Accessible Art Concept Launched by Imperial MBA Students

A group of five Imperial MBA students have launched a new spin on the concept of the pop-up art event – one that centers on increasing public accessibility and knowledge of important artists and their oeuvre. 

“We wanted to break away from the passive museum-going experience,” said one of the Imperial MBA students behind SensArt, Nino Oniani, in a report for the London-based school.

An art event that aims for broad appeal

The premise behind each art event is to take high-resolution digital copies of artworks, scale up the proportions and project them onto different surfaces – preferably in either unusual or historic locations. However, the Imperial MBA team’s concept goes beyond paintings alone, with each art event looking to create a complete audiovisual experience that aims to educate, as much as entertain. 

“Using music, voiceover and storytelling as well as creating the right ambience, we aim to give our audience a 360-degree sensory experience. In this way, we believe we can widen the appeal of these masterpieces,” said Oniani.

 

Degas is first subject of Imperial MBA enterprise

The team collaborated with two students at the Royal College of Art on the first SenArt event, in which Edgar Degas was the focus. Works by the French painter, an important figure in impressionism, were projected onto the brickwork inside the Queen's Tower at Imperial College. A suitably impressed dean of Imperial College Business School, G. ‘Anand’ Anandalingam, attended the art event:

“The texture of the brick walls on the Queen’s Tower truly gave a three-dimensional effect to the Degas paintings, and brought them to life better than I have ever seen before,” Anandalingam said.

The Imperial MBA students are now hopeful of taking their art event concept on to rural locations in Europe as well as places in the Middle East – choices that ought to reaffirm their commitment to increasing art’s public accessibility. Indeed, the team is also keen to tap into the hidden gems contained within private collections that are simply not on public display, even to those who can - and enjoy - regularly attending museums and galleries.

image source for Edgar Degas' 'Blue Dancers'