The cheeky Collingwood venue that made 50,000 people question everything celebrates turning one.
Within the first hour of opening day, someone was having sex in the Body Parts Booth. The photos were broadcasting live on gold-framed screens throughout the museum. The co-founder yanked the door off its hinges while frantically calling police to check if this constituted a public offence. Welcome to day one at the Museum of Desire, where twelve months later, that booth still has no door – just a sheer curtain and a lot of stories.
The Collingwood venue has become ground zero for Melbourne’s evolving conversation about pleasure, bodies and vulnerability. It’s part gallery, part playground, part social experiment – occupying a sweet spot between highbrow art installation and delightfully unashamed entertainment.
Now, the Museum of Desire is celebrating its first birthday exactly how you’d expect. Pony Dog Productions presents TattleTales: Immersive Tarot Storytelling (Smut Edition), a 60-minute interactive romantasy adventure where audiences wield tarot cards to craft sensual stories. Life-casting specialist Claire Tennant from Cast My Body showcases her body casting skills live at the museum. Birthday treats include strutting a hot pink carpet, decadent desserts, 20 per cent off merchandise, and lucky dips. Previous visitors score VIP pricing throughout December.
Museum of Desire
- First birthday celebrations: 5-6 December, 6pm-11pm
- 92 Rupert Street, Collingwood
- Birthday event tickets via Fever Up
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Where art meets desire
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The museum sits within a global movement of immersive art experiences that demand participation rather than passive observation. But while other cities get Van Gogh projections and Instagram-friendly infinity rooms, Melbourne gets dildo quoits and a kissing booth that’s witnessed more action than a reality TV show.
The numbers tell the story: 50,000 visitors in year one, rave Google ratings, and two Time Out Arts & Culture awards including the People’s Choice for Favourite Museum Experience. The venue has also been consistently banned from TikTok and Meta for content violations, which the team wears as a badge of honour.
Staff anecdotes from the first year read like dispatches from an alternate universe. There’s the man who visited three days straight asking to play “dicks and spoons” (nobody knows what this game involves). The newlyweds who ditched their reception at Rupert on Rupert to do wedding photos in the boobie ball pit. The doctor and his date who had to leave after 20 minutes because their mushrooms kicked in too hard and they needed to find a park.
The art of getting lucky
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Beyond the giggles and gasps, something genuinely transformative happens within these walls. The Never Have I Ever installation has sparked countless conversations between couples discovering things about each other’s sexual histories (though at least one argument erupted when revelations got too surprising). An older woman visiting solo told staff the experience made her realise she wanted to start having sex again after a long hiatus, beginning with herself.
The museum features the world’s only glass internal vagina cast on display, alongside new additions like Listen to Your Pussy by artist Zoe Awen and The Little Vegas Love Chapel. Around 25,000 people have drawn pictures of their pubic hair at designated stations. Approximately 1,300 rubber boobs have gone missing from the ball pit, presumably smuggled out as souvenirs.
The Orgasm Harp remains a crowd favourite – a laser harp programmed to respond to touch with exactly the sounds you’d expect. The Joy Room offers competitive butt putt and dildo quoits. The Infinity & Beyond room by The Huxleys creates a mirrored portal of flamboyant glamour. The Heart Beat Glass room visualises synchronised heartbeats between visitors.
Birthday debauchery and beyond
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Birthday treats include strutting a hot pink carpet, decadent desserts, 20 per cent off merchandise, and lucky dips. Previous visitors score VIP pricing throughout December.
The venue’s special events series A Night at The Museum kicked off with Abbie Chatfield and has featured burlesque with Evana De Lune, shibari rope demonstrations, nude body painting and life drawing sessions. Summer programming includes Midsumma Festival collaborations, VIP Valentine’s events and Comedy Festival specials.
The pleasure principle
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According to the museum’s Creative Director Correne Wilkie, the space exists to welcome curiosity, humour, vulnerability and pleasure without shame: “Immersive entertainment is one of the fastest-growing arts sectors globally. The Museum of Desire taps into that appetite for sensory, interactive experiences while also embracing the evolving conversation around intimacy, bodies, and pleasure.”
The results speak for themselves – Google reviews include a five-star rating from someone who got lucky in the taxi ride home. Anecdotal evidence suggests the museum excels at providing foreplay, with many couples reporting enhanced activities post-visit.
One co-founder’s 70-year-old mother crocheted ten art penises for display. A visitor once brought a live snake without declaring it until departure. Six women went topless in the kissing booth one evening, with one emerging to report printer problems at reception. A male escort excitedly claimed the ice luge as a tax deduction while distributing business cards throughout the venue.
The Museum of Desire represents Melbourne’s appetite for experiences that challenge, provoke and titillate while maintaining artistic credibility. It’s simultaneously sophisticated and silly, cerebral and carnal, thought-provoking and arousal-invoking. After a year of operations, it’s clear Melbourne needed a space where art could be naughty, where curiosity could be celebrated, and where pleasure could be explored without judgment.
As they enter year two, the team continues expanding and evolving the experience. New installations arrive regularly, performance collaborations keep things fresh, and the steady stream of curious tourists ensures the venue maintains its reputation as Melbourne’s most memorable cultural detour.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with The Museum of Desire.
