Had a free Tuesday and figured we’d finally get into the city for this one, everyone’s been posting about it. Bert and Ernie are sitting on a painted stoop right near the entrance. Childhood fully unlocked on the spot. Before-school Sesame Street, after-school Sesame Street, every stuffed toy lined up on the couch facing the TV. Wasn’t even that into the show as a kid. Got me anyway.
Full name is Make, Believe, Magic: The Worlds of The Jim Henson Company, on at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in South Brisbane from 12 September 2026 through to 18 April 2027. It’s the 70th anniversary of the company, and it covers a lot more than Sesame Street, there’s Fraggle Rock in there, The Dark Crystal too. Quiet on a Tuesday, barely any queue. Worth a weekday if you can manage it.
Sesame Street puppets
Bert and Ernie are only the start of it. Oscar’s half out of his bin looking appropriately grumpy. Elmo’s posed against a hand-painted brick wall. Cookie Monster’s got crumbs and scattered cookies everywhere. Round another corner and Big Bird’s standing next to Snuffleupagus, both bigger in person than I had them filed in my head.
None of it’s behind thick glass. Close enough to see individual stitches in the felt.
Concept sketches
The bit that actually held my attention longest wasn’t a puppet at all. There’s a wall of original concept sketches, pen on paper, thirty-second scribbles with the whole character already in them before anyone’s cut a scrap of fur. Stood there longer than in front of most of the full-size stuff.
The monster room
One gallery is basically monster central. Big red horned one with orange feet, a purple long-eared thing next to a small green lizard-looking creature, and off on its own little stage, a blue-green shaggy horned monster that’s pretty sure to be Herry Monster, one of the original Sesame Street cast most people forget exists. All roped off, can’t touch, lit well.
Puppeteering
Worth doing if you’ve got kids with you. There’s a section built off a real Fraggle Rock set where you pick up a puppet and have a go on camera. Ours had huge googly eyes and leaf-shaped ears. Genuinely bad at it. Best ten minutes of the visit anyway.
Sprocket’s shed
Past that, a recreated workshop or shed set, Sprocket the dog from Fraggle Rock curled up in a wicker basket, a bowl next to him with his name painted on it. Surfboard in the corner, a lamp, some charts pinned to a table, a cardboard cutout of someone’s face on a stick for reasons nobody explained.
There’s also a big cave set nearby, stalactites, coloured lighting, small explorer-type puppets in what looked like mining or space gear. Could’ve been Dark Crystal, could’ve been something else entirely, didn’t recognise it.
Was it worth $38?
Yes. Best value I’ve gotten out of a ticket in Brisbane in a while. Ended up in the gift shop, obviously. Rows of Cookie Monster and Elmo plush. Did not leave empty-handed.
Make, Believe, Magic: The Worlds of The Jim Henson Company Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), South Brisbane
More museum write-ups under our museums tag, or check our QLD school holidays 2026 page if you’re timing a Brisbane trip around it.