ASEM Cultural Festival: 2019 | Exploring Asia and Europe Through a Virtual Lens

A fun and engaging family-friendly exhibition where young ones can explore arts and history through immersive play while adults will alternatively uncover traditional art through the extraordinary minds of artists. This interactive exhibition is an enticing, in-depth virtual reality journey within four selected art pieces: The Water Lily by Claude Monet, Children’s Games by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the world-renowned ancient Chinese painting Up the River During Qingming, and the VR dynamic installation about Singapore Inspiration Nation.

The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Fantasium Group, a Singapore-based company that provides a VR-based experiences for art, education and entertainment.

Installation 1: Claude Monet: The Water Lily Obsession

Through a dialogue between Claude Monet and an old friend George Clemenceau this VR experience plunges into the heart of Monet’s Waterlilies paintings, in his eyes troubled by the loss of sight, in a whirl wind of colors. The film invites on a journey starting off in Monet’s garden at Giverny, stopping along the way at the workshop the Impressionist painter, and ending the Musée de l’Orangerie. An immersive and sensory experience directed by Nicolas Thépot.

Directors: Nicolas Thépotand N°130 Creative Studio

Production and Distribution: Lucid Realities and Camera Lucida

Installation 2: 1,2,3 Bruegel

An entertaining VR experience into the mysterious Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting “Children’s Games” directed by Gordon & Andrés Jarach. A game of hide and seek where your mission is to find the 200 children hidden in the city. The painting is no longer a painting but a model game in which you can walk around and act upon.

Directors: Gordon and Andrés Jarach

Production and Distribution: Camera Lucida, ARTE and Lucid Realities

Installation 3: Inspiration Nation

Inspiration Nation is a tribute to Singapore, to its creativity, stellar success and leadership as a smart city, where the future is now. Through this title, the art installation explores in a larger context how culture and technology are being leveraged in Singapore to build a ‘digital’ society, placing emphasis upon the balanced connection between artifice and human nature. Guided by Fantasium’s curatorial team, Singaporean digital artist Zenith Chan uses virtual reality technology as the innovative media to break traditional sensorial boundaries to captivate the viewer in an oneiric experience. She invites the audience to reconnect themselves, other humans and the ideas of Smart Nation.

Production and Distribution: Fantasium Group

Installation 4: The Great Wall

In this experience, you will visit the great Lee Chang Lo, a magical being who can transform imagination into reality. He visions you on top of The Great Wall of China where you are guided by a crazy old man with a rocket-powered chariot. It’s going to be a bumpy ride so hold on to your seat and let your imagination guide you. The number of bricks in this experience correspond to the number of bricks in the real Great Wall of China!

Production and Distribution: Niceberg Studios

The event is part of ASEM Cultural Festival 2019, CLICK HERE for the full programme.