The uniquely Melbourne Museum of Desire announces its Melbourne season is ending soon after 18 months of chaos, curiosity and doorless booths.
Within the first hour of its opening day, someone was having sex in the Body Parts Booth. The photos were broadcasting live on gold-framed screens throughout the Melbourne museum.
The co-founder yanked the door off its hinges while frantically calling police to check if this constituted a public offence. That booth still has no door — just a sheer curtain and a lot of stories. Now, after 18 months and more than 55,000 visitors, the Museum of Desire has announced its Melbourne season is coming to a close.
Melbourne’s Museum of Desire
- Museum of Desire — 92 Rupert Street, Collingwood
- Final weeks now on sale
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The Collingwood venue — which has racked up two Time Out awards, a 4.4-star Google rating with 86 per cent of visitors giving it five stars, and content bans from both TikTok and Meta (which the team wears as a badge of honour) — will shut up shop in the coming weeks, bringing one of Melbourne’s wildest cultural experiments to an end.
What started as an ambitious six-month project at 92 Rupert Street quickly spiralled into something much bigger. Across 25-plus rooms, visitors have drawn approximately 25,000 pictures of their pubic hair, smuggled out roughly 1,300 rubber boobs from the ball pit, and generated enough staff anecdotes to fill a novel. One man visited three days running asking to play “dicks and spoons” (nobody knows what this game involves). A couple ditched their wedding reception next door to take photos in the boobie ball pit. A doctor and his date had to leave after 20 minutes because their mushrooms kicked in too hard.
From Abbie Chatfield to shibari workshops
Beyond the headline-grabbing chaos, the venue hosted a packed program of special events throughout its run, from record-breaking Valentine’s Day celebrations in both 2025 and 2026 to burlesque with Evana DeLune, a live conversation with Abbie Chatfield and Esme James, shibari workshops, a Midsumma party and various live art collaborations.
“This has always been about creating something bold, intimate and emotionally charged,” says co-director David Strong. “Melbourne embraced it wholeheartedly. We’re incredibly proud of what was built here.”
Co-director Correne Wilkie describes the closure as a deliberate move rather than a forced one. “There’s something powerful about knowing it won’t last forever,” she says. “That’s when people lean in. That’s when moments matter more.”
The team has hinted this isn’t necessarily the final chapter for the concept, with international interest already emerging. “Melbourne gave this idea its life and will always be credited as the original home of Museum of Desire,” Wilkie says.
The closing weeks are expected to bring record visitor numbers, so if you’ve been putting it off, the sheer curtain awaits.
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