Night at the Metaverse Museum: XRLab@MCM invited a global audience to a special virtual exhibition
A particular piece of German, and Münster, film history is “Alle Jahre wieder”, which won several awards (including the German Film Award and the Silver Bear at the Berlinale) and has remained cherished by Münster’s residents. The movie, delving into themes of family, adultery, tradition, and hypocrisy, reflects filmmaker Ulrich Schamoni’s mixed feelings about his hometown, capturing Münster’s post-war transformation in 1965-66 when it was filmed. With a photo exhibition at Stadtmuseum Münster, the MCM, alongside collaborators, protocolled in 2021 how the film’s historic locations had changed during half a century, while recasting its stars with modern-day residents, both prominent and “ordinary” ones (see here).
On January 23, 2025, the Marketing Center Münster and its very own eXperimental Reality Lab invited attendants to explore the brand-new “Metaverse Edition” of the exhibition created by MCM Professor Thorsten Hennig-Thurau in collaboration with renowned world builder and 3D artist Liam Mckill. The event was part of the ‘X-Night’ series of virtual events hosted monthly since 2020 by the berlin-based immersive brand agency vmpeople and its partners, which include the XRLab@MCM.
Prinzipalmarkt
About 40 attendants from all over the world were able to explore the exhibition, which is located right at the (virtual) Prinzipalmarkt and experience the opportunities of cultural storytelling in virtual environments on their own. Afterward, they headed to the exhibition’s very own movie theater for a rich discussion about the joys, but also some challenges of bringing stories and history to life in such immersive virtual experiences.
Together with their guests, Professor Hennig-Thurau and Liam McKill discussed how physical exhibitions can be enriched and transformed within the Metaverse, gave insights into technological challenges and their solutions, and offered an inspiring look into the future of cultural experiences in virtual environments.
The virtual exhibition is accessible here via VRChat.
For more information about the physical exhibition see here.
