Seeing the Invisible

An Augmented Reality Contemporary Art Exhibition

The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens in partnership with Outset Fund for Contemporary Art: A new collaboration of Botanical Gardens

Seeing the Invisible is an international art exhibition which will showcase and commission approx. 20 Augmented Reality (AR) works of art, from well-established artists to newly emerging ones, from around the world. The AR art exhibition will study the boundaries & connections between Art, Technology and Nature, setting these digital experiences inside botanical gardens of four countries – Israel, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA – simultaneously, without leaving a carbon footprint or disturbing the preservations.

Each AR artwork will be placed in a unique spot in the botanical gardens, and will be experienced by visitors through the “Seeing the Invisible” mobile app that will be developed specifically for this project. Co-curators, Tal Michael Haring (virtual and augmented reality expert) and Hadas Maor (contemporary art curator), will work with the various artists, to select existing works as well as commission new works, thus promoting artists to conceptualize and realize new experiential artworks that use the full potential of this new technology.

Artists could use Augmented Reality to “open our eyes” to layers of reality that visitors are only able to see using the exhibition’s app. As the smartphone’s camera shows visitors the “present”, the “real”, the “visible”, the AR could open new worlds – hidden in trees, underground, in the sky, merging past, present and future at the same time, allowing the impossible to appear, and so much more.

The exhibition is set to open in the summer of 2021 and run for a year, during which time the public will be invited to explore the art exhibition, whilst visiting their local botanical garden or park. This open-air exhibition is a continuation of the efforts to showcase art in the current situation of COVID-19, while also allowing local communities to be exposed to the best contemporary artists from Israel, United Arab Emirates, UK and the USA.

Opportunity for Botanical Gardens

Jerusalem Botanical Gardens is selecting 5 – 10 Botanical Gardens from the UAE, the UK and the USA to take part in this international project.

The selected gardens will receive:

1. An augmented art exhibition partly sight specific for their gardens, showcasing their flora and landscape to visitors both locally and internationally.
2. Full rights to sell entrance and tickets for one year of hosting this exhibition (keeping 100% of the sale profit on tickets or merchandise).
3. Limited effort required for the garden to execute the exhibition.
4. Full use of the visitor app and augmented experience.
5. Wide range promotion of the garden in other botanical gardens throughout the UAE, UK, Israel and USA to millions of potential tourists and supporters.
6. Non-intrusive exhibition that allows for the gardens to continue their usual annual programing and events – simply adding value to their visitors experience and attracting a new and extensive target audience.
7. Use of all marketing materials and merchandise design to produce and sell at their own discretion.

What is required from the selected botanical gardens:

1. There will be a participation fee, although the project is heavily sponsored, the participation fee for the yearlong exhibition will be no more than $50,000. This fee will go directly to help cover the costs of the new technology. All other expenses are covered in the additional funding the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens will bring.
2. An assigned member of staff 50% time to be the contact person and ground coordinator from each garden.

How to apply

The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens is looking to close the partner gardens before the end of January 2021. To set up a zoom call for more information and to request consideration please email Hannah@Botanic.co.il before January 1st 2021