MONTREAL – The “first virtual museum for hospitalized people” is how Art dans la Cite, the Paris-based organization behind the new Illuminart Museum, describes the project.

In collaboration with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Illuminart Museum offers people in hospitals a portal for transcending the bounds of space to enjoy world-class works of art.

Illuminart Museum displays selected works from the Canadian museum, its first museum partner, in a virtual space designed by artist Santiago Torres comprising virtual galleries, bright outdoor spaces, and original sculpture. Hospital patients can have a change of scene by paying a virtual visit in a variety of ways, depending on what works best for them: on a tablet, on a widescreen television, projected on a wall, or through a virtual reality headset.

Illuminart Museum Visite immersive novembre 2019 from Art dans la Cite on Vimeo.

Art dans la Cite seeks to contribute to the overall wellbeing of both patients and staff in hospitals by infusing their physical space with visual art.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has provided repeated support to Art dans la Cite for this and other projects, including implementation of a “Virtual Aquarium” in hospitals in France and Greece, an “Interactive Musical Planetarium” in France and the U.S., and an interactive digital mural at eldercare facilities in France and Monaco. The Foundation also supports the Anouk Foundation in introducing art to hospitals though large-scale artistic interventions produced collaboratively by artists, patients, and medical staff.