A number of Yayoi Kusama artworks are on display in the public spaces outside the ticketed exhibition.

These displays are free to visit and don’t require a ticket.

St Kilda Road: Ascension of Polka Dots on the Trees

Along St Kilda Road, outside NGV International, the tree trunks are wrapped in fabric that is pink with white dots.

Waterwall entrance: Untitled

The Waterwall at the entrance of NGV International is made of glass and covered in a pink-and-black polka dot design with water cascading over the top.

You are welcome to put your hands on the glass wall and feel the water.

Narcissus Garden

As you enter through the Waterwall entrance, a field of reflective silver balls, each approximately the size of a basketball, covers the floor of the NGV. Small groups of these balls are also displayed around the perimeter of the Federation Court foyer area.

Please do not touch the artwork and take care as you travel past.

Federation Court: Dancing Pumpkin

A large sculpture of a pumpkin sits in Federation Court near the Information Desk. It is five metres high and is yellow with black dots. There is a step and a ramp onto the plinth, and you can go underneath the sculpture.

Gallery Kitchen

The walls of the Gallery Kitchen cafe are black and covered with colourful dots.

The Gallery Kitchen is often busy and can be loud, with people eating and talking. You are welcome to purchase food and drinks here and sit and relax, or take them into the NGV Garden for a quieter space.

Great Hall: Dots Obsession

The Great Hall is a very large room with carpet and a stained-glass ceiling. Suspended from the ceiling are very large yellow-and-black inflatable balls. You are welcome to eat and drink here or lie back and relax.

The Great Hall is busy at times. The nearby NGV Garden, beside the Great Hall, can offer quieter places to rest.

Interactive Room: Kusama for Kids / The Obliteration Room

Kusama for Kids is a free exhibition and a ticket is not required.

This is an interactive space set up like different rooms of a house, with everyday furniture and personal items.

As you enter, a staff member will give you a sheet of colourful dot stickers to stick onto furniture or surfaces. You are welcome to touch this space.

Digital screens display instructions on entry. Background music is playing while you wait in the queue to enter this artwork.

At the beginning of the exhibition period, the rooms, furniture and objects are white. As time passes, the room gradually changes when it is covered with the colourful dot stickers placed by visitors.

A digital screen displays instructions on exit.

The exhibition covers the entire Ground Floor of NGV International and is split into two parts.

As you enter the Gallery, the first part is on your right and the entrance is past the NGV Garden restaurant. Part 1 is smaller than Part 2.

Murdoch Court

As you travel down the corridor to the entrance of Part 1, there is a video screen that shows portrait images of the artist.

Further along this corridor, there are banners hanging overhead, showing portraits of the artist throughout her life.

Early Years

At the Part 1 exhibition entrance, there is a large light box showing a photograph of Kusama from when she was about 10 years old.

This is a darkened space. Around the corner, artworks are displayed on a dark, curved wall. There is one small screen showing pages from a sketchbook by the artist.

New York

Large and medium-sized artworks are shown on the walls. Four large sculptures and three small sculptures made of stuffed fabric are displayed on a central platform.

There are three small screens in this space that show photographs and videos with no sound.

In the furthest corner of this space, there is a large boat sculpture covered in soft fabric forms. This sculpture is displayed in a small room covered in black-and-white images of the sculpture. You cannot enter this room.

Corridor: Narcissus Garden

Video footage with sound is shown in this space. In front of these screens is a small display of some of the silver balls, like those on display at the Waterwall entrance and Federation Court.

Please do not touch the artwork and take care as you travel past.

Kusama and the Counterculture

Across the right-hand side of the room are mannequins wearing clothing in front of a silver and mirror backdrop. Videos play on most of the walls in this gallery, with some flashing elements and sound.

There is a plinth in the centre of the room displaying stuffed fabric sculptures and clothing. One side of the plinth displays paintings.

Across the left-hand side of the room, archival materials are displayed in a large glass case. These materials are displayed within a polka-dotted design.

The entrance to Part 2 is through the Gallery Kitchen.

Your ticket will be checked again at the entrance.

Invisible Life

A corridor leads you into the next gallery space. The walls and ceiling are different colours and covered in rounded convex mirrors. The mirrors on the walls and ceiling may be disorientating.

There is a yellow-and-black polka-dotted sculpture at the end of the corridor. Please do not touch the mirrors.

Pumpkins

Artworks are displayed on the walls around this gallery space. In the centre of the space is an immersive room. To enter this smaller room, you will join a queue.

You can skip this immersive room if you wish.

On a wall near the queue, there will be a video screen showing the artist reading a poem in Japanese, with English subtitles.

Immersive Room: The Spirits of the Pumpkins Descended into the Heavens

This is an immersive room. Its floor, walls and ceiling are yellow and covered in black dots.

In the centre of the room is a mirrored cube with a small open window on one side.

The room is wheelchair accessible; however, to see inside the mirrored cube, stepping onto a small step is required to use the viewing window. A tablet is available to show the inside of the cube to those who are unable to access it.

Inside the cube, there are mirrored walls and yellow-and-black polka-dotted pumpkins.

You will exit through a different door to the one you entered through.

You can skip this immersive room if you wish.

Return to the World Stage

This is a large room with large paintings and sculptures. There are two bench seats.

As you enter, go straight ahead and then to the left to access the Dots Obsession immersive room. In the queueing area outside the immersive room, a large video screen displays video footage of a performance artwork.

Immersive Room: Dots Obsession

This is an immersive room with a red floor, walls and ceiling, covered in white dots. Throughout the room there are large inflatable shapes covered in the same pattern. Please do not touch the artwork.

The room and pathway through are wheelchair accessible.

You will exit through a different door to the one you entered through. The mirror effects and patterns may be disorientating and the path through the space may be difficult to navigate.

You can skip this immersive room if you wish.

Kusama in the Twenty-First Century

Artworks are displayed on the walls around the room. There is a large sculpture in the centre of the room, and smaller sculptures on the sides of the room.

Kusama in the Twenty-First Century (continued)

This is a darkened space. An immersive room sits in the centre of the room with two sculptural artworks on either side with ladders in changing colours and mirrors above and below.

The exterior of the immersive room is covered with mirrors.

Immersive Room: Chandelier of Grief

Inside the immersive room, the walls are mirrored. A chandelier with flickering lights hangs from the ceiling inside a hexagonal case in front of you. Please do not touch the case or walls.

Mirror effects may be disorientating. You will enter and exit through the same doorway. The door will close behind you. You can move around inside the room and there is the space available for someone using a wheelchair to turn around.

You can skip this immersive room if you wish.

Immersive Room: The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe

This is an immersive room with the floor, walls and ceiling covered in black with yellow dots. Throughout the room, there are large inflatable shapes covered in the same pattern. The blowers used to inflate the artworks create a gentle humming sound.

Please do not touch the artwork.

The room is wheelchair accessible.

You will exit through a different door to the one you entered through. The path may be difficult to navigate.

The exhibition continues through this room. Please see a staff member for assistance if required.

Song of a Manhattan Suicide Addict

This is a darkened room with a video playing on a large screen with sound. The dialogue is in Japanese with English subtitles.

There are mirrors on either side of the screen creating the illusion of infinity. There is bench seating available.

Immersive Room: With All My Love for the Tulips I Pray Forever

This is a hallway with the floor, walls and ceiling covered in white with red, pink, green, blue and yellow dots. Along the hallway are three sculptures, each covered in the same pattern. Please do not touch the artwork.

The path may be disorientating and artworks difficult to see.

The exhibition continues through this hallway. Please see a staff member for assistance if required.

Kusama Now

This is a large room divided into two sections. There is one immersive room in the first section and another immersive room in the second section.

In the first section, there are two large video screens on opposite walls.

Near the second immersive room, there is a large display of paintings on the walls as you exit the gallery. To enter the first immersive room, move to your right and join the queue.

You can skip these immersive rooms if you wish.

Immersive room: Love is Calling

Colourful glowing tentacle shapes come out of the floor and ceiling. The shapes are blue, green and purple with black dots. The colours slowly change. Mirrors surround the walls, and the floor and ceiling are dark reflective surfaces.

The room is wheelchair accessible. There are low ramps to enter and exit.

You will exit through a different door to the one you entered through. The entry door will close behind you. The path through the space may be difficult to navigate.

The sound of Japanese dialogue is played inside the immersive room.

Immersive Room: Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light

This is a darkened space. The ceilings and walls are covered with mirrors and mirrored domes. The mirrored domes glow from within and are each covered with small holes, which let out colourful light.

The blowers used to inflate the artworks create a gentle humming sound.

Mirrors surround the walls, and the floor and ceiling have a dark reflective surface. The mirror and pattern effects may be disorientating.

The room is wheelchair accessible. There are low ramps to enter and exit.

You will exit through a different door to the one you entered through. The path through the space may be difficult to navigate.

Interactive Room: Flower Obsession

This is an interactive space, and you are welcome to touch the furniture and the objects.

As you enter, a staff member will give you a flower sticker. You will enter a room set up as an apartment with everyday furniture and objects.

At the beginning of the exhibition period, the room is neutrally coloured. As time passes, the room’s surfaces are gradually covered in red flower stickers placed by visitors.

You will exit through a different door to the one you entered through.

You can skip this room and go directly into the NGV design store if you wish.

Digital screens display instructions on entry and exit.

NGV design store

Retail displays use multicoloured dot patterns.

Map showing the exhibition layout including the locations of immersive rooms, audio-visual content and seating