Jim Henson’s Handmade Worlds Take Over Brisbane
QAGOMA’s Make, Believe, Magic exhibition brings together more than 500 puppets, props and archival objects spanning seven decades of puppetry, animatronics and practical effects.
Big Bird, Elmo and Mr Snuffleupagus are among the larger-than-life figures greeting visitors at Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art, where Make, Believe, Magic: The Worlds of the Jim Henson Company traces 70 years of creative work across puppetry, animatronics and practical effects.
Presented across the gallery’s ground floor, the exhibition brings together more than 500 puppets, props, costumes, photographs, sketches and storyboards from the Jim Henson Company archive and other US institutions. Its scope extends from Sesame Street and The Muppets to Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and the work of Henson’s Creature Shop.
Fraggle Rock sets, including Doc’s workshop, the Gorgs’ garden and the Fraggles’ Great Hall, are reconstructed as working environments rather than static displays. Visitors can try puppeteering through interactive sets, live feeds and vision mixers, gaining a closer view of the craft behind the screen.
The exhibition also exposes the mechanics of animatronics, with wires, gears, levers and moving eyes visible in some works. Alongside Henson’s own films, the Creature Shop’s contributions include Duchess from Babe and a pigeon from The Producers.
The show follows Jim Henson’s career as a writer, director, artist and puppeteer, as well as the company’s continuing work after his death in 1990. Some familiar figures, including Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and Miss Piggy, are absent because they have been owned by Disney since 2004.
Make, Believe, Magic is presented at QAGOMA in Brisbane and runs until 18 April 2027.
