Experience a perfect blend of visual arts and technology at this art show

Many artists view technology with suspicion as do patrons They accuse it of simplifying or reducing art to the lowest common denominator In doing so they forget that this was the primary purpose of art mdash to convey individual experience to the masses through a visual medium As we walk into the quiet space of the Alliance Franccedilaise de Bombay in Santacruzrsquos Railway Colony we hope to experience the exhibition Novembre Numeacuterique firsthand that will be on display till November 26 showcasing works that blend technology Augmented Reality AR and visual arts for students to experienceVirtual reality headset book and illustrations at the exhibitionAs we enter the little room down from the reception we can see the sparse walls decked with framed illustrations The artworks are part of the Midi Minuit series curated by Aureacutelien Jeanney founder and artistic director of Maison Tangible mdash the Parisbased manufacturer of images ldquoMidi Minuit was born of the desire to bring together the cregraveme de la cregraveme of French illustration around a single theme We unified the collection around one theme the cycle between day and night and one colour palette I wanted a theme that everyone could understand and relate to and with which the guest artists could create new narratives and surprising storiesrdquo Jeanney writesSome of the artists on display include illustrator and frequent Netflix and DreamWorks collaborator Juliaon Roels Theo Guignard Franccedilois Maumont paper artist and stop motion filmmaker Lila Poppins among others ldquoWe are celebrating the seventh edition this year There are also Virtual Reality VR experiences and innovative storytelling methods used that can be fascinating to young studentsrdquo Stephan Doutrelant director Alliance Franccedilaise de Bombay tells usThe writer views an illustrated artwork on the appOn our guidersquos suggestion we download the Maison Tangible app by scanning the barcode put up on the wall The app offers access to the collection and is fairly simple However it requires a basic understanding of French to navigate Once the app components are downloaded all you need to do is switch on the camera From the looped images of phases of the moon in Tom Haugomatrsquos The Tide to the view of Earth from Mars in Vincent Maheacutersquos Mars the works are quite clear and intriguing in their style The subtle movements and shifts in visuals can be surprisingly fun The coding of the images extends to replicas beyond the frame too We tried our hand at a few souvenir postcards of the images tooThis sense of AR serves to enable the spread of the French language An example of this is the book Les Voyages Extraordinaires drsquoAxel mdash authored by Jeanneymdash present at the exhibition Another segment in the app transforms the book from a plain wellillustrated story into a minianimated film albeit without any audio It is hard not to think how this writerrsquos French would have improved if they had such fun ways to learnIllustrated pages from the bookThe second aspect of the exhibition is the VR experience The Meta Quest 2 headset and gear allows you to step inside videos for a 360degree view This writer decided to take a walk through The Louvre If you are new to VR it can be a tad disorienting Once you get your bearings right it becomes a fun exercise It is easy to see why this will be an attractive draw for young children The videos for the experience will include museums art galleries streets and lanes of the city of ParisWhile the exhibition is aimed at young children and teens it can be a surprise package for adults too After all everyone needs an escape from dreariness of urban realityTill November 26 10 am to 730 pmAt Alliance Franccedilaise de Bombay third floor Hi Life Mall Santacruz WestCall 42640330