Brooklyn exhibit showcases Studio 54's shimmering heyday

Visitors take pictures of a portrait of disco diva Donna Summer on display at the 'Studio 54: Night Magic' exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. Photo: AFP

As sanitised elbow bumps replace hugs and handshakes, the Brooklyn Museum is reminding New Yorkers of the sweaty days of 1970s disco, when everyone who was anyone got down at Studio 54.

Bumps back then packed a far stronger punch – cocaine was the era's party drug – and the iconic Manhattan club that hosted the likes of Diana Ross and Andy Warhol became a liberating space of open sexuality, glittering fashion and wildly influential music and dance.