Alice's Wonderland
Fall down the rabbit hole at Artscience Museum’s Wonderland
Step through the looking glass into a curious world of whimsical adventures at Artscience Museum’s upcoming exhibition, Wonderland, running from 13 April to 22 September 2019.
Wonderland is a playful and interactive exhibition for all ages based on Lewis Carroll’s timeless stories of Alice and her adventures through Wonderland.this groundbreaking
exhibition makes the first stop of its global tour at Artscience Museum.
A one-of-a-kind exhibition which follows Alice’s journey through popular culture, It invites visitors to take a trip through the looking glass into an immersive, enchanted world. Using theatrical sets, bold, interactive environments, eye-catching props and amazing audiovisual artworks, Wonderland spectacularly conjures up the surprising and magical world of Alice and her adventures.
The exhibition reveals how artists and filmmakers have portrayed Alice and her story for over a century. Since her first appearance on the page in 1865, Alice has delighted audiences in more than 40 films and over 30 television programmes, and has become a subcultural icon through her presence in music videos, video games, high
fashion, advertising and more.
Drawing together a remarkable selection of original behind-the-scenes material, the exhibition includes over 300 artefacts and objects, including first edition books, drawings, original costumes, films, magic lantern projectors, animation, puppetry, and original work.
“Wonderland is an exhibition that has to be experienced to be believed. It is every bit as fantastical as the original texts by Lewis Carroll, which have enthralled and inspired generations of readers since they first published over 150 years ago. Visitors will truly step into Alice's imaginary landscape, meeting the fantastical talking creatures made famous in the much-loved stories, and exploring her world in creative and immersive rooms, that reward curiosity. There are secret doorways to find, mysterious drawers to rummage through, winding corridors to navigate, unusual props to climb inside, and incredible digital experiences which allow visitors to see the story of Alice come to life. In Wonderland, reality is suspended. The more curious you are, the more you'll discover,” said Honor Harger, Executive Director of Artscience Museum.
Wonderland takes its inspiration from Lewis Carroll's stories, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There. These stories have been adapted dozens of times for the screen over a century, which makes the history of Alice in Wonderland on screen, a way of being able to trace the history of moving image. The exhibition charts the cultural, technological and social shifts that have compelled filmmakers to create their own visual interpretation of Alice and her adventures.
From the first screen adaptation by Cecil M Hepworth in 1903 to the contemporary blockbusters of the 2000s, Wonderland also showcases the developments in special effects from pre-cinematic entertainment to silent film, animation to puppetry, live-action cinema, CGI, 3D and beyond. Films such as Lou Bunin's Alice Au Pays des Merveilles (1949), Jan Svankmajer's acclaimed Alice (1988), the Quay Brothers' experimental Alice in Not So Wonderland (2007), and television versions by broadcasters BBC and NBC will be featured in the exhibition.