The Museum of Illusions opens its doors on Saturday in Montreal after having hypnotized several major cities around the world. Kaleidoscopes, luminous rooms and optical games try to amuse visitors while demystifying the limits of human perception.
After Toronto, Montreal is the second city in Canada chosen by the international franchise, which already owns 43 museums around the world.
Montrealers and tourists from Old Montreal who visit the museum with freshly painted walls on rue Saint-Antoine will be able to experience the same interactive experience as visitors to the first establishment located in Zagreb, Croatia, which opened in 2015.
With a few exceptions, these are the same creations that can be found all over the world.
Creating an experience different from that of “traditional” museums is the goal of manager Yoshimmy Salas. Her project to study visual arts had led her to “make paintings that you can touch”, which is the case of the 70 permanent installations of the Museum of Illusions. The spirit of play inhabits several creations.
You can, for example, pretend to have your head cut off or to be suspended from the ceiling. It is therefore better to be a minimum of two people to be able to enjoy it, especially if you want to trick your Instagram followers with optical illusions. The museum is effectively designed to incorporate photography for visitors to create content themselves.
The play of light, the mirrors that reproduce the same image over and over again and the surprises hidden in a photo also serve to popularize the play of optics. Each installation includes an explanation of the illusion since understanding is often “hypothetical,” says Salas.
Some installations are well known such as the hypnotic wheels and the faces that you only see in the image if you stand at a certain angle. Watch out for the main attraction if you’re easily dizzy: walking through the vortex tunnel may throw you off balance – and that’s the goal.
It will also be an opportunity to take you for an actor from The Lord of the Rings since the inclined room uses the same technique used on the screen to represent Hobbits. Even your tallest friend would look smaller than you!
