The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes

Overview

It might be his catchphrase, but "elementary, my dear Watson" isn't something that Sherlock Holmes originally said. You won't find it in the pages of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books, although it pops up quite frequently in the many, many film and television adaptations of the doctor-turned-author's work. Robert Downey Jr. mixing sarcasm and violence in the Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes movies, Benedict Cumberbatch becoming the internet's boyfriend in Sherlock, Jonny Lee Miller taking the sleuth to the US in Elementary — they're the most recent offerings; you've probably seen one or two of them.

That's just one of the Holmes tidbits you're likely to learn at The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes, and you don't have to be a world-renowned detective to figure out what it's all about. For the first time, the collection of Sherlock Holmes-related objects and manuscripts — and an interactive experience that lets you conduct experiments and solve a mystery — is venturing beyond North America for a five-month run at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum from June 3 to October 29, 2017.

For those keen on delving into the items behind the 127-year-old literary and pop culture legend, prepare to cast your eyes over 350 different bits and pieces, including first editions, props, costumes, period artefacts and one of the world's most accurate recreations of 221B Baker Street (that is, the place that Holmes and John Watson call home). If chasing clues and figuring out puzzles is more your thing, then don your deerstalker to not only discover the science behind his investigative ways, but put it to use. You'll become Sherlock's eyes and ears on a new case, because, yes, the game's afoot.