Barcelona Immersive

One doesn't need to be an expert to realize that immersive technology is revolutionizing museography. In Barcelona, as in many other cities, more and more exhibitions are being programmed that are conceived and advertised as immersive and walkable experiences, or new facilities are directly inaugurated, straddling the line between museum and amusement park, based on this technology.

Traditional museums, which have been incorporating audiovisuals as a complement for years, are also succumbing to the immersive temptation. For a couple of years now, Casa Batlló has offered an immersive visit, even though the modernist jewel is already immersive and walkable per se. "The new Casa Batlló visit presents a fascinating immersive experience. Artificial Intelligence or Augmented Reality are some of the ingredients of this creative cultural proposal. Impossible volumetric projections, binaural sound, motion sensors, unique immersive spaces in the world, and delicate proposals that appeal to senses like smell provide this experience with never-before-lived sensations," its promoters promise.

For a few weeks now, the neighboring Casa Amatller has joined in, in what could seem like a 2.0 version of the traditional modernist rivalry in the Block of Discord. "The Centre d'Art Amatller is a new format of exhibition space that combines museography and state-of-the-art technology, such as immersive audiovisual projections and virtual reality, to experimentally highlight artistic, historical, and cultural content," its managers say. Until September 15, it presents an immersive exhibition based on Sorolla's painting.

That even great collectors are succumbing to the siren calls of new technologies is confirmed by another recent event. Last week, Carmen Thyssen confirmed that she will open a museum in Barcelona, in the former location of the Comedia, where she will exhibit part of her splendid collection of Catalan art from the last three centuries. When the Catalan baroness explained that this new facility will incorporate "new technologies applied to the world of art" and promised that there will be "surprises," she surely sent shivers down the spines of more than one art lover and guardian of orthodoxy, fearing that the Barcelona Thyssen will cater to mass tourism of selfies and fridge magnets and, therefore, end up looking more like an H&M store than the MNAC.

Personally, I would like to think that immersive technology will not be the death of traditional museums, but rather, paradoxically, it can make their salvation possible. Let's imagine that the Louvre, to give an example of a great international museum, built an immersive replica in an annex building where reproductions of its most Instagrammable pieces were exhibited. I imagine enormous rooms equipped with cutting-edge technology where the public could walk through the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo or, even better, feel like a true revolutionary from Delacroix and follow Liberty, singing Allons enfant de la patrie, Le jour de gloire est arrivé!. What a fantasy, right? Perhaps it would be the way for traditional museums to continue making money without an enraged and shouting crowd absurdly collapsing their rooms solely with the aim of getting a photograph of the most famous pieces to post on their social networks.

It would be wonderful to be able to build an immersive Barcelona, a replica of the most luminous, cosmopolitan city and without the annoying Barcelonians, for tourism to enjoy exclusively