The Icelandic-Danish artist’s exhibition at MCAD Manila invites visitors to see, feel, and reconsider their relationship with the world around them
Based on a study published by the National Library of Medicine, museums can enhance visitors’ and other stakeholders’ psychological wellbeing. However, this can be achieved when museum experiences are designed to be attractive, comfortable, comprehensible, participative, innovative, and sustainable.
These elements come together at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila, where young visitors have been drawn to Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson’s traveling exhibition, “Your Curious Journey.”
Located within the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde campus in Taft, Manila City, MCAD has become a destination for visitors looking for an art experience that goes beyond simply viewing artworks. The exhibition’s interactive and multisensory installations encourage visitors to participate, observe, and reconsider how they see and engage with the environment.
Olafur Eliasson
True to its title, “Your Curious Journey” takes visitors through a series of works that explore perception, embodiment, sustainability, and the climate emergency. The exhibition is the final leg of its extensive international tour, which included stops at the Singapore Art Museum, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, and Jakarta’s Museum MACAN.
Upon entering the exhibition, visitors encounter the “Moss Wall,” a sprawling vertical installation made from reindeer moss. The work, first created in 1994, brings organic material into the museum space. At MCAD, the installation is considered the tallest display of the work among the countries the exhibition has visited. At certain points, its earthy scent can also be experienced, immediately setting the tone for an exhibition that asks visitors to pay closer attention to their surroundings.
Another work, “Ventilator,” features an oscillating electric fan suspended from the ceiling. Its unpredictable movement through space turns an ordinary object into an experience of motion and uncertainty.
‘Moss Wall’
One of the crowd favorites is “Yellow Corridor,” an immersive passage illuminated by monofrequency light. By limiting the visible color spectrum to yellow, the installation challenges physiological perception while creating a visually striking environment that many visitors are eager to photograph.
Among the highlights is “Beauty,” a work that transforms water and light into a shifting rainbow. Inside a darkened room, water nozzles create a fine mist that catches a spotlight. Depending on where visitors stand, the refracted light produces a different view of the rainbow, making the experience unique for every observer.
Beyond the visual spectacle, “Your Curious Journey” ultimately asks visitors to become more conscious of how they perceive the world. This becomes especially apparent in “The glacier melt series,” which presents 30 C-prints documenting environmental change.
‘Yellow Corridor’
Through these works, Olafur turns the museum into more than a place for looking. It becomes a space for experiencing, questioning, and reconsidering the relationship between people and the environment.
“Olafur Eliasson: Your Curious Journey” runs at MCAD Manila until Nov. 15, 2026. The exhibition is supported by the Embassy of Denmark in the Philippines, Mercedes Zobel, and Goethe-Institut Philippinen. While admission is free, it is recommended to make a reservation before your visit through the website or by messaging MCAD on social media.
