Jules Verne 200: New immersive experience offers underwater odyssey into visionary French writer’s fantastical world

A new immersive exhibition dedicated to the futuristic world of 19th century French writer Jules Vernes opens in the Horta Gallery in Brussels from 12 June.

Jules Verne 200 lands in Brussels on the first stage of its international tour after launching in Barcelona. As an early celebration of the bicentenary of his birth in 2028, it is scheduled to run until autumn.

The collaboration between Spanish creative studio Layers of Reality and Belgian company Exhibition Hub offers a blend of virtual reality, large-scale 360° projections and an exploration of the metaverse.

Visitors are invited on a walk-through journey in the 1,500m2 exhibition space that immerses them in Verne’s fantastical universe. It explores his five most popular novels: Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days, Robur the Conqueror and From the Earth to the Moon.

The journey is heightened by an original soundtrack composed by Rafel Plana and performed by the Symphony Orchestra and Choir of Bratislava in Slovakia.

In addition to the immersion into his celebrated work, visitors can explore Verne’s life, from his early years in Nantes to his youth in Paris and his latter years in the northern French town of Amiens.

Some 150 years on from the publication of his adventure tales, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is now recognised as a futuristic and literary classic. Captain Nemo’s underwater vessel, the Nautilus, was a pretty accurate precursor of the modern submarine that in the 1860s was still rather rudimentary.

The writer is also credited for being a pioneer of the science-fiction subgenre steampunk, a literary and social movement that glamorised 19th-century technology. It is currently enjoying a revival in popular culture, including cinema, comic strip and contemporary art installations in public spaces.  

Jules Verne 200
From 12 June
Horta Gallery
Rue du Marché aux Herbes 116
Brussels

Photos: ©Layers of Reality