Tucked away in a quiet corner on Calle Segovia behind Plaza Mayor sits one of Madrid’s newest and brightest museums: Museo de La Luz (Light Museum). From the outside, the museum blends in with the rest of the buildings’ exteriors in the touristy center neighborhood. The inside, however, teleports its visitors to a glowing new universe.
Museo de la Luz is one of the latest museums to follow suit in the rising popularity of interactive museums, allowing visitors to engage with the artwork beyond what the eye can see. Museum-goers can bend and control light through the motions of a bird in flight or lights that switch on by the beat of a drum pad throughout the 13 designated spaces in the exhibit.
The light exhibitions in Museo de la Luz are hand crafted by Maxi Gilbert, an Argentinian artist who specializes in working with light fixtures for museums, various music festivals, and concerts.
Gilbert’s work in light design is in many of Madrid’s most visited tourist attractions and cultural centers like the Thyssen Borenmisza museum, Matadero Madrid, and the IFEMA center, located at the Feria de Madrid metro station.
Something that the Museo de la Luz prides itself on regarding several of the pieces displayed is the use of recycled materials and light fixtures where possible. One exhibit utilizes stage lights from arenas and festivals that would have otherwise been discarded. Some of the light fixtures Gilbert uses in his pieces come from concerts such as Daft Punk, Shakira, and Amy Winehouse.
Students can enjoy a discounted ticket price, like in many of Madrid’s museums, for 11€. Many of the floors in each interactive exhibit room are made of materials that are reflective, and easily become dirty and scratched, requiring visitors to wear shoe coverings provided by the museum.
The fall semester brings colder and rainier weather to the city of Madrid, but the Museo de la Luz provides students with another exciting indoor art experience, or even a weekend plan, rain or shine.
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Photo of an interactive exhibit in Museo de la Luz.
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