NGV announces extended opening hours for hugely popular Yayoi Kusama exhibition which has already welcomed more than 376,000 visitors

Today the NGV announced extended opening hours for the final weeks of the hugely popular Melbourne-exclusive Yayoi Kusama exhibition which has welcomed more than 376,000 visitors to date. Announced on the eve of Kusama’s momentous 96^th birthday, extended opening hours will start from 5 April offering more opportunities than ever before for visitors to see the exhibition before it closes on 21 April.

Coinciding with the start of the Victorian school holidays the exhibition will be open from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm from 5 to 16 April. Then in the final days of the exhibition across the Easter Long Weekend, from 17 to 21 April*, visitors can view Yayoi Kusama from 8:00 am until midnight.

The closing week will also feature the final NGV Friday Nights late night event of the season on 18 April with a DJ set by disco and dance aficionado Tanzer, food, drinks and access to Yayoi Kusama until 10:00 pm.

Currently on display at NGV International the blockbuster Yayoi Kusama exhibition is one of the most comprehensive retrospectives of the artist’s career to date. The monumental exhibition spans Kusama’s near-nine decades of practice, from the early works on paper she created as a child to artworks made in 2024, including the world-premiere of Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light.

Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV said: ‘It is an honour to be able to celebrate the work of Yayoi Kusama, now in her 96^th year, an inspiring figure who continues her important artistic practice to this day. The Yayoi Kusama exhibition has been one of our most popular exhibitions to date and in the final month we look forward to welcoming even more visitors from around Australia and across the globe. As we work towards the opening of The Fox: NGV Contemporary it is wonderful to see the popularity of one of the world’s most acclaimed living artists resonate strongly with a broad audience.’

Born in Japan in 1929, Kusama is one of the world’s most important and recognised artists working today. She is renowned globally for her use of pattern, colour and symbols to create immersive, thought-provoking and deeply personal works of art that transcend cultural contexts.

Taking over the entire ground floor of NGV International, the exhibition features ten of the artist’s signature immersive artworks – the most ever assembled in a single location. Highlights include the new infinity mirror room unveiled at the NGV in December; Love is Calling, 2013, featuring multi coloured luminous, tentacle-like forms protruding from the floor and ceiling; and The Obliteration Room, 2002–present in NGV’s FREE children’s gallery, an interactive installation that invites visitors to cover a stark white domestic interior in a kaleidoscope of coloured dots.

Yayoi Kusama is on display until 21 April 2025 at NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Entry fees apply. Further information and tickets are available via the NGV website: NGV.MELBOURNE.

* Extended opening hours will run from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm from 5 to 16 April and from 8:00 am – midnight from 17 to 21 April. On 18 April NGV will open from 8:00 am until 10:00 pm for NGV Friday Nights.