© GEDEON Experiences – Backlight – Musée d’Orsay – VIVE Art
© GEDEON Experiences – Backlight – Musée d’Orsay – VIVE Art
The showcase carries audiences into the core of one of the 1800s’ most daring creative and engineering undertakings
PARIS, FRANCE, September 16, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Running through January 31, 2027, the Musée d’Orsay presents the virtual reality exhibit A Statue for Liberty: Bartholdi’s Dream [Une statue pour la liberté: Le rêve de Bartholdi], spanning close to 700 m² within the museum’s Amont Gallery. Co-produced alongside VIVE Arts and Backlight, the display drops visitors directly into one of the most demanding artistic and technical feats of the 19th century. As the narrative progresses, they serve as firsthand observers of the emergence of a Franco-American ambition that evolved into a worldwide emblem of freedom.
A STATUE FOR LIBERTY: BARTHOLDI’S DREAM
15 Sept. 26 – 31 Jan. 27
Level 0, Amont Gallery
An experience by GEDEON Experiences, co-produced with BackLight, Musée d’Orsay, and VIVE Arts, with involvement from the Musée Bartholdi in Colmar.
Equipped with VR headsets, attendees follow the path of Auguste Bartholdi. Grounded in extensive archival research, the journey features a detailed re-creation of the Gaget, Gauthier & Cie workshop, crafted by GEDEON Experiences alongside their collaborator Aristeas. Exhibition curators closely monitored the project’s development with GEDEON Experiences and BackLight Studio, contributing scholarly insight to guarantee authentic depictions of the historical setting and incidents. The experience guides participants through a sensory adventure with constantly shifting proportions: from a modest blueprint resting on a bench to the monumental scale of the final statue, they are awestruck by the vastness of the endeavor. Along the way, they uncover the influences that sparked the artist’s creativity and the circumstances that molded his concept over time.
From politician Edouard Laboulaye’s salon where the idea first emerged, via the shores of the Nile—where Bartholdi envisioned constructing a massive lighthouse at the Suez Canal’s entrance—to the political turmoil affecting France and the United States during the latter half of the 19th century. Audiences experience his excitement and his moments of uncertainty when the venture appears destined for collapse: financial hurdles pile up, initial prototypes prove delicate, and the project’s sheer ambition occasionally looks overwhelming. Nevertheless, propelled by unwavering resolve, Bartholdi presses forward. Before spectators’ eyes, his vision takes form step by step, moving from sketch to miniature, and from miniature to landmark. Virtual reality resurrects locations that have vanished and submerges guests in the center of this remarkable tale.
Attendees feel the energy of the Philadelphia World’s Fair, where the statue’s torch is presented to rally public backing, then step into the expansive Gaget, Gauthier & Cie workshop. Brought to life for the first time in VR through meticulous historical investigation, this long-lost structure is restored in its full grandeur. An authentic industrial marvel, the workshop showcases the relentless labor of nearly six hundred laborers, artisans, and apprentices who devoted years to constructing the copper giant envisioned by Bartholdi. Visitors navigate around scaffolding and enormous hand-beaten panels, appreciating the engineering breakthroughs Gustave Eiffel devised to overcome the unprecedented obstacles of such a colossal monument.
About VIVE Arts
VIVE Arts (HTC) is a worldwide arts and technology effort reshaping how culture is produced, encountered, and safeguarded via digital tools. VIVE Arts commissions, produces, and disseminates cutting-edge immersive projects in collaboration with leading artists and cultural organizations—broadening creative horizons for creators and helping institutions bring heritage to life in inventive ways that connect with broader audiences. With deep proficiency in arts, culture, and technology, VIVE Arts supports artists and organizations in leveraging immersive media. This enables fresh approaches to storytelling, experimentation, and presentation, nurturing a vibrant ecosystem for digital creativity in the arts, spanning production to distribution. Since its launch in 2017, VIVE Arts has delivered over 75 initiatives worldwide and remains a pioneer in advancing culture through technology.
Sarah McNaughton, Shea Seery, Lauren Gagnon
Resnicow and Associates
+1 212-671-5161
VIVEArts@resnicow.com
