Kusama for Kids: The Obliteration Room at the NGV

When Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama began drawing and painting at age 10, she chose to depict different aspects of her family’s seed nursery: fruits and flowers, and also dots. Lots of dots: a motif inspired by a childhood hallucination about a field of flowers talking to her. Now polka dots are her signature, a way to illustrate the infinite and interconnected nature of the universe – and brighten up a room.

One room you can help brighten up on her behalf is The Obliteration Room, a large-scale interactive installation for children and families on the ground floor at NGV International. What started as a white room filled with white furniture has quickly become something more, as visitors added their own dots to the work over the course of the exhibition.

You and the young artist in your life are invited to learn more about Kusama and add your own touch to the installation by “obliterating” everything in the room with colourful dots.

Yayoi Kusama features close to 200 works, including paintings, sculpture, fashion and collage, plus video and her famous kaleidoscopic infinity rooms.

Entry to The Obliteration Room is free. There are also a number of Kusama artworks on the ground level – including a “dancing” pumpkin and Narcissus Garden, an NGV acquisition featuring more than 1000 reflective silver balls – for complimentary viewing.

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