NEON, a global experience entertainment company, is celebrating the successful opening of six experiences, bringing four different IPs to six different countries across four continents in just 22 days.
On 12 July, Impressions of Monet welcomed guests into the art and life of Claude Monet at the Flower Dome @ Gardens by the Bay, Singapore; Jurassic World: The Exhibition opened in Mexico City; and Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs opened in Cologne, Germany with sold-out shows over the opening weekend.
In addition, Harry Potter: Visions of Magic opened on 26 July in Brussels, Belgium, and the award-winning Jurassic World: The Exhibition opened on 2 August in Melbourne, Australia, and Manchester, UK.
Discover Monet at Gardens by the Bay
Impressions of Monet is a tribute to the master of French Impressionism. During its run in Singapore, for the first time in Gardens by the Bay’s history, the horticultural and the digital meld together in a one-of-a-kind showcase, more than three times the size of a regular floral display.
Highlights include Impressions of Monet: The Garden, a floral display that recreates the landscapes of Monet’s renowned gardens, Clos Normand and the Water Garden. This features over 18,000 plants across 40 species, closely mirroring those that would be seen in Monet’s gardens during the peak of summer, such as cleomes, delphiniums, digitalis, geraniums, hollyhocks, and sunflowers.
Eight varieties of water lilies among the 10 on display were sourced from the longstanding Latour-Marliac nursery in France – the same place the artist procured his water lilies in 1894. The green Japanese bridge in the Water Garden is also recreated, and a replica of Monet’s pink house takes a prominent place in the centre of the Flower Dome.
Meanwhile, Impressions of Monet: The Experience, a multi-sensory experience weaved together by NEON’s talented collaborators, celebrates the works and life of the painter and his contemporaries through light, colour, sound and fragrance.
In the space called Vivid Dreams, visitors learn about Impressionism and those who pioneered it, including Camille Pissarro, Edouard Manet, Gustave Caillebotte, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas.
Beneath the Flowerbed showcases Monet’s iconic Japanese-style green bridge with stunning floral displays curated by artisanal florist Brenda Lee, founder and owner of Fiore Dorato. In Night at the Lily Pond, a night landscape is presented, with projections of digital images of wisterias and water lilies created by Michael Kwan, a multi-award-winning artist, together with glimmers of light that create reflections on the waters of the water lily pond. Emily Wong, music composer and producer, serenades the experience with her beautiful soundtracks created specially to complement the spaces within the experience.
Impressions of Monet: The Experience culminates in the Immersive Gallery, created and produced by Grande Experiences of Australia. It features a display of Impressionist works accompanied by classical scores and nature-inspired scents.
Bringing Jurassic World to life
Jurassic World: The Exhibition is a family-friendly exhibit based on the popular blockbuster franchise. Guests walk through the iconic Jurassic World gates, explore richly themed environments, and encounter a life-sized brachiosaurus. They can also meet velociraptors, including fan-favourite Blue, and the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Visitors can imagine what it would have been like to roam among the dinosaurs. They can also meet baby dinosaurs, including “Bumpy” from the animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous and Jurassic World: Chaos Theory.
Since its launch, the exhibition has become one of the fastest-selling exhibitions, with nearly eight million tickets sold in 20 cities around the globe.
The splendour of Rameses
Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs is making its first appearance in Germany, showcasing over 180 antiquities from the pyramids and museums of Egypt, along with their extraordinary stories. Visitors can discover priceless artefacts and ornate golden treasures, including one-of-a-kind relics such as sarcophagi, animal mummies, jewellery, royal masks, and amulets—many of which have never left Egypt before.
The exhibition showcases signature pieces, including the famous coffin of Ramses the Great, the golden masks of Amenemope, the necklace of Psusennes, and mummified animals, including cats, crocodiles, and even a lion cub. All of the objects have come from museums and historical sites in Egypt and are on loan from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs also features a virtual reality experience that takes visitors on a tour of two of Ramses’ most impressive monuments: the Tomb of Queen Nefertari and the temples of Abu Simbel.
The magic of Harry Potter
Harry Potter: Visions of Magic, created by Warner Bros. Discovery Global Themed Entertainment and NEON, is an interactive art experience exploring the mysterious corners of the wizarding world across a 3,000-square-meter venue.
It features immersive and artistic environments inspired by places such as the Room of Requirement, Newt’s Menagerie and the Ministry of Magic. Responsive video content, bold architecture and original soundscapes create multi-sensory installations, while interactive technology invites guests to illuminate their own visions of magic.
Last month, Ron Tan, NEON Group CEO and executive chairman, was presented with the Outstanding Tourism Entrepreneur award at the Singapore Tourism Awards.