Art, cycling and promoting the rich diversity of European culture - Main contents
Have you ever considered looking at art at the same time as you cycle though a city? It sounds rather dangerous. But not if the city is virtual, and your bike doesn't actually move.
Starting today, people in Brussels will get the chance to do just that, with the #BigArtRide.
Sitting on stationary bicycles and wearing virtual reality headsets, they will experience riding through a city's past and its present.
A virtual city filled with centuries of amazing art that reflects Europe’s heritage, its culture and future, emerging before the eyes of each 'rider' as the journey progresses.
The art is taken from a selection of 300 works that have helped to define Europe's art history. They were chosen as part of the cross-border Europeana 280 campaign by national culture ministries and institutions from all 28 EU countries, along with Norway.
They worked closely with Europeana, Europe’s platform for digital cultural heritage that brings together more than 50 million books, paintings, films, museum objects and archival records that have been digitised by cultural institutions throughout Europe.
From Femmes de Tahiti by Paul Gauguin, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez to the Sălciile de la Chiajna by Romania's Ștefan Luchian, the Europeana 280 collection brings together a wide range of works from the four corners of the European continent.
Some are world famous, some not so well known. But all of them have contributed to European art movements, from Renaissance to Cubism.
Each person cycling through the virtual city will in fact be in a Brussels city square, racing against an 'opposite number' in a square in The Hague to be the fastest virtual cyclist to cross Europe - since #BigArtRide is also designed to celebrate the Dutch Presidency of the EU.
While opponents will appear as virtual avatars during the race, they will meet their opposite number on a big screen once the race is finished.
Anyone who is passing by can help or hinder their progress by using oversized bells and pumps while the race is broadcast on large screens in both city squares.
The #BigArtRide virtual reality art event will also visit Paris, Rome, London, Berlin, Prague, Wrocław and Bratislava.
It promises to be a unique experience, allowing people to discover - or rediscover, in many cases - Europe’s best and most striking art masterpieces.
Virtual cycling to experience our fascinating cultural history may be a quirky idea.
But it shows how digital technology can provide real possibilities to promote European culture. It is a great way to get people excited about Europe’s shared art heritage by celebrating the diverse and magnificent artworks that are a part of it.
I attach here a couple of Europeana 280 examples from Estonia, both from the Art Museum in my home town Tartu.
Another blog soon.
Paraphrase (1914), by Ado Vabbe, Tartu Art Museum
(copyright: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
Farmhouse with a stove (1935) - Karl Pärsimägi, Tartu Art Museum
(copyright: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
Read more ...