Brisbane is about to get a little weirder — and a lot more wonderful.
From September 12, 2026 through April 18, 2027, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art will host the world-exclusive exhibition Make, Believe, Magic: The Worlds of The Jim Henson Company — an immersive deep dive into the imagination factory that gave us felt revolutionaries, goblin kings and a generation raised on radical kindness.
Founded in 1955 by Jim and Jane Henson, The Jim Henson Company reshaped television, film and childhood itself. What began with a frog and a camera became a storytelling empire: the chaos and heart of The Muppets, the subterranean harmonies of Fraggle Rock, the mythic shadowlands of The Dark Crystal and the glam-rock fever dream that is Labyrinth.
Now, for the first time, that universe is being unpacked — thread by thread — on Australian soil.
Beyond Felt and Foam
This isn’t a nostalgia cash-in. According to QAGOMA Director Chris Saines, the exhibition is “unparalleled in scope,” spreading across GOMA’s entire ground floor. Hundreds of objects — practical puppets, animatronic creatures, original drawings, props, costumes and moving image installations — will trace the evolution of Henson’s world-building from handmade chaos to digital-age hybridity.
At the heart of the show lies Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the New York and Los Angeles–based studio that quietly revolutionised puppetry. Before CGI swallowed Hollywood whole, these were the artisans who made latex breathe and foam rubber emote. Even now, in a post-Marvel landscape, the Creature Shop continues to push tactile storytelling forward — blending animatronics with digital augmentation rather than surrendering to pixels.
The exhibition will also feature a genuine world-first: the Great Hall set from the Emmy-winning reboot Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. It’s a rare chance to step inside a working puppeteer’s environment — to see not just the magic, but the mechanics.
The Australian Thread
For Brisbane, this is more than a travelling blockbuster. The Henson footprint runs deep in Australia.
The Company produced The Portable Door, filmed in Brisbane in 2023, while cult sci-fi favourite Farscape — shot in Sydney — remains one of the most ambitious international collaborations ever mounted on Australian soundstages. And let’s not forget the Oscar-winning Babe, populated with animatronic creatures that still hold up against today’s digital barnyard.
This exhibition nods to those local connections, positioning Queensland not just as host, but as participant in Henson’s global mythology.
Cinema, Conversation, Creature Craft
Beyond the gallery floor, QAGOMA’s Australian Cinémathèque will run a curated film program spotlighting key Henson productions and the craft behind them. Opening weekend — timed to coincide with the annual Brisbane Festival — promises panels, screenings and performances designed to bridge generations.
And that’s the quiet power of Henson’s work. It’s intergenerational without being sentimental. Kids met Gobo and Red; their parents met Kermit and Miss Piggy; cinephiles found existential dread in Skeksis-haunted wastelands. The through-line isn’t just puppetry — it’s empathy. Henson believed in the radical idea that creatures could teach us to be more human.
Big Numbers, Bigger Imagination
Queensland’s Arts and Tourism ministers are forecasting up to 110,000 visitor nights and a $22 million economic injection into the state. That’s the language of government strategy — “Destination 2045,” “Time to Shine.” But the deeper story is simpler: Brisbane is staking a claim as a cultural destination capable of hosting exhibitions with genuine global pull.
For a city often overshadowed by Sydney and Melbourne’s cultural clout, Make, Believe, Magic feels like a statement — kaleidoscopic, ambitious and slightly subversive. Exactly the sort of energy Jim Henson would’ve appreciated.
Why It Matters Now
In an era of algorithm-fed content and synthetic spectacle, there’s something radical about returning to craft. About seeing the seams. About understanding that behind every wide-eyed creature is a team of artists, engineers and performers sweating beneath lights to make illusion breathe.
Henson once said that his goal was to “make people happy.” That sounds disarmingly simple — until you realise how hard that is to pull off without cynicism. This exhibition doesn’t just celebrate characters; it celebrates process, risk and imagination as a collaborative act.
Tickets go on sale June 1 via QAGOMA, with the exhibition running from September 12 through April 18.
In a world that often feels short on wonder, Brisbane is about to be overrun by felt, foam and a reminder that belief — make-believe or otherwise — is still one of the most powerful creative forces we have.
For more information visit www.qagoma.qld.gov.au
Production still from Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock 2022–present /
© Apple. All Rights Reserved / Image courtesy: Apple, The Jim Henson Company