ACCIONA Cultura, a specialist in realising story-driven museums, exhibits, and events, is celebrating the US premiere of Masterpieces: A Virtual Experience of the Museo del Prado, which opened at Powerhouse Arts in Brooklyn, New York, on 1 October.
Created in exclusive partnership with the Museo Nacional del Prado, Masterpieces intertwines original storytelling, music, and sumptuously designed 3D environments, all rooted in rigorous curatorship.
Masterpieces: A Virtual Experience of the Museo del Prado offers a new way to explore five key works from the museum collectionImage courtesy of ACCIONA Cultura
The half-hour, multi-user VR experience lets viewers take a closer look at five of the Prado’s most celebrated works: The Sense of Sight by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez, Venus and Adonis by Paolo Veronese, Witches’ Sabbath by Francisco de Goya and The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch.
New way to experience iconic works
Led by the voice of a fictional security guard on his last night shift before retirement, guests move through an imaginary museum and explore interpretations of each work. Each painting expands beyond its frame to become a three-dimensional environment that guests can explore together using free-roam, multi-user VR.
As some of these works seldom travel and others cannot leave the Prado, visitors can only experience the originals in Spain. With Masterpieces, visitors can engage with the works in a new way and enter the paintings' worlds through an original immersive narrative that explores their stories, symbolism and details.
The experience was developed under the academic curatorship of Alejandro Vergara, head of conservation of Flemish Painting and Northern Schools at the Prado Museum. It uses original museum material to accurately reflect the works and their historical context.
Established US presence
Opening in New York after showing in Madrid, Buenos Aires, Tokyo and Shanghai, Masterpieces is bringing the Prado’s collection to new audiences across the globe.
Marking the next stage in the show's international development, the US premiere cements ACCIONA Cultura’s position as a creator of original immersive formats that meld culture, story, and technology.
Visitors to Masterpieces: A Virtual Experience of the Museo del Prado at Powerhouse Arts in BrooklynImage courtesy of ACCIONA Cultura
ACCIONA Cultura has built a presence in the US with projects including the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration and the Hip Hop Museum in New York, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Centre in Cincinnati, and the San Diego Museum of Art.
Its parent company, ACCIONA, is a global infrastructure and renewable energy group with extensive operations across the country, such as the SR400 express lanes in Atlanta and water treatment and desalination projects. Also in the US, ACCIONA Energía operates 3 GW of installed renewable energy capacity.
