The good thing about living in the middle of Mumbai is that you can access so many places pretty easily. I am grateful to be able to reach the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) within 10-12minutes from home.
When a mom friend, who is an artist, suggested we should go for ‘Second nature’ an immersive art exhibit in BKC, it stayed in my mind. I’m glad it did.
On one of the Ganpati days when everyone was off the street, we decided to visit. My mom, my daughter, my bestie and her sister and I went off to experience some immersive art in Mumbai
As the information about the exhibition says, Second Nature meshes nature, humanity and technology. It does it in a way that no one has ever seen before! Bought here by the international group Super Blue featuring 5 artists Random International, teamLab, A.A. Murakami, Simon Heijdens, and Es Devlin. The exhibition spread out on 4 levels, each one was its own little experience. This time you had the opportunity to interact with the artwork and not just stare at it on the walls. If you read about the exhibition you will realise that the artists want the viewer to experience the installations, rather than remain static. They managed to do that and more.
Level One: The art was watching us
The first level was the most interactive. It captured what the viewers were doing, literally creating art out of us. As we entered, we realized that if we stood in front of this huge canvas, long enough, we would be superimposed on to it. Our images were captured by a discrete camera and projected on the plywood canvas infront of us. It was like magic.
On the opposite side there were these long lines of light suspended from the ceiling. They seemed to walk with you, creating an almost sci-fi image of yourself. There were also playful mirrors that followed you as you walked. It was super fun to see what would happen next. My daughter was only getting warmed up and my friends were busy taking pictures from my phone.
Level Two: Another planet
The second level we felt like we were visiting another planet. There were psychedelic globe lights hanging from the ceiling as well as standing on the ground in different pendulous shapes. They made for some great pictures. The other rooms had psychedelic pictures on the walls, with flowers in bloom and then suddenly changed into huge room full of sparkles. Here you could even become one with the pictures. Ziva started having fun here,running about and even lying on the ground trying to blend in with the installations. We couldn’t get a decent picture of her after this because she was never in one place.
Level Three: Bubbles, bubbles everywhere
The third floor had a minimalist and futurist white tree installation. It was releasing soap bubbles the size of basketballs balls for everyone below to play with. My daughter had the most fun trying to burst these before they touched the ground. She ran around the tree in circles trying to catch every single one. It was fun to experience the exhibition through her eyes. For a little while, everyone in our group was a little carefree, not seeking the perfect photo.
Level Four: Just experience it
The last floor had all of us sit on benches . We then had to listen to an art talk about the narrators future self-meeting his past self. That somehow added to the experience. We were also able to pick pieces of art to take home as keepsakes. This was a lovely way to end the exhibition – with a little piece of the experience coming home with us.
The whole thing lasted not more than an hour, driving home the point that art can be fun. It also does not have to make complete sense and can transport you somewhere else. Its lovely to have such things in Mumbai especially ones that the whole family can enjoy. And while I know there is a big PR machinery behind exhibitions like this and there are larger conversations around the Ambanis and the NMACC, for that hour, I was able to put all of that aside and just experience the moment with my daughter, my family and friends.
At ₹100 for senior citizens and ₹460 for a regular ticket, with children under 7 entering free, it was a fairly accessible way to experience immersive art in Mumbai. Also its on till Jan 2027! So Don’t miss out!
Sometimes, art doesn’t need to be explained.
Sometimes, you just need to run around, burst a few bubbles and have fun.
Want to see more fun things to do in Mumbai , Check this out: https://ideapromoters.net/birthday-amidst-the-green-maharashtra-nature-park/
