Collection Store Tours

The Australian Performing Arts Collection Tours allows unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the Australian Performing Arts Collection.

Get behind-the-scenes access to Australia's largest performing arts collection. Consisting of over 850,000 items, a significant portion of the Australian Performing Arts Collection (APAC) is now available to the public via behind-the-scenes tours of the Collections Store, located at Hamer Hall. The Collections Store is an operational space dedicated to the development, management, preservation and sharing of Arts Centre Melbourne's extraordinary cultural heritage.

The collection has been in development since the 1970s, spanning circus, dance, music, opera and theatre. Led by a tour guide, this unique experience will shed light on how the curatorial team work closely with artists and arts organisations – from The Australian Ballet to Circus Oz – to not only acquire items, but also to unpack the stories of the performances behind each object, a process integral to the activity of the Collection Store.