Everything you need to know about this museum ship dedicated to immersive arts, moored for the first time in the port of Cannes

It's impossible to miss. Moored since Tuesday in the Old Port of Cannes, a sailboat with an impressive mast—53 meters high—is attracting attention, both from passersby and professionals who have come for the Festival's very first stopover in Cannes. This ship belongs to the Art Explora Foundation. A true floating museum, it is entirely dedicated to immersive arts.

"We offer a meeting space for all professionals working in the immersive market sector," explains Émilie Boucheteil, Director of Audiences at the Art Explora Foundation. "It ranges from virtual reality to immersive artwork experiences that can be experienced in a collective format, with interactive formats."

A bridge between producers and presenters during the Festival, Art Explora is, for the rest of the year, a traveling boat that sails the seas several times a year. "We travel from port to port to offer works of art from a multidisciplinary program," continues Émilie Boucheteil. "We deploy containers at the dock and create exhibitions on visual art."

Democratizing a booming universe

The goal is clear: to make a burgeoning universe accessible. "We want to give the public the opportunity to discover completely new and immersive content."

With 60% of the population living less than an hour from the coast, this floating museum aims to reach out to locals. "We want to create cultural meeting points between what we offer and local cultures," adds Philippe Rivière, the foundation's digital director. "The advantage of the boat is that it allows us to reach a wide audience."

Museum ship and mobile cinema

Last year, in just two months, more than 250,000 people embarked on the adventure, from France to Spain, via Italy, Morocco, and Malta. Next stops planned: Nice in June, followed by Croatia, Greece, and Cyprus.

Please note that this Saturday, the official inauguration of the museum ship will take place in the port of Cannes at 4 p.m. And since Tuesday, the foundation has also deployed a mobile cinema, the CinéMo, in the Ranguin district with seventy-two seats - whose official inauguration will take place this Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. - which offers free film screenings. This cinema truck will continue its tour from May 27 to 31 in several towns in the Grasse metropolitan area.