“KONTRAST” Experience Exhibition Opens at Oskarshausen

(eap) Starting today, visitors to the Oskarshausen leisure park in Freital, Germany, can experience “KONTRAST”, a new interactive exhibition. More than 40 photo worlds, interactive light installations and a journey through the four elements of fire, water, earth and air are designed to amaze families, school classes and all curious guests.

© oskarshausen

The exhibition explores questions such as: What is actually heavy – and what only feels heavy? Why does one person suddenly appear huge, while another next to them looks tiny? And how can a room be upside down and yet appear completely normal at the same time? The new exhibition aims to provide answers to these and many other questions. “Across 1,000 square metres, illusion, science, art and modern media technology merge into an experience world in which visitors not only marvel, but become part of the staging themselves,” explains Josephine Rühle, project manager from Oskarshausen’s decoration team.

In addition to around 40 exciting photo points – with motifs such as floating above Dresden on a balloon swing, standing inside a large walk-in kaleidoscope, entering a mysterious underwater world or visiting a bedroom that appears to have been tilted by 90 degrees, and many more – twelve light installations and nine interactive experience stations provide surprising moments. The highlight of the exhibition awaits guests at the end of their journey: An immersive 4D staging leads through the four elements. With light, projections, sound and special effects, guests are offered a finale that makes contrasts tangible in a special way.

© oskarshausen

Behind the playful concept, however, there is also an educational approach. The exhibition conveys topics such as light and optics, perception, colour theory, perspective, spatial effects and scientific correlations. Visitors learn why our brain is deceived by optical illusions and how photographs can be manipulated through perspective. This makes the exhibition suitable not only for families, but also as an extracurricular learning location for school classes.

Work on the experience exhibition began back in 2022 with initial sketches and ideas. More than 60 project participants worked together on its implementation. Graphic designers from Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy and Pakistan created around 1,500 square metres of motif films, many of them specially developed for spectacular camera perspectives. Numerous regional companies were also involved in the realisation of the project. ■