16 Jun 2026—19 Sep 2026

COMPETITION: Design Your Own RELIC

COMPETITION: Design Your Own RELIC

Key Dates

📥 Entries open 4 August 

🙅 Entires close 5 September

🚚 Model delivery to CMAG for short listed entries 14 September

🏆 Award Announcement 19 September

🖼️ Entries will be exhibited alongside the RELICS: A New World Rises exhibit until 31 January 2027

📦 Model collection after 31 January 2027

Inspired by RELICS: A New World Rises, this creative competition invites participants to imagine a future Canberra in the year 2130.

Find a familiar, everyday object - a lunchbox, a shoe, an old radio, a teapot—and imagine it’s been abandoned for many years. What tiny brick civilisation has sprung up inside? How are they recycling waste from the past in new and creative ways?  

Your relic should be inspired by Canberra and the surrounding region and use model connective bricks: perhaps a future Parliament House governing from a discarded toaster, a bush capital ecosystem thriving inside a gumboot, or a futuristic Lake Burley Griffin settlement inside an old thermos – let your creativity and ingenuity guide you. 


Judging 

Entries will be judged by exhibition creators Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler, winners of Channel 9’s LEGO ® Masters (2020). 

All eligible entrants will receive an invitation to the awards ceremony on Saturday 19 September at CMAG, where Jackson and Alex will announce the winners. 

Entry Categories 

Participants may enter one of the following age categories: 

Junior: Ages 6–12 

Teen: Ages 13–17 

Adult: Ages 18+ 

All shortlisted entries will also be eligible for the People’s Choice Award. 

How to Enter 

Entrants must submit the following via the entry form available on this webpage from 4 August 2026: 

  • A clear photograph of their completed model. Images will be used to shortlist entries and must clearly show the object and LEGO build. 
  • A 50word description explaining the discarded object used, how the LEGO civilisation is now using it and what link to Canberra has been included.
  • Name and contact details, including parent or carer details for entrants under 18 years of age. 

Prizes

  • All entrants invited to the awards announcement on Saturday 19 September, 10:00am Canberra Museum and Gallery. 
  • Short-listed entrants displayed at CMAG for the duration of the RELICS exhibition, until 31 January 2027. 
  • First prize in each category wins group pass of 4 tickets to the exhibition and RELICS merchandise pack including . 
  • Runners up receive a RELICS merchandise pack. 
  • Shortlisted entries in each category get to meet Jackson and Alex at the awards ceremony on 19 September. 
  • People’s Choice Award winner will be announced on the 12th of October and win the “Golden Brick” allowing unlimited entry to the exhibition for its duration. 

Entry Requirements 

  • Models must be no larger than 50cm deep x 50cm wide x 80cm high. Note this is the maximum size, models smaller than this are encouraged and there is no minimum size requirement. 
  • Each model must be built within an everyday, used or secondhand object (eg a shoe, suitcase, ice-cream container). 
  • Miniature world must be constructed using any brand of toy connective bricks such as, but not restricted to, LEGO®, Nanoblok, Mega Bloks or similar. 
  • Any discarded or waste materials must be thoroughly cleaned and free of food residue. CMAG reserves the right to refuse display of models that do not meet this requirement. 
  • CMAG reserves the right to display selected works only. 
  • Participants who make the shortlist must be able to deliver their model to CMAG on Monday 14 September between 11:00am – 3:00pm. 
  • Models submitted for exhibition will be on display at CMAG until 31 January 2027 and cannot be returned to owners earlier than this date. 
  • This is a non-acquisitive competition. All entries on display must be collected by owners after the 31 January 2027. 

Tags

Relics
COMPETITION: Design Your Own RELIC

Key Dates

📥 Entries open 4 August 

🙅 Entires close 5 September

🚚 Model delivery to CMAG for short listed entries 14 September

🏆 Award Announcement 19 September

🖼️ Entries will be exhibited alongside the RELICS: A New World Rises exhibit until 31 January 2027

📦 Model collection after 31 January 2027

Tags

Relics