Guggenheim Abu Dhabi’s Seeing Through Light exhibition extended until March

The Celestial Light section at Guggenheim Abu Dhabi’s Seeing Through Light exhibition – which has been extended until March 26 – is causing a splash at Abu Dhabi’s Manarat Al Saadiyat gallery on Saadiyat Island in more ways than one.

The standout feature is the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room – Filled with the Brilliance of Life (2011). A walkway with water on either side leads visitors through a darkened space aglow with hundreds of twinkling lights dangling from the ceiling. Reflections in the mirrored walls and water give visitors the feeling of floating through space. The 50,000 people who have visited since the show opened on November 5 have been so disorientated by the sensory overload that there have been a few tumbles into the water – at the rate of about one a day, we’re reliably told.

Robert Simwembe is a Ugandan security guard who has been on duty, alerting visitors about the water. “Yes, we have people falling off the walkway into the water,” he says. “Because of the excitement, they step in the water a lot. And they sometimes put their feet in to prove to themselves – is it really water?”

But Simwembe doesn’t think any of the visitors have particularly minded becoming soggy. He adds: “Everything is good and they are happy.”

Original article by Jessica Hill

Continue reading at The National:

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi’s Seeing Through Light exhibition extended until March