Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Australia's pint-sized pop star Kylie Minogue may have delayed her Asian tour to battle breast cancer, but an exhibition of her stage costumes has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors in her public absence.
The display follows Minogue's rise from the girl-next-door character she played on Australian TV soap 'Neighbours' to her reinvention as a sexy, international pop icon.
More than 400,000 people have so far viewed the exhibition which began last year in Minogue's hometown of Melbourne and has travelled to Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney's Powerhouse Museum.
Curator Janine Barrand said the show provided a "great way for Kylie's fans and audience to keep a connection with her" during her high-profile illness.
Minogue, 37, was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer while preparing for the Australian leg of her Showgirl Tour in May. She postponed her Australian and Asian tours indefinitely as she underwent surgery in Melbourne and further treatment in Europe.
Despite Minogue's domestic and international appeal, Barrand said she has been surprised at the volume of visitors to the exhibition which opened at Melbourne's Arts Centre early last year.
"Although we were told to expect an enormous number of visitors we had no idea how successful it would be," she said.
"It was really every generation of people. It was young women in their early 30s with their daughters, it was young men in suits on their lunch breaks, it was Kylie's gay audience, it was older people."
Among the more than 40 outfits on display are the miniscule gold lame hotpants Minogue wore in the 'Spinning Around' video and the revealing white jersey jumpsuit featured in the 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' clip.
"It's been enormously popular," said Jo Dunlop at the Powerhouse. "There's a really wide audience that's kind of reflective of her wide appeal."
Recent visitor Eliza Swain said she had come to the exhibition because she enjoyed watching the woman once dubbed the "singing budgie" reinvent herself in the face of criticism of her acting and singing abilities, as well as close scrutiny of boyfriends such as the late INXS rocker Michael Hutchence and current flame French actor Olivier Martinez.
"I guess I can remember her from 'Neighbours', I was six or seven, so I've kind of grown up with her. It's kind of amazing she's copped so much flack and come out on top," 25-year-old Swain said.
Elizabeth Whitford, also viewing the exhibition, said part of Minogue's appeal was that while she was well-styled, her beauty had not been overwhelming at first.
"You appreciate her beauty because you look at her from the early days and she could have gone either way," she said.
Barrand said the impetus for the exhibition came from a desire by Minogue's family to preserve her costumes.
"About three years ago the Arts Centre was contacted by Kylie Minogue's family by fax saying that they would like to talk to us about the possibility of us having the items," Barrand said. "Of course that's every curator's dream."
The first consignment arrived in December 2003 and was followed by six or seven more which were collected from Minogue's parents' Melbourne attic and storage facilities in London.
"Really where the family and Kylie were coming from was they wanted the material preserved. The exhibition wasn't her idea," Barrand said.
Barrand cannot point to which costume is Minogue's most cherished but she said the singer "really loves the tour costumes".
"I think particularly because they have the wear and tear of performance on them. She wears them for weeks and weeks during an international tour so she becomes very close to them," Barrand said.
Talks are underway for the exhibition, which is popular with tourists here, to move overseas after it closes in Sydney on May 7 but nothing has been confirmed, Barrand said.
Steve Joyce, on holiday in Australia from the English city of Manchester, said Minogue was as much a part of the Australian tourism experience as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Joyce has already visited the set of 'Neighbours' in Melbourne and was planning to attend a quiz show themed on the soap which last year celebrated 20 years on air. The show has long screened in Britain and Minogue, who was based in London for many years, has enjoyed huge popularity there as a singer too.
Why was Joyce visiting the exhibition? "You kind of have to. If you're British you have to go to Melbourne and see the 'Neighbours' street. And if there's a Kylie exhibition you have to go," he said.
mfc/ns/nw
AFPEntertainment-Australia-music-Kylie
AFP 031149 GMT 03 06
COPYRIGHT 2004 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.
