Australian Museum Of Performing Arts To Open DIVA, A New Blockbuster Exhibition
The V&A-developed exhibition will launch AMPA’s museum program in Melbourne.
The Australian Museum of Performing Arts (AMPA) will open DIVA, its inaugural large-scale exhibition, featuring more than 250 objects drawn from the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Australian Performing Arts Collection, and international lenders.
The exhibition will explore how performers across generations have influenced aesthetics, public imagination, and the evolution of live performance, presenting costumes, archival materials, personal objects, and design elements associated with figures ranging from Maria Callas and Grace Jones to Kylie Minogue and Olivia Newton-John. In addition to historical material, DIVA will examine Australia’s contributions to global performance culture and trace how the definition of “diva” has shifted across time.
The exhibition includes a sound environment designed by Gareth Fry, featuring recordings spanning opera, soul, pop, and contemporary music. AMPA Chief Executive Karen Quinlan said the exhibition reflects artists whose legacies continue to shape Australian and international performance. V&A Senior Curator Kate Bailey noted that the project considers how performers have used their work to challenge expectations and reclaim the term “diva.”
Located within Hamer Hall, the Australian Museum of Performing Arts showcases material from the Australian Performing Arts Collection and international partners through rotating exhibitions. The museum highlights theatre, dance, opera, popular entertainment, and live performance history, drawing from an archive of more than 850,000 objects.
For tickets and further details, visit artscentremelbourne.com.au.

Videos
|
PAW Patrol™ Live! "Race to the Rescue" MyState Bank Arena (7/25-7/25) |
|
Arts Centre Melbourne presents New Owner The Show Room, Arts Centre Melbourne (7/17-7/18) |
|
The Music and Life of Barbra Streisand starring Melinda Schneider Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne (8/07-8/07) |
|
Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl fortyfivedownstairs (5/28-6/14) |
|
Play In A Day: Volpone, Or, The Fox The University of Melbourne (11/18-11/18) |
|
Magic School with Tim Credible Arrow on Swanston (5/30-7/05) |
|
Menopause The Musical Athenaeum Theatre One (9/02-9/06) |
|
Influential The Slydini Showroom (7/07-7/11) |
|
Ganesh vs the Third Reich - WITH Post-Show Artist Talk Union Theatre (6/18-6/18) |
|
Pride And Prejudice* (*sort of) The Athenaeum (6/18-7/18) |
| VIEW ALL SHOWS ADD A SHOW | |









