Some of the world’s great artworks and cultural wonders are ‘virtually’ coming to Brisbane thanks to a new partnership between QUT and the Alliance Française de Brisbane, supported by La Villette, the French Ministry of Culture, and the French Embassy in Australia.
Launched today (Thursday July 27) at The Cube on QUT’s Gardens Point campus, Micro-Folie Brisbane is a free digital museum and an Australian-first.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Margaret Sheil said: “As well as offering easy, practical access to French art and culture for those who don't necessarily have the opportunity to visit France and other significant sites, the Micro-Folie concept is expected to open up opportunities for Australia’s First Nations artwork, along with other Australian and South Pacific artworks to be seen by a global audience,”
“QUT is excited and proud to be part of such a bold initiative that contributes to the democratisation of culture by offering fun, interactive access to art and culture through an immersive experience involving cinematic projection and digital devices.”
The concept was launched in France in January 2017. Since then, more than 400 Micro-Folies have been installed in France and worldwide. QUT was chosen for its central location, accessibility to the public, engagement with schools and the world-class digital capacity and screen size of The Cube.
Twelve founding national cultural institutions collaborated on the program by giving free access to their collections: Centre Pompidou, Château de Versailles, Cité de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris, Avignon Festival, Institut du monde arabe, Louvre Museum, Picasso Museum, Musée d'Orsay, Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques-Chirac, Opéra de Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux et du Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, Universcience and La Villette.
Gavin Winter, Manager of The Cube for QUT said the first stage of Micro-Folie Brisbane will see a collection of more than 2500 digital works of art available for screening on The Cube. A public program will be announced soon, and the collection and variety of works will continue to expand.
“Visitors interact using touch-screen consoles to capture the big screen and learn more about the artwork and browse complementary works in the collection,” Mr Winter said.
“Micro-Folie is a platform for people to learn about and experience art and culture from the world’s great institutions. With this partnership, QUT and The Cube are now part of a global network for sharing culture; a global stage to bring Australian art and culture to the world in a unique way.
“What we can do at The Cube complements Brisbane’s other cultural offerings and institutions, who we hope to collaborate with and leverage the Micro-Folie platform to showcase collections.”
Boris Toucas, Head of Culture, Education, Science and Technology at the Embassy of France in Australia, said The Cube was an inspiring setting for Australia’s first Micro-Folie and that they hoped to soon expand to all major Australian cities. He added that the French Embassy in Australia and Micro-Folie team in France are currently negotiating with Australian cultural institutions to develop content showcasing Australia's culture and heritage.
“This project will be the first virtual museum network in the Pacific region. It will interact with sister Micro-Folies in French Territories overseas, particularly the Micro-Folie MK2 Dumbea in New Caledonia, and maybe future sister projects in New Zealand,” Mr Toucas said.
“The Micro-Folie network is also about sharing content and making arts and knowledge easily accessible to the greater audience. We hope this will encourage leading Australian cultural institutions to contribute to building the museum database.”
Jerome Carujo, Director of the Alliance Française de Brisbane, said he was looking forward to bringing French culture to an even wider audience.
La classe de danse, Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Between 1871 and 1874, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France
“Alliance Française de Brisbane is thrilled to partner today with QUT in bringing the very best of French, European and international museums to all Queenslanders.” Mr Carujo said.
“The possibilities are endless: artists will be able to use world-famous masterpieces as part as their performances, lecturers will be able to offer visits of iconic museums, schools will be able to organise day trips to Versailles, all this, right here, in Brisbane.
“With the Micro-Folie being strategically located in The Cube, an open area right in the middle of QUT Campus, next to the CBD and the botanical gardens, it is bound to surprise and delight passersby who aren’t used to visiting museums, and therefore develop an unexpected awareness of the arts.”
Alliance Française de Brisbane will collaborate with QUT to offer themed exhibitions, special events and activities with a French and European touch.
At the invitation of The French Ministry of Culture and The French Embassy in Australia, today’s launch featured emerging dancers from Queensland Ballet Academy's Pre-Professional Program performing to Debussy’s celebrated Claire de lune. Created by choreographer Paul Boyd, the work was presented under Monet’s masterpiece, Soleil couchant sur la Seine à Lavacourt, effet d’hiver, illustrating how the digital museum and live performance complement each other.
Details on the public program will be announced in coming weeks and available on The Cube website: https://www.thecube.qut.edu.au/
Media contact:
Amanda Weaver, QUT Media, 07 3138 3151, amanda.weaver@qut.edu.au
After hours: 0407 585 901, media@qut.edu.au
