French painter Claude Monet (Paris, 1840 – Giverny, 1926) was a trailblazer in the world of art, he came up with the way to paint an instant, this brief moment that won’t come back. Is there any better example than his ‘Impression Sunrise’? This masterpiece was an inflection of the artistic trends of the age but also gave the name to the whole Impressionist movement. He turned upside-down the basics of painting in the 19th century, and now he has arrived in Barcelona (Spain) to revolutionize its cultural and touristic offering, becoming an excellent example of what a Transformative Tourism experience is.
The exhibition ‘Monet: The immersive experience’ is a meeting point of art, technology and science. It is a space that offers the visitor 360º projections, 1000m2 of screen and Virtual Reality, everything to bring people on an extraordinary audiovisual trip through the impressionist movement and the life of Claude Monet. It is the only exhibition centre dedicated to immersive technology in Spain, and its references are in Paris and Tokyo.
Visitors will start their journey learning about the colour formation, the importance of the light and how impressionism captured immediacy. Afterwards, a small and cosy allows experimentation, to paint as if you were Monet himself. And once you have familiarised yourself with impressionism, it is time to enter Monet’s life. A stunning room with projections all around shows you the places where he lived, stayed, and painted. His pieces come to life and suddenly you see the world through Monet’s eyes.
It is now time for Virtual Reality, for 10 minutes the visitor can walk through Monet preferred landscapes, his childhood in Le Havre, his youth in Paris, his stays in London or his Dutch refuge in Zaandam, and of course, his latest stage in Giverny.
Definitely an inspiring proposal that captures, as Monet did, the innovation of techniques and science in service of culture. Besides, as transformative tourism asks for, both visitors and locals benefit from the experience. First ones will have an original tourist experience, a lifelong memory, and contact with culture, difficult to experience anywhere else. In regard to this, communication and Promotion manager, Carmen Tanaka, pointed out: “We are an experimentation centre and we had the goal of democratizing culture and technology”.
But Barcelona residents are enjoying the exhibition too, for its newness and because the place has done an important job recovering the historical memory of the place. Ideal, the space where the exhibition is located in, used to be a small local cinema, a boxing ring, a theatre and a TV set. And now, it opens again its doors to citizens and becomes a gathering spot and cultural hub as it used to be. The exhibition goes on until the 19th of April; however, the organization has confirmed its intention to export it internationally.