As if Paris didn’t already have enough places to visit, it has added another attraction to its list. In the age of technology, a digital museum is a must. That’s exactly what the Atelier des Lumière is: a digital fine arts museum. Indeed, in April 2018, the first Digital Arts Centre in the French capital opened in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, on rue Saint-Maur.
Located in eastern Paris, between Place de la Bastille, Père-Lachaise cemetery and Place de la Nation, the Atelier des Lumières takes the place of an old Parisian foundry, the Chemin Vert, and offers its visitors monumental immersive exhibitions. With 120 video-projectors and a spatialised sound system, images are projected over an area of 3300 m2 onto walls more than 10 metres high.
The Atelier des Lumières welcomes visitors in two different spaces: La Halle of 1500 m2 and Lo Studio of 160m2. In the first one, a cycle of digital exhibitions with a long program, dedicated to the great painters of the history of art, are projected continuously, while in the other one, a shorter program is performed, dedicated to more contemporary figures.
The choice of this old foundry, founded in 1835, in a very trendy district of Paris today, is perfectly suited to the experience of immersive art. Thanks to new technologies, the industrial heritage is enhanced and becomes accessible to all.
When you enter the Atelier des Lumières in Paris, you will be transported into a dreamlike, fantastic world, suspended between past and present. In the setting of this abandoned foundry, of which you can still admire a fireplace, an old water tank and the drying tower, you will immediately feel enveloped by the shapes, characters and colours that swirl around you from the floor to the ceiling.
Accompanied by the music, you can walk around or simply choose a place to sit or lie down and enjoy the show.