Alice's Worlds. Dreaming Wonderland. 2024 — Museography

Revisiting Wonderland: A New Look at the World of Alice

I was very clear that it was necessary to build a world that would turn us into Alice and make us relive her journey.

The scenography had to break with the order of the conventional universe, allowing us to experience firsthand a shift in the laws of logic and, like Alice, discover the land and characters that Carroll described in his book.  

To design the scenography, I reinterpreted the book's original spaces while respecting the structure of Kate Bailey's exhibition script, blending both visions to create a new space.  

Beyond these two starting points in conceiving the space, it was essential for me to put myself in the shoes of future visitors to evoke Alice’s collective imaginary, stripping it of artifice and offering a visually powerful experience.  

Each space in the exhibition needed to evoke the most representative elements of the book, with a play of perceptions and visual tricks to awaken the visitors’ senses and create a dreamlike journey that would guide them, following in Alice’s footsteps. At the beginning, a simple table served as the starting point, an object that would transform along the way, becoming an invisible thread to guide visitors. The scenic play with the table would constantly alter the visitor’s perception of size and scale in relation to the scenography.

The Victoria & Albert Museum’s collection was an additional layer in this scenic arrangement, structured into a prologue and five acts. The displayed objects needed to coexist with a scenography that would not only complement them but also bring them to life, creating an immersive experience. The interaction between space and objects was meant to allow visitors to submerge themselves in the story, where each piece of the collection would become part of Alice’s universe.  

The visit should become more than a display of objects, transforming into a journey that follows the spirit of Alice, the protagonist of this exhibition.  

 

As in all my projects, the search for dramatic action within the space has been a constant in the conception of this museography. An action that will unfold when the visitor, the true actor of the scene, finds themselves face-to-face with Wonderland. Only then will the scenographic space fully come to life, revealing Alice’s universe and creating a connection between the work and each of its visitors. Thus, the dreamlike journey that inspired this proposal will fulfill its purpose: to make each person immerse themselves in Lewis Carroll’s universe and experience it as a unique and unrepeatable personal journey.

Promoter institution: “la Caixa” Foundation

Location: CaixaForum Spain and Portugal

Photography: © Pepo Segura