayoi Kusama

Overview

Any chance to see Yayoi Kusama's work in Australia is huge news, and reason to make a date — including travel plans, if needed — to get immersed in the Japanese icon's infinity rooms, and also be surrounded by pumpkins and dots. So when the National Gallery of Victoria announced that its big summer 2024–25 showcase would be dedicated to the artist, that was enough to make the resulting exhibition a firm must-see. Adding Friday-night parties to the mix is the cherry on top, then.

How many ways can Melbourne go dotty for Kusama? It's time to find out from the exhibition's opening on Sunday, December 15, 2024, although answers have been arriving in advance. Kusama's five-metre-tall dot-covered Dancing Pumpkin sculpture has made NGV International's Federation Court its home first. Then came the revelation that the showcase will feature a world record-breaking number of infinity rooms and other immersive installations. And, outside the gallery on St Kilda Road, Kusama's Ascension of Polka Dots on the Trees has wrapped the trunks of more than 60 trees in pink-and-white polka-dotted material.

NGV Friday Nights often forms part of the venue's high-profile exhibitions, so it should come as no surprise that the event series is back for Yayoi Kusama. The after-hours parties kick off on Friday, December 20, 204 for some pre-Christmas fun, then run for 18 weeks until Friday, April 18, 2025. Come quittin' time for the week, Melburnians can add spots to their late-night shenanigans. If you're making a visit from interstate, you'll want to ensure you time it to hit one of the soirees on your trip.

Seeing art is obviously on the NGV Friday Nights itinerary, but so is music and culinary experiences. The NGV's Great Hall will welcome live DJ sets, including from Dijok, Small FRY, Elle Shimada, Tanzer and more. In the NGV Garden Restaurant, acclaimed chefs Martin Benn is doing a residency for the exhibition's duration, serving up Asian-inspired dishes using Australian produce,

Attendees can also look forward to other dining and drinking options, such as the Moët & Chandon champagne bar, Four Pillars gin bar, Yering Station wine bar and Häagen-Dazs ice cream cart — so there's sparkling, G&Ts, wine flights and frozen treats covered — plus a Japanese-inspired menu from the Great Hall and Gallery Kitchen.

Gracing NGV International's walls until Monday, April 21, 2025, Yayoi Kusama features over 180 works, in the largest Kusama retrospective that Australia has ever seen — as well as one of the most-comprehensive retrospectives devoted to the artist to be staged globally, not to mention the closest that you'll get to experiencing her Tokyo museum without leaving the country.

Images: Michael Pham / Tobias Titz.