Some of Amy Winehouse's most prized possessions will be on display in Melbourne later this year in a touring exhibition co-curated by the late singer's brother Alex and sister-in-law Riva.
Created with the Jewish Museum of London in 2013, Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait features wardrobe items, musical instruments, records, concert tickets, family photographs and more, many of which are exclusive to the exhibition.
The Jewish Museum of Australia, in Melbourne's St Kilda, secured the collection after a board member visited the exhibition in London. It has already toured San Francisco, Vienna, Tel Aviv and Amsterdam.
Jewish Museum of Australia marketing manager Elysheva Elsass said the exhibition would include all the same content as the overseas exhibitions.
While much of the media attention during Winehouse's life focused on her troubled relationship with fame and addiction, this collection reveals her heritage through items such as a Jewish cookery book gifted by her brother when she wanted to learn how to make chicken soup; photos of her extended family; and personal anecdotes from her brother.
It's curated into four themes: life in London, musical influences, fashion, and faith. A mix tape Winehouse made when she was 13 provides the soundtrack.
The blue Luella Bartley sequinned dress she wore at Glastonbury in 2008 is featured, and excerpts such as "I want people to hear my voice" – taken from an entrance essay she wrote for the theatre school she attended as a child – pepper the walls.
The exhibition will have its reprise from next month at the London museum in Camden, in the city's north west, where Winehouse lived and socialised, before travelling to Melbourne in October. A curator from the Jewish Museum of London will travel to Melbourne to help with the installation.
Winehouse was hailed as a breakthrough jazz-soul singer when she released her first album, Frank, in 2003. She won multiple Grammy awards for her second (and final) album, Back to Black.
She died of alcohol poisoning in 2011, aged 27, after a long battle with drug and alcohol addiction.
Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait is at the Jewish Museum of Australia, 26 Alma Rd, St Kilda, from October 22, 2017 to March 25, 2018.
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