The Balloon Museum arrives in Barcelona with many 'Instagrammable' balloons

Entertainment is an increasingly broad concept, but, without a doubt, most of the time it is linked to taking good photos for Instagram. This is where proposals like the Balloon Museum come in, an exhibition for all audiences of what the promoters call "inflatable art." For three years, it has traveled through different capitals in Europe and the United States. With a cumulative four million visitors so far, Barcelona has become the ninth city where it stops, after passing through Madrid last year. "We are going all over the world. We choose the best cities in each country, we need big cities with a lot of people and tourism," explains Roberto Fantauzzi, president of Lux Eventi, the Italian marketing and entertainment holding behind the exhibition.

The Balloon Museum, which opened its doors this Wednesday at the Palacio Victòria Eugènia, has a total area of 7,000 square meters full of a thousand and one types of inflatables in which to take good photos. "It's not a playground but it's not a real museum either. You can touch, interact and play with the works of art," says Fantauzzi. From swings crowned by balls that supposedly represent clouds to giant pink rabbits imprisoned in rooms that will surely give them cervical problems, passing through a room flooded with soap bubbles or fluorescent balloons. Without a doubt, the star will be the immense ball pit where you can feel like a child again (if you are already grown up), diving in and fighting with anyone while jovially posing for the camera. It should be noted that in this pool people lose things, the organization points out, from a Rolex at the New York exhibition to a bra at the Madrid one. Be careful.

But it doesn't end there. Among various rooms with inflatable or mirror labyrinths and light games where you can find a new profile picture ---if there aren't too many people---, at some point in the tour, visitors are encouraged to inflate a sculpture by pedaling, but also to do something like a giant Lego. There is a white room full of elongated inflatables, all of them equipped with magnets that stick to the wall and to each other. This encourages collaboration ---they look heavy and it's better if none fall on anyone--- and imagination to, obviously, take a good photo that is displayed outside, with a frame and everything, giving everyone the opportunity to also feel like artists, without having to practice too much like real ones. In total, the exhibition features 17 installations and sculptures made of air.

If the enormous pink rabbits with torticollis were already a bit scary, it must be said that the giant baby that breathes deeply and moves its leg is more unsettling, although it will surely appear in some story. At times, the Balloon Museum conveys the feeling of being in the middle of a Black Mirror episode. Luckily, it ends with a photocall with different scenarios, all decorated with balloons, with a London telephone booth ---it couldn't have been a local one because there are no Telefónica booths left---, the interior of a plane or an alien spaceship. Even Edvard Munch's The Scream is replicated. It concludes with a shop where you can buy many balloons.

The Balloon Museum can be visited throughout the summer, as its promoters have well thought out to attract tourists, until September 15. The price of tickets varies depending on when the visit is made throughout the week, with weekend tickets costing 19.90 euros for adults (13-64 years), 13.90 euros for children (4-12 years) and 16.90 euros for students, over 65s and people with disabilities. The family pack (two adults and two children) costs 63.60 euros. You save a few euros from Monday to Friday. The budget for the exhibition in Barcelona is 5 million euros. Before arriving in Spain, it has passed through Rome, Paris, Milan, Naples, New York, London and Atlanta.