The Musée des Confluences presents the new exhibition of the Oscar-winning director in 2006 for his documentary on emperor penguins. Luc Jacquet takes the public to the ends of the world, from Patagonia to the South Pole.
Seven years later Antartica, his first exhibition at the Musée des Confluences, Luc Jacquet once again takes visitors from the Lyon museum to extreme lands. This new polar event has the originality of being offered in a universe where art has its place.
Antarctica, a long-fantasized territory
It all starts with the card room. Thanks to the soundscapes and the images that pass by, the visitor imagines himself on the deck of a boat. Moving cartographic documents from all periods, from Antiquity to the 19th century, are projected onto the large sails.e century. Because Antarctica has always fascinated men, even before its discovery.
A long-unexplored territory, it was called “Terra incognita”. “Greek geographers thought that there was a need for land so that the globe would not be unbalanced. So long before we knew it, we drew the Terra incognita” says Luc Jacquet. “The whole exhibition tells, ultimately, the evolution of the Antarctic coastline which was purely fantasized, totally fanciful until it was discovered in 1820,” adds the director.
Between cinema, contemporary art and immersive experience
After this history lesson, a few meters further on, we hear the deep and hoarse cries of the emperor penguins. In the middle of the room, there is a huge cube that rotates on itself. On its sides, giant screens successively recount five significant stages of this journey between Patagonia and the South Pole. A story in images, black and white. The public sets sail for the legendary Cape Horn, taking the Drake Passage surrounded by monumental waves. After days at sea, it’s the encounter with the first icebergs, the penguin colonies on the broken ice floes, then the arrival on the Antarctic continent.
“It’s a proposition that is halfway between cinema, contemporary art and an immersive experience. I really want people to be able to take the time, to immerse themselves to feel the beauty of things. This journey between Patagonia and the South Pole, it is ultimately a journey that few people can make”, concludes Luc Jacquet. Added to these filmed sequences are quotes from great navigators which testify to the intensity of this extraordinary journey into “Terra incognita”.
Temporary exhibition “Terra incognita, go to the end of the world” – Musée des Confluences, 86 quai Perrache, 69002 Lyon – Floor 1, room 15 – Until March 3, 2024.