Balloon Museum has landed in Naples: “the wonder enclosed in an inflatable world”

The Balloon Museum has finally landed in Naples. The world’s most exciting exhibition has been in town for about a month.

After four successful stages and over 2 million visitors, the Balloon Museum has opened its Pop Air, the travelling exhibition dedicated to inflatable art, in Naples.

Entering this museum means going through stages of a journey beyond any scale, among unexpected shapes and colours that aim at the centrality of the spectator.

How long will it be possible to visit it?

The Balloon Museum is located inside the Mostra d’Oltremare, and can be visited until 7 December.

Where is the entrance?

The entrance is located at Via Terracina 197, Naples.

What are the hours of public accessibility?

Monday/Thursday 14:00 – 21:00 (last admission 20:00)

Saturday 10:00 – 22:00 (last admission 21:00)

Friday 14:00 – 22:00 (last admission 21:00)

Sunday 10:00 – 22:00 (closes at 22:00 with last admission until 21:00)

What are the prices for visiting it?

Monday – Thursday:

Full Over 26: € 18.00;
Reduced Children 4-12: € 14,00;
Reduced 13-26/Over65: € 16,00;
Reduced Family 4 (2 adults + 2 children under 12): € 12.50 each;
Free: Children up to 3 years of age and persons with a certified disability of over 70% get in free of charge (please report to the box office).

Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays

Full price: € 20.00;
Reduced Children 4-12: € 16.00;
Reduced 13-26/Over65/Disabled accompanying person: € 18,00;
Family Pack: € 60.00 (2 adults and two children 4-12 years);
Free: Children up to 3 years of age and persons with a certified disability of more than 70% get in free of charge (please go to the box office).

The Balloon Museum is organised and conceived by Lux Eventi, the artists and works are selected or commissioned by a curatorial team that designs and mounts contemporary art exhibitions with works that have air as their only distinctive element.

The aim of the creators was precisely to install works that would allow visitors to feel “at the centre of attention”, and in particular to experience the entire exhibition in a dynamic form.

This approach, completely different from everyday life, allows the curiosity of children to be cultivated, who, as pure souls, are amazed by the magical installations.

What are the works that can be encountered?

The exhibition begins with Goof by Filthy Luker, a group of large inflatable monsters that observe people, creating in them a sense of bewilderment and amazement.

The second leg of the tour takes us to Aria, an immersive experience proposed by Pepper’s Ghost, which appears to be a digital interpretation of inflatable art, during which the audience is immersed in a multitude of floating balloons, as if experiencing a metaphysical journey.

This stage has a special sound in the background that allows viewers to immerse themselves in a virtual reality, reproducing the depth of a breath taken kilometres away.

Thanks to ENESS, which presented Together Forever, the viewer has the opportunity to immerse himself, as he enters the work, in the sound of a heart beating in unison.

As we said at the beginning, the exhibition is a continuous investigation into nature and the observation of the state of balance between chaos and stillness.

These are the hallmarks of the art collective Hyperstudio, which presents Hypercosmo, and the duo Quiet Ensemble, which created the multimedia performance and unveils A quiet storm. The installations immerse in environments in which sea, sky and rain take on a new guise.

Objects of everyday life and their interaction with space are investigated by Cyril Lancelin with Knot, a large knotted knot whose beginning and end cannot be perceived, and by Lindsay Glatz with Curious Form with Cloud Swing, a work consisting of three swings suspended between luminous clouds.

Coloured lights that are activated by the user’s movements provide a fairy-tale setting that takes the audience back to childhood memories.

In Never Ending Story by Motorefisico, the spectator is enveloped in sensational atmospheres that allow him to perceive his surroundings in constant movement with him.

The work Tholos, by Plastique Fantastique, allows us to see structures in a revisited key, in homage to ancient temples. They reflect geometries and shapes with irony.

The structure is made of mirrored and transparent materials.

Sculptor Max Streicher has created Silenus, a sleeping giant of monumental dimensions that, thanks to advanced technology, would appear to breathe.

In Polyheadra, created by Karina Smigla-Bobinski, the spectator becomes the protagonist, assembling inflatable tubes in different combinations and documenting them with photos and videos.

Canopy, a collaboration between the Pneuhaus studio and Bike Powered Events, comes alive with the intervention of the individual. Consisting of a small forest of luminous tree-like sculptures in constant transformation, it lights up and expands through the green energy produced by participants with generators driven by bicycles.

Rub Kandy’s Ginjos are mysterious characters whose shapes evoke anthropomorphic figures.

The digital VR experience called Into the Rainbow, realised by Ultravioletto, transports the viewer on a journey of colourful worlds reminiscent of the colours of the rainbow, thus experiencing high-adrenaline sensations.

Before the last outdoor installation, the Balloon Museum offers the Balloon Street, an installation of ten rooms with different contents that allow the visitor to indulge in taking pictures with a high aesthetic content.

Parcobaleno (Rainbow Park) by Stefano Rossetti is an installation that transforms the rainbow into a place to be experienced, a real space to play in and interact with: large oscillating coloured rays to touch, clouds to walk on and a large 10-metre high inflatable sculpture – Colorama – celebrate this optical phenomenon and its colours.

Is it worth visiting the Balloon Museum?

Balloon Museum – Pop Air, through the use of installations and inflatable sculptures, offers a reflection on contemporary issues. This creates a singular experience, which fuses art and sustainability in an engaging and deeply meaningful way. It invites the public to socialise, have fun and play in an ironic environment.