Powerhouse Parramatta to open with 23-day festival
Five inaugural exhibitions will include a space show, a tribute to shopping malls and British artist Es Devlin’s first Australian exhibition.
Powerhouse Parramatta will open on 7 November 2026, with a festival bringing 179 events to the new western Sydney museum over 23 days. The program includes workshops, screenings, talks and performances.
Visitors will have five exhibitions to explore at opening, with subjects ranging from space to shopping malls. British artist and set designer Es Devlin, whose projects include productions for Beyoncé and Adele, will present her first Australian exhibition.
The museum has 18,000 square metres devoted to exhibitions and public use, alongside a demonstration kitchen seating 200. Its seven levels incorporate 12,000 tonnes of steel, with an external structural framework allowing largely open interiors and exhibition ceilings up to 18 metres high.
Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki led the design, collaborating with local architecture firm Genton. More than 50 local designers were involved in the project, which had a brief specifying a 100-year design life.
The museum stands on Country that is home to the Baramadagal and other Dharug peoples. Genton’s Steven Toia said the design drew on Parramatta’s history of meeting and exchange, with spaces intended for use by the area’s diverse communities.
