Explore the imaginary dream universe of Salvador Dali and rediscover the life of what was one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century and the true icon of surrealism. Given the success of these months, the immersive digital exhibition Inside Dali has been extended until April 25th. Inaugurated on September 16, 2021 at the Cathedral of the Image in Florence, part of the monumental complex of Santo Stefano al Ponte, the world premiere of the immersive digital exhibition Inside Dali was created by Crossmedia Group with the support of the Gala Salvador Dali Foundation. Inside Dali
A multisensory experience that lies between imagination and reality, but also a mix of cutting-edge technologies, images, real artifacts, illusions and allusions, all in perfect symbiosis with the unique universe of the Catalan artist. Every day the uninterrupted replicas of the immersive exhibition will take place, at the heart of which is a 360 ° multimedia space, covering an area of more than 400 m2, where the visitor is induced to cross the world of the surrealist genius in a complete and “Dalinian ”Immersion of over 35 minutes: a highly emotional moment that will strike viewers like nothing before.
To enrich the nature of the event, the immersive space is preceded by a large museum area where the public will be able to confront the multifaceted genius of Dali, coming into contact with some of the lesser known productions of the surrealist master. The discs produced by him, the books, an advertising campaign for the French railways, which are added to the cycle of one hundred original woodcuts masterfully obtained from the watercolors executed by the Catalan painter for the Divine Comedy on the occasion of the seven hundredth anniversary of the birth of Dante Alighieri. Access to the exhibition
To allow a greater number of people to access the space, the visiting hours of the weekend have been extended: on Friday and Saturday it will be possible to visit the immersive experience until 20:00, while on Sundays the exhibition will remain open until 19:00. During the rest of the week, from Monday to Thursday, the exhibition will follow the usual 10: 00-18: 00. Access to the public is allowed up to one hour before the closing of the exhibition. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays there is also a special discount for all under 30 who will be able to access the exhibition with a discounted ticket at 8 euros (against the full ticket costing 13 euros). On Thursday the over 50s will enter at the discounted price of 8 euros. Dali and Dante
In the museum area of the Inside Dali exhibition it is possible to admire live the entire cycle of illustrations that the Catalan artist dedicates to the Divine Comedy. But why this close link between Dante Alighieri and Salvador Dali
In view of the commemoration of the 700th anniversary of the birth of the Supreme Poet, in 1950 the State Polygraphic Institute commissioned a series of illustrations of the Divine Comedy from Salvador Dali. The artist worked there for almost nine years, giving life to 100 watercolors which in 1960 were exhibited at the Musee Galliera in Paris. Unfortunately, the work as it was initially conceived never saw the light due to a controversy raised by some sectors of Italian public opinion against the fact that such an undertaking was entrusted to a foreign artist.
In 1962, however, the Florentine publisher Mario Salani revived the idea, designing, in synergy with the publishing house Arti e Scienza in Rome, an edition of the Commedia in six books, two for each cantica, accompanied by the tables of Dali and with the scientific supervision of Giovanni Nencioni, then recognized as the most authoritative among scholars of the Italian language.
Dali’s path in Dante’s poem weaves an intimate and personal dialogue with the poet’s work, which is approached with a gaze that could be defined as psychoanalytic. Hell, Purgatory and Paradise become testing ground for hypothesizing perspective laws extraneous to human rationality; space and time expand to adhere to an interior dimension that cannot be known with the tools of common logic.Comparing museum experiences
Conceived, created and produced by Crossmedia Group with the collaboration of Monogrid (Florence), Inside Dali unites various experts in the creation and promotion of museum experiences. The catalog and the merchandising of the exhibition are handled by the Sillabe publishing house, while the additional services (reception, bookshop and ticket office) are entrusted to Opera Laboratori Fiorentini which also took care of setting up the location.
“Crossmedia Group – says Federico Dalgas, President and CEO of the Florentine company – has contracted the services of the ticket office of the Cathedral of the Image and the management of the bookshop with its catalog, respectively to Opera Laboratori Fiorentini and to the publisher Sillabe, as we agreed that these services must necessarily be carried out by professionals in the sector. Opera Laboratori Fiorentini is one of the great concessionaires of Italian museums, starting with the Uffizi Galleries and the Vatican Museums, and are therefore used to managing large flows of information. As well as the publisher Sillabe di Livorno, also involved in the most prestigious Italian museums, which manages a catalog of publications capable of satisfying any type of request. In this sense,
For his part, Giuseppe Costa, managing director of Opera Laboratori Fiorentini, added: «The lockdown has given a strong impulse to digital, giving the possibility to enjoy, even from a distance, the immense artistic heritage that surrounds us. We have always been supporters of new technologies applied to art and culture and we already use them successfully in other contexts where we operate, such as in Siena and Montalcino in immersive museums and videomapping paths. For this reason we are happy to have collaborated in the preparation of this exhibition as well as in the management of additional services in the Cathedral of the Image of Florence.
