The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Announces Extraordinary Event to Celebrate its 20th Anniversary

A spectacular public event has been announced by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of its opening. Reflections will be an open, free-admission event made possible thanks to the collaboration of the City of Bilbao, the Provincial Council of Biscay, and Ibedrola. Designed specifically for the occasion, Reflections - a large-scale projection mapping event - has been conceived as a unique, sensory experience for both locals and visitors alike. This will be the final event of the celebration year, which is being marked by a special art programme and numerous cultural activities.

From 11-14 October, Frank Gehry's iconic building will be turned into an impressive public artistic intervention by Tony Award-winning video artists, 59 Productions. The Museum will see its distinctive titanium curves and soaring glass atrium used as a vast canvas for a bespoke projection-mapping event for more than 200,000 spectators, free of charge.

"The randomness of the curves are designed to catch the light", Frank Gehry on Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

Using cutting-edge technology, the 20-minute animated artwork will be set to an original score and will trace two decades of history and creativity in Bilbao. Inspired by this rich history alongside Gehry's visionary design and lifelong preoccupation with light, texture and movement, the projections will transform his shimmering architectural masterwork and bring art to life in an unmissable iridescent celebration of the people and city of Bilbao.

Reflections is the latest work from the multi award-winners 59 Productions, the team behind the video design of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Building on a decade of experience making theatrical work for some of the world's greatest venues - including the National Theatre and the Royal Opera House in London, New York's Metropolitan Opera and the Salzburg Festival - the Company has more recently become renowned for creating spectacular public artworks, projection-mapping some of the world's most iconic buildings including the Sydney Opera House, Edinburgh Castle, Hampton Court Palace and the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Leo Warner, Director and founder of 59 Productions, said: "This extraordinary commission - to celebrate the building and the institution which played such a significant part in transforming the great city of Bilbao is without doubt one of our most exciting to date. Gehry's iconic building presents technical challenges and creative opportunities we've never faced before when creating a projected artwork. We will be using sound, music, light and projection to create a unique piece of theatre in which the building itself is the hero character".

Juan Ignacio Vidarte, Director General of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, said: "It was very important for us to conceive an exceptional event to celebrate the Anniversary and share it with the people that are closer to us: the citizens that we have so much to thank for. By working together, an extraordinary transformation has been possible in Bilbao, which will convey the message to the world about of how art changes everything. Although we cannot at this moment reveal more details about this event, Reflections will be a unique, once-in-a-lifetime show."

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!