STAR WARS Identities: The Exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS).
STAR WARS Identities: The Exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) was opened with considerable excitement and style. Tall people reaching up for Wookiee selfies and others crouched down with a piping and spinning R2D2. Darth Vader, protected by Red Guards and Storm Troopers, imperiously powerful and still, descending on the escalator to the booming of The Imperial March. It was a thrilling opening for an experience that is quite different to the previous two Star Wars exhibitions at the Powerhouse.
Stuffed full of exhibits yes, but it is engagingly interactive. Admittedly, one doesn’t get to wield a light sabre but the characters can be enjoyed in substantial detail and in the process the participant learns a bit about themselves. Using neurophysiology and social psychology, and a wristband device, the 10 stations ask questions of you. Answer truthfully if you dare, because your own Star Wars identity will appear on the huge wall above you as you exit.
First question. It’s been 41 years since that first Super Star Destroyer drew into shot while firing on the lonely Star Fighter … changing cinema forever. Do you feel old?
STAR WARS Identities: The Exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS).
Interacting with the objects, perhaps to stare with nostalgia or get caught up in the detail of these 200 plus screen-used objects, it is evident that each is chosen for a purpose. Displayed in groups and themes, the objects and the question walls around them, illuminate the background, motivations and forces that shaped the characters.
Provided with a site-specific earpiece, when something piques an interest it is merely a case of stepping into the circle to hear the audio explanations or revel in the footage that brings youthful enthusiasms flooding back. By visiting the 10 stations in the exhibition and interacting with a wristband swipe on an answer, sometimes with a scroll through menu, a picture of your Star Wars identify forms. Just a hint, don’t forget the tick at the bottom left of the screen when there are choices as you must complete all 10 challenges to earn your own SW identity.
STAR WARS Identities: The Exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS).
And it’s easy to get swept away. Perhaps it is the detail of the models, like the aforesaid cruiser which is a lot smaller than one would think given the old tech that filmed it. Or the costumes, how small was Princess Leia … her iconic boots are tiny? Or the development of the characters. Jar Jar Binks’ dreadlock ears went through an inordinate number of variations and the incarnations are all here to enjoy.
Awed reverence I sense… as one nears Yoda. Wise, unflappable, inscrutable, green. It is anticipated that 250,000 patrons will explore the exhibition with 70,000 coming from overseas and interstate. 1.8 million have seen the exhibition in Europe already and have been faced with the choice to go to the Dark Side.
STAR WARS Identities: The Exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS).
It’s in the second to last room that one is given the choice of taking that path and, even if you have been truthful all the way through, there’s a distinct urge to rebel. But the pure of heart are rewarded as STAR WARS Identities: The Exhibition comes to a close. You, the hero … or villain, energises and materialises on the final huge larger than life wall. With your name below. It is a photo op not to be missed? And you can even email your alter-ego to jealous friends before exiting through the gift shop. Perhaps a final word of advice, best to leave the credit card at home because you will want one of everything. May the force be frugal.
4 ½ stars ★★★★☆
STAR WARS Identities: The Exhibition
16 November 2018 – 10 June 2019
Powerhouse Museum, Museum of Applied Arts & Science
