Ever wished that you could step into the dry-ice-drenched city streets of Prince’s Purple Rain, or tamper with the mix on some of his seminal hits? If you answered yes, then you’re in luck: an upcoming, immersive exhibition is set to let you do just that.
In fact, the musician’s Purple Rain cover is just one of 10 “multidimensional spaces” related to his life and career in a show titled Prince: The Immersive Experience. Another set will recreate Studio A, the studio in Prince’s Paisley Park estate where he recorded all of his music from the beginning of the 90s onward. Apparently, visitors will be able to drop in and “play producer”, mixing stems from the 1984 hit “Let’s Go Crazy”.
Set to be held in downtown Chicago from June to October, the exhibition is created by Superfly, in collaboration with the Prince Estate, while Prince’s longtime lighting designer LeRoy Bennett has contributed an audiovisual dance space.
Giving a taste of the interactive exhibits, Superfly co-founder Kerry Black tells Rolling Stone: “You’re going to be able to step [into] a Purple Rain album cover… where you can get your photo up on the motorcycle. But we’re also doing a full buildout of the entire street scene. So there’s going to be the First Avenue club and a bunch of the stores.”
Elsewhere, the exhibition will explore Prince’s life beyond his trailblazing musical impact, delving into his social justice activities and efforts to champion artists’ rights. The long-term plan, Black adds, is to tour the world with the Prince show, adding new rooms and iterations on the exhibit, because – unsurprisingly – it’s impossible to do justice to the musician’s vast back-catalogue into a single event.
Prince: The Immersive Experience will launch in Chicago on June 9, running until October 9. Tickets are set to go on sale on March 31. Take a look at the Prince Estate’s announcement below.
