The long-awaited Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles is close to completion and on track to open this year, with its first temporary exhibition set to be on Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.
New construction images released by the museum, designed by famed architect Renzo Piano, show its 130ft sphere is now fully formed and awaiting its glass cladding.
Meanwhile, named eponymously after the Studio Ghibli anime production house co-founder, the Hayao Miyazaki exhibition will centre around his lengthy back catalogue of work and will be the first exhibition of his work in the US.
Once the Miyazaki exhibition closes, it will be followed by
Regeneration: Black Cinema 1900–1970 in Q3 2020 – an exhibition focussing on the importance of African-American filmmakers in the development of American cinema.
The museum’s first long-term exhibition will be
Where Dreams Are Made: A Journey Inside the Movies, which will explore the origins of film right through to the potential future of the art form.
"We want the Academy Museum to add to the public’s understanding of the evolution of the art and science of filmmaking around the world – to increase appreciation for this great art form and encourage people to examine the role of movies in society," said Kerry Brougher, director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
"At the same time, we want to bring to life the most important reason of all for caring about the movies – because they’re magic. That’s why we intend to transport our visitors into a world that exists somewhere between reality and illusion.
"Like the experience of watching a movie, a trip to the museum will be a kind of waking dream in which visitors feel as if they’ve slipped through the screen to see how the magic is created."
The museum’s collection now numbers around 2,500 items and artefacts ranging from motion picture technology, costume design and production design to makeup, hairstyling and promotional materials.
The whole museum campus stretches to an area of 300,000sq ft (27,871sq m) and will feature more than 50,000sq ft (4,645sq m) of exhibition galleries, a state-of-the-art education studio and two theatres.
Dawn Hudson, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO, said: "It’s been 90 years since the founders of the Academy proposed creating a museum of film in Los Angeles.
"How thrilling to be able to deliver on that dream. The museum’s exhibitions are as expansive and imaginative as the movies we love. With its piazza and open spaces, the museum will be a gathering place for film lovers and will invite people from all over the world to re-experience and deepen our collective love of this art form, accessible to all."
