Powerhouse Parramatta opens this weekend after a $915m build and a governance inquiry
The new western Sydney museum, dubbed the "Opera House of western Sydney", opens with a 23-day festival and five exhibitions while a NSW Treasury investigation continues.
At a glance
- Powerhouse Parramatta, a $915m museum in western Sydney, opens to the public on Saturday with a 23-day festival and five exhibitions.
- The flagship Task Eternal show covers flight and space travel and is the only opening exhibition adults must pay to enter ($30, $20 concession).
- The project has drawn criticism over its cost and the neglect of the Powerhouse's Ultimo site; a NSW Treasury investigation is ongoing.
Powerhouse Parramatta, the $915m museum in western Sydney, opens to the public on Saturday with a 23-day festival of performances, talks, screenings and workshops, 65% of which is free.
The building, designed by Moreau Kusunoki and Genton, has been nicknamed the "Opera House of western Sydney". Its white lattice exoskeleton is made from 1,300 individual pieces and 12,000 tonnes of steel, wrapping 30,000 sq metres of interior space. The structure allows column-free exhibition halls up to 18 metres high, including the largest in Australia. Interior walls are covered in a pale render made from 600,000 crushed oyster shells, locally and sustainably sourced.
A contested history
The Parramatta outpost was announced in 2014 and has drawn criticism since. Former staff and trustees have argued the museum's Ultimo site has been neglected in favour of the new project, and that the institution has shifted away from its core business towards contemporary art and events. The cost has also been questioned, and a New South Wales Treasury investigation is examining allegations about governance and procurement. In late August, 10 weeks before the scheduled opening, chief executive Lisa Havilah was stood down while that investigation continues.
Five opening exhibitions
More than 1,600 objects from the museum's 500,000-strong collection go on display, supplemented by around as many loans.
Task Eternal, the flagship show, occupies the main hall — 2,000 sq metres with 18-metre ceilings — and explores flight and space travel. It is the only opening exhibition adults must pay to enter: $30, or $20 concession, with under-16s free. Its structure was inspired by US science fiction author Ted Chiang's short story Tower of Babylon. Highlights include sketches by Leonardo da Vinci, a boomerang collected from Burramatta/Parramatta in the early 19th century, a 1960s Apollo command module test model, and the spacesuit worn by Leonard Nimoy's Spock in Star Trek. A separate ticket ($40 adults, $10 children) admits visitors eight at a time to a "ganzfeld" light installation by US artist James Turrell at the top of the tower.
The Mall looks at the social and design history of shopping centres. The Dark, for children aged four to 12, is set inside a replica meteorite more than 22 metres long; phones must be bagged and photography is banned. It holds more than 800 objects, including a jar of peas, the first item the museum collected in 1882, and the shirt worn by Leonardo DiCaprio in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet.
Overflow, the quietest of the shows, is a 16-metre LED screen on the third floor showing short films by director Ivan Sen, each spotlighting one of seven NSW Indigenous organisations that care for water and country. A shallow pool in front of the screen rises and falls with the river's tides.
The fifth exhibition marks the Australian debut of British designer Es Devlin, with five works across four rooms, including a giant mirror maze and a participatory piece in which strangers draw each other across a 24-metre table.
Devlin has also made a sixth, temporary work for the festival: an Australian version of her 2022 outdoor piece Come Home Again, with her hand-drawn sketches of 244 endangered local species and choral performances at dusk on most nights in November on the museum's riverside lawn. She described the building as "magnificent" and its opening exhibitions as "astounding".
Source: The Guardian World.
Questions and answers
- When does Powerhouse Parramatta open to the public?
- It opens on Saturday, launching a 23-day festival of performances, talks, screenings and workshops, 65% of which is free.
- How much does it cost to visit Powerhouse Parramatta?
- Task Eternal is the only opening exhibition with an adult entry fee: $30, or $20 concession, with under-16s free. A Turrell-inclusive ticket costs $40 for adults and $10 for children.
- Why has Powerhouse Parramatta been controversial?
- Critics, including former staff and trustees, say the 2014 project neglected the museum's Ultimo site and shifted its focus to contemporary art and events. Its $915m cost led to a NSW Treasury investigation, and CEO Lisa Havilah was stood down in late August.
