Barco, the technology company focusing on innovative visualisation solutions, has provided the projectors for a new, immersive exhibition space at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), Belgium.
The KMSKA is an internationally important museum housing an acclaimed collection of fine art that spans 600 years. The museum reopened in Autumn 2022 after an 11-year closure. The refurbished and expanded museum includes a Barco-powered projection theatre where visitors can view the artworks in high detail – enjoying every brushstroke.
The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA)
The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) holds the world’s most significant collection of James Ensor as well as outstanding works by Rubens, Modigliani, Rodin, and others. At the start of the millennium, it became clear that the museum would need updating in order to provide enough exhibition space and meet emerging technical requirements. In 2001, a large-scale renovation was agreed.
The project restored the building to its former splendour. In addition, a brand-new museum space was constructed on the site of the courtyards. While the building work has been taking place, a large number of the artworks have also been restored, and now visitors can enjoy the architecture and the art in all of its beauty once more.
Immersed in the details
The KMSKA’s mission is to make the art collection accessible to a broad range of people by reimagining the way in which the collection is exhibited. Veerle De Meester, exhibition manager at KMSKA, says: “We try to meet the needs of the different audiences that visit the museum; children and their families should feel welcome, and we want to give them an unforgettable museum experience.”
The new immersive environment supports this aim by encouraging curiosity and offering a sense of delight. De Meester continues: “You can immerse yourself in the painting details and children can discover activations while moving through the room. But you can also take a seat on one of the benches and just enjoy the spectacle.
The artists’ craft
The 360° projection in the immersive space focuses on the artists’ craft. “We do not show anything that was not painted by the artist. And by using the projection technology we want to point out to the visitor what great masters those painters actually were.”
The projection shows four different displays, which each concentrate on a particular element from a work on show. The elements are repeated, which changes in colour, brushwork and contrast. This might focus on the eyes of Fouquet’s red cherubim or Memling’s gold and pearl textile details.
Choosing the right technology was essential for developing the exhibition. De Meester says: “We wanted the projections to stay close to the original paintings to do honour to the masterpieces. We needed the colour rendition and details to be shown as well as possible.”
The exhibition team was familiar with Barco’s reputation for dependability and image quality and chose to use six UDM-4K22 projectors. These models have a brightness of 22,000 lumens, 4K resolution and colours outperforming the Rec. 709 colour space. This specification ensures that the projected image is extremely accurate.
Generating wonder
Over 267,000 visitors attended the museum in the first three months after its re-opening. A diverse mix of people, across many ages and backgrounds, visit on their own, in groups, on school trips, or with their families.
De Meester comments: “Visitors are enthusiastic, and we find that the immersive projection generates the intended wonder. It’s great to see that the experience is enjoyed not only by the families but also by the other visitors. Most of them stay quite long in the room, it is a moment of relaxation during the museum visit. And many guides include it as a stop in their tours. The immersive space has become an unmissable part of the museum visit for all our visitors.”
Barco launched a new G50 laser smart line projector at InfoComm, Orlando, in June. Three new models were announced, and so the G-series lineup now includes ten projectors with lumen outputs ranging from 6 to 22K.
