The new “Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru” traveling exhibit recently made its debut at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Featuring nearly 200 artifacts from over 5,000 years of ancient Andean culture, the exhibit offers visitors a chance to travel back in time to a civilization of spiritual and technical marvels.
World Heritage Exhibitions brought in Cortina Productions to design and produce nine immersive video experiences for the exhibition. Utilizing animation, layered projections, and dramatic storytelling the ancient world comes to life, wowing visitors of all ages.
The Intro Theater Film welcomes visitors into the exhibit space while transporting them into Machu Picchu. Sounds from the Cloud Forest surround visitors as footage of the landscape and animals fills the theater. The Intro film provides an overview of the lives, beliefs, and artistry of ancient Andean societies told through rare objects, symbolic animals, and sacred lands that visitors will encounter throughout the exhibition.
After exiting the Intro Theater, visitors are welcomed into the Cloud Forest immersive environment, which beautifully displays the biodiversity of Machu Picchu. Animated projections weave amongst scenic elements, offering visitors a glimpse of the surreal and magical sacred site. Sounds of jaguars, birds, insects, snakes, and water flowing combined with views of mountains and ruins allow visitors to imagine themselves in a different place and time, bringing them deeper into the immersive experience of the exhibits.
The Andean World exhibit teaches visitors about the ancient culture by bringing objects and figures to life through projection mapping techniques, special effects, and original animations. The exhibit speaks to the magical qualities of Andean shamans as they take on animal powers to travel between worlds and offers visitors an exciting look at the mystical culture.
The Sacrifice Object Theater provides a dramatic telling of the importance of human sacrifice for Andean peoples to appease the gods. Andean artwork is animated across three large screens, while synchronized lighting effects identify objects that were used in ritual sacrifice.
To provide visitors with a view of today’s Machu Picchu site, Cortina Productions created two films that feature spectacular aerial footage of the ruins as well as radar imagery using LIDAR technology to show the impressive engineering feats of the Incas. By giving visitors an understanding of both the ancient society and modern day views of the area, the “Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru” exhibit aims to provide a comprehensive look at the over 5,000-year history of this fascinating empire.
The exhibit is open at the Boca Raton Museum of Art until the Spring of 2022 and then will tour internationally. For more information, please visit https://bocamuseum.org/art/machu-picchu-and-golden-empires-peru
