L'Atelier des Lumieres

The day before I left for Paris, I perused Princeton University's travel section and saw Lonely Planet's book Best of Travel 2018,which came out in October 2017. I scanned the book for ideas of things to do in Paris. I noted two: Soul Kitchen, a vegetarian restaurant open for breakfast and lunch in Montmartre, and the exhibit L'Atelier des Lumieres. While in Paris, my sister Becca messaged me to tell me about the atelier exhibit. While in Paris I asked people about it -- everyone knew about it, those who had attended it raved about the exhibit.

It is run by Culturespace in a vacant warehouse. Based on their website, people are given the impression they have the space to themselves. On the other hand, the website emphasizes the importance of buying tickets in advance because of the long lines. I was lucky, there were only a handful of people in line ahead of me. When I left over an hour ago, the line was much longer.

So what is an Alelier des Lumieres? Basically it is a light and sound show. I have seen similar ones outside, such as in Ottawa in the summer of 2016, but this was the first time I saw one indoors. The experience was immersive. Soft music was playing as images by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), Hundertwasser (1928-2000), and one called Poetic_Ai Contemporary Work morphed and moved on the warehouse walls. People sat all over the place. For the most part, they were silently mesmerized during the three videos. The exhibit has been extended through January 6, 2019.

Here are some pictures from inside the exhibit. Despite the No Photography signs, people were holding up their cell phones and taking pictures. I wanted to capture the feeling. The lights change and the walls and floors are transformed. The music was soft enough to accompany the images without distracting from the main focus -- the art.

Between each of the three sections credits rolled an a note appeared. The whole show took about an hour.