The Global Art and Technology Phenomenon
The ‘ETERNAL NATURE’ Exhibition Features 30,000 Square Feet of Digital Art Inviting Visitors to Travel Beyond Time and Space
WATERFALL INFINITE, being exhibited at ARTE MUSEUM DUBAI, stretches across all planes to transport viewers
into an infinite waterfall (Photo courtesy of d’strict)
February 19th – Dubai, United Arab Emirates: ARTE MUSEUM, the internationally acclaimed immersive digital art venue produced by the world-class Korean digital design company d’strict, has officially opened its doors for the first time in the Middle East, in the prime location of Dubai Mall.
ARTE MUSEUM DUBAI invites guests to immerse themselves in a space of 30,000 square feet, showcasing works inspired by nature in its breathtaking exhibition ‘ETERNAL NATURE’. This exhibition incorporates both the natural landscapes and the cultural backdrop of the city as new media artworks. Each of the 14 zones of the exhibition immerses audiences in works of stunning beauty and powerful elements of nature. Blending the lines between reality, fantasy, and hyper-reality by using digital technology, viewers find themselves at the base of towering waterfalls and strolling beaches as they admire the aurora borealis. As their journey through the galleries progresses, audiences are surrounded by blooming camellia flowers, undulating waves, and bioluminescent animals in the jungle, as well as thundering pink clouds.
ARTE MUSEUM DUBAI is set to unveil two brand-new artworks inspired by the Middle East’s rich landscapes and cultural heritage: GARDEN ‘LIGHT OF DUBAI and LIVE CANVAS ‘DESERT’. GARDEN is a hallmark space celebrating the fusion of Western and Eastern artistry, featuring fan-favorite content like LIGHT OF MASTERPIECES alongside bespoke content that resonates with the locale, such as LIGHT OF DUBAI. In a 5,000-square-foot immersive space, the LIGHT OF DUBAI exhibit showcases Dubai’s captivating beauty through its vibrant, surreal golden radiance.
As for LIVE CANVAS – DESERT, it offers an engaging interactive experience where visitors’ own artworks merge with a canvas, dramatically revealing the desert’s mystical landscape. Beginning with a surreal depiction of the desert, it unfolds into a captivating cycle featuring morning oases, sand dunes under the glow of sunset, and the serene desert landscape as the starry night fades away. The vibrant presence of mystical animals such as camels, oryxes, and leopards comes to life with the rich colors bestowed by visitors, breathing new life into the exhibition space at every moment.
FLOWER ‘CAMELLIA PIANO’, a piano room enabling visitors to express their inner musicians (Photo courtesy of d’strict)
To stimulate all senses and for a truly engaging experience, visitors can interact with the LIVE SKETCHBOOK exhibit which allows them to draw their own animal on paper, scan it, and bring it to life on the walls of the exhibition surrounded by the sights and sounds of a peaceful jungle.
LIVE SKETCHBOOK is an interactive piece for a truly multisensory experience (Photo courtesy of d’strict)
Visitors can also enjoy the ARTE TEA BAR for a unique teahouse experience providing sweet, tea-based mocktails infused with the unique breath of each zone, allowing audiences to taste delightful flavors surrounded by media art. Matching each space’s vision with scents engages all five senses and enhances immersion, providing a one-of-a-kind viewing experience.
ARTE MUSEUM DUBAI Soundscape is created by Music Director Young-gyu Jang, a globally renowned composer with a stellar reputation for his award-winning work on the scores of more than 50 films and television shows including the critically acclaimed “Train to Busan” (2016) and “Mask Girl” (2023). Jang is also the bassist and producer for the Korean Music Award-winning band Leenalchi. ARTE MUSEUM’s soundscape ranges from diligently detailed and lifelike nature sounds to the evocative background music for the GARDEN exhibit. Jang’s compositions are thoughtfully designed to seamlessly enhance the impact of each artwork.
Overseeing the accompanying scents of ARTE MUSEUM DUBAI is Marianne Nawrocki Sabatier, a distinguished senior professor at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery, the preeminent perfumery school situated in Grasse, France. Marianne meticulously crafted the most appropriate fragrance for each work. As such, this multifaceted and holistic viewing experience is the most unique characteristic of ARTE MUSEUM.
ARTE TEA BAR’s unique teahouse experience (Photo courtesy of d’strict)
“It is with great pleasure that we unveil ARTE MUSEUM DUBAI. Our paramount mission is to transport our audience into an awe-inspiring digital realm, meticulously crafted to awaken all their senses,” stated Sean Lee, the Chief Executive Officer of d’strict. ARTE MUSEUM’s inaugural exhibition in the Middle East is going to become a must-visit experiential attraction for both tourists visiting Dubai and residents looking for cultural activities with their families.”
“ARTE MUSEUM pushes the boundaries of innovation to the next level by blending art and technology into a unique digital canvas. Our objective is to trigger all the senses of our visitors to invite them into a uniquely immersive and lasting experience,” said Jin Lee, Vice President at d’strict as well as the Creative Director of ARTE MUSEUM.
ARTE MUSEUM DUBAI
Price: Starts at 109 AED for adults (Early Bird and Twilight slots)
Ticketing: https://tickets-dubai.artemuseum.com/
Location: Dubai Mall, 2nd Floor, opposite Galeries Lafayette
Dates: From February 19th
Opening Hours: 10am-11pm (Mon-Thu), 10am-12am (Fri-Sun including holidays), open every day
About d’strict
d’strict is a world-class Korean digital design company founded in 2004 that has dazzled global audiences with a variety of public media art such as “WAVE” in K-POP Square in Seoul in 2020 and “Whale #2” and “Waterfall-NYC” in Times Square in New York in 2021. d’strict has been recognized globally for its design capabilities, having won gold awards at the iF Design Awards for two consecutive years. In-house professionals of d’strict specializing in planning, visual/space/system design, software development and operations have contributed to a legacy of excellence in design, specializing in the field of media art exhibitions. Utilizing accumulated competencies in media art content production, permanent exhibition hall establishment and operations over the past decade, d’strict opened the first ARTE MUSEUM exhibition on Jeju Island in South Korea in 2020, and are now expanding the exhibition globally. d’strict continues to explore new businesses in design, such as media art content licensing platform LED.ART and artist collective a’strict.
For more information on d’strict, visit dstrict.com.
About ARTE MUSEUM
ARTE MUSEUM is an immersive media art exhibition space by d’strict, a renowned digital design company that introduced the world’s first 4D ART PARK, ‘LIVE PARK,’ in 2011. Based on the know-how and capabilities accumulated over many years, ARTE MUSEUM was created under the theme of ‘ETERNAL NATURE’ with works that reinterpret the theme and space of nature. Breathtaking visuals, sensuous sounds, and elegant scents of the works unfolding in the exhibition space provide a spectacularly immersive experience.
The combination of visual creativity and various media technologies, such as projection mapping, multi-image control, and sensor-based interaction system, provides an experience full of ingenuity and delight, the uncanny and the familiar. It is a new form of art space where the space itself becomes a work of art. And the audience’s presence—the moments when the visitors enjoy the exhibition that recreates the physical properties of reality in an unrealistic space—is part of it.
At ARTE MUSEUM, you can stand still to appreciate the work or take a picture with the work in the background. Closer interaction with the artwork allows you to dip your toes in the virtual water on the beach, become one with nature with the sand waterfall, or go up to an observatory to enjoy the view from above. With this new type of audience-led spectatorship, ARTE MUSEUM has become a memorable photo spot for many, and a space of mindfulness for others.
ARTE MUSEUM aims to popularize high-quality visual art through works of art based on media technology that reinterpret nature without the constraints of time and space; these works are also non-verbal that everyone can appreciate regardless of age, gender, nationality, or language.
First opened in Jeju in 2020, ARTE MUSEUM currently operates six locations globally, including three in South Korea (Jeju (2020–present), Yeosu (2021–present), Gangneung (2021–present)), and three internationally (ARTE M, a special showcase in Hong Kong (2022–present), Chengdu, China (2023–present), and Las Vegas (2023–present)). To date, ARTE MUSEUMs worldwide have cumulatively attracted over 6.2 million visitors. Following the opening of the ARTE MUSEUM DUBAI, d‘strict will continue its plan to open ARTE MUSEUM in approximately 20 major cities around the world by 2026, including Busan, Korea later this year, as well as New York City and Los Angeles, USA, in 2025.
