The Australian Centre for the Contemporary Image is getting a huge facelift this year after a big donation from the Victorian government, but it means the centre will have to close until mid-2020 to undergo the redevelopment.
Visitors will have until Monday, April 22 to visit the ever-popular and free Screen Worlds exhibition, which will be closing forever to make way for new exhibitions and play spaces. Screen Worlds has been around since 2009 and is best known to Melburnians as the place where you could pretend to be Neo from The Maxtrix and beat five-year-olds at Mario Kart.
Photograph: Supplied
The new ACMI will feature a host of new spaces. There will be a new free permanent exhibition with multiple playable and interactive experiences; education spaces; a media preservation lab (a museum of past technologies); screen industry labs for future filmmakers; a new café and bar; a fun new ACMI shop; and upgraded cinemas showcasing the best of Australian and international cinema.
ACMI is expected to close at the end of May to begin its refurb. You can read more about it on ACMI’s website. If you find yourself pining for their always-fab programming, you can still enjoy it all at offsite locations like RMIT Capitol Theatre and Treasury Theatre.