An art takeover at what was Canterbury Museum is finally open to the public.

More than 60 street artists from across the world have had free reign of the museum's walls creating their unique masterpieces.

Exhibition curator Reuben Woods said they knew they were going to need lots of creatives to take over such a massive space.

"We're covering five floors, we've got over 35 spaces…so we've cast our net pretty wide," he said.

And they've come from all over, including Belgium, Germany, the UK and Australia.

"The work has been long and challenging but the result is unlike anything else I think," Woods said.

Artist "Chimp" said he enjoyed working with bright colours.

"I really love using colour it's powerful and you can create so much emotion using just colour alone. I like balancing the colour with some realism," he said.

The transformation comes ahead of a five-year closure for the museum which is getting redeveloped.

The building's almost empty now and the art takeover, called Shift, will be its final exhibition and Woods said it won't last long.

"Seventy-three days only…we close on April 11 which means there's only a brief window to see the show. It's an entirely ephemeral exhibition as well once the doors closed the majority of these works will disappear with the redevelopment of the building," he said.

But for now part of what it was living on in Chimp's work.

"It was cool to use recycled materials that have been a part of this building and even using some props from previous exhibitions and repurposing them for my installation. It seemed like a really good way to send off a museum," he said.

All proceeds from ticket sales go towards the museum's redevelopment.