Art exhibitions may not always sound appealing for kids, but the new media art exhibition presented by teamLab at Yang Art Museum in Beijing is just about an exhibition created by kids where they are able to explore, have fun, and also learn.

Graffiti Nature

The fun-packed exhibition consists of seven parts: Graffiti Nature, Sketch Town, Light Ball Orchestra, Story of the Time When Gods Were Everywhere, Sketch Animals, Hopscotch for Geniuses, A Table Where Little People Live, and Connecting! Block Town. The best part of all is that It’s interactive. Once you get into the museum, you’ll get a pile of papers that feature sketches related to every part of the exhibition, which you then can color using the crayons that the museum provides. Then your colored sketches will be scanned and then projected as part of the exhibition.

Sketch Town

For each part, the patterns used are very different, leaving lots of free space for creativity. More than just having fun, every part of the exhibition tries to cultivate a particular concept. For example, the Graffiti Nature section conveys a message of environmental awareness, and respect for diversity via children’s interactions with animated animals and plants.

Hopscotch for Geniuses

For the Story of the Time When Gods Were Everywhere section, symbols on the screen are touched by children and they begin to change and evolve around the room. As more images are created by this tactile function, a story begins to unfold. The objects that emerge from the symbols influence one another and are affected by the actions and the many other people in the room. For example, a bird may land on a tree, a sheep then runs away from a dog, and then begins to dance as a child approaches it.

Story of the Time When Gods were Everywhere

Nothing sounds better than a cool and stylish museum experience to escape from a sizzling hot summer afternoon. The teamLab Future Park New Media Art Exhibition provides this and more with its state-of-the-art and interactive activities. Your kids are going to love it, and who knows, parents might dig it too!

teamLab Future Park New Media Art Exhibition, Jun 25-Oct 07
All ages. RMB 120 (RMB 60 for early birds and students). Daily 10am-10pm. Yang Art Museum (F/3, No.14 Building, Solana, No. 6 Chaoyang Park Road, Chaoyang District; 5905 6678; info@yangmuseum.org).

Photos: courtesy of teamLab

Colorful lights are always a cheerful sight, but when they challenge your imagination and perception of reality, the experience can be remarkable and mesmerizing. Just such an eye-catching extravaganza with all things shining, shimmering, and splendid is on display at Pace Beijing in 798 Art District.

The teamLab: Living Digital Forest and Future Park is an immersive and interactive digital exhibition that gives visitors an exciting visual experience.

The lighting spectacle is the first major exhibition of teamLab in China and will run until October 10. “As a continuous exhibition, teamLab: Living Digital Forest and Future Park at Pace Beijing features fifteen of teamLab’s most representative works in the 1500 square meter exhibition space, bringing their unique artistic world of digital technology to Chinese audiences,” the multi-disciplinary art group said.

“This exhibition presents, for the first time, the large-scale interactive digital installation Flower Forest: Lost, Immersed and Reborn [which transforms]the structure of Pace Beijing into a synesthetic labyrinth that breaks the traditional experience of the visit,” it added.

In one of the spaces called the “Future Park,” children and other visitors can draw artworks which will float around giant LCD screens called Sketch Aquarium or Sketch Town. “The final artworks will be the result of everyone’s participation, and will be instantly interactive, showing children how rich, diverse and interconnected the world is.”

Beijingkids got a chance to see the display and despite a long wait to get in, it’s worth it, we must say.

A girl enjoys stepping on a digital “pond” full of shapes and colors.

One of the most awesome displays in the exhibit is the flickering Crystal Universe…

…that looks dreamy and magical when it changes colors.

The Connecting! Block Town is cool especially for kids because all the blocks change the layout of the digital village.

Going back to the long wait we mentioned above, pre-registration is needed prior to visiting the exhibition. We talked to the ticketing staff and they said they’re still testing several pre-registration systems. Click/tap here to buy an e-ticket (page in Chinese) or follow Pace Beijing’s WeChat (ID: pace_service) and click/tap the second menu bar 我要购票 (Wǒ yào gòu piào “I want to buy tickets”) then click/tap the first option 在线购票 (Zàixiàn gòu piào “Online ticket purchase”). It will re-direct you to a ticket purchase page. Visitors can also pay by cash upon arrival although the queue is on a first-come first-serve basis.

There’s no toilet inside the exhibition space; the nearest one is a public toilet about a hundred meters away from Pace Beijing. Taking pictures and videos are allowed inside the exhibition. We recommend going there weekday mornings (the exhibition is closed every Monday) to avoid throngs of visitors and long queues.

Living Digital Forest and Future Park, Tue-Sat until Oct 10
All ages. RMB 80 (weekdays), RMB 150 (weekends). Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-6pm. Click/tap here for more details about the exhibition. Pace Beijing, 798 Art District, 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District. 朝阳区酒仙桥路2号798艺术区8502信箱

Photos: Andy Penafuerte

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Email: andypenafuerte@beijing-kids.com
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