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Subscribe Melbourne Arts & Culture News: 21 Must-See & Do Experiences
Craving a dose of creativity in the city? Discover the latest art and cultural news, reviews, and happenings here.
Step into the heart of Melbourne’s dynamic art and culture scene this winter, where creativity and expression are front and centre. From vibrant theatre premieres to immersive exhibitions and thought-provoking installations, the city is alive with experiences that push boundaries and inspire.
Whether you’re seeking a whimsical journey through the world of Yayoi Kusama at NGV, or diving into experimental performances at the Malthouse Theatre, there’s something for every culture enthusiast.
Here’s your guide to Melbourne’s must-see arts and culture events this May, June, and beyond – your passport to unforgettable experiences in the city awaits.
Kimono at NGV International
NGV International unveils Kimono this June, a stunning exhibition celebrating the timeless elegance and artistry of Japan’s iconic garment. Featuring over 70 exquisite pieces—from rare Edo-period silks adorned with delicate seasonal motifs to avant-garde creations by contemporary designers like Jotaro Saito and Issey Miyake—this immersive showcase explores the kimono’s profound influence on global fashion and culture. Visitors will be captivated by the fusion of tradition and innovation, with intricate craftsmanship and luxe textiles set against a sophisticated, evocative display. A must-see homage to heritage, style, and enduring beauty.
Opens June 4th until October 5th
NGV International
Our Top 5 Picks for Melbourne Design Week 2025
Melbourne is buzzing with bold ideas and boundary-pushing design this Melbourne Design Week. From immersive installations to playful pop-ups, here are our top four must-see highlights before it wraps up for another year on 25th May.
Find Your Still Point at ‘Deep Calm’ by Sibling Architecture
Need a breather from the city buzz? Step into Deep Calm — an immersive, sensory experience from the ever-thoughtful team at Sibling Architecture. Nestled on Level 4 of Curtin House, this free exhibition explores the soothing power of pressure and touch through beautifully considered spatial design. Expect soft textures, subtle lighting, and the kind of quiet that feels like a balm. Whether you stay for five minutes or an hour, you’ll leave feeling noticeably more grounded. Bookings required for select days.
Book here
Quiet Studio: A Calm Amidst the City Bustle
Step into Quiet Studio, a serene Collingwood retreat by Matthew Bird. Using carbon-neutral acoustics and mindful activations, this sculptural installation offers immersive sound design and guided breathwork—perfect for recharging your senses.
Book here
TENT x Hareruya Pantry: Design You Can Touch
Experience TENT’s playful takeover at Hareruya Pantry, where custom furniture and lighting invite you to sit, explore, and interact. Delight your senses further with an exclusive ice cream flavour—design and indulgence expertly combined.
Free event, no booking required
Garniture: Medieval Craft Meets Modern Design
At OIGÅLL PROJECTS, Ella Saddington’s Garniture breathes new life into ancient European armour techniques. This sculptural exhibition explores modular craftsmanship, blending history with contemporary innovation—inviting visitors to reflect on the stories and durability woven into every piece.
Free event, no booking required
BAR HOLIDAY | After-hours Salon
Step into Bar Holiday’s After-hours Salon, where Melbourne’s creative spirit shines through an eclectic exhibition blending design and hospitality. Featuring innovative works from emerging and established designers like Anne U, Julian Leigh May, and Annie Paxton, this immersive event invites you to experience art as a sensory journey. Set against a backdrop of classic charm and contemporary style, it’s a sweet, buzzy setting to explore bold design, enjoy drinks, and connect with the city’s evolving creative landscape.
Book here
Our Review of the 40th Anniversary Production of Les Miserables
Forty years on, Les Misérables remains the theatre’s most potent anthem of hope and resistance — and this landmark 40th anniversary production at Rod Laver Arena is nothing short of transcendent. Stripped of the traditional revolving barricades and lavish sets, this arena staging transforms the classic musical into a raw, electrifying concert experience that pulses with emotional intensity and contemporary resonance.
The minimalist yet monumental set—a multi-tiered platform framed by three immense screens projecting haunting Victor Hugo-inspired imagery—forms a striking canvas for a star-studded cast whose voices soar with breathtaking clarity and passion. Under the assured baton of Adrian Kirk, the live orchestra swells and crashes, imbuing every note with cinematic grandeur.
Alfie Boe’s Jean Valjean is a revelation, his gravelly, soul-stirring “Bring Him Home” a moment of exquisite vulnerability that lingered long after the final chord. Michael Ball’s Javert, icy and relentless, commands the stage with chilling precision. Meanwhile, Rachelle Ann Go’s Fantine embodies fragility and fire, her “I Dreamed a Dream” a searing highlight that cracked hearts wide open.
In an era marked by social upheaval and widening divides, Les Misérables feels more urgent than ever — its timeless narrative of injustice and revolution amplified by evocative lighting that elevates ragged insurgents into rock icons, reminding us that history’s echoes demand both attention and empathy.
This arena spectacular is not merely a celebration of a beloved classic; it is a stirring call to conscience, a soul-stirring masterpiece that unites audiences in song and spirit. Bring tissues. Bring your voice. Join the millions who know the enduring power of this musical to move, challenge, and heal.
Book your tickets here
Until Sunday 25th May
Rod Laver Arena, 200 Batman Avenue, Melbourne
Legally Blonde: The Musical
Ready to bend and snap your way into the ultimate night out? Theatrical Inc. is bringing Legally Blonde: The Musical to St Kilda this July, and trust us—it’s not just a show, it’s a lifestyle. Elle Woods is back, proving once again that you can be smart, fierce, and fabulously pink all at once.
When Warner ditched her for “serious,” Elle didn’t cry—she applied to Harvard and owned it. Packed with powerhouse tunes, killer dance moves, and more sass than a Dior runway, this is your chance to witness the ultimate glow-up live.
Don’t miss it!
Wednesdays to Sundays, from July 12th to July 27th, 2025
Book here
The National Theatre, St Kilda
See a Powerful New Exhibition, ngurrak-al marram-u
Presented by BodyPlaceProject, ngurrak-al marram-u is a powerful new exhibition exploring deep connections between body, place, and the environment through embodied, place-responsive art. Curated by Gretel Taylor with artists Gülsen Özer and Mandy Nicholson, the show features works by Aarti Jadu, Rebecca Murray, Jill Orr, Laki Sideris, Tammy Wong Hulbert, and others.
The exhibition emerges from a unique mobile residency across Corhanwarrabul (the Dandenong Ranges), guided by Wurundjeri Traditional Custodian Mandy Nicholson. Together, the artists walked the mountain and created works in response—spanning sound, performance, and visual art.
Meaning “body of the mountain” in Woiwurrung, ngurrak-al marram-u invites audiences into a sensory experience of Country, exploring walking as art, eco-performance as activism, and practices that reimagine our relationship with land and the more-than-human world.
Don’t miss this immersive, thought-provoking exhibition that speaks to global ecological concerns through the grounded, local lens of Naarm’s beloved mountain.
Exhibition opening Saturday 24th May; book here
24th May to 13th July, 2025
See the Final Season of Happy-Go-Wrong at fortyfive downstairs
After a life-altering tick bite and a long road to recovery, Andi Snelling brings her award-winning solo show Happy-Go-Wrong back home to Melbourne for its powerful final season. Fusing clowning, movement, dark comedy and rollerskating, the show is a raw, visually striking journey through chronic illness and survival. With a moving brown paper set that dances with the performer, it’s both deeply personal and universally resonant. Heralded as a “highlight of the year” (The Age), this unmissable physical theatre work celebrates resilience, absurdity and the will to keep going.
25th to 29th June, 2025
45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
DroneArt Show to Light Up Melbourne with Drones, Classical Music & Candlelight
Following a sold-out debut in the US, the internationally acclaimed DroneArt Show is set to make its spellbinding Australian premiere in Melbourne next month, promising an unforgettable fusion of classical music and state-of-the-art drone technology. For two nights only, on 23–24 May at Caulfield Racecourse, this open-air event will transport audiences into a world of visual and musical wonder.
Presented by Fever, the world’s leading live entertainment platform, in partnership with global drone innovators Nova Sky Stories, the DroneArt Show is a multi-sensory experience like no other. As a live string quartet performs timeless works — from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake — hundreds of synchronised drones will light up the night sky, forming blooming flowers, twinkling stars, graceful swans and more, all choreographed in perfect harmony with the music.
The performance unfolds beneath a canopy of hundreds of glowing candles, creating an enchanting atmosphere under the stars. Tickets go on sale from 16th April 2025.
$65 per person
Book/join the waitlist here
23rd to 24th May, 2025
Caulfield Racecourse, Gate 2, Station Street, Caulfield East
The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale is Coming to Melbourne
Middle-earth is calling, Melbourne. The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale is making its Australian premiere at the Comedy Theatre from 26th April to 8th June 2025, reimagining Tolkien’s legendary trilogy through a folk-inspired musical lens. This enchanting production blends immersive storytelling, actor-musicianship, and live music to transport audiences into the heart of the Shire and beyond. A must for fantasy lovers and theatre fans alike, it’s a magical new chapter in Melbourne’s arts and culture scene.
26th April to 8th June, 2025
Book your tickets here
Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
Rising to Return in June
Melbourne’s winter will glow once again as RISING Festival returns from 4th to 15th June 2025, igniting the city with bold art, music, and performance. This year’s program features 65 events, 15 new commissions, and 9 world premieres, spotlighting artists like Beth Gibbons, Suki Waterhouse, Japanese Breakfast, and Mount Kimbie. From immersive installations to cutting-edge performance, RISING transforms the city after dark into a stage of light, sound and sensation. It’s Melbourne’s most electrifying celebration of contemporary creativity — and an unmissable moment in the national arts calendar.
4th to 15th June, 2025
Rock Out to Hedwig and the Angry Inch in June
In 2025, Melbourne welcomes the electrifying rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Starring Seann Miley Moore, this bold, gender-bending show is a raw, high-energy exploration of love, identity, and transformation. With an incredible live band and stunning visuals, Hedwig breaks the fourth wall and shakes up the stage with humour and heart. Don’t miss this internationally acclaimed production, co-directed by Shane Anthony and Dino Dimitriadis, as it storms into Melbourne with grit, glam, and soul.
13th to 26th June
Book tickets here
Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne CBD
A Dolly Parton Musical is Coming to Melbourne in June
Dolly fans, rejoice! Here You Come Again hits Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre in 2025—an irresistibly fun musical packed with her biggest hits like Jolene and 9 to 5. Starring Tricia Paoluccio as Dolly and Dash Kruck, this feel-good show blends heart, humour, and rhinestones in a toe-tapping journey of love and self-discovery. Don’t miss the sparkle!
From 12th June
Book tickets here
Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
Rebecca to Bring Atmosphere to Southbank Theatre Later in the Year
Rebecca is set to arrive on Melbourne’s stage later this year with a gripping new production directed by Anne-Louise Sarks. Based on Daphne du Maurier’s iconic gothic tale, the play explores themes of infidelity, obsession, and the haunting legacy of Rebecca, the first wife of a wealthy widower. Performed by a stellar cast including Pamela Rabe, Nikki Shiels, and Bert LaBonté, this atmospheric thriller promises to captivate with its dark twists and psychological tension. A must-see for fans of classic suspense!
30th September to 5th November
Book your tickets here
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner, 140 Southbank Boulevard, Southbank
French Impressionism Returns to Melbourne’s NGV International in 2025
More than 100 iconic works by Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cassatt, and more will make their grand return to NGV International for French Impressionism, opening 6th June 2025. Direct from Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, this exclusive Melbourne Winter Masterpieces® exhibition promises a rare second chance to experience some of the world’s most beloved paintings, including several never-before-seen in Australia.
An unmissable moment in the city’s cultural calendar.
6th June to 5th September, 2025
NGV International
Martin Grant Brings Jaw-Dropping Style to the Ian Potter Centre
Paris-based Australian fashion designer Martin Grant is set to make waves at the Ian Potter Centre with a stunning exhibition showcasing his signature sleek tailoring and timeless silhouettes. Known for dressing some of the world’s most stylish women—including Cate Blanchett and Lady Gaga—Grant’s work embodies effortless sophistication with a modern edge.
This exhibition isn’t elaborate or boastful. Instead, it’s a thoughtful curation of Martin Grant’s generous donations, encapsulating the incredible work his fashion house has produced throughout the years. You’ll be greeted by six structured black coats as you enter the exhibition, before being lead into a room wherein you’ll gaze upon a gigantic hoop skirt that commands attention. Our favourite part has to be the final room, wherein illustrious gowns are softly spotlights by overhead lights. Perfectly hung in the air, sitting on mannequins that were custom-made for each unique dress, each garment has a weightless, other-worldly air to it. Martin Grant’s retrospective exhibition is a must-see for any fashion lover and art-enthusiast alike.
Tickets and details here
28th March 2025 to 26th January 2026
Ian Potter Centre, Fed Square, Melbourne
A Thrilling Stage Adaptation of 1984 is About to Take Melbourne by Storm
Big Brother is watching—and he’s heading to Melbourne. Shake & Stir Theatre Co is bringing George Orwell’s 1984 to the Comedy Theatre for a strictly limited season (1st to 6th July), and this isn’t your high school English class retelling. Think towering screens, unrelenting tension, and a theatrical experience so gripping it teeters on horror. With reality and nightmare blurring in Oceania’s totalitarian state, this bold adaptation promises to leave audiences breathless. Melbourne, are you ready to defy Big Brother? Catch it while you can—before history is rewritten.
Tickets and details here
1st to 6th July, 2025
Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
In The Heights Brings the Heat to Melbourne
Breaking news: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights is storming into Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre from 1st August 2025, and it’s impossible to resist. A high-voltage mix of hip hop, salsa, and Latin beats, this Tony Award-winning sensation pulses with raw energy, big dreams, and even bigger heart. Fresh off sold-out runs, the electrifying production stars Ryan González (Moulin Rouge!), Olivia Vásquez (West Side Story), and more. Directed by Luke Joslin with dynamic choreography by Amy Campbell, this is a firecracker of a musical—loud, joyful, and deeply human. Melbourne, get ready.
Tickets drop 6th March here
Melbourne Comedy Festival
The Dirty Dozen: A Tasty, Twisted History of Melbourne’s Street Food
Food is never just food—it’s history, culture, and sometimes, a little bit of scandal. As part of the 2025 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, The Dirty Dozen is taking over the City Gallery to uncover the stories behind Melbourne’s most iconic street eats. Curated by food writer Richard Cornish and brought to life through hyper-real ceramic sculptures by artist Kenny Pittock, this exhibition peels back the layers of the city’s food scene—one bite at a time. From Indigenous Angasi oysters to the rise of the mighty dim sim, it’s a must-see for food lovers and history buffs alike.
13th March to 29th August, 2025
City Gallery, Melbourne Town Hall
Nipa Doshi to Unveil Groundbreaking Work as 2025 MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission Recipient
Nipa Doshi, the Mumbai-born, London-based designer renowned for fusing craft, storytelling, and function, has been named the 2025 recipient of the prestigious MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission. A defining moment for Australian design and cultural discourse, this annual commission highlights global female designers pushing creative boundaries.
Doshi’s new work, A Room of My Own, is a striking, handcrafted cabinet inspired by Indian Kavad shrines—an intimate fusion of personal ritual and memory. Designed as both a dressing table and a shrine, it reveals abstract portraits of women who shaped Doshi’s life, from a 1970s Bollywood star to a maternal neighbour and a compassionate nurse. This poetic yet functional piece embodies her signature style—blending cultural heritage, intricate craftsmanship, and narrative depth.
A globally celebrated designer, Doshi’s work has been showcased at MoMA, the V&A, and the Art Institute of Chicago. As the fourth designer in this five-year commission, she joins a legacy of trailblazing women. A Room of My Own will be unveiled at NGV International on 25th September 2025, marking a milestone in design’s evolving conversation on gender, identity, and tradition.
From 25th September, 2025
Free entry
NGV International, Melbourne
NGV’s 2025 Autumn-Winter Season Brings French Impressionism, Martin Grant & Kimono Exhibitions
Melbourne’s art scene is heating up for winter 2025 with NGV’s globally exclusive French Impressionism exhibition, finally getting the encore it deserves. From 6th June, expect masterpieces from Monet, Renoir, and Degas—thanks to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston—plus never-before-seen works in Australia.
Fashion lovers, don’t sleep on Martin Grant, a retrospective of the Aussie designer who dressed Cate Blanchett and Lady Gaga. Meanwhile, Kimono unpacks Japan’s most iconic garment, from samurai-era silks to avant-garde couture.
Throw in Olaf Breuning’s wild kids’ installation and the freshest young talent in Top Arts, and NGV’s serving up a winter feast for the senses.
Van Gogh at The Lume
Step into a masterpiece this summer as Van Gogh at THE LUME Melbourne makes its highly anticipated return on Boxing Day, now with an exhilarating twist! The record-breaking immersive experience unveils Finding Vincent, a world-first VR adventure that lets you and your crew explore Van Gogh’s iconic works like never before. Marvel at the dazzling Starry Night Room, dine under painted skies at Café Terrace 1888, and channel your inner artist in the interactive studio. A must-see this season.
Until June 1st
5 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf
Malthouse Theatre 2025 Season Revealed
Malthouse Theatre’s 2025 season promises a dynamic mix of bold stories, innovative performances, and unforgettable experiences. Highlights include A Nightime Travesty, a provocative First Nations musical exploring Australia’s colonial past, and Truth, a gripping exploration of whistleblowers like Assange and Manning. Also on offer are The Red Shoes, The Birds, and Troy—epic tales of myth, power, and resistance, with immersive audio, spine-tingling horror, and poetic drama. With ECHO and The Orchard, Malthouse sets the stage for a year of groundbreaking theatre that will challenge, captivate, and leave audiences in awe. Don’t miss it!
As Melbourne continues to shine with its vibrant arts and culture scene, there’s no shortage of ways to immerse yourself in creativity this summer. Check out our guide to what’s on around the city this month, and don’t miss the chance to explore the top art galleries in Melbourne, where the best of local and international talent is on display.
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