The Bassins De Lumières: 3 Things To Know About This Place And Its Upcoming Exhibition
The Bassins de Lumières, which follow the concept of the Atelier des Lumières in Paris and the Carrières de Lumières in Baux-de-Provence, welcome visitors to Bordeaux in a former submarine base. This extraordinary site, inaugurated in June 2020, is the largest digital art center in the world. It hosts temporary exhibitions dedicated to spectacular universes at the intersection of art, science, and literature, providing us with a magical experience each time. Here are 3 things to know about this must-see tourist attraction in Bordeaux.
1- This digital art center has been set up in a former submarine base.
The Bassins de Lumières extend the concept of the Atelier des Lumières in Paris and the Carrières de lumières in Baux-de-Provence to an equally astonishing site in Bordeaux.
This attraction, which is nothing less than the largest digital art center in the world, is housed in the former submarine base built by the Germans in Bordeaux in 1941 to conceal their submarines in the Gironde estuary. With no fewer than 6 visit areas and 12,450 m² of projection surface, these "Bassins de Lumières" are impressive!
You will find:
=> 4 basins, each 110 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 12 meters high.
=> 90 video projectors.
=> 80 speakers.
=> 100 km of fiber optic cable.
=> 13,000 m² of total area.
=> more than 12,000 m² of projection surface.
=> 3,000 m² of walking area.
This private project cost 14 million euros and was complicated by the site's configuration, its vastness, humidity, and sea salt, which are detrimental to the projectors. Technically complex, this site is also more spectacular than the Atelier des Lumières in Paris.
2- This place was inaugurated in the midst of the pandemic with two magical exhibitions.
The Bassins de Lumières were initially supposed to welcome their first visitors in mid-April 2020. Due to the lockdown, they finally opened their doors in Bordeaux on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, nearly two months late. Even though art lovers and curious visitors had to postpone their visit, it was worth the wait because artists Gianfranco Iannuzzi, Renato Gatto, and Massimiliano Siccardi created the immersive exhibition "Gustav Klimt, gold and color" for the occasion.
This inaugural exhibition offered a fantastic immersion into the world of Gustav Klimt (1862-1918): his golden period, his portraits, and his landscapes.
Around the four basins, the gold and decorative motifs of the artist's paintings danced on the walls. They were also reflected in the water of the basins, creating incredible plays of light.
Thus, even people who had already seen the digital show dedicated to Klimt at the Atelier des Lumières in Paris could have a unique experience. It should be noted that the Bordeaux site is eight times larger, which changes the perspectives!
After the master of Viennese symbolic painting, another unprecedented exhibition was dedicated to Paul Klee under the title "Paul Klee, painting music". Enough to amaze the first visitors of this immersive digital art center!
3- The Bassins de Lumières will host the Little Prince in the fall of 2024.
Good news for fans of Saint-Exupéry and his most famous hero: the Bassins de Lumières in Bordeaux will dedicate an exhibition to The Little Prince from October 12 to December 31, 2024. This event exhibition is a new creation, specially designed to be projected in this unique site.
It was in 1943 that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry published The Little Prince in New York a few months before his mysterious disappearance over the Mediterranean Sea aboard his P-38 Lightning. The illustrated tale he left us quickly became a worldwide success and a classic of literature.
In this one-of-a-kind book, the author's watercolors are as important as the text. Even though Saint-Exupéry pretends not to know how to draw, he sketched the portrait of his character and created a visual universe that is both unique and recognizable by all. These watercolors, which capture the essence of the characters and places described with a minimum of strokes, will come to life on the floors and walls of the Bassins de Lumières.
This masterful work speaks to the child that sleeps within each of us. So, if you still know how to marvel like a child, don't miss this exhibition in Bordeaux! Thanks to the magic of light, it promises to transport you to a world where imagination has no limits...
