Ten Dazzling Melbourne Exhibitions to Look Forward to This Summer

The Mouse House has brought some of its magic our way, with Disney: The Magic of Animation now on display at Melbourne’s newly revamped Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

Running from October 30, 2020 to January 23, 2022 on its only Aussie stop, the exhibition explores everything from 1928’s Steamboat Willie — the first talkie to feature Mickey Mouse — to more than 500 original artworks including paintings, sketches, drawings and concept art. The entire lineup has been specially selected by the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, offering a glimpse at how some of Disney’s famous stories were developed and which animation techniques brought them to the big screen.

Images: Phoebe Powell.

Patricia Piccinini’s artworks invite you to lose yourself in the strange and the surreal, whether they’re floating through the sky or filling cavernous rooms with intriguing creatures.

From November 8, 2021–June 12, 2022, her latest installation A Miracle Constantly Repeated will again take over the usually closed Flinders Street Station Ballroom.

The main ballroom and nine other surrounding rooms are filled with Piccinini’s signature otherworldly touches, from twisted flowers to eccentric bodies. The artist has crafted the installation to respond to the space as an organic environment, so expect to see her critters placed amongst peeling paint and sat next to left-behind filing cabinets.

Images: Eugene Hyland.

Ever wanted to see a martian meteorite? A 200 million-year-old fossil? A cursed amethyst? Now you can, with some of the oldest and strangest treasures from London’s Natural History Museum on show at Melbourne Museum.

200 intriguing specimens are on display as part of Treasures of the Natural World, running now until January 16, 2022. The Australian-first, Melbourne exclusive features a curation of extremely rare and mysterious objects, many of which have been invaluable to our understanding of the world.

Items from Charles Darwin’s personal collection, the world’s largest butterfly (with a whopping 30-centimetre wingspan), extinct animals, an extremely rare 1853 cubic gold nugget and a deadly flea that carried the bubonic plague are just some of the fascinating things on show.

Images: Eugene Hyland.

Never-before-seen works by Aussie artist Mirka Mora are now on show at the Jewish Museum of Australia, in a major exhibition that’s been extended until January 30, 2022.

One of Melbourne’s most loved artists, Mora is responsible for the first Art Tram in 1978 and many well-known public murals. Her influence on Australian culture is well-documented and the exhibition presents a comprehensive picture of her 70-year-long career — specifically in the context of the Jewish Australian experience. The retrospective traces Mora’s early life in Paris, through to her escape during the Holocaust and eventual migration to Australia in 1947, featuring pieces from the family’s private collection, along with letters and diaries written by Mora.

Images: Mirka at the Jewish Museum by Sarah Walker

The influence of French designer Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel upon 20th-century fashion extends far and wide. So, expect the NGV’s new exhibition Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto to be an expansive one.

Displaying from December 5, 2021–April 25, 2022, the exhibition will feature pieces from its current stint at Paris’s Palais Galliera, as well as from the fashion house’s heritage department. More than 100 garments will be showcased, charting a truly illustrious career.

It’ll be the first-ever exhibition in Australia to focus solely on Chanel’s contributions to fashion and culture.

Image: Anne Sainte-Marie in a Chanel suit, photograph by Henry Clarke, published in Vogue US, 1955, retouched by ARCP. ParisMusées. © Henry Clarke, ParisMusées /PalaisGalliera/ADAGP. Copyright Agency, 2021.

It’s a universal truth: growing up can (and probably will) be awkward as hell. But even if those days are behind you, a big dose of comfort comes from the fact that everyone else has been through it, too.

You can dive into a whole bunch of these real-life coming-of-age tales at the Immigration Museum’s Becoming You: An Incomplete Guide exhibition. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll experience plenty of vicarious mortification, as 72 Aussies share their own stories of growing up and making the leap into adulthood.

Discover compelling tales and angsty memories from everyday folk and a cast of well-known identities — including AFL footballer Jason Johannisen, writer Alice Pung, drag queen Karen from Finance, model Andreja Pejic and more.

For its 2021 edition, annual architecture commission MPavilion returns to the Queen Victoria Gardens from December 2–April 24 2022 for a jam-packed five-month appearance. Titled The LightCatcher, this year’s commission is the work of Venice’s MAP Studio. It takes the form of an urban lighthouse, featuring a network of steel tubes and light-reflecting mirrored panels that appear to float above the earth.

You can head along to check it out for free any time during its stay, as well as enjoying its supporting program of over 250 free talks, workshops, performances, installations and other events, including a slew of Melbourne Music Week events and more.

Top Image: Render of ‘The LightCatcher’ by MAP Studio, MPavilion 2021.

Launching Monday, December 6 (and running until April 2022), this year’s edition of the NGV International annual Architecture Commission is made up of two parts: a vibrant pink pond that nods to Victoria’s inland salt lakes, and a body of Indigenous plants.

The installation is called Pond[er], and hails from Melbourne-based architecture firm Taylor Knights in collaboration with artist James Carey. Their work will see patrons wander through a series of interconnected walkways and accessible platforms, even able to step right in and wade through the pond’s water.

Images: courtesy of Taylor Knights and James Carey.

Running from June 25–January 30, free NGV International exhibition Camille Henrot: Is Today Tomorrow embraces the Berlin-based contemporary artist’s signature playful approach to asking and answering life’s big questions. It’s a compelling showcase, centred on the idea of what it means to be a private individual and a global subject, simultaneously.

Among the featured works, you’ll find Henrot’s large-scale installation The Pale Fox 2014 — an accompaniment to the artist’s 2013 short film Grosse Fatigue, which won the Silver Lion at the 55th Venice Biennale. The room-sized work features a sprawling collection of over 500 artefacts, including photos, books, Henrot’s own art projects, and bits and pieces from Ebay, reflecting on how we use objects to help make sense of the world.

Elsewhere, an interactive collection of telephone sculptures will have you answering quirky questions — be prepared for probing questions about your sex life — from an unknown caller.

Image: Camille Henrot, The Pale Fox (2014). Collection of the artist, New York. Copyright Camille Henrot. Courtesy of the artist and kamel mennour, Paris/London; König Galerie, Berlin; Metro Pictures, New York. Photo by Andy Keate.

Melbourne’s new immersive digital art gallery The Lume has finally opened at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), where some of the world’s most celebrated artworks are set to be projected in large-scale format.

Running now until May 1, 2022, The Lume’s opening exhibition celebrates the works and life of Vincent van Gogh, inviting you to walk through his famous masterpieces including The Starry Night and Sunflowers. For the latter, there’s a dedicated mirror infinity room filled with sunflowers. Elsewhere, expect a reimagined Café Terrace 1888, and a life-size recreation of Van Gogh’s The Bedroom.

A carefully curated fusion of colour, sound, taste and even aroma will see you experience the works of the famed Dutch artist like never before.