Iconic Mumbai restaurant Gaylord now sports swanky interiors and an updated menu
Placed at the sweet spot where art meets technology, immersive experiences allow audiences to interact with art, making it less intimidating and more accessible
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(Clockwise from left) Artwork titled Moving Creates Vortices and Vortices Create Movement; a display of A House is a Building That People Live In at NMACC, Mumbai; artworks titled The Way of the Sea: Flying Beyond Borders by teamLab; and an experience room at AYA Universe, Dubai.
where various iterations of digital art takes one on an abstract, experiential journey. Here, familiar or decipherable art takes a backseat, and the focus is on immersive digital art and the possibilities of spatial exploration. “When we saw that there is an in
ux of entertainment attractions in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, we thought it’s about time that we offer something that ts the digital world,” says Kathleen Nikki Fernando, marketing manager, AYA Universe.
The exhibit has by far collaborated with over 1,800 social media in
uencers, and has 6,000 Google reviews. Seventy ve percent of their visitors are international tourists of which Indians constitute the largest sub section. “Eighty ve percent express their interest in visiting again,” adds Kathleen.
Spread across 12 experience zones, AYA which opened in December 2022, attempts to narrate a story. It traces a trip down a future-forward, beautiful world. The idea is to encourage people to step outside of the real world and into a different universe. Initially, they were expecting a niche audience.
But it is now one of Dubai’s most popular family attractions — for tourists and locals alike. “We were expecting to see a Gen Z audience, but over time, we realised that children with their families come, often in big groups. This nudged us to start a programme for schools as well. It is also the content creators’ heaven,” adds Kathleen.
Back at NMACC, Indian contemporary art is now under the spotlight with Liminal Gaps: a three-dimensional drawing that blurs the rules of architecture. It features a temporal universe of identical clocks and “an installation that follows an Alice in
Wonderland- style adventure, in a liminal space that feels as though one is inside a computer game”. It spreads across four
oors of the Centre, until June 9. “You can expect to see many instances of tech-meets-art in the Centre’s future exhibits,” says the NMACC representative.
Clearly, immersive art is here to stay. These fantastical scenes are no longer conned to one’s dreams as art nds new mediums to reach a wider audience. It extends beyond the niche, welcoming everyone into its limitless world. And that, perhaps, is its biggest win.