The Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta is constructing a six-storey steel tower inside its largest exhibition hall for an $18 million opening show titled "Task Eternal," scheduled for September 2026. The exhibition explores humanity's fascination with stars, flight, and space, featuring 290 loans from international institutions including the British Museum and NASA, astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg's spacesuit, and commissions by artists Torlarp Larpjaroensook and James Turrell. The show is designed by Beijing-based firm OPEN architecture and will occupy 35% of the museum's $50 million opening program budget.
The show marks a significant shift in curatorial approach for the Powerhouse, emphasizing diversity and multiple voices from astronauts, artists, engineers, and First Nations elders over traditional object-display methods. However, the announcement has drawn criticism from the Public Service Association, which condemned the timing as 51 staff at the Art Gallery of NSW face job losses, highlighting tensions between major cultural spending and workforce cuts in New South Wales.