ATLANTA – You’ve seen the blockbuster “Jurassic World” movies — now, it’s your chance to star in one of your own!

“Jurassic World: The Exhibition” opens Friday at Atlanta’s Pullman Yards, allowing visitors to “step inside” the films and encounter full-sized dinosaurs around every corner. Those dinosaurs are the creations of Animax Designs in Nashville, and we caught up with the company’s executive vice president just ahead of the grand opening.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition opens up to the public Friday, May 26th at Pullman Yards. Click here to get tickets.

“It took 18 months to fully design, build, and construct the dinosaurs,” says Michael Mattox. “In my facility in Nashville, we have about 140 people; artists, engineers, creatives, painters, everything you can imagine to make these guys come to life.”

Creators say the experience should take around 45 minutes to an hour for visitors to walk through, although there’s no time limit for visitors once inside. Admission varies by date and time — and tickets are available for purchase here.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and we’re told it will remain at Pullman Yards (225 Rogers Street Northeast in Atlanta) through at least the summer and fall.

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Have you ever wanted to see a dinosaur? A new exhibition opening in Atlanta is transporting you to Isla Nublar where you will come face-to-face with the fierce reptiles.

Animal behaviorist Rivka Deray and dinosaur creator Michael Mattox join Atlanta News First to talk about the 25,000-square-foot immersive experience.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition opens up to the public Friday, May 26th at Pullman Yards. Click here to get tickets.

Attraction at Gardens by the Bay received the award for Outstanding Attraction Experience

The Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt on Thursday reported thousands of visitors flocked to the exhibition “Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs,” held in Paris from April 1 to September 17.

The display of the sarcophagus came at the request of the President and CEO of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, which is organizing the exhibition.

The exhibition will be held in several major cities: Houston and San Francisco in the United States of America, Paris in France, and Sydney in Australia. It displays about 181 artifacts related to the ancient Egyptian civilization, which highlights the value of our ancient civilization.

Ramses II has the third longest reign in history, preceded by King Louis XIV who reigned for 72 years and Queen Elizabeth II who ruled for 70 years.

Ramesses II built a plethora of monuments throughout Egypt, including the Temple of a Million Years as well as the temples of Abu Simbel, which were built to glorify the pharaoh and his favorite wife, Nefertari.

King Ramesses II was a great conqueror who led many conquests to protect and expand his kingdom, with his army.

He had dozens of royal wives, including Sis-Nefert, Bintanat, and Nefertari. He also had more than 200 concubines, with whom he had a hundred children.

The wait is finally over for fans of Jurassic Park, as the interactive dinosaur exhibit has officially opened its doors in Mississauga this week.

It’s produced by NEON, a global leader in immersive and epic experiences, and presented in conjunction with Universal Live Entertainment.

A representative from Square One told insauga.com that the exhibit will take place outside the mall near the Cineplex.

Located on a stand-alone space beside Square One, at 199 Rathburn Rd. W., Jurassic World: The Exhibition was finally available to the public on April 21 and will remain for a yet-to-be-determined period of time.

The tour provides its visitors a “cinematic universe come to life through innovative animatronic technology and immersive installations including Land of the Giants, Creation Lab, T. rex Kingdom, The Raptor Experience, Gyrosphere Valley and more.”

The experience (from start to finish) can last between 45 minutes to one hour, however, there is no time limit once guests have passed through the entry area.

This means, you’ll have plenty of time to take your Instagram worthy pictures!

Ticket prices start at $21.49 and may vary depending on the day and time of the visit. Children under three years of age may enter for free.

The tour will be open Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The dinosaurs of Isla Nublar will be coming to life in Atlanta! Sign up to the waitlist and meet some of your favorite gentle giants.

There’s an incredible exhibition coming to Atlanta in the spring — and it’s completely dinomite (pun intended)! From May 26, prehistoric life will take over Atlanta with Isla Nublar’s most gigantic creatures stepping onto the floors of Pullman Yards. Your favorite dinosaurs crawl their way out of the screen, with all their defining archaic features.

Expect to view them in all their robust teeth and scaly skin glory, channeling your inner Alan Grant as you step through the Hammond Lab to uncover the scientific mysteries behind our gentle giants. 

Sign up to the waitlist and get first dibs on tickets before they’re released to the public on April 20!

As you walk through the imposing wooden gates of Jurassic World: The Exhibition, it might feel a tad bit reminiscent of the iconic theme song. Make the most of that cinematic moment, and let that John Williams track mark the beat to your every step as you enter through the prehistoric wilderness. 

Pullman Yards will be transformed into a luscious jungle, adorned in leafy foliage and effervescent flora. All that vegetation might just fool you into thinking you’ve actually stepped into the hit franchise — with all the thrills that entails — so keep an eye out for creatures lurking through the branches. For all you know, curious little eyes may just be staring right back at you… 

Save your spot to be among the first to uncover this prehistoric world in Atlanta!

You’ll get to meet so many of the iconic dinosaurs from the saga at Jurassic World: The Exhibition. From the gigantic vegetivorous Brachiosaurus to the terrifying Tyrannosaurus Rex, each dinosaur has been recreated in extensive detail. The physical attributes of each species are distinguishable, from height, weight, all the way to jaw shape and teeth density. If you’ve ever wanted to stare straight into the eyes of a dinosaur (and why wouldn’t you), you’ll get to do so at this jaw-dropping exhibit — even if you have a penchant for baby raptors, Pterodactyl or even the adorable Bumpy of Camp Cretaceous. 

Plus, for an extra dose of sweetness, there are miniscule Parasaurolophus babies at the Hammond Lab who are gently resting in their incubator. You can pay them a visit as you discover the science behind the prehistoric era, truly stepping into your shoes as a self-proclaimed paleontologist. Spoiler: you might just discover how geneticists brought the dinosaurs of the Jurassic era back to life, with the help of a tiny mosquito embedded in amber for over a millennia.

The experience is a must for die-hard fans of the epic film saga, young and old alike. It’s the perfect experience for your little ones to experience the wowing exhibit in all its glory, marking their amazement at every single dinosaur. It’s also a great opportunity to nurture that inner child of yours who’s always wanted to be a paleontologist (no judgment!), so basically a win-win in our book. 

Get transported to Isla Nubla right here in Atlanta, and discover all the excitement of Jurassic World. 

Jurassic World: The Exhibition is produced in partnership with Universal Live Entertainment, a division of Universal Parks & Resorts and NEON, a worldwide leader in immersive experiences.

The interactive exhibition immerses guests in settings inspired by the Jurassic World film franchise.

neon, a global experience entertainment company, has announced the Canadian debut of ‘Jurassic World: The Exhibition’, which opens in Toronto on 14 April.

The 20,000-square-foot interactive exhibition immerses guests in settings inspired by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment’s Jurassic World film franchise.

Ron Tan, the executive chairman and group CEO of neon, said fans of the $6 billion film franchise in Canada “will be in awe at this immersive experience”.

“Thank you to our partners for making this possible and I look forward to welcoming huge crowds to our experience,” Tan added.

Visitors walk through the iconic ‘Jurassic World’ gates, explore themed environments, and meet life-size dinosaur animatronics including a Brachiosaurus, velociraptor and T-Rex.

Guests also get to interact with baby dinosaurs, including ‘Bumpy’ from the animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. Jurassic World on Netflix.

The exhibition is produced in partnership with Universal Live Entertainment, a division of Universal Parks & Resorts. It will be located at the Square One shopping mall in Mississauga.

Since launching in Melbourne, Australia in 2016, Jurassic World: The Exhibition has welcomed nearly five million visitors.

The attraction has been in London, San Diego, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia, Paris, Madrid, Seoul, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai. It will soon open in Cologne, Germany.

Immersive settings inspired by films

“The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchise have been thrilling audiences for decades and we are delighted to give fans the opportunity to see these magnificent dinosaurs up close,” said Universal Parks & Resorts’ president of global business development, Michael Silver.

neon also recently opened an immersive Avatar experience at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, which celebrates the highest-grossing film of all time.

Elsewhere, London’s Natural History Museum has turned one of its shops into a nostalgic replica of the store featured in 1993 film Jurassic Park.

“It’s a privilege to be celebrating 30 years of Jurassic Park,” said Paul Bufton, VP EMEA for Universal’s products and experiences division.

Join the waitlist to come face-to-face with the fascinating dinosaurs from Jurassic World at this incredible exhibition.

As Ray Arnold would say, “hold onto your butts” — Jurassic World: The Exhibition is heading less than one hour away from Toronto! Beginning April 14, dinosaurs from the cinematic blockbuster will claw their way into the real world so dinosaur aficionados and Jurassic Park lovers can get a close-up look at them in all their sharp-toothed, razor-clawed glory! Channel your inner paleontologist as you come face to face with life-sized recreations of these prehistoric creatures and examine amber-trapped specimens in the Hammond Lab.

Join the waitlist to get exclusive access to tickets before they’re released to the public on February 28 at 11am!

Hum the iconic Jurassic World tune as you head through wooden gates, placing you right in the middle of the series’ adventure. Square One Shopping Centre will be made over as a prehistoric wilderness complete with all the plants, leaves, and branches you’d see in the millennia-old forests of the Jurassic period. But be on the lookout at all times–you wouldn’t want a devious dinosaur sneaking up behind your back!

As you explore Jurassic World: The Exhibition, keep your eyes peeled for all sorts of roar-some dino delights. Each dinosaur replica has been re-created in unbelievable detail, from the herbivorous Brachiosaurus–one of the largest creatures to ever exist–to the Tyrannosaurus Rex, complete with its signature bone-crushing grin.

Though, of course, there will still be some room for “awws” to fill the room as you gaze upon some adorably wide-eyed baby raptors, pterodactyls, and parasaurolophus babies.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition is a must, not only for fans of the epic film franchise, but for prehistoric lovers in general. How often do you get to say you’ve put yourself in the mud-splattered boots of Owen Grady and seen for yourself where Jurassic World all started: Hammond Creation Lab. And, who knows, you may even learn the secret to bringing these creatures back to life!

Meet the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar. Join the waitlist to Jurassic World: The Exhibition!

Almost two thousand years ago, the Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed by a volcano. A new exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry explores part of the archaeological record only discovered 250 years ago.

Aphrodite, the ancient Greek Goddess and Mother of Cupid, is first to greet you as you enter Pompeii: The Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry.

The Greek goddess is one of 150 artifacts on loan from the Naples National Archeological Museum to help tell the fateful story of Pompeii, the Roman city destroyed by a volcano almost 2,000 years ago.

The new exhibition explores part of the archaeological record only discovered 250 years ago.

“This will tell the story of the way that these people in Pompeii lived, worked, how they worshiped, how they entertained themselves and how, unfortunately, they met their untimely fate,” said exhibition curator Voula Siridakis.

Almost 2,000 full-body casts were recovered from the rubble. The exhibition features several replicas, including a dog cast.

These people fell exactly where they were standing, Spiridakis said.  

“It got difficult for them to breath,” she said. “They would cover their mouths with cloth or something. It’s just a very powerful statement of how these people perished.”

Pompeii: The Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry runs through Sept. 4.

CHICAGO (CBS) — Workers opened up a crate full of history at the Museum of Science and Industry on Thursday.

This contents of the crate are much older than the museum – which will celebrate its 90th anniversary this year – or its building, which was constructed for the World’s Columbian Exposition 130 years ago this year. Compared to what was in the crate, those historical dates are actually very recent.

The crate contained an ancient Roman painting from the city of Pompeii. The Cupid fresco is just one of the ancient artifacts you’ll see on display when the museum’s Pompeii exhibit opens next week.

The MSI notes that Cupids are associated with the god of love in classical mythology – and are a common motif seen in ancient art and sculpture.

A fresco – a term derived from the Italian word for “fresh” – is a type of wall painting in which the paint is applied where the plaster is still wet, the MSI noted. This method bonds the fresco painting to the wall.

Pompeii was destroyed by nature in 79 A.D., more than 1,900 years ago. But as the museum notes, it was preserved in a volcanic time capsule after being destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

“Pompeii: The Exhibition” will take you right to the commercial port city of Pompeii. The museum notes that the exhibition features “treasures, marble and bronze sculptures, jewelry, gladiator armor, weapons, ancient Roman coins, and full body casts of the volcano’s victims.”

Also on display will be multimedia experiences – including a holographic gladiator display at the Pompeii amphitheater, and a 4D eruption simulation at Mount Vesuvius.

“Pompeii: The Exhibition” opens on Thursday, Feb. 23, and runs through Sept. 4. It is not included in general museum admission and requires an additional timed-entry ticket.

Advance tickets are available now.

NOUS Y ÉTIONS – Alors que le deuxième volet du film de James Cameron sort ce mercredi sur les écrans en France, nous avons visité Avatar – The Experience, dans les Gardens By The Bay de Singapour.

Si vous l’ignoriez encore, Avatar 2 nous donne rendez-vous sous l’eau et sur grand écran depuis ce mercredi. Mais les fans absolus du chef-d’œuvre de James Cameron ont aussi rendez-vous à Singapour où se tient jusqu’au 31 mars prochain, l’exposition Avatar – The Experience. Direction plus précisément la Cloud Forest Dome, une immense serre climatisée qui présente sur plusieurs étages la végétation tropicale avec, en point d’orgue, une petite montagne intérieure de 35 mètres de haut, recouverte de plantes d’où jaillit la plus haute cascade d’eau intérieure du monde. «On ne pouvait pas rêver décor plus inspirant pour recréer l’ambiance de Pandora. Une partie de la scénographie était déjà là. Il n’y avait plus qu’à l’adapter en y ajoutant des animations et les personnages du film», souligne Michael Mattox, le directeur technique, qui compte plus de 25 ans d’expérience dans la 3D.

Dès l’entrée dans le Dome, l’effet immersif est immédiat. Au pied de la cascade, on est «accueilli» par un Banshee plus vrai que nature, l’un des volatiles que les Na’vis ont pu dompter pour se déplacer dans les airs. Un peu plus loin, deux imposants Prolemuris, sortes de singes bleus, sont accrochés à des arbres tropicaux. L’arrivée devant une famille de Na’vis est poignante. Les voici enfin, face à nous, ces fameux humanoïdes bleus de plus de 3 mètres de haut ! Attention, un impressionnant Marteaureau Titanothère semble surgir de la végétation (ouf, c’est un herbivore inoffensif). À ce stade, que l’on ait vu ou pas le film Avatar 1, on est totalement pris dans l’univers de science-fiction de Pandora.

Un volatile de 12 mètres

Effets sonores et bruitages renforcent l’expérience, tout comme plusieurs animations interactives, dont le Flyer Banshee, très apprécié : on se met face à un écran et, grâce à des capteurs qui détectent les mouvements, on a la sensation de voler dans Pandora, en bougeant les bras et en inclinant le corps. Sensations garanties ! Dans une autre salle, on traverse des lianes lumineuses avant de se retrouver dans un spectacle multimédia. Sur un écran géant défilent des scènes d’Avatar, tandis qu’au sol, les spectateurs, en bougeant, déplacent avec eux des centaines de particules lumineuses, signe de leur connexion avec Pandora…

Dévoilons le clou de l’exposition : un énorme Banshee adulte, piloté par de l’intelligence artificielle. Le volatile, de 12 m d’envergure, détecte la présence des visiteurs et interagit avec eux. Le résultat est visuellement époustouflant et d’un réalisme saisissant : mouvements de la tête, des ailes, de la gueule, des yeux… tout y est, y compris les grondements rauques ! «Cette animation est, sur le plan technologique, ce qui se fait de plus abouti aujourd’hui», se réjouit Michael Mattox.

Et comme ce deuxième épisode d’Avatar est intitulé La Voie de l’eau, on a aussi fait un tour dans la grotte marine reconstituée pour admirer un Ilu, la créature aux airs de plésiosaure qui fait son apparition dans le film. Une magnifique sculpture aux douces teintes bleues… On passe facilement une heure dans cet autre monde, déconnecté de la réalité. Et on se dit qu’on reviendrait bien le soir, lorsque d’autres jeux de lumière créent une ambiance encore différente.

Avatar – The Experience. Cloud Forest, Gardens By The Bay, Singapour. Jusqu’au 31 mars 2023. Tous les jours de 9h à 21h. À partir de 37 €.

The first touring exhibition dedicated to the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp is coming to Southern California.

The Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is the only facility on the West Coast where the public will be able to see this March 2023.

Today, the World War II train car from the touring exhibition “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” arrives this morning with an escort. The train car is the kind used to transport goods and people to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. This train car will be part of the huge exhibition: Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. The delivery of this historic artifact is happening today because Nov. 10, 2022, is the anniversary of Kristallnacht, (German: “Crystal Night”), also called Night of Broken Glass or November Pogroms. It was the night of Nov. 9–10, 1938, when German Nazis attacked Jewish persons and property. The name Kristallnacht refers ironically to the litter of broken glass left in the streets after these pogroms. The violence continued during the day of Nov. 10, and in some places, acts of violence continued for several more days.

The pretext for the pogroms was the shooting in Paris on November 7th of the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by a Polish-Jewish student, Herschel Grynszpan. News of Rath’s death on November 9th reached Adolf Hitler in Munich, Germany, where he was celebrating the anniversary of the abortive 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. There, Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, after conferring with Hitler, harangued a gathering of old storm troopers, urging violent reprisals staged to appear as “spontaneous demonstrations.” Telephone orders from Munich triggered pogroms throughout Germany, which then included Austria.

Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.
A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
ReaganLibrary.com/Auschwitz
Read More About It: mjhnyc.org/exhibitions/auschwitz

If you have questions or complaints, please feel free to contact Gayle Anderson at 1-323-460-5732 or email at [email protected]

The lush greenery of the movie’s alien planet comes to life at Garden by the Bay

Alien flora and fauna have invaded the Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay.

Acid-dripping plants and assorted creatures from director James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster film Avatar have sprouted amid the lush greenery.

They are part of an immersive installation created with the Cloud Forest in mind.

Avatar: The Experience, which is on till March 31 and organised by Cityneon Holdings, Disney Location-Based Experiences and Lightstorm Entertainment, comes in time to build the hype for the movie’s sequel. Avatar: The Way Of Water opens here on Dec 15 and visitors can get a sneak peek at a new creature called an Ilu at the exhibition.

Scattered through the Cloud Forest’s more than 72,000 plants are realistically detailed sculptures of the Na’vi, the bipedal humanoid inhabitants of Pandora; interactive stops where visitors can play with light and create their own Na’vi avatars; and what the creators say is the most sophisticated animatronic creature in the world.

The animatronic mountain banshee, with a wingspan of 10m and weighing about 2 tonnes, had to fit through a lift door measuring just 1.2m by 2.1m.

Cityneon’s chief technical officer Michael Mattox, 47, solved the puzzle by building it like a Lego structure. The four sections, he says, each fit into the lift with barely an inch to spare.

The idea for the show was seeded in 2017 when Cityneon’s group chief creative officer Welby Altidor first visited the Gardens and walked into the Cloud Forest dome.

The 49-year-old says: “The doors opened, I saw this water fall and I said, ‘This is Avatar.”

It took years of discussions with Disney and Lightstorm, as well as 18 months of planning, before the seed bore fruit.

There were unusual design and installation challenges for the Cityneon team. Mr Mattox says: “This is a living environment. There are unique parameters for what you can do and what you can’t do.”

The veteran who has worked with San Diego Seaworld and Cirque du Soleil adds: “Usually for an exhibition, it’s in a black box. There are no visitors and you don’t have to worry about lighting and sound.”

Here, the team had to work overnight for two months, shivering in the damp cold as temperatures dipped to 18 deg C, to install the show as the dome remained open to visitors throughout the day.

The glass dome means sound waves would bounce, so audio had to be carefully calibrated. Mr Mattox also had to worry about damp affecting the electronic equipment, as light and music are integral to the show.

Another challenge was that the works had to be designed to be viewed in the day as well as at night.

Mr Altidor resolved this by reaching for old-fashioned inspiration. He says: “I connected to the tradition of sculpture gardens, where you have a great garden, then you bring in sculptures or attractions.”

While indoor attractions can rely on darkness and lighting to hide imperfections, the Cloud Forest’s daytime brightness meant that the sculptures had to be designed and made to exacting standards to withstand close scrutiny.

Mr Mattox is particularly pleased with the Unidelta tree, one of the first works to be installed when works began two months ago. He says with a chuckle: “No one realised it was fake.”

The deception is complemented by the landscaping design. Mr Jeffrey Alan Courtney, 47, the Gardens’ senior director (conservatory operations), says an additional 5,700 plants were brought in for the show. These comprise more than 160 different species and varieties, including 20 that have not been displayed in the Gardens before.

He adds: “We selected plants that looked like they could have come from an alien planet, with bizarre yet beautiful forms, colours, leaf patterns, or flowers.

“To match the blue and purple tones in Avatar: The Experience, we chose plants with blue-hued inflorescences or silvery leaf patterns or colours, so they would reflect light and complement the display from day to night.”

Look out for the Aechmea ‘Blue Tango’, an eye-catching bromeliad with electric-blue flowers and contrasting hot-pink flower stalks, and the iridescent Blue Oil Fern (Microsorum thailandicum).

There are also plants that mirror Pandora’s life forms, such as the Colocasia ‘Pharaoh’s Mask’, whose leaves have exaggerated deep purple veins that bulge, giving it a ribcage-like appearance.

All the plants, Mr Courtney says, will remain in the Cloud Forest’s living collection after the show ends.

Mr Altidor says the Cloud Forest presents a great baseline because “I already have an incredible garden walk experience”.

This provided the foundation for the Avatar experience, which he designed to take into consideration logistics as well as visitor experience.

The dome is divided into five zones, offering a journey for visitors. Mr Altidor says: “It’s like when you write a piece of music. There are crescendos and diminuendos, peaks and valleys.”

The first zone eases visitors in with a photo opportunity in the form of a strategically positioned statue of a juvenile mountain banshee, before a light show at the waterfall draws them further in. This was planned so that visitors would flow through smoothly without clogging the pathways.

The interactive stations scattered throughout are designed to be as intuitive as possible. The Sacred Space stop, for example, has large “leaves” which visitors can touch to spark sound and light. But there are no text instructions. Instead, the “leaf” lights up, drawing the attention of visitors and enticing them to interact with it.

While the show is meant to entertain, Mr Altidor says Pandora’s story and the healing vibe of the Gardens combine to offer visitors a message. “We are not here to preach. But just going through this experience is a beautiful metaphor for how important it is to care for our world.”

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction. 

The lush greenery of the movie’s alien planet comes to life at Garden by the Bay

Alien flora and fauna have invaded the Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay.

Acid-dripping plants and assorted creatures from director James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster film Avatar have sprouted amid the lush greenery.

They are part of an immersive installation created with the Cloud Forest in mind.

Avatar: The Experience, which is on till March 31 and organised by Cityneon Holdings, Disney Location-Based Experiences and Lightstorm Entertainment, comes in time to build the hype for the movie’s sequel. Avatar: The Way Of Water opens here on Dec 15 and visitors can get a sneak peek at a new creature called an Ilu at the exhibition.

Scattered through the Cloud Forest’s more than 72,000 plants are realistically detailed sculptures of the Na’vi, the bipedal humanoid inhabitants of Pandora; interactive stops where visitors can play with light and create their own Na’vi avatars; and what the creators say is the most sophisticated animatronic creature in the world.

The animatronic mountain banshee, with a wingspan of 10m and weighing about 2 tonnes, had to fit through a lift door measuring just 1.2m by 2.1m.

Cityneon’s chief technical officer Michael Mattox, 47, solved the puzzle by building it like a Lego structure. The four sections, he says, each fit into the lift with barely an inch to spare.

The idea for the show was seeded in 2017 when Cityneon’s group chief creative officer Welby Altidor first visited the Gardens and walked into the Cloud Forest dome.

The 49-year-old says: “The doors opened, I saw this water fall and I said, ‘This is Avatar.”

It took years of discussions with Disney and Lightstorm, as well as 18 months of planning, before the seed bore fruit.

There were unusual design and installation challenges for the Cityneon team. Mr Mattox says: “This is a living environment. There are unique parameters for what you can do and what you can’t do.”

The veteran who has worked with San Diego Seaworld and Cirque du Soleil adds: “Usually for an exhibition, it’s in a black box. There are no visitors and you don’t have to worry about lighting and sound.”

Here, the team had to work overnight for two months, shivering in the damp cold as temperatures dipped to 18 deg C, to install the show as the dome remained open to visitors throughout the day.

The glass dome means sound waves would bounce, so audio had to be carefully calibrated. Mr Mattox also had to worry about damp affecting the electronic equipment, as light and music are integral to the show.

Another challenge was that the works had to be designed to be viewed in the day as well as at night.

Mr Altidor resolved this by reaching for old-fashioned inspiration. He says: “I connected to the tradition of sculpture gardens, where you have a great garden, then you bring in sculptures or attractions.”

While indoor attractions can rely on darkness and lighting to hide imperfections, the Cloud Forest’s daytime brightness meant that the sculptures had to be designed and made to exacting standards to withstand close scrutiny.

Mr Mattox is particularly pleased with the Unidelta tree, one of the first works to be installed when works began two months ago. He says with a chuckle: “No one realised it was fake.”

The deception is complemented by the landscaping design. Mr Jeffrey Alan Courtney, 47, the Gardens’ senior director (conservatory operations), says an additional 5,700 plants were brought in for the show. These comprise more than 160 different species and varieties, including 20 that have not been displayed in the Gardens before.

He adds: “We selected plants that looked like they could have come from an alien planet, with bizarre yet beautiful forms, colours, leaf patterns, or flowers.

“To match the blue and purple tones in Avatar: The Experience, we chose plants with blue-hued inflorescences or silvery leaf patterns or colours, so they would reflect light and complement the display from day to night.”

Look out for the Aechmea ‘Blue Tango’, an eye-catching bromeliad with electric-blue flowers and contrasting hot-pink flower stalks, and the iridescent Blue Oil Fern (Microsorum thailandicum).

There are also plants that mirror Pandora’s life forms, such as the Colocasia ‘Pharaoh’s Mask’, whose leaves have exaggerated deep purple veins that bulge, giving it a ribcage-like appearance.

All the plants, Mr Courtney says, will remain in the Cloud Forest’s living collection after the show ends.

Mr Altidor says the Cloud Forest presents a great baseline because “I already have an incredible garden walk experience”.

This provided the foundation for the Avatar experience, which he designed to take into consideration logistics as well as visitor experience.

The dome is divided into five zones, offering a journey for visitors. Mr Altidor says: “It’s like when you write a piece of music. There are crescendos and diminuendos, peaks and valleys.”

The first zone eases visitors in with a photo opportunity in the form of a strategically positioned statue of a juvenile mountain banshee, before a light show at the waterfall draws them further in. This was planned so that visitors would flow through smoothly without clogging the pathways.

The interactive stations scattered throughout are designed to be as intuitive as possible. The Sacred Space stop, for example, has large “leaves” which visitors can touch to spark sound and light. But there are no text instructions. Instead, the “leaf” lights up, drawing the attention of visitors and enticing them to interact with it.

While the show is meant to entertain, Mr Altidor says Pandora’s story and the healing vibe of the Gardens combine to offer visitors a message. “We are not here to preach. But just going through this experience is a beautiful metaphor for how important it is to care for our world.”

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction. 

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada recently teamed up with Cityneon Holdings’ Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N inside Treasure Island Las Vegas to surprise a local teen and his family with a dream vacation to the theme park capital of the world.

16-year-old Erick, a high school junior who goes by his middle name of Josh, wished for a trip to Orlando, Florida. At the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. inside Treasure Island, the family was met with a surprise celebration at which Josh’s dream of being immersed in a universe of superheroes was revealed.

During the trip, Josh and his family stayed at Give Kids the World Village, a Florida nonprofit resort that provides no-cost lodging to children with serious conditions and their families. The family spent the next week exploring Orlando’s multiple theme parks, including Walt Disney World and Universal Studios.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child, but we here at Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada believe it takes a community to grant a wish,” said Scott Rosenzweig, President & CEO of Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada. “We couldn’t grant wishes like Erick’s without community partners such as Cityneon. We’re grateful for their partnership and can’t wait to see the pictures from Erick’s wish trip to Orlando, Florida.”.

“Making a positive impact in the Southern Nevada community by helping those faced with challenges to find their strength is a top priority for our team,” said Zoe Tan, Head of Business Development and General Manager of Victory Hill Exhibitions, Cityneon Holdings. “Working alongside Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada to make Josh’s wish come to life was truly incredible and we hope to continue this partnership and create unique memories for many more families.”

As a Super Hero fan, Josh was excited to experience the numerous Marvel-related attractions at Universal Studios, including Marvel Super Hero Island® in Universal’s Islands of Adventure.

Josh identifies especially with Iron Man – a hero is known for having a repaired heart – since Josh himself was diagnosed at birth with congenital heart disease. Josh was an infant when he had his very first heart surgery, and at just three years old, he underwent another surgery, after which Josh went into kidney failure and has been on dialysis and oxygen ever since.

Like Iron Man, Josh lives heroically with his condition and has remained positive despite the numerous medical challenges he faces on a daily basis.

Josh loved sharing his theme park experience with his family, who has given him the support, care and encouragement he needs throughout his medical journey. The memories of a special trip to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios will help provide the Las Vegas teen the strength to continue to battle congenital heart disease and kidney failure.

CITYNEON, a company that provides immersive experiences, on Wednesday (Oct 26) welcomed a fresh capital injection of S$150 million from Temasek’s 65 Equity Partners.

This comes after the group closed its last funding round in April with a total of S$235 million raised.

The collective funds raised will be utilised to further strengthen the group’s growth trajectory and aspirations, said Cityneon. These include expanding into new markets, acquiring new intellectual property, building up technological capabilities via its in-house research and development department, establishing new and profitable lines of businesses, and shoring up its balance sheet.

“We are excited to partner Cityneon’s management team in its next phase of growth,” said Tan Chong Lee, chief executive of 65 Equity Partners.

“This investment aligns strategically with our mandate of supporting high growth, leading businesses led by founders and entrepreneurs, to help them scale and fulfil their growth aspirations, as well as facilitating their eventual public listing,” he added.

In addition, Cityneon will rebrand its company name to “Neon” as it strives to “always be relevant, offering new, exciting and epic experiences for fans and families around the world”.

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The long-term, 20,000-square-foot exhibition features large animatronic adult dinos, human-powered adolescent dinos and hand-held puppet baby dinos

Thanks to movies like “Jurassic Park,” the idea of dinosaurs existing today has been a popular, but improbable, fantasy for paleontology fans. But a massive new exhibition that opened Friday in its West Coast premiere in San Diego offers visitors the best chance they’ll ever get of seeing, hearing and even touching “live” dinosaurs up close.

“Jurassic World: The Exhibition” re-creates the look, feel, sound and scaly characters of the fictional Jurassic Park, the live-dino theme park on mysterious Isla Nublar in the 1993 Universal Pictures film “Jurassic Park,” and the 1990 Michael Crichton book that inspired it. The immersive, tented walk-through exhibit in the Westfield Mission Valley mall parking lot is in town through April 16.

Rather than just a mix of movie props and stationary dinosaur robots, “Jurassic World” puts ticket-buyers inside the theme park itself, where actors playing park docents and animal handlers encourage visitors to touch a baby Stygimoloch, feel the gooey consistency of dinosaur poop and watch a training session with Blue, the slightly less dangerous Velociraptor featured in the most recent films in Universal Pictures’ “Jurassic World” franchise.

Visitors can also explore a nursery where they’ll see dino eggs and young hatchlings; meet Bumpy, the baby Ankylosaurus featured in Netflix’s animated “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous” series; and watch a feeding demonstration with an Indominus Rex, a genetically modified dinosaur in the Jurassic World: Evolution video game series. The 16 dinosaurs in the exhibit range from elaborate hand puppets to a fast-moving human-size raptor with an adult puppeteer inside, and gigantic animatronic beasts that not only have fully functioning eyelids, mouths and necks, but also move around rooms and produce the foghorn-like roars heard in the films.

But — as in all “Jurassic World” stories — humans’ selfish desire to re-create often-lethal extinct creatures can have consequences. The exhibition’s grand finale involves a truly gigantic robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex that gets loose from its enclosure and mayhem ensues.

Over the past five years, experiential exhibitions have become a worldwide sensation. In San Diego, last year’s immersive “Beyond Van Gogh” projection-mapped exhibit at the Del Mar Fairgrounds was so popular it was extended by an extra month. And in Anaheim, Disney spent an estimated $225 million building its most ambitious experience attraction Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland.

“Jurassic World: The Exhibition” launched in 2016 in Melbourne, Australia, and has toured internationally in the years since. There are now three touring companies including one now operating in London and another in Japan. The San Diego visit is the third stop on a four-city American tour.

Ellie Armitage, who bills herself as the exhibition’s lead dinosaur ranger, said it’s hard to gauge which experience is the most popular with guests. Although the T-Rex finale is a hit, Armitage said most visitors are “astonished” when they disembark from the “water ferry” that motors them to Isla Nublar and they encounter a towering 12,500-pound animatronic Brachiosaurus at the park’s entrance.

“The most awesome moment for many people is when they come off the boat, the music is playing and they come through the gates and enter the land of giants. It’s a big wow moment,” Armitage said.

While Armitage said the staff undergoes “scared child protocol” training for toddlers who can’t separate fact from fiction, the exhibit is designed for all ages, with particular appeal for children ages 8 to 10. Beyond the dinosaurs themselves, there are dozens of video and touch screens where visitors can learn more about the various dinosaur species, their diets, habitats and unusual physical features. Docents are also trained to answer visitors’ questions. There’s also a gift shop, where a staffer said the $40 plush toy of Blue the velociraptor is the top-selling item.

Exhibition tickets are sold online by timed entry, with a maximum of 60 visitors admitted every 15 minutes to avoid overcrowding. Visitors can stay as long as they like, but the average visit is 45 to 60 minutes. The exhibit is set up on the east side of the mall’s former Macy’s department store, near Broken Yolk Café and the seasonal pumpkin patch.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition

Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 pm. Mondays and Thursdays. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Through April 16

Tickets: Weekday admission is $29.50 for adults and $19.50 for children ages 3 to 15; weekend admission is $34.50 for adults and $24.50 for children

Online sales: jurassicworldexhibition.com

Fans of the blockbuster films will be able to see the thrilling beasts up close as they step into a world of discovery inside the ferocious dinosaur’s domain. From a life-sized velociraptor to a towering Brachiosaurus, and even the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The dinosaurs are more real than ever before.

Visitors will be able to watch them move, roar and even feed as they come to life in a 20,000 sq ft space. Park rangers will also be on the premises to guide adventurers around the huge Jurassic Park – but they should watch out for the fierce beasts lurking behind every shrub or forest path.

In addition to experiencing the world inspired by the beloved films, exhibition guests will be able to pose for one-of-a-kind “Instagram-able” photo moments throughout the event. There will also be an interactive dig site where youngsters can become palaeontologists for the day and scavenge for dinosaur bones and remains.

James Cassidy, COO of FKP Scorpio Entertainment UK says: “The entire Jurassic World: The Exhibition experience has been designed to be as immersive as possible for visitors. From the moment our guests walk through the doors, all the sights and sounds of the event will be geared towards fueling the experience of being in the dinosaurs’ domain.

“The Jurassic Dominion movie came out quite recently and the entire exhibition has been organised in collaboration with its creative film team, and it will be held in collaboration with Universal studios and NBC. All of our dinosaurs are animatronic so they move and hiss on their own – guests can go up to them and touch them as well as get plenty of selfie opportunities.”

Jurassic World: The Exhibition tour has previously taken major cities across the world such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Paris, Madrid and Seoul, Shanghai and Chengdu by storm. A record-breaking number of tickets have already been sold for the London event.

The exhibition will be open from Thursday, August 25, until the end of 2022. It will provide the ideal day out for both children and adults across the city and elsewhere in the UK, who are seeking an unforgettable experience.

Tickets for the Jurassic World: The Exhibition start at £26 per adult and £18.50 per child. Car parking will be available on-site and visitors can also travel to the ExCeL Centre directly on the London Underground via the new Elizabeth Line.

To buy tickets for Jurassic World: The Exhibition at London’s ExCeL Centre, visit the website here.

What’s there to discover?

As well as seeing lots of giant species throughout the day, there will be plenty of opportunities for families to interact with incredible baby dinosaurs. This includes “Bumpy” from the hit Netflix series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, which premiered in 2020 and released season 4 in December 2021.

Fans will even have the chance to play Jurassic World Alive – the popular location-based AR mobile game. In the game, dinosaurs are back on Earth and they roam free in our world.

Players can explore their surroundings to find their favourite Jurassic World characters. The app is available to download for free on the App Store and Google Play.

When the exhibition opens, players who visit ExCeL London and open the game on their device can locate an exclusive Jurassic World: The Exhibition incubator, which are capsules that contain valuable resources to use as an in-game reward.

Those who want to relax after walking the perilous path housing Jurassic World’s ancient beasts will be able to buy refreshments from a range of food and drink outlets in the ExCeL Centre. There are plenty of restaurants and cafés to choose from.

Film fans will also be able to purchase souvenirs from the full merchandise retail store on site, including t-shirts, stationary and more, as a memory of their incredible experience of visiting the dinosaurs’ domain.

To buy tickets for Jurassic World: The Exhibition at London’s ExCeL Centre, visit the website here.

Well, dino lovers across the city can relive that iconic storyline from today, as ‘Jurassic World: The Exhibition’ opens. The ExCel centre in Docklands is welcoming thousands of explorers through the famous Jurassic Park gates where they will be greeted by life-size, animatronic dinosaurs and their (extremely cute) babies. Only this time, they’re not likely to chase you and then dismember you.

The 20,000-square-foot exhibition holds 16 life-sized dinosaurs, including a velociraptor, brachiosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex. Curious explorers can interact with the dinosaurs, which are mechanical puppets that are deceptively lifelike. It’s a timewarp, where you can envision what prehistoric life on earth was like 140 million years ago, before the dinos became extinct… just in the ExCel centre.

This summer, the blockbuster season continues with the release of ‘Jurassic World Dominion’, the sixth instalment of the ‘Jurassic Park’ franchise, 30 years after the original movie. Okay, we reckon it’s shit, but the idea remains sound.

So, as you wait for the next film to drop, why not pay a visit to the dinos and keep them company? Tell them we said ‘roar!’.

‘Jurassic World: The Exhibition’, Excel London, Royal Victoria Dock, E16 1XL. From £25 per adult and £18.50 per child.

Find tickets here.

摆脱禁锢的霸王龙朝围观者愤怒嘶吼；从大门进入，迎接游客的还有一只巨型腕龙。

这个庞大的展览空间里展示着侏罗纪电影里的所有事物，按照真实比例打造的电子动态恐龙结合音效和灯光，给人营造一种身临其境的感觉。

英国《侏罗纪世界》展览发起人乔治伍德说：“你真的会感觉，这是你最接近活恐龙的一次，也是这个体验最棒的地方。”

恐龙幼崽在器皿里休息，表皮纹路和呼吸节奏都几近逼真。现场不仅有各类恐龙，游客还能戴上手套触摸恐龙粪便，让大人小孩都乐在其中。

一名游客赛雷尔拉朱说：“他差不多两岁，非常喜欢这里。他出乎意料的非常冷静，但也很享受。”

英国儿童电台主持人康纳奈特说：“我们终于能亲身体验、感受、触摸恐龙，了解它们的皮肤、骨骼和一切。现象级的，非常棒！太好了！虽然也有点可怕。”

原定展出到11月的侏罗纪世界展，可能展延到当地假期结束。

It had previously been exhibited at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences; nearly 8,000 tickets of the exhibit have been sold so far.

The exhibition includes 181 artifacts from the era of King “Ramses II” stemming from the collections of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, in addition to artifacts unearthed by the Egyptian mission in the Bubasteum in Saqqara.

It is worth mentioning that The exhibition of “Ramses & The Gold of The Pharaohs” welcomed visitors from all over the American city of Houston to enjoy the splendor of the great Egyptian antiquities with the enchanting melodies of the harp instrument in the background.

During the first days of its opening, the exhibition witnessed a huge turnout of visitors from different age groups. Some 8000 tickets were booked and sold in the first hours of the exhibition’s opening day.

Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri explained that an Egyptian delegation representing the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities had received the visitors, who expressed their fascination with the greatness of the Egyptian civilization.

For her part, Assistant Minister for Tourism Promotion Lamia Kamel said that the Egyptian pavilion at the exhibition also witnessed a great turnout from the museum visitors, who used the QR code shown on the main panel in the pavilion to access the promotional site for Egypt on various social media platforms, in order to get acquainted with the brilliance of the Egyptian tourist destinations and Egypt’s countless tourism products.

Kamel confirmed that the visitors of the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences expressed their enthusiasm to visit Egypt, especially in winter.

Moreover, Kamel reviewed the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, to create a direct flight route between Sharm El-Sheikh and Luxor to link beach tourism with cultural tourism, within the framework of the ministries’ efforts to create an integrated tourism product.

It is worth noting that the “Ramses & The Gold of The Pharaohs” exhibition showcases 181 artifacts that highlight some of the distinctive characteristics of the ancient Egyptian civilization, especially from the Middle and Modern Kingdoms to the late era. The exhibits include a group of statues, ornaments, paintings, stone blocks decorated with inscriptions, and statues of deities in the form of birds and animals, as well as some colorful wooden coffins.

Also, the Egyptian pavilion in the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences will be broadcast Egypt’s grand celebration “The Sphinx Avenue ” that will take place on November 25 at 7:30 p.m.

When a dazzling presentation comes at the cost of curatorial substance, it’s not only disappointing, it fails to honor the subject. The term “immersive experience” has also become such a cliche that many of us cringe when we spot the words in the description of a new exhibition.

But when the concepts are used intelligently, they make museum-going more immediate, more educational and sometimes more complete.

“Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs,” the newly arrived exhibition at the de Young Museum that opened Saturday, Aug. 20, benefits from all the enhancements spectacle and immersion can offer. The touring exhibition was curated by Zahi Hawass, the famed Egyptian archaeologist and former minister of state for antiquities affairs, and comes to San Francisco in partnership with the Supreme Council of Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt. It is produced by World Heritage Exhibitions, a subsidiary of Cityneon Holdings. The exhibition is overseen at the de Young by Renée Dreyfus, the George and Judy Marcus Distinguished Curator and the person in charge of ancient art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

You like King Tut? You should get to know Ramses the Great, now in S.F.

With its set-like exhibition design, dramatically backlit photo blowups, use of video elements, evocative soundtrack and moody lighting, it is as much a theatrical experience as a museum visit. It’s easy to get swept up in the drama, as though carried pleasantly on the tides of the Nile.

Ramses II (1303-1213 B.C.) reigned for 67 years as the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of Egypt. His time on the throne was marked by distinguished military campaigns, along with building projects like the Ramesseum temple complex at Qurna and the Abu Simbel temple complex near the Egypt-Sudan border. He is also thought to be the pharaoh depicted in the Old Testament story of Moses by some historians.

Immediately upon entering, visitors are plunged into his world, starting with a slick introductory video that explains his reign, and also the looting of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings — providing context to why artifacts from other royal tombs in Dahshur and Tanis are featured. After the video, the doors to the exhibition open as if by decree of the gods, bringing you face to face with a spectacular head of the ruler taken from a colossal statue.

Forms of Egyptian revival have been seen through the ages in the West, seemingly coming back into vogue with major archaeological discoveries and excavations. Gazing at objects like a gold Heset Ewer pitcher for liquid offerings in the temple, alabaster kohl jars, intricately colored Faience tiles depicting captives from military campaigns and numerous statues of the sphinx, one sees just how much movements like Neoclassicism, Art Nouveau and Art Deco have been inspired by the simple forms and intricate detailing of the New Kingdom era.

Throughout the exhibition, you enter the different worlds of Ramses’ time. It can be almost theme-park-like, in the best possible way.

With so much of Ramses’ story told in monumental buildings and works of sculpture that cannot tour, the design helps fill many of those gaps. Adjacent galleries showcase how tried-and-true exhibition tools are still effective, with a model of the great temple at Abu Simbel and its epic statues of the ruler on display. A nearby viewing room features a digital re-creation of the Battle of Kadesh that feels 3-D in its use of both conventional, wall-mounted screens and a flat viewing surface below it in the shape of a burnt papyrus map that shows the topography of the battleground and displays additional images. Later re-creations of tombs are also beautiful in their own artistry.

But when presenting objects like the stunning dynastic jewelry, the exhibition design lets the gold headpieces, bracelets, amulets and neckpieces speak for themselves. When you have items like the gold face mask of Sheshonq II, it doesn’t need anything extra. This is also true for the stone sarcophagi and the intricately painted, gilded wood interior coffins. And naturally, no exhibition on ancient Egypt would be complete without mummies, represented in “Ramses” by numerous preserved animals.

Upstairs in the museum’s Piazzoni Murals Room, the virtual reality experience “Ramses and Nefertari: Journey to Osiris” is available at an extra cost. See the exhibition first, then take the 10-minute “tour” through Abu Simbel, guided by the apparition of the pharaoh’s beloved wife, Nefertari. It’s a nice additional component after learning the basics about the ruler, but its motion and fragrance components might not be suitable for all museumgoers; some of the imagery may also be too frightening for children.

I left the show not only astounded by its presentation and objects, but also truly awed by the artistic and cultural accomplishments of the pharaoh’s reign. It’s an exhibition that proves when spectacle and immersion are given a subject with the depth of Ramses II, they can be truly in the service of greater understanding.

“Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs”: 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Opens Saturday, Aug. 20. On view through Feb. 12. $20-$40. “Ramses and Nefertari: Journey to Osiris” tickets are $18 general admission, $16 members. De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, S.F. 415-750-3600. deyoung.famsf.org

The commanding visage of Egypt’s most influential New Kingdom ruler, wearing the iconic white crown of Upper Egypt and a chin-strapped false beard, originally topped a colossal statue in a Memphis, Egypt, temple. Discovered there in 1888, the deified pharaoh’s likeness now greets visitors entering the de Young Museum’s immersive 12,000-square foot installation, opening Saturday, Aug. 20. The exhibition explores the reign of one of Egypt’s most powerful and longest-ruling monarchs; Ramses the Great ruled for 67 years and lived past age 90, a rare life span in the ancient world.

It’s the greatest collection of Ramses II objects ever to travel to the United States, including numerous items never loaned outside Egypt — sarcophagi, royal masks, sculpture, recently discovered animal mummies, amulets and magnificent jewelry — as well as a virtual reality component installed in the museum’s Piazzoni Murals Room.

Review: ‘Ramses the Great’ show in S.F. uncovers the ‘fine art’ in immersive experiences

“I really love that statue at the beginning of the exhibit,” an exuberant Hawass told The Chronicle by phone from Los Angeles before his trip to San Francisco, where he plans to give a free public lecture on Saturday. “When I look at his face, I imagine that I am talking to Ramses II. In fact, when I wrote the (exhibition) catalog, which includes more personal stories, it was as if Ramses was here in front of me, talking to me, telling me his story himself.

“He told me he was not just a ruler but a philosopher, a warrior, a peacemaker,” the famed archeologist and Egyptoloist continued, “a man who was so in love with Nefartari as a young man, he built for her the most beautiful tomb ever made for a queen.”

Now, if anyone else were to recount in such breathless fervor an imaginary conversation with the 3,000-year-old pharaoh known as Ozymandias in Greek texts, whose mummified body rests in Cairo’s National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, we might rightly question their hold on reality. But it somehow makes sense for a nostalgic showman like Hawass, whose career since working as a young inspector at the great pyramids has been guided by an unquenchable curiosity and sense of connection with Egypt’s epic past.

“When I heard a Ramses exhibition would be available to travel here, I jumped at the opportunity,” said Renee Dreyfus, de Young’s curator in charge of ancient art.

Hawass, former secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, is best known in the U.S. from his frequent television appearances on the Discovery Channel, Fox and the History Channel (“Chasing Mummies”). There seems to scarcely be media coverage involving ancient Egypt without Hawass’ involvement. He’s filmed CT scans of King Tut’s remains and his 2010 discovery of the tombs of the Khufu pyramid builders.

A man in perpetual motion at 75, Hawass hasn’t slowed a bit in spreading the gospel of Egypt’s past grandeur.

“I’m giving 23 lectures in America next May,” he gushed.

He also rattled off a dizzying number of current ventures, including a new project working in the tomb of Ramses II in the Valley of the Kings (which was plundered in ancient times, and suffered numerous subsequent floods), and overseeing the ambitious Grand Egyptian Museum set to open later this year in Giza.

But he said he keeps in mind that every exhibition he works on aims to tell a distinct story about Egypt’s glorious past.

“Ramses the Great” is about the “king of kings who signed human history’s first peace treaty (with the Hittites),” Hawass explained. “He left his name everywhere,” inscribed on monuments and temples throughout Egypt, from the Nile delta to the Nubian Desert.

While King Tut’s gold-and-jewel-encrusted artifacts may be more iconic due to the stroke of fate that kept his burial chamber from flooding, the boy king who died at 19 was far from the most consequential pharaoh, Hawass noted.

“The two most famous Egyptian kings are, first, Ramses II, and second, King Tut,” he said. “I believe this (exhibition) is one of the most important things ever to leave Egypt to travel abroad. It is educational, but it is also breathtaking. It will capture the hearts of young people.”

Dreyfus said the timing to spark renewed interest in ancient Egypt couldn’t be better, with the Ramses show to still be on view at the de Young on Nov. 4, a date marking 100 years since Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tutankhamun’s intact tomb.

“What I’ve tried to do over the years, including the last King Tut show in 2009, is to bring the finest Egyptian objects to San Francisco to satisfy this city’s great love of Egyptian art,” said Dreyfus about the popularity of the Egyptian exhibitions, noting that the 1979 King Tut show — also curated by Hawass — attracted more than 1.3 million visitors.

“There is something hauntingly interesting about people who truly believed (in an afterlife), that you could take it with you, and that the next world would be equally good, if not better.”

“Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs”: 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Opens Saturday, Aug. 20. On view through Feb. 12, 2023. $25-$40. De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, S.F. 415-750-3600. deyoung.famsf.org

Ancient Art Council Lecture on Recent Egypt Discoveries with Zahi Hawass: 2 p.m. Saturday. Koret Auditorium. This is a free program on the exhibition’s opening day. Seating is limited and unassigned. Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis in front of the Koret Auditorium an hour before the presentation begins. Lecture tickets do not include admission to the exhibition. For more information, visit deyoung.famsf.org/calendar.

A talented military leader, he ushered in a golden era of security and prosperity and built a never-before-seen number of monuments, temples, and colossal statues (mostly dedicated to himself) across his kingdom. By the time of his death 67 years after assuming the throne, there were few in Egypt who’d ever known another ruler.

Three thousand years later, Ramses the Great’s legacy still looms large, and the artifacts associated with his reign are among Egypt’s most treasured heritage. On Friday, August 19th, 181 of them make their debut in San Francisco for the first time in the de Young Museum’s new exhibition, Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs.

The exhibition, however, is more than just a set of beautiful objects. Using virtual reality and multimedia, it brings to life the most important events and places of Ramses’ rule.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” says Thomas P. Campbell, director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “It’s truly an immersive experience that engages all the senses with muscle.”

The artifacts on display in Ramses the Great range from stone cartouches and life-sized statues to delicate jewelry and exquisitely detailed coffins. In one room, an unusual collection of animal mummies that were recently discovered in the ancient city of Memphis—cats, lion cubs, mongoose, crocodiles, and scarab beetles—appear for the first time ever. In another, they recreate the crypt of Sennedjem, a royal artist and the builder of Ramses’ own tomb, surrounding his real, lavishly painted coffin with images of the afterlife projected on the walls and ceiling; these images are the same as those that were found painted in the actual tomb.

Elsewhere, a multi-platform presentation illuminates what ancient scholars consider the largest, most chaotic battle ever fought, the Battle of Kadesh, which Ramses the Great won in 1274 B.C. just a few years after assuming the throne. The epic assault takes place across three screens that combine cinematic views of the combat with shifting imagery of the battlefield.

But the most exciting multimedia element of Ramses the Great is the 10-minute virtual reality component, Ramses & Nefertari: Journey to Osiris, installed in the Piazzoni Mural Rooms upstairs. With noise-canceling headphones, VR goggles, and a spinning, tilting, rumbling chair, visitors follow Ramses’ first wife Nefertari on a tour of her husband’s most impressive monuments, Abu Simbel and Nefertari’s Tomb. The temple and crypt appear like they would have at the time of their construction, immensely detailed and convincingly real. The makers even threw in a bit of extra drama to keep things interesting.

“The temples [Ramses] erected, statues he commissioned, and monuments he inscribed throughout Egypt and Nubia, and funerary temple and royal tomb he built, were reminders of his earthly power and closeness to the gods,” says Renee Dreyfus, George and Judy Marcus Distinguished Curator and curator in charge of ancient art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. With VR, visitors get the chance to experience what moving through those spaces was like thousands of years in the past.

// Both Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs and Ramses & Nefertari: Journey to Osiris will be on exhibition from August 20th through February 12th, 2023. Timed entry tickets can be purchased in advance and there is an extra charge, $18/person, for the VR experience; De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr. (Golden Gate Park), deyoung.famsf.org.

The VR experience “Ramses and Nefertari: Journey to Osiris.”

“Ramses the Great and The Gold of the Pharaohs,” opening Aug. 20 at the de Young Museum, showcases this royal mother lode in one of the largest exhibitions of ancient Egyptian splendor to come to the West Coast since the de Young’s “King Tut” exhibits—which captivated local museum goers in 1979 and 2009.

The exhibit features 181 artifacts lent to the de Young by the Egyptian government. It includes priceless relics found at the tomb of the powerful Pharaoh Ramses II, along with animal mummies, intricate jewerly and recently uncovered burial objects from the ancient cities of Dashur and Tanis along the Nile River. Present day Egyptologists continue to excavate and unearth new treasures.

The collection has been billed as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to see the “greatest collection of Ramses II objects and Egyptian jewelry ever to travel to the United States”—and the hype is not without merit.

In recent decades, evolutions in international law and curatorial codes of ethics have made exhibitions like “Ramses the Great” increasingly difficult to coordinate. All of the objects currently on display at the de Young are on a short-term special loan from Egypt—approved by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Supreme Council of Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt. They are not likely to leave their country of origin again for a long time after this world tour ends in 2025.

But “Ramses the Great” is more than a rare chance to see Egyptian treasures. It is also a cutting-edge display of applied technology. The highly choreographed experience features state-of-the-art lighting, sound and multimedia equipment—and includes a virtual reality tour of two of Egypt’s most impressive monuments (tickets to this cost extra).

With all there is to see and experience, you may feel overwhelmed by it all. To help you better appreciate “Ramses the Great and The Gold of the Pharaohs” here are eight essential takeaways—from easily recognizing a Pharaoh and quickly understanding Egyptian seating arrangements to avoiding the nausea some experience while strapped into a VR headset. Read on to prepare yourself to walk through the show like an Egyptian.

The King is King

With few exceptions, artistic depictions of the pharaohs remained the same for 3,000 years. But while the people of ancient Egypt were familiar with the uniform aesthetic, modern museum goers would do well to keep a few things in mind.

For starters, ancient Egyptian artists often put the king’s head on the body of a lion to form a sphinx. Also, the patriarchy was just as real then as it is today: All pharaohs, no matter their actual sex or gender, were depicted as male.

Finally, keep an eye out for some of these key pieces of royal regalia:

• Triangular royal kilt, with an ornamental bull’s tail.
• Emblematic crown with a sacred cobra, uraeus, at the forehead. The nemes, the most common headdress, has black and gold stripes framing the face and hanging to the shoulders.
• False rectangular beard.
• Hand held scepters, crook and flails or an ankh (symbol for life).

Size Matters

Size indicates relative importance. Pharaohs are often rendered larger than life to symbolize their authority and superhuman powers. In wall reliefs and paintings, workers and entertainers, flora and fauna, and architectural details are subsidiary and usually shown in smaller scale than the figures of the gods, kings, high officials or landowners.

Walk Like an Egyptian

Why did the ancient Egyptian paintings depict people in such stilted and stiff poses? The key is to think of these paintings as a composite established hieroglyphic forms, which were never intended to be naturalistic representations. The views of the body come from different perspectives: the eye and shoulders from the front; torso and hips from three-quarter view; head, feet, legs and arms in profile.

Take a Seat

Seated figures are almost certainly of a higher social status than anyone shown standing or working. Gods, goddesses, kings and scribes are often depicted as sitting. Scribes were part of an elite group of individuals who knew over 700 hieroglyphs. The elevation of these select writers attests to the importance of writing and literacy in Egypt. A scribe is usually seated with a papyrus scroll on his lap.

Stoned Poses

Egyptian sculptors seldomly completely freed the figure from the stone block. With few exceptions they did not carve out the space around the legs or between a figure’s body and arms due to the stone’s brittleness. Artists left that negative space filled in so the sculpture stayed intact.This technique provided not only with a desired longevity but also resulted in a very centered, calm, poised and motionless pose.

Colorful Patterns

Jewelry, sculpture, wall paintings and coffins are enriched with patterns and bright colors. Egyptians adored patterns—not only because they are pleasing to the eye, but because they could go on and on without end and thus served as a potent symbol for eternal life. Colors also had both aesthetic appeal and symbolic meaning for ancient Egyptians:

• Yellow & Gold = Sun and Ra, the Sun God
• Red & Orange = Desert, power, blood and vitality
• Blue & Green = Water, the Nile River and vegetation
• White = Lotus flower and purity
• Black = Death and resurrection

As Good As Gold

Mined along the Nile River and the Eastern Desert of Egypt, gold was prized for its color and sheen. Since it does not rust, gold served as a metaphor for eternal life. The Egyptians’ love of gold has never been a secret, and royal Egyptian burial sites have been a target for grave robbers for millennia. As such, exhibits like “Ramses the Great” are particularly noteworthy; by the time modern museums started seeking out ancient Egyptian relics, much of the gold beneath the sand was long gone.

In recent years, Western museums have been forced to reckon with the role they have played in encouraging, enabling and profiting from ancient plunder. In an effort to right historical wrongs, the UNESCO 1970 Convention, a permanent intergovernmental committee, oversees the return and restitution of cultural property and takes measures to prohibit the import, export or transfer ownership of objects from the country of origin.

Don’t Skip The VR Tour

Tucked away in a side room on the ground floor of the de Young, the “Ramses & Nefertari: Journey to Osiris” virtual reality tour is available to visitors for an additional $18. Donning a VR headset and headphones, viewers are invited to sit in an articulating chair that twists, turns, rumbles and even occasionally releases the scent of frankincense. The experience is not recommended for small children and a disclaimer on the de Young’s website warns that it may induce anxiety and vertigo in some participants. However, the virtual tour does an impressive job of conveying the scale and grandeur of these ancient Egyptian sites without the price or stress of intercontinental travel. It is well worth the extra charge. Pro tip: closing your eyes while swooping through narrow hallways can help viewers avoid feeling nauseous.

Ramses the Great and The Gold of the Pharaohs

de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr.
Aug. 20 Through Feb. 12, 2023 | $23+ ($16-$18 additional for VR experience)

Lace your boots, pull on your khaki shorts and don your safari hat, the opening of Jurassic World: The Exhibition is only days away. Next week, you can step through the screen into the universe of the epic dinosaur blockbuster at Excel London. Follow in the footsteps of Alan Grant and co. as you explore an ancient wilderness filled with familiar favourites such as raptors, brachiosaurus and, of course, the carnivorous queen of them all, the Tyrannosaurus-Rex. Not only that, but you’ll also get to peek behind the plexiglass and see where the scientists worked their dinosaur-making magic at the Creation Lab. This is no ordinary exhibition, it’s practically a portal into Jurassic World.

When a leather jacket-clad Ian Malcolm uttered the words “life finds a way” I wonder if that included giant, hyper-realistic animatronic dinosaur life that roams around one of London’s sprawling exhibition centres? Whatever the case, it seems the prehistoric creatures have found their way to the Big Smoke, with our very own Isla Nublar opening in the heart of the city. Fans of the iconic film franchise will be in their element, humming the theme tune as they enter through the giant gates and push through prehistoric plant life to find a fascinating menagerie of dinosaurs.

You’ll be pleased to know there’ll be no risk of sudden swooping pterodactyl attacks or calculated assaults from ravenous raptors, so you can leave your flares and tranquiliser guns at home. It’s basically all the fun and wonder of Jurassic World with none of the peril. Probably just as John Hammond envisioned it in the first place. You’ll encounter everything from the neck-ache-inducing Brachiosaurus, munching away high above, and the hard-headed (in more ways than one) Stygimoloch, Stiggy, to the malicious newbie the Indominous Rex, watching you with steely eyes. It’s a true immersion into the franchise, peppered with familiar scenes and much-loved dinosaurs for you to see up-close like never before.

Whatever your age you’ll no doubt be melting once you lay eyes on the adorable baby dinos. Their innocent faces and colourful markings make them the perfect selfie companion. Snap a memento with little Bumpy, the Ankylosaurus from Camp Cretaceous, or, to really juice up your Instagram, you may even dare to capture the toothy grin of the T-Rex. Of course, all this wouldn’t be possible without the work that goes on in the white walls of Hammonds Creation Lab. Inside, you can expect to discover the secrets of dinosaur creation and gaze down at tiny parasaurolophus babies. Don’t miss out on this incredible chance to experience the cinematic magic of dinosaurs, grab your tickets now.

Renee Dreyfus is the curator of ancient art. She says the incredible collection is a reflection of Egypt’s golden age — when pharaohs cashed in on their power — and almost nobody held onto it longer than Ramses the Great.

“So what you see here is a story about a king of Egypt who really had much more time to create his own legend,” Dreyfus said.

She says some of the pieces are recently discovered, and many have never left Egypt before: golden jewelry, along with coffins and funeral masks crafted to match their owner’s status.

Teams from the U.S. and Egypt have worked to carefully transport the priceless artifacts.

“So, we try to come to your country to show you what we have in my country,” said Heba Mohammed, exhibition courier for the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

Dreyfus is hoping that Ramses can also recreate the magic of another famous Egyptian king, who captivated the U.S. when she was a young curator: King Tut.

“When the boy king came, I was the girl curator. Then 30 years-to-month later, I was the curator of the second King Tut exhibition,” she said.

Dreyfus says Ramses and Tut not only ruled in different eras, but they also left distinctly different legacies. Unlike the boy king, Ramses was known for building both extensive monuments and families.

“He fathered about a hundred sons and daughters, so he was pretty good at that,” she said while laughing.

An ancient and colorful legacy is about to be reborn here in the Bay Area from Aug. 20 through mid-February.

Learn more about the exhibit here.

The dinosaurs are coming to London!

A 20,000-square-foot immersive Jurassic World exhibition is coming to London in August 2022.

The exhibition, based on one of the biggest franchises in the world, will be landing at Excel London on August 25, 2022. This real-life experience will feature life-sized roaming dinosaurs, the actual Jurassic Park gates for guests to enter through, and never-before-seen baby dinosaurs.

Visitors will be able to interact and explore the environment and be greeted by infamous dinosaurs like the Velociraptor, Brachiosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus Rex as they make their way through the experience.

Talking about bringing the exhibition to London, Cityneon’s Executive Chairman & Group CEO, Ron Tan, said: “I am equally excited that we are launching Jurassic World: The Exhibition in the UK for the first time so soon after the theatrical release of Jurassic World: Dominion. Fans in London, stay tuned for a once-in-a-lifetime experience and see your favourite dinosaurs come to life right in front of your eyes!”

Speaking about bringing the exhibition to life, Universal Parks & Resorts’ President of Global Business Development, Michael Silver, said that the most exciting thing about this exhibition is to give fans a chance to experience the world of Jurassic Park for themselves.

“What excites us about Jurassic World: The Exhibition is the opportunity to give fans a real-world, immersive experience based on the amazing adventures of the franchise and delivered to a location near them,” he said, “Visitors will come face-to-face with life-sized dinosaurs and walk through richly themed environments, all inspired by the beloved global franchise.”

In addition to the amenities above, fans also get an exclusive opportunity when playing Jurassic World Alive – the popular location-based AR mobile game. Players who visit the exhibition in London and open the game on their devices can locate an exclusive Jurassic World: The Exhibition incubator, which are capsules that contain valuable resources, as an in-game reward. In addition, players with AR-enabled devices can snap a picture or take a video of a dinosaur using the game’s AR feature.

Tickets go on sale on June 23 at 12pm. You can buy them here.

Jurassic World 3 is now playing in US and UK cinemas.

It’s immersive, it has dinosaurs and there are 20,000 square feet of it coming to ExCel London

Just when you were starting to feel a bit fossilised this summer (it’s this dry heat), the sound of gigantic T-Rex-sized feet thundering in the distance, slowly heading over to ExCel London, has definitely livened things up. That’s right, August 25 sees the launch of ‘Jurassic World: The Exhibition’, a new immersive experience.

As you might imagine, any space that’s going to house hordes of life-size velociraptors, brachiosauruses and their scaly mates roaming around as though they own the place – and let’s be honest who’s going to argue with them – needs to be BIG, and it is: there’s 20,000 square feet of dinosaur-dodging site to navigate and plenty to do if dino parks are your vibe.

The exhibition coincides with the cinema release of the sixth (and last in the Jeff Goldblum-serving storyline) film in the blockbuster franchise: Jurassic World: Dominion but there’s plenty from earlier films to get up close and personal with, too. For starters, visitors will walk through the famous ‘Jurassic World’ gates… look how well that worked out eh? Alongside that, you’ll be able to have an up-close look at a velociraptor, crick your neck standing under a towering brachiosaurus and encounter the famous tyrannosaurus rex just to ramp up the fear factor. Whether the toilets are dino-proof was unconfirmed at time of going to press.

As light relief from the fearsome fire lizards, there’s also the chance to interact with new baby dinosaurs, including the rather cute ‘Bumpy’ from the animated series ‘Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous’. Fans also get an exclusive opportunity when playing Jurassic World Alive – the AR mobile game. Any players who visit the exhibition and open the game on their devices can locate an exclusive ‘Jurassic World: The Exhibition’ incubator as an in-game reward. Players with AR-enabled devices can then snap a picture or take a video of a dinosaur using the game’s AR feature and post it to their social media channels using the #JurassicWorldAlive hashtag.

So hop on the Elizabeth line down to Custom House. Just don’t blame us when the baby dinos eat some of your party. Don’t you people watch films?

‘Jurassic World: The Exhibition’, ExCeL London, One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, E16 1XL. From Aug 25, tickets from £13. For details and booking head here.

The 20,00sq ft site is being billed as “the closest you’ll ever come to living dinosaurs”

A brand new exhibition themed for the Jurassic Park film franchise is set to open at the ExCel centre in east London later this summer. It is being billed as “the closest you’ll ever come to living dinosaurs.”

Jurassic World: The Exhibition — named for the latest movie, which has just been released — will welcome visitors from August 25. The 20,00sq ft space is designed to mimic the fictional park, complete with its famous gates. Inside will be enormous, life-size models of dinosaurs, including a velociraptor, brachiosaurus, and tyrannosaurus rex, while much of the rest of the space will bring to life prehistoric environments. Elsewhere will be baby dinosaurs, and organisers say the entire thing is family-friendly.

Those using the Jurassic World Alive gaming app will also be able to unlock new features when playing it on site.

Michael Silver of Universal parks and resorts, who with Cityneon are behind the project, said: “What excites us about Jurassic World: The Exhibition is the opportunity to give fans a real-world, immersive experience based on the amazing adventures of the franchise and delivered to a location near them. Visitors will come face-to-face with life-sized dinosaurs and walk through richly themed environments, all inspired by the beloved global franchise .”

Chairman and CEO of Cityneon, Ron Tan added: “I am equally excited that we are launching Jurassic World: The Exhibition in the UK for the first time so soon after the theatrical release of Jurassic World: Dominion. Fans in London, stay tuned for a once in a lifetime experience and see your favourite dinosaurs come to life right in front of your eyes!”

The exhibition arrives in London after something of a world tour. It first launched in Melbourne and has since travelled across America — including stops in Dallas, Denver, Chicago, and Philadelphia — and through Seoul, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

The Jurassic Park franchise, based on a science fiction novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, first attracted widespread public attention when Steven Spielberg directed a 1993 film which shared its title with Crichton’s book. It starred Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sir Richard Attenborough. There have since been five sequels, including this year’s release.

Tickets start at £13, though under-twos go free with an accompanying adult. For more information, visit jurassicworldexhibition.com

Sign up for the waitlist now to be one of the first to get tickets before they open to the public on Thursday, June 23, at 12pm!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a real Jurassic World experience without some whopping wooden gates to wander through. You’ll no doubt be humming the iconic tune in your head as they open dramatically to reveal the expansive space of ExCel London transformed into a prehistoric wilderness; floors appear dappled with sunlight that has shone through a tangle of branches, while ferns and leafy branches will sprout from every corner, giving the illusion that you have truly stepped into the millennia-old forests of the Jurassic period. Look out for glinting teeth or beady yellow eyes gleaming among the shrubbery – you might be doing the viewing but chances are there’s a scaly-something watching you right back.

Sign up to the waitlist now to be first in line to explore this wondrous world of dinosaurs.

On your exploratory stroll through Jurassic World: The Exhibition you’ll discover all manner of roarsome dinosaur delights. Gaze up at the treetop-munching Brachiosaurus – one of the largest creatures to ever roam the earth – get close (as you dare) to the clever girls of the raptor paddock and pay a visit to the Tyrannosaurus Rex where you’ll hear that rumbling roar and witness that bone-crushing grin with your own two eyes. Each incredible roaring and moving dinosaur has been re-created with fascinating detail, so you can take in every scale, pointed talon and jagged horn up close with none of the realism lost.

It’s not all chomping jaws and deadly glares, there’s some adorable wide-eyed residents that are sure to delight visitors of all ages. You can snap a selfie with a baby raptor, pterodactyl or even the beloved Bumpy (an Ankylosaurus) from Camp Cretaceous. Plus, you may even get to peek at the tiny Parasaurolophus babies in their incubator.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition is a must for fans of the epic film franchise. Not only can you put yourself in the mud-splattered boots of Owen Grady (or if you fancy a challenge, the slightly more precarious white heels of Claire Deering) as you immerse yourself in interactive scenes inspired by the hit films, but you can also see where it all started: Hammond Creation Lab. Inside, you’ll find out how geneticists discovered the secret to bringing these prehistoric creatures back to life – hint: it all comes down to a certain mosquito that was entombed in amber all those years ago. Be sure to sign up to the waitlist now to be first in line to discover this world of dinosaurs right on your doorstep.

Meet the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar. Tickets to Jurassic World: The Exhibition go on sale on Thursday, June 23, at 12pm, but you can get exclusive access to presale tickets by signing up to the waitlist here.

San Francisco’s de Young Museum announced this week that it will host the touring “Ramses the Great and the Gold of Pharaohs” exhibition from Aug. 20 to Feb. 12, transporting museum goers back 3,200 years. This is the first new exhibition dedicated to Egyptian king Ramses II in 30 years, and the first to be presented in San Francisco.

More than 180 newly discovered gold and silver treasures including royal statues, sarcophagi, masks, jewelry and ornate golden tomb objects will be on display — most of which have never left Egypt before.

Ramses the Great was the third king of the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt and reigned from 1279 to 1190 BCE, the second longest reign in Egyptian history. He erected more monuments and statues than any other pharaoh and is considered the “height” of Egypt’s power and glory.

The troves of work and art come from royal tombs of the 12th dynasty, about 600 to 700 years before Ramses II and of the 21st and 22nd dynasties, about 200 to 300 years after him.

Thomas P. Campbell, director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco said these “rarely seen” treasures are on an international tour and will soon return to Egyptian museums and they will likely not travel again for decades. The exhibition is currently on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science until June 19.

“Ramses II is considered to be the greatest king ever to rule Egypt,” says Egypt’s secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr Mostafa Waziri. “This exhibition will illuminate the pivotal moments that earned the great pharaoh his place in history, while bringing visitors face-to-face with absolutely stunning Egyptian artifacts.”

Although treasures from Ramses the Great’s tomb in the Valley of Kings will not be present, as it was plundered in ancient times, the exhibition makes use of artifacts from other royal tombs like archaeological sites Dahshur and Tanis.

On view for the first time, the grand installation also includes newly discovered animal mummies like small cats, lion cubs and a mongoose from the Saqqara necropolis.

Drone photography, immersive video, multimedia production and photomurals re-create the life and accomplishments of Ramses the Great, including his monumental building projects and triumph at the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittite Empire.

The exhibition offers a virtual reality component called “Ramses and Nefertari: Journey to Osiris,” which will be installed in the museum’s Piazzoni Murals Room and available for an extra charge.

“Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs” is one of the most remarkable exhibitions to ever tour the globe, and it is a true honor for it to visit the great city of San Francisco and the de Young museum. We encourage patrons from across the region, and the country, to make it a point to come and see this splendid display,” Waziri said.

The new de Young exhibition follows the popular “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” display back in 2009, which featured over 130 objects from the tomb of King Tut. Tut reigned in the 18th Egyptian dynasty and Ramses the Great followed directly after.

Tickets go on sale July 6, but museum members can purchase as early as June 22. For more information, visit https://deyoung.famsf.org/.

The show, which opens Aug. 20 and runs through Feb. 12, is the first new exhibition dedicated to Egyptian ruler Ramses II in 30 years and is the first to be presented in San Francisco. Tickets go on sale for museum members June 22, with tickets made available to the general public starting July 6.

“ ‘Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs’ reveals the power and splendor of ancient Egypt, and expands on the history conveyed within our own ancient art collections,” FAMSF Director and CEO Thomas P. Campbell said in a statement. “Once the exhibition completes its international tour, these objects will return to Egyptian museums and will likely not travel again for decades.”

Although Ramses’ tomb in the Valley of the Kings was plundered during ancient times, the exhibition is able to make use of artifacts from other royal tombs including ones in Dahshur and Tanis to suggest the kind of pieces that would have been included in Ramses’ burial. The exhibition is slated to showcase more than 180 objects including jewelry, royal statuary, artworks, precious gold and silver items, sarcophagi and masks, many of which are newly discovered and have never left Egypt.

Recently discovered animal mummies from the Saqqara necropolis will also be on view for the first time, among them small cats, lion cubs and a mongoose.

Renée Dreyfus, the newly endowed George and Judy Marcus Distinguished Curator, and curator in charge of ancient art at FAMSF, called the pieces part of an unrivaled trove and “jumped at the chance to have the museum acquire the exhibition.”

“Ramses the Great is regarded as as the most celebrated and most powerful pharaoh of the new kingdom,” said Dreyfus, who has worked for the museums for 45 years. “That was Egypt’s golden age, and that meant that he was overseeing a very wealthy and powerful empire. The exquisite sculpture and the great architecture, the monumental temples that he built to himself and to the gods, were meant for the ages.”

“Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs” comes to San Francisco in partnership with the Supreme Council of Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt and is produced by World Heritage Exhibitions, a subsidiary of Cityneon Holdings.

Ramses II, the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, was considered a distinguished military leader with his many campaigns across the African continent. He’s renowned for his large-scale building projects, which included the Ramesseum temple complex at Qurna, the Abu Simbel temple complex near the Egypt-Sudan border, and a series of monuments to himself built across Sudan’s Nubian region. He also has the distinction of being one of the longest-ruling kings of Egypt, with a 67-year reign.

In popular culture, he is thought to be the ruler depicted in the Old Testament story of Moses and the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt.

In addition to the artifacts, Dreyfus notes the exhibition’s use of technology. Drone photography, immersive video and photo murals will be utilized to show Ramses’ epic building projects and illustrate the story of his triumph at the chariot Battle of Kadesh. A virtual reality component, “Ramses and Nefertari: Journey to Osiris,” will also be installed in the museum’s Piazzoni Murals Room (viewable for an additional charge) and includes cinematic motion chairs that take visitors through the Abu Simbel and Nefertari’s Tomb monuments.

“How are you going to show the scale of the monuments and the bigger-than-life image that Ramses presented?” Dreyfus asked. “You do that with photo blowups, videos and multimedia presentations.”

“Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs” 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Opens Aug. 20. On view through Feb. 12. $20-$40. Additional charge for “Ramses and Nefertari: Journey to Osiris” to be announced. De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, S.F. 415-750-3600. deyoung.famsf.org

Among the opportunities it could opt for is the acquisition of additional intellectual properties (IPs) in both the global blockbuster and original artefact categories, Tan said. Bolt-on targets could also include companies that can help strengthen its ability to create an immersive experience.

The acquisitions of additional IPs, as well as more events backed by a growing number of exhibition sets, will require an estimated capital expenditure of USD 100m in 2023. This means the company will need to explore debt and equity funding options, in both the private and public markets, to shore up its balance sheet to support its growth plans, Tan said.

According to two sources familiar with the matter, Cityneon is exploring a re-listing on Singapore Exchange (SGX).It has discussed with investment banks, including Morgan Stanley, about the potential re-listing, which may take place in 2H23, the first source said.

Morgan Stanley did not respond to requests for comment.

An IPO is part of the company’s growth journey, but not a destination, Tan said. What Cityneon needs to do is to stay IPO-ready so that it can seize the window of opportunity, the executive said. Advisors have approached Cityneon with proposals, and Hong Kong, Singapore and the US are on Cityneon’s radar, but the company has no fixed timeline yet for a re-listing exercise, he added.

There are also alternative sources of funding in the private market despite the volatility in public markets, the CEO noted.

Cityneon launched a private placement round in 4Q20 that may pave the way for a re-listing in Hong Kong as Johnson Ko – its major shareholder – is an experienced financier there, Mergermarket
reported in December2020.

It subsequently announced the closing of the SGD 235m (USD 169m) funding round in April 2021 from existing and new investors, including EDBI, Pavilion Capital, Doha Venture Capital and Seatown Holdings. EDBI is the investment arm of Singapore’s Economic Development Board, while Pavilion Capital and Seatown Holdings are backed by Singapore’s state investor Temasek.

That funding round valued Cityneon at over SGD 1bn, Tan said. It has since acquired additional studio IPs, diversified into original artefact IP vertical and expanded into new locations such as Qatar and China’s Wuxi.

Cityneon was taken private in 1Q19 through an SGD 318m offer by a consortium led by Ko and Tan. Later in the same year, it received investments from China-based private equity firm CITIC Capital, EDBI and Pavilion Capital.

IP Management

Cityneon used to focus on interior architecture and conventional exhibition operations, but it has transformed itself as an IP management business via a number of acquisitions.

Through its subsidiary, Victory Hill Exhibitions, which the company acquired in 2015, Cityneon has secured multi-year licensing rights for immersive walk-through events based on films such as Marvel’s Avengers, Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games, Hasbro’s Transformers, and Warner Bros’ DC Comics and Wizarding World.

During the pandemic, it made its foray into historical artefacts IP exhibitions via its subsidiary, World Heritage Exhibitions, which it acquired in 2021. One example of its diversification into this category is the debut of the Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru in Florida in October 2021 to include around 200 rare artefacts, with support from the Peruvian government, Tan said.

The company also announced the acquisition of Tennessee-based animatronic and interactive character creator Animax Designs in January 2020. Animax makes the dinosaurs in Cityneon’s Jurassic World: The Exhibition touring sets, Tan said.

The company currently has a total of 12 movie studio and historical artefact IP partnerships and it will likely announce two additional artefact IPs later this year, he added.

While the company can only take the original set of historical artefacts on a global tour, it can create multiple exhibition sets of each studio IP for exhibitions across different locations concurrently, the executive said. This year, the company is expected to have a total of 17 such exhibition sets, and by 2023, the number is expected to increase to 25 or more, with each set being able to support two to three events in a year, he said.

Diverse Geographic Presence

Since its privatization, Cityneon has been operating mostly in a pandemic environment, but its global reach has helped it withstand the COVID-19 disruptions, Tan said.

In 2020, the Chinese market bounced back quickly from the health crisis and Cityneon managed to remotely reopen its Jurassic World: The Exhibition in Chengdu in July 2020, and thereafter in other parts of China. This helped cushion the impact from disruptions elsewhere, Tan said.

This year as China battles a new wave of COVID-19 infections, the company has sent most of the exhibition sets in China to Tokyo, London and other locations, while the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. exhibition, which opened in southern China’s Sanya late last year, is still ongoing.

Cityneon is able to weather the storm also because of its lower cost base, Tan said. While the company needs to invest in exhibition sets, the unit cost has declined thanks to the economies of scale. Besides, it does not take the execution risks in most of the events and instead work with local partners such as media and real estate companies. These partners take care of the venue, logistics, marketing and other matters while paying an upfront fee to and sharing the ticket sales with Cityneon, Tan explained.

In April this year, the company recorded its best-performing month, driven by the pent-up demand and the easing of COVID restrictions in various markets. In Paris, where the Machu Picchu exhibition was launched a month ago, it has already recorded close to 100,000 visitors, he added.

Today, the company generates 70% of its revenue from ticket sales and the rest from ancillary areas including virtual reality (VR) experience, merchandises, photographs and sponsorships, Tan said.

As an example of VR experience, visitors to the Machu Picchu exhibition can pay extra fees for a virtual walk-through of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is enabled by the VR motion chairs that are equipped with multi-sensory stimulation features, and the visual data of the site was gathered by the company using drones, the executive said.

*This article was first published by Mergermarket.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues with
MARVEL AVENGERS STATION: EVOLUTION

Cityneon Holdings, a global experience entertainment company, has announced an update to one of its most popular travelling IP experiences.

The firm has revealed that MARVEL AVENGERS STATION: EVOLUTION will premiere at Grandscape in The Colony, at Dallas this summer.

The original experience, MARVEL AVENGERS S.T.A.T.I.O.N., debuted in New York in July 2014 and has since been transported to 25 cities including Las Vegas, London and Paris, featuring in 13 countries around the world. It will soon be showcased to the Japanese audience in Tokyo.

A wider universe

Millions of fans have already experienced the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with Cityneon’s immersive exhibition, which, for the first time, will be updated to reflect highlights from all four phases of the MCU. New series and films including Marvel Studios’ WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Black Widow and more will be explored in the new MARVEL AVENGERS STATION: EVOLUTION experience.

Group CEO and chairman Ron Tan says: “This immersive Super Hero experience is going to be bigger and better. After impressing global audiences with our award-winning experience, MARVEL AVENGERS S.T.A.T.I.O.N., we are confident that we will delight even more visitors with this brand-new, upgraded Super Hero experience, MARVEL AVENGERS STATION: EVOLUTION, coming to our friends in Dallas this summer.”

Paquin Entertainment Group producer Justin Paquin adds: “We are thrilled to launch the World Premiere in Dallas where families will be amazed and entertained as they are immersed in an experience that is unlike anything they have done before.”

An original experience

The refreshed exhibition will consist of seven sections for guests to experience through an MCU-inspired high-energy facility.

Visitors will be able to examine and interact with popular characters, weapons, vehicles and technologies from the Avengers series. Other experiences developed by Cityneon include real-world science exhibits, and experience interactive challenges and simulations. In addition, guests will be able to get up-close with original costumes and props, located in the fictional environments where the epic stories take place.

More information on MARVEL AVENGERS STATION: EVOLUTION, which debuts in Texas, can be found on the official website.

Earlier this month Cityneon announced Avatar: The Experience, set to open at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay to coincide with the upcoming film sequel.

MARVEL AVENGERS S.T.A.T.I.O.N., which made its debut in New York in July 2014, and has showcased the Avengers worldwide in 25 cities (13 countries) including Paris, London, Las Vegas and soon Tokyo, has attracted millions of fans by allowing them to experience the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) through an immersive exhibition. Now, this experience has been updated to reflect key moments from all four phases of the MCU, including Marvel Studios’ WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Black Widow and more.

“This immersive superhero experience is going to be bigger and better,” says Ron Tan, Executive Chairman and Group CEO of Cityneon Holdings. “After impressing global audiences with our award-winning experience, MARVEL AVENGERS S.T.A.T.I.O.N., we are confident that we will delight even more visitors with this brand-new, upgraded superhero experience, MARVEL AVENGERS STATION: EVOLUTION, coming to our friends in Dallas this summer.”

Justin Paquin, Producer, Paquin Entertainment Group, also shared, “We are thrilled to launch the World Premiere in Dallas where families will be amazed and entertained as they are immersed in an experience that is unlike anything they have done before.”

The exhibition consists of seven segments where guests will experience the MCU in a journey through this high-energy facility. Here, they can explore characters, discover the weapons, vehicles and technologies of the Avengers, learn real-world science, and experience interactive challenges and simulations. In addition, guests will get an up-close look at original costumes, props and film footage straight from the big screen while surrounded by the landscapes and worlds where these stories take place.

Marvel Studios’ Iron Man was released in 2008 and lead the way for the next 22 films that culminated in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

“This immersive superhero experience is going to be bigger and better,” says Ron Tan, Executive Chairman and Group CEO of Cityneon Holdings in a news release. “After impressing global audiences with our award-winning experience, Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N., we are confident that we will delight even more visitors with this brand-new, upgraded super hero experience, Marvel Avengers Station: Evolution, coming to our friends in Dallas this summer.”

Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. made its debut in New York in July 2014 and has showcased the Avengers worldwide in 13 countries and 25 cities including Paris, London, and Las Vegas. The exhibit has attracted millions of fans by allowing them to experience the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) through the exhibit, according to a news release. For the first time, the experience will reflect key moments from all four phases of the MCU, including WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Black Widow and more.

The exhibit will have seven segments that guests can journey though the “high-energy facility.” Guests can explore their favorite characters, discover weapons, vehicles and technologies of the Avengers, learn inspiring real-world science and interactive challenges and simulations. Fans will get the chance to see original costumes, props, and film footage while being surrounded by the landscapes and worlds where the stories took place.

“We are thrilled to launch the world premiere in Dallas where families will be amazed and entertained as they are immersed in an experience that is unlike anything they have done before,” Justin Paquin, Paquin Entertainment Group producer, said in the release.

Tickets aren’t on sale yet, but fans can register for pre-sale access at their website.

Cityneon Holdings, a global experience entertainment company, has announced a new film IP-based experience that will open to guests later this year in Singapore.

Debuting at Gardens by the Bay’s Cloud Forest, Avatar: The Experience is a new immersive walkthrough event based on the hit film. The unique AVATAR attraction will be the result of a collaboration between Cityneon Holdings, Disney Location-Based Experiences, and James Cameron and Jon Landau’s Lightstorm Entertainment.

Top-grossing film

Executive chairman and group CEO for Cityneon, Ron Tan, says: “It is an honour to present Avatar: The Experience with the support of the Singapore Tourism Board and Gardens by the Bay. We are excited to contribute to the inspiring creative culture of Singapore.

“The iconic Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay, one of Asia’s most popular horticultural attractions, becomes the perfect scenic location. We look forward to welcoming guests to this carefully-curated event.”

Kathy Franklin, Lightstorm Entertainment’s president of franchise development adds: “The opening of Avatar: The Experience in Singapore is a unique opportunity to continue expanding the global reach and impact of AVATAR, the highest-grossing film of all time. As the first of our four AVATAR sequels comes to theatres this December, this is the perfect time – and the perfect place – to explore and celebrate the wonders of Pandora in an all-new way.”

“A unique opportunity”

The new experience will be found at Cloud Forest, known for its iconic waterfalls, spiralling pathways and a soaring contemporary greenhouse.

Gardens by the Bay CEO Felix Loh says: “Over the years, Gardens by the Bay has emerged as a foremost icon for Singapore. Many visitors associate the aesthetic of Gardens by the Bay with the stunning environments from the film AVATAR. Even more remarkable is the shared appreciation for the natural world that surrounds us. This collaborative opportunity serves as a one-of-a-kind event and adds to the significance of our 10th-anniversary celebrations.”

Avatar: The Experience will invite visitors to connect with the alien world of Pandora. Guests will discover its bioluminescent environments with a selection of mystical creatures and flora, whilst discovering the culture of its indigenous people, the Na’vi.

Ashlynn Loo of the Singapore Tourist Board says the organisation is thrilled that Singapore will be the debut venue for Avatar: The Experience: “As we prepare to welcome more visitors, such innovative and immersive experiences are a timely addition to our calendar of vibrant leisure events and reinforce our destination attractiveness.

“The experience also demonstrates the industry’s confidence in Singapore’s strong fundamentals as a leisure destination and is testament to our exemplary track record in delivering high-quality experiences.”

Further details about the experience will be released soon. More information will be found in the coming months on the official Avatar: The Experience website.

Cityneon was recently awarded by the Advanced Imaging Society for its work on Machu Picchu and the Spirit of the Condor, which was given the “Best Use of VR” accolade.

Ron Tan, Cityneon’s Executive Chairman and Group CEO, says: “It’s an honour to present Avatar: The Experience with the support of the Singapore Tourism Board and Gardens by the Bay. We are excited to contribute to the inspiring creative culture of Singapore. The iconic Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay, one of Asia’s most popular horticultural attractions, becomes the perfect scenic location. We look forward to welcoming guests to this carefully curated event.”

“The opening of Avatar: The Experience in Singapore is a unique opportunity to continue expanding the global reach and impact of AVATAR, the highest-grossing film of all time,” says Lightstorm Entertainment’s President of Franchise Development, Kathy Franklin. “As the first of our four AVATAR sequels comes to theatres this December, this is the perfect time – and the perfect place – to explore and celebrate the wonders of Pandora in an all-new way.”

Set at Cloud Forest with its iconic waterfalls, spiralling walkways and a unique architectural glass greenhouse, Avatar: The Experience invites guests to connect with the alien world of Pandora, its bioluminescent environments, mystical creatures, flora, and the captivating culture of its indigenous people, the Na’vi.

Additional details will be announced soon. Sign up to be the first to know by visiting www.AvatarTheExperience.com

Cityneon has won a Lumiere Award for its Machu Picchu and the Spirit of the Condor virtual reality (VR) experience.

Winning in the category for ‘Best Use of VR’, the company was honoured at an awards ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, California, US, alongside Expo Dubai Xplorer, which won ‘Best Use of AR’ and Netflix’s Squid Game, which scooped the award for ‘Best Episodic – Live Action’.

Disney and Disney Plus were also honoured in the ceremony, winning awards for WandaVision, Encanto and The Beatles: Get Back.

Founded by the Advanced Imaging Society in 2010, the Lumiere Awards recognise outstanding achievement in immersive storytelling using advanced visual technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time rendering.

“This award not only recognises the wonderful potential of VR in capturing the world around us, but it’s also a testament to Cityneon’s expertise in innovative technologies that empowers the Group to bring immersive entertainment to a whole new level,” said Ron Tan, Cityneon’s executive chairman and Group CEO.

Described as the first-ever virtual showcase of Machu Picchu, the one-of-a-kind walk-through experience takes guests through more than 5,000 years of Peruvian history and features patented VR motion chairs equipped with multi-sensory effects including six-degrees of freedom (6-DOF) VR headsets, haptic feedback, scent dispensers and unlimited 360-degree rotation.

The experience forms part of Cityneon’s travelling Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru exhibition, which first opened at the Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida, US, in October 2021 and will soon reopen at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France.

The project was supported by the Peruvian Government and Ministry for Culture, who permitted Cityneon, who also created Jurassic World: The Exhibition, to fly drones through the Unesco World Heritage site to capture cinematic and visual assets for the experience. The Museo Larco, Inkaterra Asociación and World Heritage Exhibitions also lent their support to the project.

Cityneon Holdings, a global experience entertainment company, is celebrating winning a prestigious award for its VR work exploring the heritage of the iconic South American monument.

The Advanced Imaging Society, the creator of the Lumiere Awards, was founded by professionals from major Hollywood studios and tech companies in 2009. Its aim is to advance the creative art and technology sectors.

With this year’s theme of “Larger Than Life”, the Society honoured twenty-one projects which each displayed an “outstanding international achievement in the creation of immersive storytelling using advanced visual technologies”.

Bringing history to life

Cityneon’s VR experience Machu Picchu and the Spirit of the Condor was awarded the accolade of “Best Use of VR”. The adventure features what Cityneon describes as the first-ever virtual showcase of Machu Picchu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The fully-immersive media is enhanced with patented VR motion chairs, equipped with premium multi-sensory features including high-res six degrees of freedom (6-DOF) VR headsets and backseat haptic feedback. Further enhanced by scent dispensers and unlimited 360-degree rotation, this VR experience forms just one component of Cityneon’s original artefact IP experience, Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru.

Just last October, Cityneon held the world premiere of its first artefact IP experience, debuting Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru at the Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida. The exhibition will soon be travelling to Palais de Chaillot in Paris on 16 April 2022.

Group CEO and executive chairman, Ron Tan, says: “We are ecstatic to receive this prestigious award.

“This award not only recognises the wonderful potential of virtual reality in capturing the world around us, but it is also a testament to Cityneon’s expertise in innovative technologies that empowers the Group to bring immersive entertainment to a whole new level.”

Other accolade winners included the Korean Netflix series Squid Game, Disney’s animated musical hit Encanto, Disney+ series WandaVision, and Sony/Marvel’s box office success Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Upcoming premieres

Cityneon has established successful partnerships with global brands and license owners such as Hasbro, Universal and The Walt Disney Company, with further experiences set to debut in the coming years.

Making its debut in Tokyo, Japan, the new Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. experience will also be debuting this year at the Mori Arts Center Gallery in April, followed by the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art in June.

Cityneon has also recently announced two all-new global touring themed art experiences inspired by DC Comics and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, scheduled to launch in 2023 through a new partnership with Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment.

Cityneon Holdings recently entered into an agreement for a new research and development facility for its fully-owned subsidiary company Animax, with the Wuxi Jingkai Government.

• Discover the science of Jurassic World
• Meet the most adorable baby dinos
• Getup-close and personal with velociraptors
• Come face to face with life-size dinosaurs

JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION is an immersive 20,000-square-foot experience based on one of the biggest blockbusters in cinema history. Visitors will walk through the world-famous “Jurassic World” gates, encounter life-sized dinosaurs, and explore richly themed environments. Guests will have an up-close look at a Velociraptor, stand in awe under a towering Brachiosaurus, and encounter the most fearsome of them all, the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. Guests will be able to imagine what it would have been like to roam among these breathtaking creatures and even interact with new baby dinosaurs, including “Bumpy” from the popular animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. (Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous is produced by Universal, DreamWorks Animation and Amblin Entertainment, and is currently streaming on Netflix.)

We had a chance to check out JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION, and to say that I was impressed was a bit of an understatement. If your family enjoys the Jurassic Park movies, you will love JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION. If you are like my kids when they were little… OBSESSED with dinosaurs… JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION is a definite must-see. Honestly, even if dinosaurs don’t float your boat, you will enjoy JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION. It’s magical.

FIVE REASONS WE LOVED JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION

Everything is so realistic.
From the “sets” to the story line to the characters to the dinosaurs themselves, it was easy to feel as if you were actually inside of JURASSIC WORLD.

JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION is like a ride, a guided tour through different parts of the “park”.
Employees are in character, playing park rangers, scientists, dino wranglers, and even security… and quite honestly, it was easy to forget that it was all an act.

Selfie stations are located throughout JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION.
Use your QR code card to launch the camera, and JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION will grab a photo that will be uploaded onto your own mini photo site. You can download as many as you would like for free.

Whether you go to look or learn, you will have an amazing time.
There were quite a few “knowledge boards”, as I called them, that offered a ton of information about specific dinosaurs, features of the park, and even what a carnivore vs herbivore’s poop looks like. You have the option to go in depth, or just enjoy the feast for your eyes. Either way, you are going to have a blast.

JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION is just like the movies!
We prepared our 11 year old for the event by watching Jurassic Park as a family before we went. He loved seeing things from the movie brought to life, and I have to admit, I thought it was pretty cool myself.

There are multiple rooms where you can become Ironman, learn what turned Steve Rogers into the first Avenger- Captain America, see where Bruce Banner transformed into the Hulk and see if you can lift Thor’s hammer.

Do you have what it takes to become an Avenger? You can find out by completing your training at Yorkdale Mall until March 27th.

Additional opportunities include exclusive interviews with exhibition executives and show producers, as well as get your hands on B-Roll footage capturing some of the captivating experiences you’ll find inside.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition is an immersive 20,000-square foot experience based on one of the biggest blockbusters in cinema history. Guests will walk through the world famous Jurassic World gates, encounter life-sized dinosaurs, and explore richly themed environments.

Guests will have an up-close look at a Velociraptor, stand in awe under a towering Brachiosaurus, and encounter the most fearsome of them all, the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. Guests will be able to imagine what it would have been like to roam among these breathtaking creatures and even interact with new baby dinosaurs, including “Bumpy” from the popular animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous is produced by Universal, DreamWorks Animation and Amblin Entertainment, and is currently streaming on Netflix.

Based on one of the biggest blockbusters in history, the exhibition has arrived in the Mile High City.

DENVER — Life finds a way.

Colorado fans of the “Jurassic World” franchise will be able to experience the majesty of its dinosaurs for the first time in a new family-friendly show.

“Jurassic World: The Exhibition” opens in Denver on Friday, March 4, 2022, at the new Stockyards Event Center of the National Western Center.

An immersive 20,000-square-foot experience based on one of the biggest blockbusters in cinema history, “Jurassic World: The Exhibition” has become a global success with more than three million visitors since 2016.

Exhibition visitors walk through the world-famous Jurassic World gates, encounter life-sized dinosaurs and explore richly themed environments.

“Guests will have an up-close look at a velociraptor, stand in awe under a towering brachiosaurus, and encounter the most fearsome of them all, the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex,” said organizers.

Attendees can also interact with baby dinosaurs, including “Bumpy” from the Netflix animated series “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.”

Tickets for the Denver run of “Jurassic World: The Exhibition” are on sale now at JurassicWorldExhibition.com. The show will be in Denver through at least Labor Day.

“What excites us about Jurassic World: The Exhibition is the opportunity to give fans a real-world, immersive experience based on the amazing adventures of the films and delivered to a location near them,” said Michael Silver, Universal Parks & Resorts’ president of global business development. “Visitors will come face-to-face with life-sized dinosaurs and walk through richly themed environments, all inspired by the beloved global franchise.”

Jurassic World: The Exhibition

“Jurassic World: The Exhibition features cutting-edge, state-of-the-art technology that is powered by Animax Designs, our animatronics powerhouse located in the U.S.,” said Ron Tan, Cityneon’s executive chairman and group CEO. “This immersive exhibition is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that our friends in Denver can look forward to. With sold-out shows in Dallas since its opening there in June 2021, we are confident that our fans in Denver will be wowed by this exhilarating experience.”

“After record breaking sales in Dallas, we are incredibly excited to bring this show to Denver to share with our millions of fans,” said Stephen Shaw, founder and co-president of Round Room Live. “The ability to walk amongst these huge creatures will amaze and entertain fans with this breathtaking and truly immersive experience.”

Rarely seen, world-class museum artifacts and technological breakthroughs in virtual reality give visitors unparalleled access to one of the new 7 wonders of the world: Machu Picchu.

Artifacts on loan from Peruvian museums Museo Larco and Museo de Sitio Manuel Chávez Ballón won’t be in South Florida much longer. Many of these stunning 192 priceless artifacts are from royal tombs, including spectacular objects that belonged to noble Andean lords, and have never-been-seen before out of Peru.

In this enthralling immersive experience, guests are able to unravel the mysteries of Andean cosmology and admire the sophistication of Andean artists while sounds of roaring jaguars, screaming macaws, and torrential rainfall surround them.

Visitors have marveled at the feats of engineering that sheltered a truly spiritual civilization and the ornate riches they once cherished. Nestled in a cloud forest, the Incas created an empire of architectural prowess and astounding riches, protected by the towering peaks of the Andes, unseen from below.

Rivaled only by Ancient Egypt in longevity and by the Roman Empire in engineering, Andean societies dominated a substantial segment of South America for over 3,000 years.

A special VR expedition of Machu Picchu takes this exhibition to the next level. Breathtaking virtual reality vistas of the mythical landmark, without any humans present, are a passageway for museum guests. Cinematic chairs enhance this VR experience with additional surprise effects that will even have you tasting the fresh mountain air of the Andes!

On the expedition, guests meet the city’s ancient inhabitants and experience some of its most iconic locations from the Temple of the Sun to the heights of Huayna Picchu. Cinematic chairs enhance this VR experience with additional surprise effects that will even have you tasting the fresh mountain air of the Andes!

Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru is only at the Boca Raton Museum until Sunday, March 6! Get your tickets while you still can! Tickets start at $19.95 and can be purchased through the museum’s website.

Don’t miss your chance to head on this incredible adventure to Machu Picchu – Book your tickets now!

Spears clash and arrows whiz through the air, their ricochets pulsing through the speakers in a dark room. Lions leaping mid-attack flash before transfixed museumgoers. Then the images change—a carved relief, a set of captives, a bombardment of troops. Suddenly, all three screens, including the large map stretched across a tilting triangular platform, fill with figures and enemy chariots swarming in time with the booming narration.

This dynamic recreation of the 1275 B.C.E. Battle of Kadesh, Ramses II’s greatest military achievement, is a feat of technology, its layered display creating an immersive experience without the use of 3-D glasses. The CGI spectacle marks one of several areas where ancient meets ultramodern in “Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs,” an internationally touring exhibition that made its world premiere at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) in November. The show’s embrace of new tools—a trend that is becoming more and more prevalent in traveling exhibitions—is all in the name of giving visitors a richer Egyptology experience.

“Technology can make the exhibit and the objects a thrill, an adventure, a mystery … that takes you 3,000 years back to the time of the pharaohs,” says the exhibition’s curator, famed Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass.

Regarded by many as one of Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs, Ramses II, the third king of Egypt’s 19th Dynasty (roughly 1292 to 1190 B.C.E.), was also the country’s most recognizable ruler for centuries. He inspired English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and was portrayed iconically by actor Yul Brynner in the 1956 film The Ten Commandments. His incredibly long reign spanned 67 years, from 1279 to 1213 B.C.E., according to Hawass, who previously scanned the pharaoh’s mummy. (Other sources place Ramses’ reign at 66 years.)

“We know things that Ramses left as official records of his reign, but then we have this much, much larger body of material of people who worked for the administration,” says Emily Teeter, an Egyptologist and associate of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. “We know about the men who were building the royal tombs. We know about the priests, about the craftsmen. It was this enormous bureaucracy.”

The son of Seti I, Ramses earned the rank of army captain at age 10 and ascended to the throne as prince regent at age 14. Almost immediately, he found himself facing the Hittite army (of what is now modern Turkey) in the Battle of Kadesh. How much of Ramses’ battle heroics and ensuing victory was embellished by the pharaoh is still debated today, but scholars agree that his peace treaty with the Hittites in 1259 B.C.E. was the earliest known.

In addition to military conquests, Ramses’ accomplishments include one of the most expansive building campaigns in ancient Egyptian history, made possible partly by the economic wealth accumulated during his reign, says Teeter. “He has a lot of buildings all over Egypt: temples, tombs, statues, obelisks,” adds Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, which consulted in the creation of the Ramses touring exhibition.

Pillars of Ramses’ reign include the rock-cut Abu Simbel temples in Nubia, which honored the sun gods and memorialized his beloved queen Nefertari after her untimely death; Nefertari’s highly decorated tomb in the Valley of the Queens; and the pharaoh’s own funerary temple, Ramesseum. As Egyptologists have recently acknowledged, Ramses also usurped many existing monuments—another point of note in the exhibition. Some scholars, including Teeter, say these seizures were meant to add weight to the creations rather than delegitimize the previous builders’ work.

“He remains this byword word for pharaonic bigness even to this day,” says Tom Hardwick, consulting curator for HMNS’ Hall of Ancient Egypt.

While plenty of the 181 artifacts on loan from the Egyptian government have connections to the great pharaoh, others—including intricate jewelry dated to the Middle Kingdom (1980 to 1630 B.C.E.) and a recently discovered trove of mummified animals found at the Saqqara necropolis, near modern-day Cairo—highlight the breadth of Egyptian culture beyond Ramses’ shadow. Some of the pieces appeared in a global 1980s Ramses tour prompted by the royal mummy’s examination in Paris the previous decade, says Waziri, but other artifacts hadn’t left the country prior to this newest exhibition. (“Ramses” is set to travel to nine other cities before it wraps its world tour in 2025. Dates and locations are still to be announced.)

The show’s organizers, HMNS and World Heritage Exhibitions (WHE), weave a multifaceted narrative. An introductory video relays basic information about Ramses. Then a doorway opens, offering visitors a glimpse of the first artifact on display: a 7.5-foot-tall, red granite statue of the pharaoh’s head that stands at the back of a corridor adorned with panoramic night shots of the Nile River. The exhibition unfolds similarly across its 12 rooms, which detail different aspects of Ramses’ life, including his roles as a builder, religious leader and warrior. Objects are placed alongside interactive elements, including video timelines and scale models.

Treasures like Ramses’ gold ring and painted reliefs of his conquests speak directly to his rule. Artifacts dated to before or after the pharaoh’s reign—including the inner coffin lid of 21st-dynasty high priest Pinedjem I, which was later stripped of its gilding, possibly by grave robbers, possibly by official decree—provide further context on ancient Egyptian life. (Ramses’ tomb was similarly ransacked, with his bones found in a wooden coffin plundered of its gold adornments.)

The show mostly uses video sequences that provide additional context: for instance, highlighting and translating the hieroglyphics on an obelisk, offering 360-degree views of a digitized artifact next to the actual static object, and arranging statue fragments to present viewers with a sense of how the artwork might have once looked.

Of course, video isn’t always as simple as it appears. The Ramses exhibition’s Battle of Kadesh sequence, which took more than six months to create, utilizes everything from projection mapping and see-through LCD monitors to 3-D assets, according to WHE president Anthony Tann. Drone footage of Ramesseum and Abu Simbel use a kind of CGI rendering to reconstruct how the feats of architecture might have appeared in their original splendor. Bright coats of ruby, ocher, emerald and turquoise paint highlight the chiseled images bedecking the temples’ walls, providing a striking juxtaposition to the faded hieroglyphics of today.

“Watching an archaeological site transform into what it was in the past is very engaging, and it really sparks people’s imagination,” says Tann. “So, as they walk through the exhibit and they look at other artifacts, it engages their imagination to think, ‘Well, what did that look like?’

The museum also leveraged new technology in its recent renovation of its Hall of Ancient Egypt: A projected CT scan reveals surprises hidden beneath a mummy’s wrappings, while a video screen shows millennia of deterioration at Abu Simnel compressed into just three minutes. Before viewers’ eyes, one of the grand statues in the temple’s facade crumbles and collapses; paint fades until only sandstone remains.

“Educators and researchers know different people learn in different ways,” says HMNS president and CEO Joel Bartsch, who was involved in both the touring exhibition and the local remodel. “So, I’m unapologetically happy to show the animations, the videos … as long as the foundation of [the visitor] experience is grounded in the actual objects.”

Set just outside the main exhibition for an additional cost of $22, visitors can take a virtual reality tour of Abu Simbel and the Tomb of Nefertari, led by the spirit of the pharaoh’s beloved queen herself. Part educational tool and part thrill ride, with a dash of narrative flair and the aroma of incense, the immersive experience acts like “a theme park ride inside an exhibition,” says Tann.

His team created the tour by stitching together thousands of photos in a 3-D video game engine—a process known as photogrammetry. Of course, bringing a Hollywood-style experience into the museum setting brings its own set of blockbuster-style flaws, from a convoluted plot that tries to please everyone to a seemingly whitewashed Nefertari (a longstanding issue in popular depictions of ancient Egypt).

The exhibition’s best moments, like a room devoted to the grave of royal tomb builder Sennedjem, incorporate the subtlest technology. “In good hands, [the technology isn’t] distracting from the objects, which are part of the museum’s mission,” says Hardwick. “They’re adding to them. It’s [context that] I, as someone who’s spent far too long studying Egypt, take for granted.”

Hawass, who previously served as Egypt’s minister of state for antiquities, is currently leading what he describes as “the largest excavation to ever happen” inside Ramses’ tomb. The work is slow, as the great pharaoh’s tomb was built in an area with poor quality stone that has, in recent years, suffered from extreme flooding. But the team has already begun restoring decorative panels depicting scenes from the funerary Book of Gates, among other religious texts. And Hawass theorizes that a recently uncovered tunnel in the tomb may lead to the burials of several of Ramses’ sons.

These discoveries could be just the beginning. “What you can see above the ground represents maybe 40 percent of what the land of Egypt hides,” says Waziri. “We have a lot of discoveries in Egypt. It happens almost every month.”

“Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs” is on view at the Houston Museum of Natural Science through May 23, 2022. The show will then travel to as-yet-undisclosed venues around the world.

The museum recently welcomed the world premiere of the “Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs” exhibition set to run through May.

The exhibition is the largest collection of Ramses II original artifacts from Ancient Egypt to have the approval to be shown outside the country in 32 years and includes 181 rare items as it explores the reign of Ramses II, according to the museum. Also known as Ramses the Great, the pharaoh ruled for 66 years and amassed one of the largest and richest burial chambers in ancient Egyptian history.

Houston Museum of Natural Science anthropology curator Dirk Van Tuerenhout said the exhibit offers a detailed account of life before, during and after the reign of Ramses II.

“The focus of the exhibit is Ramses II. The exhibit provides ample context to the importance of this pharaoh,” he said. “Visitors will also see artifacts from preceding and subsequent dynasties, clarifying what happened leading up to Ramses II and what came after his death.”

Van Tuerenhout went on to say the exhibition was of great importance and remains historically relevant.

“Living some 3,300 years ago, he (Ramses II) presided over one of the largest territorial expansions of the kingdom,” Van Tuerenhout said. “He reigned for a very long time, and that translated into the building of numerous structures throughout Egypt, and the commissioning of vast collections of art. Part of that heritage is on display in Houston.”

Van Tuerenout said Ramses II fought against the neighboring empire of the Hittites and that the conflict concluded in a peace treaty — the earliest known peace treaty in human history.

Momtaz Louka, who moved from Egypt to the U.S. in 1983, said he was impressed with the accuracy and details of the exhibit.

“We learned about Ramses II in our history class in elementary school and still consider him one of the greatest rulers of our country,” Louka said. “I think it’s great to show the public a part of ancient Egyptian history that most people are not familiar with.”

The exhibition also features an immersive virtual reality experience depicted in a whirlwind tour of arguably Ramses’ most impressive monuments — the temples of Abu Simbel and Nefertari’s Tomb, which Louka said was one of his favorite parts of the exhibit.

“The virtual reality tour was a new experience for me, and I couldn’t believe how real everything looked. The Abu Simbel temple is the only one in Egypt I haven’t been to, so it was a really great experience,” said Louka.

“Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs” is open through May 23. Admission is $20 for members, $35 for adults and $27 for children and seniors 60 and older.

For more information, visit www.hmns.org.

Located in Nashville, Tennessee, with over 30 years of industry experience, Animax is the creative robotic entertainment company that has been supporting the Group’s Intellectual Properties (“IP”) experiences in cities around the world. Animax also serves some of the largest operators in the world in themed entertainment, live attractions and location-based entertainment. As storytelling engineers, Animax brings its expertise and experience to design and build characters and multiple forms of entertainment robotics.

“We are pleased to support the development of the Animax R&D facility in the Jingkai District and we look forward to witnessing the endless possibilities that this venture will bring to Cityneon and to the city of Wuxi,” said Yang Jianping, Secretary of CPC Working Committee and Director of Administrative Committee of Wuxi Jingkai District.

Ron Tan, Executive Chairman & Group CEO of Cityneon said, “We are honored to work with Wuxi Jingkai Government to bring Animax to China. This new facility in China allows Animax to further expand its capabilities to be a world-class animatronics company that specializes in entertainment robotics, and it will also play a pivotal role in Cityneon’s strategic expansion of entertainment experiences globally.”

“Today marks an exciting milestone in the continued growth and development of Animax, with our first step toward a rapid expansion in Asia. The development and construction of the new China facility will be swift, and we look forward to this exciting next step in the globalization of Animax’s markets and capabilities,” said Steve Andersen, P.E., Vice President of Operations of Animax.

With the expansion of the middle-class population, rise in disposable income levels, and strong demands for themed entertainment, China remains one of the fastest-growing attractions market in the world. The available talent in China for the development and advancement of technology to meet the Group’s vision of the future of experience entertainment with state-of-the-art animatronics and entertainment robotics is also a key driver for Animax’s expansion in Asia.

Phase 1 of Animax’s R&D facility development in Wuxi is set to be completed by the end of 2022. Spanning more than 10,000 square meters (nearly 108,000 square feet), this new facility will continue to support the Group in delivering large-scale interactive experiences around the world by producing entertainment robotics and delivering immersive experiences globally.

Animax Designs is a specialist in the creation of animatronics and interactive characters with over three decades of industry experience.

The firm is a specialist in creative robotic entertainment and supports the Group’s IP experiences in venues around the globe, including some of the largest live attraction operators in the world, as well as themed and location‐based entertainment.

By engineering the art of storytelling, Animax uses its expertise to design and construct characters alongside multiple forms of entertainment robotics to delight millions of people each year.

“An exciting milestone”

Secretary of CPC Working Committee and director of the Administrative Committee of Wuxi Jingkai District said “We are pleased to support the development of the Animax R&D facility in the Jingkai District and we look forward to witnessing the endless possibilities that this venture will bring to Cityneon and to the city of Wuxi.”

Cityneon Holdings executive chairman and group CEO Ron Tan added “We are honoured to work with Wuxi Jingkai Government to bring Animax to China.

“This new facility in China allows Animax to further expand its capabilities to be a world-class animatronics company that specialises in entertainment robotics, and it will also play a pivotal role in Cityneon’s strategic expansion of entertainment experiences globally.”

Animax vice president of operations Steve Andersen, P.E., comments “Today marks an exciting milestone in the continued growth and development of Animax, with our first step toward a rapid expansion in Asia.

“The development and construction of the new China facility will be swift and we look forward to this exciting next step in the globalization of Animax’s markets and capabilities.”

Last month, Cityneon signed a development deal with Qatar Free Zones, which will see another new facility established in the Middle Eastern country.

Two brand new experiences will be created in a new collaboration with Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment. Described as “unique global touring themed art experiences”, the IP-based attractions are scheduled to open in two years, in as yet undisclosed locations.

Visitors will be able to discover their favourite DC Comics Superheroes or magical characters from The Wizarding World franchise in a whole new light. The travelling exhibitions will deliver immersive themed art environments for fans of the hit series.

Cityneon says the new experiences will combine cutting-edge technology with the latest advancements in media, and sound to construct a “truly sensorial” guest experience.

Creating unique experiences

Both Cityneon and Warner Bros. see great potential in the upcoming projects, which will deliver the brands to audiences from 2023.

Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment SVP Peter van Roden comments on the partnership:

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Cityneon on these two new cutting-edge immersive themed art experiences.

“Each of the new experiences will help us further continue to reach our DC and Wizarding World fans with fresh, innovative and immersive experiences where guests can interact with the franchises like never before.”

Cityneon Executive Chairman & Group CEO Ron Tan adds:

“We are excited to announce our partnership with Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment to deliver two unique experiences based on two of their most successful and globally acclaimed franchises, the DC Universe and the Wizarding World. This strategic relationship is a testament to our determination to scale greater heights in the arena of IP experiences.

“With Cityneon’s strong track record of delivering large-scale and innovative experiences globally, I am confident that the DC and Wizarding World experiences will be truly unique and immersive experiences that fans of all ages will enjoy.”

Earlier this month Cityneon Holdings announced it has signed an agreement with Qatar Free Zones to create a new facility featuring an R&D innovation lab and production workshop.

The strategic agreement was signed in Doha to create a facility that will cater to the company’s entertainment technology and experience clients, seeing market growth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) zone.

The company, recently recognised as one of Singapore’s best-managed companies, will produce large‐scale experiences in Qatar as it has done globally, including its Jurassic World: The Movie Exhibition in Chengdu, China, and the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. exhibition in Las Vegas.

New facility

Cityneon’s new 15,000 square metre facility will be constructed in the Ras Bufontas Free Zone, featuring an international experience and entertainment technology centre, an R&D innovation lab developing animatronics and robotics, and a production workshop.

The agreement documentation signatures were overseen by Qatar’s minister of state and GFZA chairman of QFZA H.E. Ahmad Al‐Sayed, Secretary‐General of Qatar’s National Tourism Council and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive H.E. Akbar Al Baker, and Singapore’s Ambassador to Qatar H.E. Jai S Sohan.

Signees QFZA CEO Lim Meng Hui and Cityneon Middle East general manager Feroz Siddiqui are looking forward to the new partnership.

Meng Hui says “We are delighted to welcome Cityneon, a leading entertainment technology company that designs and manufactures equipment and robotics for the sector.

“Cityneon’s decision to open its first such facility in the Middle East at Qatar Free Zones is a testament to the strength of our offering and the exciting trajectory of the entertainment technology industry and the tourism sector in Qatar and across the region, in line with Qatar National Vision 2030. Qatar Free Zones provide an ideal environment for international and local companies with the skills and innovation to help build a better future.”

Siddiqui adds “With this new office we embark on our Middle Eastern journey in bringing cheer, joy, laughter and smiles to awe our audiences with our large, immersive and technologically advanced entertainment assets to the region.”

QFZA senior management was also in attendance, with Cityneon’s senior management team, including Ron Tan, Executive Chairman and Group CEO, joining virtually from Singapore.

Tan says, “We are pleased to be working closely with QFZA to fast‐track our expansion plans in the EMEA region, which is a strategic and important market for the company.

“We see immense potential for our IP business in this region and the strategic location of our new facility in Qatar will be pivotal in addressing the markets that we plan to serve, as well as for us to reach out to potential partners and collaborators for the Group.”

Earlier this autumn, Cityneon announced its latest interactive experience based on the popular Transformers IP in a collaboration with Victory Hill Exhibitions set to debut next year.

The exhibit features nearly 200 artifacts, which includes one of the most impressive collections of gold to ever tour the world.

The ancient people of Peru left a visual record for their world. A record that includes priceless artifacts, many used mostly in ceremonial rituals, that were preserved for thousands of years.

“Most of which found their final stage, in the burial of leaders, of priests, priestesses, kings, and queens,” said Museo Larco Director and exhibit co-curator Ulla Holmquist.

Visitors will be led through the immersive experience with the sights and sounds of ancient Peru.

“We have tried to make a script, that will allow the people to have an experience. To experience what we in the Andean region… the way people related to their territory, our ancestors, the way they lived and the way they created their world,” Holmquist told CBS12 News. “With this immersive experience, we are going into the Andean world, first presenting how the cosmovision developed.”

Visitors will walk through the displayed artifacts, which tell the story of how the ancient people modeled their world, how they related to the force of nature, animals, and the afterlife.

In a first of its kind, the exhibit features virtual reality that will place visitors in the heart of Machu Picchu – one of the 7 wonders of the world.

The exhibit runs through March 6.

An exhibition combining digital technology and precious relics

So who was the pharaoh that the exhibition is dedicated to? “Ramses II is considered to be the greatest king to ever rule Egypt,” Dr. Zahi Hawass, the former Egyptian minister of antiquities says.

Multimedia and digital technology features prominently in the exhibition, including drone footage showing some of Egypt’s most iconic locations. An HD projection screen shows panoramic views of the ancient sites, as well as an introduction into the life of Ramses and the discovery of his mummified remains in the 19th century.

The exhibition has 181 Egyptian artefacts and covers important points in Ramses’ reign. These include his military victories, such as a re-creation of Ramses’ triumph at the Battle of Kadesh, perhaps the largest chariot battle ever fought.

“Visitors will not only walk among priceless relics of the great pharaoh but also experience the sights and sounds of the time through a cutting-edge virtual reality experience,” said Ron Tan, CEO of Cityneon Holdings, one of the co-partners of the exhibition.

The story continues with the 1881 re-discovery of a mummy cache in a hidden tomb, where the body of Ramses was found amongst a number of long-lost royal mummies.

“It is vital that Egypt share our historic treasures in exhibitions such as this,” said Dr Mostafa Waziri, Egypt’s secretary-general of the supreme council of antiquities.

After a six-month run at Houston, the exhibition will transfer to San Francisco’s De Young Museum and then on to the Castle Hall in Massachusetts. From there, it will arrive in Paris and on then for London, before a final showing in Sydney for January 2025.

Life in times of Ramses the Great

Ramses II (c1303-1213 BCE) ruled during the 19^th dynasty of Egypt in the New Kingdom period. He was renowned for his building campaign of impressive cities, temples and monuments.

His military campaigns included in Syria, the Levant, Nubia and most notably for the Battle of Kadesh. The conflict is reportedly one of the earliest pitched battle in recorded history. It was the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving up to 6,000 chariots.

Ramses II lived a surprisingly long life for an ancient Egyptian, probably dying in his 90^th year. His mummy is well preserved, and we have an account from Gaston Maspero, who was the first to reveal the features of the great pharaoh.

He wrote: “on the temples there are a few sparse hairs, but at the poll the hair is quite thick, forming smooth, straight locks about five centimetres in length. White at the time of death, and possibly auburn during life, they have been dyed a light red by the spices (henna) used in embalming…the moustache and beard are thin.”

“The hairs are white, like those of the head and eyebrows…the skin is of earthy brown, splotched with black… the face of the mummy gives a fair idea of the face of the living king.”

During the first days of its opening, the exhibition witnessed a huge turnout of visitors from different age groups. Some 8000 tickets were booked and sold in the first hours of the exhibition’s opening day. It is expected that the number of visitors will amount to 700,000 by the end of the exhibition.

Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri explained that an Egyptian delegation representing the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities had received the visitors, who expressed their fascination with the greatness of the Egyptian civilization.

For her part, Assistant Minister for Tourism Promotion Lamia Kamel said that the Egyptian pavilion at the exhibition also witnessed a great turnout from the museum visitors, who used the QR code shown on the main panel in the pavilion to access the promotional site for Egypt on various social media platforms, in order to get acquainted with the brilliance of the Egyptian tourist destinations and Egypt’s countless tourism products.

Kamel confirmed that the visitors of the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences expressed their enthusiasm to visit Egypt, especially in winter.

Moreover, Kamel reviewed the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, to create a direct flight route between Sharm El-Sheikh and Luxor to link beach tourism with cultural tourism, within the framework of the ministries’ efforts to create an integrated tourism product.

It is worth noting that the “Ramses & The Gold of The Pharaohs” exhibition showcases 181 artifacts that highlight some of the distinctive characteristics of the ancient Egyptian civilization, especially from the Middle and Modern Kingdoms to the late era. The exhibits include a group of statues, ornaments, paintings, stone blocks decorated with inscriptions, and statues of deities in the form of birds and animals, as well as some colorful wooden coffins.

Also, the Egyptian pavilion in the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences will be broadcast Egypt’s grand celebration “The Sphinx Avenue ” that will take place on November 25 at 7:30 p.m.

And what a trip. The museum’s stunningly reincarnated Hall of Ancient Egypt reopened Saturday in tandem with the world premiere of “Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs.”

Combining the 12,500-square-foot hall with the 20,000-square-foot Ramses exhibit, the space is fit for a pharaoh. The immersive experience was created by HMNS and the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo. This is the first stop of a planned 10-city world tour, having opened at HMNS Nov. 20 and showing through May 23.

Entering the exhibit gateway feels like stepping into a Hollywood movie set. The lighting, music, desert-like quietude, the rows of replica columns — we’re off to ancient Egypt.

Initially, I get whiplash glancing to and fro at jewels, amulets and gold masks, knowing these are not props; they come from ancient tombs. Calm returns as the pathways lead smoothly around the exhibit spaces.

Their appeal goes beyond objects. The carefully choreographed experience puts the artifacts — including mummies — in the context of their time. Ramses the Great ruled 67 years, advancing Egypt’s culture and influence; he expanded national borders, brokered history’s first known peace treaty and spearheaded the building of cities, temples and monuments.

A high-definition projection, surround sound, precision lighting and special effects whisk visitors from the golden age up to the 1881 discovery of the ruler’s remains and tomb treasures. Naturally, there’s a virtual reality tour; it’s led by an apparition of Queen Nefertari, Ramses’ wife, and journeys through temples and sandstorms to the afterlife.

HMNS exhibit designers explored temples, towns and tombs in Egypt to accurately recreate the art and architecture.

“We paid extremely close attention to detail,” says consulting curator Tom Hardwick, “to create artistic environments that would transport visitors to another time and place, allowing the look and feel of ancient Egypt to wash over them.”

Hardwick gives me a sense of the passion shared by archaeologists, scholars and museum exhibit designers who work with these precious tangible pieces of history. After years, the Cairo resident at long last gets to see the results of his labor, sharing details with me.

A glittering stone vessel from a grave dating to the time the pyramids were built turns on a pedestal. It would have held precious oils used to prepare deceased royals for journeying to the afterlife.

A 3,000-year-old mummy lies in a glass case. Overhead, CT scans show the man, named Neskhons, turn as if on a barbecue spit, revealing amulets that were placed inside his body.

Hardwick explains the aim of mummification: the subject is being transitioned from a mortal into a god. The preservation process — akin to “being turned into beef jerky” — enables “transformation into a radiant being.” Masks covered in gold transfigure the dead person “in the rays of the sun.” And the hair on mummies’ heads? It’s real.

A cradle of tiny figures reminds me of vintage Playskool wooden peg people. Hardwick explains they represent servants left in the crypt to attend to the deceased’s needs through eternity (now that’s a long gig).

The prevailing belief that you can take it with you extended to pets; even mummified cats are on view. In a replica burial chamber, I shyly touch gleaming gold leaf walls covered with storytelling engravings. The tech team digitized imagery found in shrines to create these walls and coated them to allow touching.

Displaying nearly 200 objects, some over 5,000 years old, the exhibit flows through eight rooms. Its ambiance feels fitting for viewers bearing witness to ancient secrets and rituals, while the combination of technology, research and care make the exhibit a journey worth taking.

Find tickets and hours here.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science will be premiering a new exhibition called “Ramses The Great and The Gold of Pharaohs” this weekend.

“It gives a sense of the range, variety and richness of Egyptian culture,” said Tom Hardwick, Consulting Curator of the Hall of Ancient Egypt with HMNS.

The new, limited-time exhibit will give the public a chance to explore the life of one of the greatest rulers, Ramses the Great.

“Ramses the Great was called Ramses the Great because was able to accomplish so much in his lifetime,” said John Norman, CEO of World Heritage Exhibitions.

His agency is one of those partnering with the museum, traveling on the 6-year, 10-city world tour.

“Some of these pieces have never been out of Egypt before and there are some incredible stories to be told,” he said.

The tour starts here in Houston Saturday. Hardwick says the museum’s Hall of Ancient Egypt will also be back open to the public after a months-long renovation process.

“This is a completely new incarnation of it. We vamped the objects, the lighting” he said.

Norman said the displays will allow you to get lost in history.

“You forget that you’re in Houston or in a museum. You’re in another time and place.”

The exhibit opens Nov. 20. Tickets for the exhibition start at $35 per adult and $27 for children.

Click here for more info.

活动现场 主办方供图

中新网海南新闻11月11日电(记者 王晓斌) 记者从11月10日召开的新闻发布会获悉，漫威复仇者联盟互动体验站将于12月10日在三亚海棠湾红树林度假酒店开业迎客。届时除了可近距离欣赏大荧幕中的原版服装和道具，观众还可体验到钢铁侠的战衣大厅等内容。

据介绍，漫威复仇者联盟互动体验站以漫威电影宇宙故事为线索，场馆内设置光影互动系统，互动体验空间划分多个区域，呈现漫威电影宇宙中你最喜爱的复仇者人物，包括美国队长、钢铁侠、惊奇队长、黑豹、黑寡妇、浩克、雷神，鹰眼等。观众还可体验到钢铁侠的战衣大厅、布鲁斯·班纳的实验室、黑寡妇的高科技武器装备库等。

漫威人物角色扮演 主办方供图

漫威复仇者联盟互动体验站IP持有方、Cityneon执行董事兼集团首席执行官陈益智说，互动体验站现已走过纽约、拉斯维加斯、巴黎、新加坡和伦敦等20多个城市，这是首次登陆海南。

漫威人物角色扮演 主办方供图

“我们非常激动能将漫威复仇者联盟互动体验站引入三亚海棠湾，为这座热带旅游度假城市带来拥有国际IP属性的文旅新体验。”主办方福建拾忆文化传播有限公司董事长黄小龙介绍，互动体验将持续一年时间，早鸟票售票通道将于2021年11月15日0点正式开启，届时可前往【拾忆互动票务中心】小程序、飞猪、携程、美团等各平台购买。

A massive treasure chest has been unlocked at the Boca Raton Museum of Art until March 6.

The exhibit called “Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru” holds the largest collection of gold created by Andean societies in Peru thousands of years ago.

It’s the first time all 192 artifacts have traveled outside of Museo Larco in Lima, Peru, and Museo de Sitio Manuel Chávez Ballón in Aguas Calientes, Peru. Boca Raton is the first stop on a worldwide tour of the exhibit. You can get tickets by going to bocamuseum.org.

“Gold is what we underscore in this gallery,” said Irv Lippman, executive director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art. “For the Andean peoples and for this Chimu culture that created these works, it also has a sacred value. These were buried and left in tombs which is why we have found them now and are in such remarkable condition.”

The architectural significance of Machu Picchu is also a highlight of the exhibit, with a virtual reality attraction that resembles flying over the massive historical site above the Peruvian Andes. A mythical tour guide, Ai Apaec, flies next to you while talking about its history. And don’t be startled by the VR motion chairs, they move and dispense different scents as you fly and land at different stops.

Machu Picchu is considered among the greatest artistic, architectural and land use achievements anywhere and the most significant tangible legacy of the Inca civilization, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO).

“There is this wonderful depiction of Machu Picchu with the great care that the terraces were built. It was high up on this mountain top, it was a place for rulers,” said Lippman. “It was and is one of the most fascinating places to visit,” he said.

The Boca Raton Museum of Art is at 501 Plaza Real at Mizner Park, in Boca Raton. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Get tickets bocamuseum.org. The virtual reality experience is $18 and the artifact exhibition is $29.95 for adults and $19.95 children 3 to 12.

Guests are invited to test their skills — and their courage — as they pick a side in the intergalactic battle between the valiant Autobots and the underhanded Decepticons. With hands-on interactives and high-tech immersion, the Transformers world comes to life like never before. The experience sweeps guests across the universe to train alongside iconic heroes like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, and score victories against villains like Megatron and Starscream.

The TRANSFORMERS franchise has become a global entertainment brand with millions of fans, a storied legacy, and a revered place in modern popular culture. The brand’s enduring connection with fans crosses borders and spans generations through films and TV series, video games and toys, and live action experiences and theme park realms.

“We have been working with Victory Hill Exhibitions to create an experience that will immerse guests in the Transformers universe and wow them from the moment they enter,” said Matt Proulx, Head of Location Based Entertainment at Hasbro. “We’re excited for Transformers fans of all ages to discover that there’s more than meets the eye at Transformers: The Experience.”

Cityneon’s Executive Chairman and Group CEO, Ron Tan said, “Hasbro is one of the Group’s first partners in our foray into immersive experiences. Our partnership has come a long way and I am excited to see the newly created and multi-million dollar production TRANSFORMERS: THE EXPERIENCE premiere in North America and China in 2022.”

With a collection of art of ancient America on loan from Museo Larco in Lima, Peru, and Museo de Sitio Manuel Chávez Ballón in Aguas Calientes, Peru, many of these gorgeous, gleaming objects of gold and silver and turquoise have never been on loan before.

Presented in an imaginative, engrossing way, viewers enter the full museum exhibit on the second floor and are ushered into a full surround cave-like interior, with full wall projections of leaping jaguars, twittering birds, and ominous storm clouds high above the mountains of Peru.

Pottery and ancient wares are displayed with lively stories beside them, bringing to life the ways they were used.

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca site located on a ridge between the Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu mountains in Peru. High above the clouds at 8,000 ft elevation, it overlooks the Urubamba River. The site’s pristine preservation, the quality of its advanced architecture, and the breathtaking mountain vista have made Machu Picchu a true wonder of the world. Terraced fields on the edge of the 80,000-acre site were once used for growing crops, likely maize and potatoes, and coca.

In 1911, explorer Yale University Professor Hiram Bingham III visited the site and published its existence to the modern world for the first time. Covered with vegetation, the buildings were made without mortar, their granite stones quarried and precisely cut.

Archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was a royal estate of sorts, used by the emperor and his family as a temporary respite, with no war was ever fought there. Machu Picchu has a number of structures that enhance the spiritual significance such as “Temple of the Sun,” an elliptical design similar to a sun temple found at the Inca capital of Cuzco. A rock inside the temple is as an altar. During the June solstice, the rising sun shines directly into one of the temple’s windows, and this indicates an alignment between the window, rock, and solstice sun.

Although their empire existed for only 100 years before being cut short in 1533 by the arrival of the Spaniards, the Incas created 26,000 miles of roads, ruled an empire of 10 million people, and ruled with their language and culture from one end of the Andes to the other.

The exhibit highlights many of these features, including the barbaric animal and human sacrifices. While the exhibit shows a man’s heart being cut out and a silver sacrificial cup, it was often children who were sacrificed after being drugged with coca leaves and plied with alcohol, they were left to freeze to death high in the Andes, their bodies preserved for centuries.

Why the sacrifices were made is a strange melange of Inca religious beliefs, natural catastrophes, and the sheer difficulty of trying to survive amid the frozen heights of a volatile mountain chain.

Violent earthquakes are common, as were savage floods that disrupted food supplies.

In response to such terrifying natural phenomena, the Incas resorted to religion, believing the elements were controlled by gods. To survive, the Incas sought to form reciprocal relationships with their gods, appeasing them with simple prayers, food, coca leaves, woven cloth, animals, blood, and, in the ultimate sacrifice, human beings.

The most powerful room is the gold room, filled with incredible masks and “ear flares” and headdresses made of gold that have been melted, hammered into sheets, then cut and formed into plates and shapes and hoops and jewelry. Turquoise stones are cut into small beads or inlaid to form creatures in mosaics.

The biggest thrill is the Virtual Reality expedition of the mythical “Fortress in the Sky,” located in a separate room off the lobby. Sit in a cocoon-like chair, don the headset and take a flying journey with an Incan warrior to the various rooms and sections of Machu Picchu. Leaping off the cliff is a heady thrill as butterflies flit by and surprised llamas peer up in surprise from the ground below. Temples and food storage rooms, irrigation systems and crop fields, gods, and symbols are all introduced in a fast-paced VR trip. The ground – and chair – even shake as an earthquake strikes. Not to be missed!

A new gift shop at the back has some quality Peruvian exports of llama skin rugs, textiles, painted boxes, and jewelry.

If you visit, Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru runs through Sunday, March 6, 2022. Online at bocamuseum.org

A wonder of engineering 2,400 metres above sea level, the 15th-century Inca citadel of Machu Picchu has for decades welcomed up to a million visitors a year to explore its terraced ruins and stunning views.

Now the mountaintop sanctuary dubbed the “mysterious city in the sky” is coming to the masses as part of an exhibition that also showcases the largest collections of gold treasures to travel the world.

Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru features ornate artefacts, including burial regalia from the tombs of kings, queens, priests and priestesses, and a virtual reality exploration of the cradle of the Inca civilisation, made possible by drone footage shot with special dispensation from the Peruvian government.

Ron Tan, executive chairman of Cityneon, the entertainment company presenting the tour, said: “Visitors can personally feel the magnificence of Machu Picchu like they are physically there.”

The collection is on loan from the Museo Larco and the Museo de Sitio Manuel Chávez Ballón – institutions in Peru that host the country’s most significant cultural riches.

Accompanying the 192 gold, silver and ceramic antiquities is a multisensory experience that allows visitors to see, hear, feel and even smell the ruins of Machu Picchu through virtual reality headsets. The experience is guided by a mythological superhero, Ai Apaec, who narrates some of the mysteries of Andean cosmology.

Video footage for the experience was obtained by drones that flew over the sanctuary while Machu Picchu was closed to the public last year due to the pandemic.

Andean societies dominated a large area of South America for over 3,000 years through the reign of the Inca Empire, whose nucleus was in what is now Peru. They believed that their world consisted of three domains; an overworld inhabited by the sun and celestial gods, an underworld where their ancestors lived, and the “here and now”, occupied by humans and non-humans.

The exhibition focuses on ancient civilisations that pre-date the Incas and tells the legend of Ai Apaec, a deity who moved between all three domains, encountering anything from sea demons to owl shamans and sacred snails, to place in context the artefacts on show and explain the rites, rituals and beliefs on which Andean society was based. The collection includes pitchers and bottles, sculptures, bodily ornaments, funeral masks, warrior gear, sacrificial weapons and ceremonial attire. The highlight is a set of gold burial attire belonging to a Chimú emperor, dating to 1300 AD.

The exhibition, which goes on a global tour next year, premiered at the Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida. Irvin Lippman, its executive director, said: “These objects are extraordinary. We have these vessels, this talent and creativity, that speak to us thousands of years later.”

It won’t stop there, though. After the Boca Raton show wraps up in March, “Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru” hits the road for a 10-city world tour that organizers expect to be one of the biggest draws around.

And it all started right here in Southwest Florida.

“Machu Picchu” — named after the former Incan city in the mountains of Peru — is the first self-produced exhibit from new Fort Myers company World Heritage Exhibitions (WHE). But it won’t be the last, its organizers say.

The idea is to connect people with history in a deep and entertaining way, says company chairman John Norman — a veteran of some of the biggest exhibits to ever tour, including “Titanic: Ship of Dreams” and “King Tut: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh.”

“It’s about telling stories,” the Fort Myers resident says. “I think that that’s what captures people’s imaginations, when they’re able to be intrigued and they can say, ‘Boy, I didn’t know that!’”

Company president Anthony Tann co-founded WHE with international managing director Andres Numhauser in 2020. They already have several major touring exhibits on the road, including “Pompeii: The Exhibition” and “Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs.”

“These are blockbuster exhibitions,” Tann says.

“Ramses” and “Pompeii” were produced by other companies and purchased by WHE, but “Machu Picchu” is the first exhibit they’ve organized and produced themselves.

There’s nothing quite like taking a collection of artifacts and turning them into a living, breathing museum exhibit, Tann says.

“When we first finish an installation and you walk through it, it’s like a surreal moment,” the Cape Coral resident says. “You almost always get the chills. … It’s just that moment where you walk through it and you’re like, ‘Wow.’”

WHE maintains its corporate headquarters, including five full-time employees, in an office off Jetport Loop near Southwest Florida International Airport. But Norman points out that the company is actually a national one with employees across the United States, including in San Antonio, Texas, and Los Angeles.

“It really doesn’t matter where our offices are,” Norman says. “We’re always on the road.”

Tann started out in the museum business about four or five years ago, working with Norman at his old job with entertainment company IMG.

“John was a great mentor,” Tann says. “He taught me everything I needed to know about the business.”

After Norman left IMG, he came to work with Tann at the new company. Both men say they’re interested in presenting history in a new and different way.

“That’s what we really created at WHE,” Tann says. “And that’s why John’s on board with us. It’s like the family’s back together.”

WHE declined to release attendance figures for “Machu Picchu,” but a spokesman said the exhibit’s Oct. 16 opening was “the highest attended opening for an exhibition ever at the Boca Raton Museum of Art.”

You really have to see these ancient South American artifacts in person to appreciate them, Norman says.

“You can go online and look on your computer. You can see pictures of things,” he says. “But when you can stand and be looking at — right in front of you — a piece of history that was made by somebody thousands or hundreds of years ago … there’s something special and magical there.”

“Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru” continues through March 2022 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Here’s more about the exhibit:

• The exhibit showcases 192 objects worth an estimated billions of dollars, Tann says. Many of the artifacts came from royal tombs, and some have never been seen outside of Peru.
• The exhibit is named after Machu Picchu, a former Incan city in the Peruvian mountains that now operates as a popular tourist site.
• The artifacts come from various ancient South American societies in the Andes Mountains, including the Incan Empire — a vast civilization that stretched from modern-day Argentina to southern Colombia until the Spanish conquest in 1572.
• The immersive exhibit is spread out across the entire museum on both floors.
• Visitors will hear the sounds of roaring jaguars, screaming macaws and torrential rainfall.
• Unlike the ancient Egyptians, the Incans didn’t have a written language, Norman says. “So there’s a lot of mystery there. They basically told their stories in their artwork.”
• After Boca Raton, the show goes on a 10-city world tour. WHE hasn’t announced the cities yet. The exhibit will eventually return to tour the United States, Tann says, but that will be a few years from now.
• A virtual-reality experience lets visitors sit in haptic “motion chairs” that move and react as they take a virtual tour of Machu Picchu’s ruins. The Peruvian government allowed WHE to take thousands of photos with a drone and stitch them together into a virtual-reality world using the Unreal videogaming engine. “It’s like an environment you can walk around in,” Tann says. “It looks just as real as if you’re there.”
• The chairs are equipped with high-resolution VR headsets, haptic feedback on the backseats, scent dispensers and 360-degree rotation.
• The collection is on loan from Museo Larco in Lima, Peru; and Museo de Sitio Manuel Chávez Ballón in Aguas Calientes, Peru.
• The show is a co-production with Singapore company Cityneon.
• Tickets are $30 ($20 for ages 3-12) and can be purchased at bocamuseum.org/golden. The virtual reality experience costs an additional $18.

For the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, Machu Picchu is “a resting place of butterflies in the epicenter of the great circle of life.” Now, the Boca Raton Museum of Art is letting visitors immerse themselves in the history of this ancient site. It is the first museum in the world to host the traveling exhibition “Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru,” created by the Cityneon group with the support of the Peruvian Ministry of Culture and the Inkaterra association.

For the occasion, history buffs will be able to admire 192 objects, many of which come from Andean royal tombs. Among them is a completely intact gold attire of a Chimú emperor, dating back to 1300 A.D. Some of these artifacts have never been exhibited outside of Peru, according to the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Visitors will be guided through the exhibition by the mythical hero Ai Apaec, as much feared as revered by the Mochica people.

“Through this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to come face-to-face with history in a way that has never been done before,” said Ron Tan, Cityneon’s Executive Chairman & Group CEO. “With this exhibition, visitors can personally feel the magnificence of Machu Picchu like they are physically there, while exploring the ancient cultures who lived in this city 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.”

A “sacred place” to preserve

Conditions of access to Machu Picchu have changed since the pandemic, but “Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru” lets people discover the archaeological site through a virtual journey in augmented reality. For this, drones flew over the Inca sanctuary — devoid of tourists for eight months — to immortalize the site from all angles. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to discover these images via virtual reality headsets and motion chairs, made available as part of the exhibition.

In light of the global pandemic, the Inca site of Machu Picchu can now welcome only 250,000 visitors per year, visitors who also have to respect measures such as compulsory mask-wearing and social distancing. But other rules are also considered necessary for the preservation of this sanctuary, according to José Miguel Bastante, director of the national archaeological park of Machu Picchu in Peru.

“Some tourists do not understand that Machu Picchu is the same as any other sacred religious place. They arrive, they see grass, and they say, ‘Oh, this is a park, I can lie down and do whatever I want’,” he said in a newsletter from the Getty Conservation Center. “No, it’s not like that. Machu Picchu really is a sacred place, like Notre Dame. If you inform tourists in advance what they’re going to see — and the rules — that helps conservation of heritage. A hundred informed tourists do less harm to a site than one tourist who is not informed.”

The exhibition “Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru” runs until March 6 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida, USA. It will then travel around the world.

Technology is transforming how we interact with and maintain our private and public spaces.

The world is rapidly urbanizing. There are more megacities than ever before. It is important to ask whether these cities live up to their intended purpose, or if there is a better way of shaping the space in which we live and work. Our surroundings are changing quickly, with new technologies redefining industries like security, construction, environmental services, real estate, and smart facilities management. The “built environment” refers to human-made surroundings that provide the settings for human activity. These can be buildings, parks, green space, neighborhoods, and even entire cities.

Here are three companies that are making an impact in the built environment sector.

Inspection tech as “preventative medicine”

Consider this problem: our structures need upkeep, but the issues that need to be addressed are often invisible and difficult to detect until it’s too late. This not only impacts the buildings that we live and work in but applies to infrastructure in general. Failing to keep up with inspection and maintenance can result in catastrophic outcomes, as we saw with the recent collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex in Miami.

The ways of evaluating our structural safety have conventionally been relied on deterministic analysis, but that is changing with IoT technologies becoming part of these processes. Screening Eagle Technologies, which was formed by the merger of Singapore’s Dreamlab and Switzerland’s Proceq, is a cloud-based technology company that develops full-stack inspection solutions combined with intuitive software and portable sensors. The goal is to deliver reliable data for decisions related to construction and building maintenance.

Screening Eagle’s products include sensors and software that incorporate artificial intelligence and augmented reality to turn data into insights for engineers and inspectors, shaping maintenance decisions. These are particularly important tools at a time when climate change is transforming our relationship with the natural and built environments around us.

Shockingly, as much as 30–50% of global carbon dioxide emissions are released during the reconstruction and regular operations of buildings that are decaying at unprecedented rates. New construction releases vast amounts of greenhouse gases that takes years to recapture. Preventative inspections can prolong the longevity of structures, reducing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and prolonging the lifespans of our roads, bridges, and buildings.

Creating world-class immersive attractions

The pandemic has taught us many things about human nature. One realization for many people is that we constantly seek new stimulation and fresh ways to pass time. Under pre-pandemic conditions, that would mean, among other things, a constant rotation of immersive installations that expose us to new ways of experiencing the world around us, sometimes through the lens of well-known creative brands.

One homegrown Singaporean company specializes in producing these entertaining experiences for consumers around the world. Cityneon builds upon worlds created by Hollywood and ancient civilizations to shape memorable experiences. For instance, it has acquired multi-year licensing rights for James Cameron’s Avatar touring exhibition, plus the rights to showcase installations based on Peru’s Machu Picchu and the reign of Ramses II of ancient Egypt.

Cityneon operates in an industry that has relatively few players globally. To stay competitive, Executive Chairman & Group CEO Ron Tan has lined up blockbuster brands like Marvel and Jurassic World as part of the company’s licensed intellectual property portfolio. These rights are used to shape refreshing and memorable experiences for consumers.

The company now runs its own engineering subsidiary, Animax Designs, which is an animatronics powerhouse in the United States. Cityneon has plans to take this line of business beyond the United States and develop bigger engineering and production facilities to meet organic demand and broaden their global footprint.

Designing homes and workplaces using AI

With work-from-home arrangements setting in to become the norm for the long haul, the space where we live—and work—needs to fit us more than ever. Do you have the right desk, the right chair, the right art hanging on your wall to make the space truly yours?

Livspace was founded in 2015 to outfit our interiors and offer renovation pipelines in what was a fragmented industry that involved vendors, suppliers, and designers. The company’s platform connects homeowners with these service providers through a marketplace that makes sourcing feel like a seamless process.

Now, Livspace is the largest omni-channel home interiors and renovation platform in India and Singapore. Users can commission designers to map out their dream home, then hire contractors to build customized furniture and redecorate each room, all through a single portal. Plus, Livspace implements its proprietary SaaS solution, Canvas, to engage customers and create design project plans for their homes and offices in 2D and 3D.

With its APAC headquarters in Singapore, Livspace is making headway in markets in the Asia Pacific and Gulf nations, and the company has plans for a harder push into these areas in the next 18 months. Ever since moving its headquarters to Singapore in October 2019, the company’s revenue has grown by 250%. Looking ahead, Livspace will introduce new products and design tools to streamline the work processes of interior designers.

New exhibit showcases Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru

CBS12 News got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look as the exhibit was unboxed and set up ahead of the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

On Tuesday, outside the Boca Raton Museum of Art, teams were welding intricate mounts and set for the nearly 200 priceless artifacts that are part of the Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru exhibit. The mounts may look delicate, but they are strong enough to withstand earthquakes.

Meanwhile, inside the museum, curators were carefully unpacking the Incan artifacts, some of which date back to before 1540.

“They were really into cosmology like we have completely forgotten today,” said Head Registrar Jackie Hoff. “They were really incredible astronomers. They were agricultural superiors. They knew how to do it all!”

Hoff says it’s easy to be mesmerized by the collection of rare gold and artifacts.

“Their objects are exquisite. They tell of artisans, artists, [some] tell of rulers, [some] tell of sacred nature of animals.”

According to Hoff the process to set up the exhibit took months, from selecting the pieces at Museo Larco, in Peru, to meticulously crating the ancient to ship to Florida. She says once they arrived they had to climatize. Right now, the objects are stored in a room at the museum which is kept at a specific temperature and humidity.

Spotlight on Machu Picchu and The Golden Empires of Peru

Currently, museum execs and curates are working down to the wire to make the experience unforgettable for visitors, who will be fully immersed in the lives of ancient people in Peru and the ornate riches they once cherished.

“I think we’ve all kind of lost sight of how to live within nature,” said Hoff. “I think the communities in that area, really did a phenomenal job in working with natures and understanding the stars, and how you plant.”

The exhibit opens on Sat., Oct. 16th.

CLICK HERE for ticket information.

To maintain and promote Machu Picchu, a Singapore-based company named Cityneon is bringing to life the treasures of this fifteen-century urban Inca empire’s citadel via a digital tour of the site. In collaboration with the World Heritage Exhibitions (WHE), this will be the company’s first artifact IP exhibition and the world’s first virtual walk-through of a UNESCO heritage site.

A digital tour of treasures

The Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru exhibition will use VR motion chairs that will have “high-resolution six degrees of freedom (6-DOF) VR headsets, haptic feedback on the backseats, scent dispensers, and 360-degree rotation”. Meanwhile, the visual data is gathered by the company using drones with permission from the Peruvian government to create that immersive VR and AR experience. Necessary COVID-19 precautions for museum visitors and travelers will also be in effect.

The virtual tour will be guided by Ai Apaec, a mythical Andean hero. The Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru tour will cover 192 artifacts from the royal tombs, including a fully intact gold attire of a Chimú Emperor of the Imperial period which dating back to 1300 AD.

Due to Cityneon’s partnership with Inkaterra Asociación on this venture, the Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru will also have a feature on the artifacts of the Incan civilization. This includes the opulent collections of Andean gold which is one of the most luxurious remains of the Incan empire that stands at par with the engineering and opulence of ancient Egypt and the Roman empire.

Keeping culture alive

The president of WHE Anthony Tann expresses his enthusiasm for the use of the technology, saying that it will be, “an impressive and extensive exhibition that showcases the limitless potential of VR technology.” The Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru exhibition is supported by the Peruvian government and the Ministry of Culture.

The exhibition will be available first in Boca Raton Museum of Art located in South Florida for a limited time only. The tickets are now on sale starting at $19.95 and the tour to open starting October 16, 2021.

Founded in 1956, Cityneon is a global entertainment company and runs on its philosophy of “big ideas, bigger experience.” The executive chairman and the group CEO of Cityneon, Ron Tan, welcomes interested tourists to this unique experience and take part in the Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru exhibition to “personally feel the magnificence of Machu Picchu like they are physically there while exploring the ancient cultures who lived in this city 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.”

新川经济往来保持增长, 今年签署七项合作备忘录

随着中国对绿色经济的重视，四川省开始积极推动新型城镇化项目，贸工部第二部长陈诗龙医生表示，这将为我国企业在城市振兴、规划和管理方面带来更多机遇。

人力部长兼贸工部第二部长陈诗龙医生和中国四川省省长黄强，副省长李云泽共同在线上主持新加坡-四川贸易与投资委员会第22次会议。

双方除了重申要在“一带一路”，科技与创新及中小企业国际化等三大主题的深化合作外，可持续性发展也成为讨论焦点。

陈诗龙说：“新加坡在城市基础设施发展方面有强大的“硬体”能力，有助优化我们的资源使用。而我国的企业也在不断开创“软体”解决方案，例如体验式建筑设计，为区域和建筑注入新生机。”

黄强表示：“新加坡素有花园城市的美誉，拥有丰富的城市规划建设管理的经验，希望把更多的城市规划理念，治理模式引入四川。”

去年7月就进驻四川市场的这家国际体验式娱乐公司就在防疫有成的成都办了三个大型展览。

Cityneon区域执行董事林志凯说：“把整个防控措施做到位，人数的管控等等，只要这些东西做到位了之后，我相信这些消费者都是会过来的，而且事实证明了，他们也确实出来消费了。”

新川双方今年在会上签署了七项合作备忘录，目前已有685家本地企业在四川设立公司。

尽管受到疫情影响，我国和中国四川之间的经济往来依旧保持增长趋势，今年上半年双边贸易额达8.08亿美元，同比增长超过一成。

New exhibition is due to open at Boca Raton Museum of Art next month

Cityneon, a global experience entertainment company, is celebrating the premiere of a unique new exhibition, Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru, which opens at the Boca Raton Museum of Art in South Florida this October.

This will be Cityneon’s first foray into the world of artefacts IP and features the largest Andean gold collection ever to travel the world, together with a brand new immersive and interactive VR experience. The company was given exclusive approval by the government of Peru to fly drones through the UNESCO World Heritage site and harnessed cutting edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology to create a one-of-a-kind virtual walkthrough experience.

A unique virtual experience

A visit to Machu Picchu is on many people’s bucket lists. However, less than 1 million people are allowed entry to the site each year in order to preserve it. In the wake of the pandemic, this number has further lowered to 250,000, to keep to social distancing guidelines. Now, thanks to Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru, people from around the globe can experience this heritage site virtually.

Guests will enjoy a virtual walkthrough, which uses VR motion chairs equipped with multi-sensory features like high-resolution 6-DOF VR headsets, haptic feedback, scent dispersers, and unlimited 360-degree resolution. They will journey through time alongside the mythical hero Ai Apaec.

Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru will also showcase 192 artefacts from royal tombs, some of which have never been exhibited as part of a travelling exhibition, or seen outside of Peru. For instance, visitors can view the fully intact gold attire of a Chimú Emperor, dating to 1300 AD.

Bringing rare artefacts to new audiences

Cityneon’s Executive Chairman & Group CEO, Ron Tan says, “It’s enthralling for Cityneon to have the opportunity to present to new audiences these remarkable pieces of rare Andean artefacts. Cityneon’s strong track record of staging immersive experiences globally with record-breaking visitor numbers reflects our strength in delivering high-quality experiences to visitors from around the world.

“Through this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to come face-to-face with history in a way that has never been done before. With this exhibition, visitors can personally feel the magnificence of Machu Picchu like they are physically there while exploring the ancient cultures who lived in this city 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.”

“Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru is an impressive and extensive exhibition that showcases the limitless potential of VR technology,” adds Anthony Tann, President of World Heritage Exhibitions.

“There are hundreds of ancient artefacts to admire, and I am excited to welcome visitors to experience this monumental period of human history through the lens of virtual reality. This exhibition was put together by many talented individuals and excellent technology, and I am certain it will be a memorable and enchanting experience for many to enjoy.”

Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru is made possible with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Peruvian Government, as well as close collaboration with Cityneon’s valued partners, the Museo Larco and Inkaterra Asociación, the World Heritage Exhibitions, and the Boca Raton Museum of Art.

In addition to the launch of the Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru experience in the Boca Raton Museum of Art, the group is also working round the clock for the opening of another artefacts IP experience, Ramses The Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs, which is set to welcome visitors this November at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Cityneon’s achievements were recently honoured in the first-ever Deloitte’s Best Managed Companies Singapore Award, a recognition of private businesses that are building and leading successful and dynamic companies. This award was celebrated at a ceremony held at the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel on 1 July 2021.

The one-of-a-kind exhibition called “Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru” will use virtual reality (VR) motion chairs fully equipped with premium multi-sensory stimulation features such as high-resolution six degrees of freedom (6-DOF) VR headsets, haptic feedback on the backseats, scent dispensers and unlimited 360-degree rotation.

Cityneon’s first artefact IP exhibition will open at Boca Raton, South Florida this October.

VR technology will allow visitors to travel back time to see, hear, feel and even smell the mysterious city in the sky. Visitors will journey through the vast expanse of Andean history alongside the mythical hero Ai Apaec, to discover the mysteries of Andean cosmology.

“It’s enthralling for Cityneon to have the opportunity to present to new audiences these remarkable pieces of rare Andean artefacts. Our strong track record of staging immersive experiences globally with record-breaking visitor numbers reflects our strength in delivering high-quality experiences to visitors from around the world,” said Ron Tan, executive chairman and group CEO of Cityneon.

Cityneon currently partners with foreign governments, world-renowned museums, heritage organisations and major movie studios to hold exclusive IP exhibitions, creating iconic experiences for their visitors from all over the world. To date, the Group has toured their IP experiences in excess of 50 cities worldwide.

“Through this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to come face-to-face with history in a way that has never been done before. With this exhibition, visitors can personally feel the magnificence of Machu Picchu like they are physically there, while exploring the ancient cultures who lived in this city 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains,” Tan added.

Besides Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru, the company has secured the IP rights to another major historical artefacts. “Ramses The Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs” will be coming to Houston, Texas in November 2021.

Cityneon aims to engage with audiences in over 70 cities around the world and expects to welcome 10 million unique global visitors per year to visit their experiences worldwide by 2022.

Using drones to capture visual assets

The Peruvian Government has allowed Cityneon to fly drones through the magnificent site of Machu Picchu to capture cinematic and visual assets, that would allow the company to create an immersive experience consisting of outstanding virtual reality, sophisticated augmented reality system and in-person interaction elements.

Cityneon has put together an award-winning team behind this multi-million-dollar exhibition with one goal – to push limits and break boundaries to create the most immersive, breath-taking and realistic experience for audiences worldwide.

The VR exhibition would allow more people the experience the invaluable historical site, where less than a million travellers are allowed to enter every year. Indeed, with the pandemic and social distancing measures, the number of visitors has been drastically cut to 250,000 a year.

“Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru is an impressive and extensive exhibition that showcases the limitless potential of VR technology,” said Anthony Tann, president of World Heritage Exhibitions. “There are hundreds of ancient artefacts to admire, and I am excited to welcome visitors to experience this monumental period of human history through the lens of virtual reality. This exhibition was put together by many talented individuals and excellent technology, and I am certain it will be a memorable and enchanting experience for many to enjoy.”

Besides the unique VR experience, the exhibition also features the largest Andean gold collection ever to travel the world. This new museum experience highlights a selection of 192 artefacts from royal tombs, including objects that belonged to noble Andean lords, many never seen out of Peru before.

One of the exhibition’s highlights is a fully intact gold attire of a Chimú Emperor that dates to 1300 AD. With their longevity and engineering only rivalled by the Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire, the Andean societies dominated a substantial segment of South America for over 3,000 years straight through the reign of the Incan Empire.

Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru is Cityneon’s first artefact IP exhibition, and is made possible with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Peruvian Government, and through a close collaboration with its valued partners, the Museo Larco and Inkaterra Asociación, the World Heritage Exhibitions and the Boca Rotan Museum of Art.

The prestigious awards programme is held around the world in the Americas, Europe, Australia and China, and this year for the first time, it has been introduced in Singapore. There are four judging criteria for this award: strategy; capabilities and innovation; culture and commitment; and governance and financials.

Prestigious winners
Previous global winners include Haidilao International Holding Ltd from China, Morgan Mckinley from Ireland, Sun-Maid Growers of California from the US and Fisherman’s Market from Canada. The awards are judged by an independent jury, and expert coaches from Deloitte help shortlisted entrants to benchmark their company against some of the world’s top businesses.

After rounds of rigorous assessing, Cityneon together with 4 other companies from diverse industries were awarded with this globally recognised mark of excellence by Deloitte for the first time in Singapore.

Ron Tan, Executive Chairman & Group CEO of Cityneon Holdings says, “We are humbled to receive this inaugural award. This award is only made possible with the sustained guidance of our Board of Directors, the assured trust of our current and new shareholders, the utmost dedication of the management team, members of Cityneon, and the unwavering support from all our global industry partners, bankers, and many others along the way all these years.”

“It is this teamwork and resilience within Cityneon that possibly sets us apart from others to achieve what we initially thought was not possible — especially during the past months handling the COVID crisis, globally. Thank you once again to everyone who has kept the faith and are continuing this journey with Cityneon.”

Building more IP exhibition sets
Cityneon finished a round of private funding in April 2021, having raised S$235 million towards its continued growth and future plans. It is now working to build more of its successful IP exhibition sets under the studio IP partnerships and original artefact IP partnerships by the end of 2022.

The company has secured the IP rights to two major historical artefacts and will present these in new global exhibitions. Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru will first open in Boca Raton, Florida in October 2021, while Ramses The Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs will be coming to Houston, Texas in November 2021.

Cityneon also works with studios partners such as Universal Studios, Disney, Marvel, Lionsgate and Hasbro for the various exhibitions that have travelled to more than 50 cities around the world to date.

The Group aims to engage with audiences in over 70 cities around the world and expects to welcome 10 million unique global visitors per year to visit their experiences worldwide by 2022.

Last year, Cityneon acquired Animax Designs, a world-renowned and reputable animatronics company founded 30 years ago in Nashville, Tennessee to support the Group’s vision of creating unique, immersive and large-scale experiences through their engineering capabilities and cutting-edge animatronics technology.

This fall, you can experience ancient Egypt through Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs, a touring state-of-the-art museum experience premiering at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS). The 10-city global tour was produced by the HMNS in partnership with the Supreme Council of Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt and produced in a joint venture by Cityneon and World Heritage Exhibitions.

“This exhibition will be unlike anything you’ve ever seen,” said Ron Tan, Executive Chairman & Group CEO of Cityneon Holdings, the brain trust behind the exhibition. “Visitors will not only walk among priceless relics of the great pharaoh but also experience the sights and sounds of the time through a cutting-edge virtual reality experience.”

According to Tan, the exhibition will include 181 rare Egyptian artifacts. Visitors will be able to stroll among the colossal statues and ancient artifacts while learning about the life of Pharaoh Ramses. The exhibition will also include a multimedia recreation of the Battle of Kadesh, which is thought to be the largest chariot battle in history. Guests will uncover an incredible collection of artifacts on this journey, from ornate jewelry to animal mummies and sarcophagi. Additionally, the exhibition will welcome visitors by showing never-before-seen drone footage acquired with unprecedented access to many of Egypt’s most iconic locations, providing a dramatic panoramic view of Egypt and unique insight into the life of Ramses the Great.

“We are privileged to announce this world premiere exhibition for the City of Houston,” said Museum President Joel Bartsch. “Our visitors can expect nothing short of a first-class, magnificent journey into the conquests of Ramses the Great and the wonderful antiquities born out of the talented artisans and builders of Egypt’s long and prosperous history.”

For more information on the exhibition and tickets, visit here.

SINGAPORE – A clear strategy, strong culture, corporate social responsibility and being innovative are hallmarks of the best managed companies, said Deloitte Singapore on Thursday (July 1).

Chief executive Cheung Pui Yuen told the firm’s inaugural awards ceremony for some of the country’s best managed companies: “After an incredibly challenging year for many businesses, it is more important than ever to support and recognise the great leadership and tenacity that Singapore-based companies are applying.

“The winning companies have clearly defined organisational purpose and demonstrated tenacity to remain competitive.”

The event at the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel recognised six firms for their organisational success and contributions to their respective industries and the economy.

The awards programme assessed top privately owned Singapore companies with annual revenue exceeding US$25 million (S$33.6 million).

These refer to firms where the majority share of the company is still held privately directly or indirectly, even if some are listed firms.

Judges weighed up their quality of management in areas such as strategy, capabilities and innovation, and culture and commitment, as well as governance and financial performance.

They also looked at a company’s diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility and environmental initiatives, as well as digital transformation, customer-centric strategies and incentive-based innovations programmes.

The six winners were entertainment firm Cityneon Holdings, education provider KinderWorld International Group, construction company Lian Beng Group, beauty and luxury services provider Luxasia, advanced manufacturer NanoFilm Technologies International and retailer OSIM International.

The Deloitte awards were a first for Singapore, but the accounting giant has run them in 37 countries for more than 25 years.

Mr Richard Loi, South-east Asia and Singapore Deloitte private leader, noted that the winning companies proved that longevity is about sound management even when faced with tough times.

“Despite economically challenging times, we see private companies seizing opportunities to evaluate their business models, from customer engagement and delivery methods to talent attraction and advancing their digital journeys,” he added.

“Progressive customer-engagement programmes, diversified product portfolios and investment in research and development are also highly regarded, as well as initiatives that focus on corporate culture and people.”

Companies had to go through an application process and a two-hour lab session with Deloitte to be considered for the awards. Employee surveys were also taken into account.

The six winning firms will get a globally recognised mark of excellence and gain access to business forums and sessions.

Singapore International Chamber of Commerce chief executive Victor Mills, who was one of the judges, said: “(Corporate) culture is key for the simple reason that it enables commercial success in a sustained way.

“If you don’t get your culture right, you’re not going to have engaged teams to implement your business strategy and achieve your business goals.”

Fellow judge Ng Jiak See, Deloitte Asia-Pacific financial advisory leader, added that corporate social responsibility is not just about doing the right thing, but a good business decision.

“It helps you to build your brand and retain the right people. The next generation wants to work for organisations that have the right purpose.”

Best managed companies

• Entertainment firm Cityneon Holdings
• Education provider KinderWorld International Group
• Construction company Lian Beng Group
• Beauty and luxury services provider Luxasia
• Advanced manufacturer NanoFilm Technologies International
• Retailer Osim International

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction. 

SIX local enterprises were recognised as Singapore’s Best Managed Companies in the first local edition of Deloitte’s global Best Managed Companies awards programme.

In a ceremony at the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel on Thursday, Cityneon Holdings, KinderWorld International Group, Lian Beng Group, LUXASIA, Nanofilm Technologies International and OSIM International were presented with the awards for their organisational success and contribution to their industries and the economy.

The Singapore’s Best Managed Companies awards programme was launched in December 2019 and evaluates top privately-owned Singapore companies with annual revenues of US$25 million, building on 25 years of observed practice from Deloitte’s global awards programme that has been rolled out in 37 countries.

While some of the companies recognised are publicly listed, they were eligible for the programme as Deloitte assessed their majority shareholding to still be privately held, either directly or indirectly.

The programmes use a proven evaluation process to assess the businesses’ quality of management in areas including strategy, capabilities and innovation, culture and commitment, as well as governance and financials.

Eligible firms’ business strategy and operations are analysed and benchmarked against an evaluation framework applied to the 1,000-strong community of best managed private companies across the world.

“After an incredibly challenging year for many businesses, it is more important than ever to support and recognise the great leadership and tenacity that Singapore-based companies are applying,” said Cheung Pui Yuen, chief executive officer of Deloitte Singapore.

“The winning companies have clearly defined organisational purpose and demonstrated tenacity to remain competitive,” he added, noting that these values are central in the Best Managed Companies programme.

Richard Loi, Deloitte private leader for South-east Asia and Singapore, said Deloitte has seen private companies evaluating their business models in areas ranging from customer engagement and delivery methods to talent attraction and their digital journeys.

“The winning companies have shown great resilience in their respective fields, proving that longevity is about sound management even when faced with adversity,” he said.

The companies were judged by a panel of business and academia representatives. This year, the jury members were Victor Mills, chief executive of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce; Daniel Simonovich, professor of strategy at INSEAD; and Ng Jiak See, financial advisory leader at Deloitte Asia Pacific.

Source: The Business Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction. 

The Singapore awards are derived from Deloitte’s global Best Managed Companies awards programs – a well-regarded international awards program that applies a proven evaluation process to assess the businesses’ quality of management in areas including strategy, capabilities and innovation, culture and commitment, as well as governance and financials. The evaluation of the Singapore awards is based on more than 25 years of observed practice from the global awards program that has been rolled out to 37 countries worldwide.

Cheung Pui Yuen, Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Singapore, said: “After an incredibly challenging year for many businesses, it is more important than ever to support and recognise the great leadership and tenacity that Singapore-based companies are applying. The winning companies have clearly defined organisational purpose and demonstrated tenacity to remain competitive. These values are central in the Best Managed Companies program rewards, and we are pleased to celebrate the winners of our inaugural awards here in Singapore.”

Companies who are eligible for this awards program are shortlisted and undergo a rigorous and independent process that evaluates their management skills and practices. This includes having their business strategy and operations analysed and benchmarked against an evaluation framework that is applied to the 1000-strong community of best managed private companies across the world. Business leaders then use the process to sharpen strategies and derive valuable insights to help them set projections to optimise business growth.

“Despite economically challenging times, we see private companies seizing opportunities to evaluate their business models from customer engagement and delivery methods, to talent attraction and advancing their digital journeys,” said Richard Loi, Southeast Asia and Singapore Deloitte Private Leader. “The winning companies have shown great resilience in their respective fields, proving that longevity is about sound management even when faced with adversity.”

In a turbulent year, the winners attribute their success to being agile and innovative; maintaining a strong balance sheet and focusing on their people.

Ron Tan, Executive Chairman & Group CEO of Cityneon Holdings said, “We are humbled to receive this inaugural award – thank you, Deloitte. This award would not be possible without the dedicated leadership of our Board of Directors, our current and new shareholders’ trust in us, the utmost dedication of our management team, members of Cityneon, and the unwavering support from all our global industry partners, bankers, and many others all these years. We believe that Cityneon’s strong teamwork and resilience sets us apart from other companies in achieving what had been initially unthinkable – especially during the past months in dealing with the global pandemic. Once again, thank you to all who have kept the faith with Cityneon and continue to support us on this journey.”

Ricky Tan, Chairman & CEO of KinderWorld International Group said, “Winning the Best Managed Companies award is a testament to our business model, operational excellence, staff development and commitment towards sustainability. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic being a challenge for businesses globally, we remain confident of our journey ahead and look forward to identify more business opportunities in the near future.”

Ong Pang Aik, Chairman & Managing Director of Lian Beng Group Ltd said, “We are proud to be an inaugural winner of Singapore’s Best Managed Companies award. The award affirms the success of our diversified business model and consolidates our position as a leading construction group in Singapore. We will continue to build on our capabilities to deliver the best services and create sustainable value for our stakeholders.”

Dr Wolfgang Baier, Group CEO of LUXASIA said, “This award is a compelling endorsement of our transformation efforts, investments, and results achieved over the last 5 years. This success is due to our open ‘One Team’ culture shared by more than 2000 talents across 15 markets. We were able to merge professional management expertise and deep digital capabilities, with LUXASIA’s core entrepreneurial spirit and luxury excellence spanning over 4000 points-of-sale. This prestigious recognition by Deloitte, especially after its rigorous assessment, is testament to our relentless drive in building the leading beauty omni-distribution platform in Asia Pacific.”

Dr Shi Xu (史旭), Founder and Executive Chairman of Nanofilm Technologies International Limited, said, “We are delighted and honoured to be conferred this prestigious award, which underscores our gold standard in Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance as the leading nanotechnology solutions provider. At Nanofilm, we like to think our management team as our heart, while technology is our brain, working together with all the other vital organs that make up our business to ensure success. This award would not have been possible without the passionate and dedicated team driving Nanofilm. A sincere thanks to the management team and all staff who truly embodies what Nanofilm is today and what it hopes to achieve for the future.”

Charlie Teo, CEO of OSIM International Ltd said, “It is an honour for OSIM and our team to be recognised in Singapore’s Best Managed Companies 2021 winners’ list. Over our 40-year history, our people have always been the critical core that enables us to pursue our vision – allowing us to remain a leader in the health and wellness industry. While the past year has caused widespread disruptions to businesses and individuals, we have retained our core philosophy of ‘challenging your spirit to do your best’. Collectively, we have worked tirelessly to rise above these challenges, and pulled together to consistently innovate and transform our operations and approaches. Ultimately, remaining steadfast in our commitment to the brand’s vision of empowering healthier lives and transforming wellness mindsets for the better across the world.”

An independent judging panel comprising business and academia representatives determined the winners based on the leading practices of Best Managed Companies. This year’s jury members are Mr Victor Mills, Chief Executive, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce; Professor Daniel Simonovich, Professor of Strategy, INSEAD; and Ms Ng Jiak See, Financial Advisory Leader, Deloitte Asia Pacific.

If you’ve ever seen any of the Jurassic Park movies, then you know it’s probably not a good idea to bring dinosaurs back to life.

But they have.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition is now open at The Grandscape in The Colony.

The exhibit allows guests to walk through settings from the Jurassic World movies. Animatronic dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes, including the T-Rex, are around every corner.

“They have been known to get hungry sometimes,” joked Michael Silver, president of global business development for Universal Parks & Resorts.

There are all sorts of creatures to chew you up and spit you out, and their DNA was engineered by the same people who brought the dinosaurs at Universal’s theme parks to life.

Michael Mattox is the chief operations officer and chief technical officer for Victory Hill Exhibitions, and his team spent a year and a half bringing these dinosaurs to life so they could tear you apart.

Actually, the show is quite family and kid-friendly and although the dinosaurs aren’t real, they sure do look like it.

“There’s no exhibition out there that’s as technically advanced as this one is,” Mattox said.

The exhibition has been all over the world, but it hasn’t been in North America in nearly four years.

This marks the dinosaurs’ return to our continent, and Texas is the first place they decided to let them loose.

“As they say, everything’s bigger in Texas,” Mattox said.

It doesn’t get much bigger than an Indominus Rex snatching a side of beef out of the air, which is something you’ll see in the exhibit.

They say it’s the closest you’ll ever come to living dinosaurs, but don’t be so sure of that.

If there’s anything we know about dinosaurs or nature, it’s that life finds a way.

For more information on Jurassic World: The Exhibition, click here.

The exciting, interactive exhibition is produced in conjunction with Universal Parks & Resorts. Visitors of all ages are immersed into 20,000 square feet of settings inspired by the groundbreaking film franchise, Jurassic World from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.

“We are delighted to launch in Dallas, and to bring this Exhibition to cities across the U.S. and Canada,” said Stephen Shaw, Founder and Co-President of Round Room Live. “Families will be amazed and beyond entertained by this incredible experience.”

Jurassic World: The Exhibition

The exhibition allows visitors to walk through the world-famous “Jurassic World” gates. There they can encounter life-sized dinosaurs and explore richly themed environments. Guests may take up-close looks at a Velociraptor, stand under a towering Brachiosaurus, and (if you’re brave enough) encounter the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex.

If you’ve ever imagined what it was like to walk among those breathtaking creatures, this exhibition is for you! Younger guests will enjoy interacting with new baby dinosaurs like “Bumpy” from the Netflix series, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, from Universal, DreamWorks Animation and Amblin Universal.

Universal Resorts

Universal Resorts President of Global Business Development Michael Silver said, “What excites us about JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION is the opportunity to give fans a real-world, immersive experience based on the amazing adventures of the films and delivered to a location near them. Visitors will come face-to-face with life-sized dinosaurs and walk through richly themed environments, all inspired by the blockbuster franchise.”

The Jurassic World franchise has been entertaining generations of fans around the world for 25 years, – from films and TV series to video games and toys. Live action experiences and rides at Universal theme parks, like Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure, where the Jurassic World VelociCoaster just opened, are also part of the Jurassic World universe.

Jurassic World Alive Players

Fans at the Exhibition have an exclusive opportunity while playing Jurassic World Alive, the location-based AR mobile game. Players visiting the North Texas exhibition who open the game on their devices can locate an exclusive JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION incubator. These capsules contain valuable resources as an in-game reward. Players with AR-enabled devices can then snap a picture or take a video of a dinosaur using the game’s AR feature and post to their social media channels using the #JurassicWorldAlive hashtag.

Cityneon’s Executive Chairman and Group CEO, Ron Tan said, “Combining state of the art technology and proprietary animatronics, JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION had impressed global audiences from the US, Australia, France, Spain, Korea, China and more. We are confident that JURASSIC WORLD: THE EXHIBITION will continue to exhilarate and entertain families throughout North America.”

All Exhibition activities will be in accordance with CDC guidelines. Visit the CDC website at cdc.gov/covid19 for the latest guidelines. Tickets start at $29.50 for adults (16 years +) and $19.50 for youth (3- 15 years). Children two-years-old and younger are free with accompanying parent. VIP packages are available, as well as special pricing for Senior citizens and military. Group sales packages are available for groups greater than 10. For more information, visit JurassicWorldExhibition.com.

According to Eddie Ong, SeaTown’s deputy chief investment officer and managing director for private investments, SeaTown Private Capital Fund began deploying in January this year and has made five investments to date, comprising one-quarter of its corpus.

Its Southeast Asian investments are GoTo, the Indonesian combo of unicorns Gojek and Tokopedia; and Cityneon Holdings, a Singapore experience entertainment firm which raised S$235 million ($177 million) in April. Pavilion Capital, EDBI, Qatar’s Doha Venture Capital, and financial institutions and family offices in Singapore and China also invested in Cityneon.

SeaTown’s other investments are a coffee chain with operations in Europe and the US, a European footwear firm, and a US software solutions firm catering to warehousing and storage businesses.

Ong says SeaTown is sector-agnostic in its investments, and typically writing cheques of $30-100 million each in growth-stage, pre-IPO companies. The firm also opportunistically looks at buyouts and buy-and-build platforms. It is open to taking minority stakes or participating within majority positions in a consortium with co-investors.

“We do see a number of interesting opportunities based on our pipeline, such as traditional businesses which may need to be spun out because they operate under a larger conglomerate and may not be optimally run,” Ong tells DealStreetAsia in an interview.

“Closer to home, we see Singapore companies venturing overseas introducing new concepts and ideas that are taking advantage of COVID-driven themes like domestic-driven tourism,” he adds.

Seeking external LPs
SeaTown is a subsidiary of Seviora Holdings, a newly-formed entity combining Temasek’s four existing asset management companies, Azalea Investment Management, Fullerton Fund Management Company, InnoVen Capital, and SeaTown Holdings International.

Seviora Holdings was overseeing S$75 billion ($55 billion) worth of assets under management (AUM) when the announcement regarding its establishment was made in October last year.

Separately, SeaTown also runs a $1 billion private credit fund which launched in December 2019. This fund has a 4+2-year fund life and dedicates about 70-80% of its portfolio to Asia Pacific opportunities.

According to Ong, roughly half of the fund has already been deployed to date. Similar to its private capital fund, it is also sector agnostic, and considers aspects like Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) factors under an inhouse ESG framework.

While both funds are still fully invested by Temasek at both the GP and LP levels, Ong shared that SeaTown may eventually evolve into a model where it has external limited partners (LPs) in its fund structure.

Seatown is already in the midst of seeking external LP financing for its private credit fund, with plans to raise “a few hundred million” before closing it in September this year. “The direction will be that we will raise third-party money, which we hope will be substantial over time. This will naturally mean that Temasek’s LP contribution as a percentage of the overall fund will naturally be slightly smaller,” says Ong.

This is similar to what Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures did in 2019 for its $730 million second Vertex Master Fund (VMF), where it raised capital from external LPs for the first time since its inception in 1988. The LPs which joined VMF Fund 2 were Japanese corporates Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Marubeni, Abeam Consulting, and the Development Bank of Japan. At the time, Temasek remained the anchor investor for VMF Fund 2, contributing about three-quarters of the total corpus.

Ong acknowledges that competition for private equity deals has risen in recent years, but emphasised that SeaTown’s longstanding ties with Temasek’s global network mean it has an extra edge when it comes to deal sourcing and underwriting deals.

“We have a very strong relationship and sourcing infrastructure through Temasek, which has local investment professionals globally from Latin America to China. This helps us tap into their network and better understand local market conditions. In that way, it helps us in our underwriting of credit transactions as well. It’s also a huge plus for us in deal sourcing,” Ong says.

According to SeaTown’s official website, the asset manager runs five funds across open-end and closed-end strategies, comprising about $6 billion in overall AUM.

VIEW IT HERE ON TEA’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL

The Hunger Games: The Exhibition began its life as a touring exhibition, premiering at the Discovery Times Square in 2015. It was originally designed by the Thinkwell Group, in concert with Lions Gate, the film studio behind the hit film franchise. The touring exhibition was aimed at museums, which meant including a lot of supplemental educational content, in addition to behind-the-scenes information about the movies. With the release of the prequel novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins and the upcoming release of a movie based on the book, Lions Gate wanted to revisit the exhibit as a way of keeping the property fresh with audiences. Victory Hill Exhibitions was tasked with utilizing the existing assets and adding new elements that would appeal to a Las Vegas audience. When the original exhibit was designed, the last two movies in the series had not yet been released, so there were ample sources of inspiration when it came to the refresh, especially from the District 13 portions of the film.

Key among these new elements is the new Beetee’s Archery Training attraction, which features the world’s largest interactive touchscreen – so big that it’s actually certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. The screen is 56.24 meters long, and is illuminated by four 4K projectors. The screen uses IR sensors to let guests fire actual projectiles toward the screen in an action-packed simulation of what training was like in District 13, home of the rebellion against the Capitol. Michael Mattox described the extensive R&D process Victory Hill employees took to figure out exact materials, animation, and sensitivities needed to create a satisfying experience for guests. Another new element for the MGM Grand installation is Capitol TV Trivia, an interactive media exhibit where guests answer Caesar’s yes or no to trivia questions by standing on designated areas on the floor. The game then figures out what percentage of people chose to each answer to determine if the group (up to 14 people at a time) chose correctly.

A major element of the exhibit is that original costumes from the films are on display and available for viewing up close – which is especially important given the amount of detailed work and craftsmanship that have gone into each piece. Created by designers Kurt & Bart, many of the costumes feature exquisite embroidery and ornate finishes. One of the pieces that had to be created from scratch for the exhibit was the wings on Katniss’s Mockingjay outfit – in the film, they were computer generated! However, since it’s such an iconic image, the wings were recreated out real feathers in order to look as much like the visual effects in the film as possible.

One of Michael Genova’s favorite parts of the exhibit was visiting President Snow’s office in his mansion – a truly impressive set. However, this office in the film was portrayed by a real French chateau, and Lions Gate did not have the rights to recreate the architecture of the the chateau itself! The exhibit designers had to design an entirely new set that retained the feel of the original without being the original. In addition, they 3D printed President Snow’s eagle sculpture because the original prop had been sold at auction and was not available.

Victory Hill Exhibitions also detailed the numerous safety measures that have had to be implemented because of COVID-19, including acrylic dividers, hand sanitizer stations, mandatory mask requirements, and lowered capacity. Beyond the on-site safety requirements, there were additional challenges when it came to managing remote design and installation processes. Victory Hill showed off some of their technological solutions to remote production, including a virtual control room from which they could interact directly with on-site staff. This solution was utilized during the production process for The Hunger Games: The Exhibition and has proven useful for other productions as well.

Finally, Michael Genova opened up the conversation to the audience, who were very curious about what was not included in the exhibit. The Victory Hill team had a number of items on their wish list for the current incarnation that did not make it, including life-size “Peacekeeper” vehicles, and other larger props from the films – the space at the MGM Grand was quite limited. They also said that they would be interested in incorporating new storylines and environments from the upcoming prequel film, as more materials become available.

After an information-packed hour, Michael Genova wrapped up this fascinating behind-the-scenes look at The Hunger Games: The Exhibition and thanked all of the incredibly forthcoming Victory Hill Exhibitions team members for their time and insight into this truly immersive attraction.

The world-premiere announcement provided authentic Andean entertainment throughout the Boca Raton Museum of Art featuring Miami-based Peruvian artists, including Peruvian music by Kuyayky, artwork by Roberto Carlos Olivia Hernandez, and ceramics by Polo Ramirez. Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer and Visit Florida Regional Partnership Manager Lindsey Norris were on-site to welcome representatives of the exhibition and partner institutions. In addition, a welcoming video statement from Florida Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee was presented. PromPeru, the Peruvian tourism bureau, supported the announcement event.

“It is an honor to be the home of the world premiere of Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru and a privilege to work with such esteemed partners to bring this exhibition to our community,” expressed Irvin Lippman, Executive Director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art. “Today is a landmark day for our institution and marks our continued success in presenting compelling exhibitions that celebrate the visual history of world civilizations. We look forward to introducing the wonders of Machu Picchu and the power and beauty of the Inca civilization in what promises to be a most memorable exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art.”

Featuring the largest Andean gold collection ever to travel the world, this new museum experience highlights a selection of 192 artifacts from royal tombs, including objects that belonged to noble Andean lords, many never-before-seen out of Peru. One of the exhibition’s highlights is a fully intact gold attire of a Chimú Emperor that dates to 1300 AD.

“It’s enthralling for Cityneon to have the opportunity to present to new audiences these remarkable pieces of rare Andean artifacts. Cityneon’s strong track record of staging immersive experiences globally with record-breaking visitor numbers reflects our strength in delivering high-quality experiences to visitors from around the world. Through this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to come face-to-face with history in a way that has never been done before,” said Executive Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer of Cityneon, Ron Tan. “Guests are going to be thrilled to encounter the ancient cultures who lived in this city 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.”

Rivaled only by Ancient Egypt in longevity and by the Roman Empire in engineering, Andean societies dominated a substantial segment of South America for over 3,000 years straight through the reign of the Incan Empire. Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru will showcase Peruvian culture’s rich histories and traditions to the public like never before.

“South Florida, known as the ‘Gateway to Latin America,’ is the ideal location to host this world premiere, and having the opportunity to present this exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art is truly a pleasure,” described President and Chairman of World Heritage Exhibitions, Anthony Tann. “This exhibition is exciting and engaging, and thus, we expect Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru to be the largest cultural attraction throughout the region this fall.”

During their visit to the exhibition, guests are taken to the mysterious city in the sky, built and abandoned within a century. They will continue on a journey through the vast expanse of Andean history, traveling alongside the mythical hero Ai Apaec, and discovering the mysteries of Andean cosmology.

“Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru showcases the extraordinary and rich history of ancient Peru. It brings to life the various cultures that have lived in the land of the Incas and Machu Picchu over an astounding 3,000 years,” stated President of Museo Larco, Andres Alvarez-Calderon.

Due to the current global pandemic, the need for social distancing, and other measures to prevent the coronavirus spread, the number of visitors allowed to visit Machu Picchu yearly has dipped to 250,000. This exhibition expands the ability to experience Machu Picchu to the world. Here, the first-ever virtual reality experience of Machu Picchu will be unveiled, allowing guests a window into the unrivaled beauty and flourishing landscape.

“Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru will allow the stories and riches of Andean civilizations to travel the world,” said Inkaterra Asociacion founder, Joe Koechlin. “We could not be more delighted about sharing our history and culture with the people of South Florida and beyond.”

Beginning on October 16, 2021, at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru will start its limited run in South Florida before leaving the U.S. and embarking on a multi-country, worldwide tour. The state-of-the-art exhibition will encompass the entire museum, including all galleries on both floors. Exhibition ticket prices start at $19.95. Tickets will go on sale later this summer. Today, an online registration process to pre-register for tickets has opened. Those who pre-register will have early access to tickets when they go on sale to the public.

The exhibition was announced Tuesday at the museum amid a festive atmosphere with Peruvian musicians, cuisine and visual artists along with officials including Florida Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee and Peruvian Consul in Miami Martha Lizarraga Picciotti.

It is the most amazing Andean gold collection that has ever traveled the world, according to the organizers. The exhibit includes a selection of 192 artifacts from royal tombs, including objects that belonged to noble Andean lords, never before seen out of Peru. One of the exhibition’s highlights is a fully intact gold attire that belonged to an emperor of the pre-Inca Chimu civilization that dates to 1300 AD.

The exhibition will span the entire museum, including the galleries on both floors, for five months until March 6, 2022.

Visitors will be able to sign up for a wait list to buy tickets starting Tuesday, May 18. Official ticket sales will begin at the end of July, say organizers.

“Machu Picchu is a monument to the Inca civilization and today it is a World Heritage Site. Since its discovery on July 25, 1911, by Hiram Bingham, these ancient ruins have remained one of the world’s top tourist attractions. To climb the steep steps to its peak is a memorable journey. We are proud to bring this sense of wonder and excitement of this major discovery to Boca Raton,“ Irvin Lippman, executive director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art, told the Sun Sentinel.

Due to the current global pandemic, the need for social distancing, and other measures to prevent the coronavirus spread, the number of visitors allowed to visit Machu Picchu yearly has dipped to 250,000.

“This [exhibition] will allow Machu Picchu to be enjoyed by many people who want to go and who cannot go,” said Jose Koechlin, CEO of Inkaterra.

To give visitors peace of mind amid the pandemic, the exhibition will occupy all floors of the museum. “The importance of this exhibition and our desire to provide the opportunity for visitors to see the 192 objects that are part of it, requires that we use the entire museum,” Lippman said. “In addition, we want to avoid crowds and make visitors feel very comfortable by having plenty of space between them.”

“Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires” of Peru will show the rich history and traditions of Peruvian culture as it has never been done before, said the museum’s director.

Guided by Ai Apaec, a mythical Andean hero, visitors will explore one of the most important archaeological ruins in the Cusco region, known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Machu Picchu was a fortress and a shrine of the Incas, and includes agricultural terraces, stone houses and several ceremonial temples made with immense stones.

The Inca sanctuary of Machu Picchu has also been recognized as Best Cultural Destination by the World Travels Awards and is considered one of the seven wonders of the modern world. The precision with which the Incas arranged the stones witho