Record-breaking Amy Winehouse exhibition
The tribute exhibition to British singer Amy Winehouse attracted record attendances during its exclusive five-month exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Australia.
THE Jewish Museum of Australia’s (JMA) exhibition, Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait, which closed on March 25 after being on display for five months, attracted record attendances.
JMA director Rebecca Forgasz said the exhibition attracted almost 12,000 visitors, including many from around Victoria and interstate.
“This is by far the highest numbers we’ve ever had for an exhibition at the museum,” she said.
“It’s been an absolute joy to see the museum filled with Amy Winehouse fans day in and day out – and especially to see them also take up the opportunity to visit the rest of the museum and learn about Jewish history and culture.”
The Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait exhibition was first staged in 2013 at London’s Jewish Museum in tribute to the British Grammy Award-winning singer who died in 2011 aged 27 after battling with drug and alcohol addiction.
It featured family photographs, Winehouse’s designer clothes, record collection, concert tickets and other memorabilia, thanks largely to input from Winehouse’s brother Alex and his wife Riva Lefton. It also included items from her Jewish history.
Winehouse was hailed as a breakthrough jazz-soul singer when she released her first album, Frank, in 2003 and won five Grammy awards for her second album, Back to Black. Her posthumous record, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, achieved huge sales.
The popular exhibition travelled to San Francisco, Vienna, Tel Aviv and Amsterdam and enjoyed a return season in London last year before opening in Melbourne on October 22, 2017.
Forgasz said that 75 per cent of the visitors to the Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait exhibition had never been to the JMA before, and more than 80 per cent of the visitors were non-Jewish.
REPORT by Danny Gocs
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