Museum Portraits

Energy Wave

Caroline McManus

At the "Science Playground" at the New York Hall of Science, in Queens, New York, United States.
40.7473° N, 73.8517° W.
This playground serves as a hybrid site of play and education, where people of all ages can explore simple machines and scientific principles related to the built and natural environment.
The "Energy Wave" exhibit visibly demonstrates how energy spreads in a series of connected rods and balls. "Energy Wave" bridges the gap between object, representation, participatory activity, and, of course, energy.

De Archivum Locusta

James DeLisio

A portrait of the Benthic Invertebrate Collection, housed within the Scrippts Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, CA. The Benthic Invertebrate Collection is one of the largest and most robust archives of seafloor-dwelling invertebrates, and contributes specimen to museums, exhibitions, and research laboratories. This exploration of the halls of the Benthic Invertebrate Collection focuses on their collection of California Spiny Lobsters (Panulirus Interruptus) as an extension of an ongoing film project which concerns the spiny lobster more broadly.

Beyond the Brushstrokes

Partha Sen Gupta

Beyond the Brushstrokes is a cinematic exploration of the S.M. Sultan Museum, a sanctuary dedicated to the life and work of one of Bangladesh's most iconic artists. This short film delves into the museum's serene ambience, capturing the essence of the Sultan's unique style.
From his early influences to his signature depictions of rural life, the film traces Sultan's artistic journey. The museum's architecture, a testament to the artist's legacy, provides the perfect backdrop for showcasing his powerful and evocative works.
By capturing the interplay of light and shadow, texture and color, we aim to transport the viewer into the heart of Sultan's artistic world. This film is not just a visual experience but an invitation to appreciate the beauty and depth of his artistic vision.

Finding Kiki

Ophelia Deroy

Submission for Science Museum Call.

The Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery

Scott Bagley

Museums are spaces subject to their own temporal laws. Beyond these doors time no longer flies -- it's wings are plucked. Only time's hardened, calcified carapace remains, cracked and stained. Signifiers of lives that were.
Located in Ōtepoti Dunedin the Museum of Natural Mystery is a small private museum spanning three rooms of an old central city villa. The collection comprises an earthly assortment skulls, bones, biological curiosities and ethnological art interspersed with unusual, otherwordly (and sometimes ghostly) cultural artifacts collected by artist and curator Bruce Mahalsky since childhood. Another room serves as a gallery featuring the artist's trademark textural bone sculptures and paintings of animals.
While bones hold associations of death for many people this is not the case for Bruce: "Life built these structures. If you were walking around on Mars or Venus and found a bone, you wouldn't say 'Oh that's sad, something died here'. You'd say something lived here."
Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand (-45.86540, 170.50438)

Between Rocks and Garden

Florencia Silva Garcia Alexis Gambis

This portrait of the Noguchi Museum captures the quiet tension between stillness and motion. Inside and outside, rocks stand as inert figures, observing the garden and the few visitors who remain as the day fades. Paper lanterns glow softly against the growing darkness, while the last passersby linger, some in quiet reflection. The trees shift gently in the breeze, and outside, the pulse of Long Island City rises, ready for Saturday night. The museum exists in this moment between the enduring and the ephemeral, where time is measured in subtle shifts.
Filmed on November 16, 2024 between 4-5pm (at dusk)

Anna's Museum

Tim Grabham

Anna's Museum is a small private collection of natural history finds and curiosities displayed in a former shop window in Brighton, England.
It is not a museum in a traditional sense, rather it is a little oasis of oddities peering out onto the street beyond that may or may not catch your attention whilst wandering past.
It was created by a young Brighton resident and natural history collector Anna Rubinstein, known as the city's youngest taxidermist.
The collection grows and changes over time and the museum often receives donations which are added to the display, alongside hand-written letters from their donors.
With new residents living at the address they have now become the museums custodians and have decided to continue preserving Anna's unusual collection.

Le Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature

Alexis Gambis

On November 25, 2024, at 3 PM, during a museum portrait at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, tucked in the Marais district of Paris, late afternoon visitors meandered through its atmospheric halls. Families explored the exhibits, children whispering in awe, while security guards kept a watchful yet relaxed presence. The museum, known for its blend of natural history and artistic imagination, offered striking moments: a "laughing" sanglier with an oddly lifelike grin, a man in a cowboy hat pausing in the Salon of Trophées, and fantastical chimeras merging reality and myth.

Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba

Alexis Gambis

January 19, 2023. Mid-day visit to the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba. Filmed on Super 8mm Kodak Color Vision, silent, with an exception to include audio excerpts—capturing a teacher's explanation about bats to a group of students—to fill the silence inherent to silent Super 8 film.
The visit documented "El Mundo de los Mamíferos," a display of preserved specimens; the spinning globe exhibit, illustrating geophysical concepts; and a guided tour on the origins of life, focusing on DNA and its molecular structure.

The Falcon Hospital

Alexis Gambis

This museum portrait takes us on a journey through the various galleries of the Falcon Hospital in Abu Dhabi, including the ICU where living falcons receive treatment. Along the way, we stop to greet the desert owl and the gazelles—both living and immortalized in statues—adding depth to the narrative of the region's wildlife. Visitors, guided through the spaces, engage in awe-inspiring interactions, their curiosity sparking moments of wonder and discovery as they learn about the falcons' intricate ties to ecosystems and national heritage. In the gallery of falcon effigies, history comes alive as these figures seem to narrate their own stories. This portrait is inspired by the iconic museum scene in Chris Marker's science-fiction short La Jetée (1962), filmed at the Galerie de Paléontologie et d'Anatomie Comparée at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (The Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy at the French National Museum of Natural History).

L'Aquarium Tropical de la Porte Dorée

Alexis Gambis

On Wednesday, November 27, at 4 PM, we stepped into the Aquarium Tropical at the Palais de la Porte Dorée, opened in 1931 for the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Inside, tanks pulsed with fluorescent organisms, their bioluminescence shimmering like living constellations in a world of glass and water.
Children moved through the space with electric energy, photographing, sketching, and commenting, their movements a sharp contrast to the hypnotic sway of aquatic life. The vibrant creatures, simultaneously wondrous and unsettling, seemed suspended between freedom and confinement, their luminous beauty amplified by the hum of water and the warped reflections of glass. A realm where science, art, and unease collide.

A Labyrinth of Surrealism

Alexis Gambis

As visitors ascend to the 6th floor of Expositions at the Centre Pompidou, Björk and Aleph's Nature Manifesto transforms the escalator (la chenille, or "larva") into a surreal journey, immersing them in an evocative experience of endangered species. This dreamlike prelude sets the stage for the "Surrealism" exhibit—a profound exploration of the subconscious and the radical imagination of the surrealist movement.
Anchored by Le Manifeste du Surréalisme by André Breton, the exhibit winds through the dream matrices of Salvador Dalí, body parts and celestial enigmas, and the haunting visceral moment of Luis Buñuel's iconic eye-slicing sequence in Un Chien Andalou. Jean Painlevé's enchanting underwater worlds bring a natural surrealism to life, adding to the palpable visual and emotional experiences.
Designed as a labyrinth, the exhibition reflects the surrealist philosophy of magical encounters and disorientation with materials, creatures, and more. It embodies the "Hymn to the Night." Filmed during a special Jeudi Nocturne (Thursday night opening) on November 28 at 7 PM, this cinematic tribute captures the Centre Pompidou on the verge of transformation, as it prepares to close in the summer of 2025 for an ambitious five-year renovation.

The Regional Museum of Ceramics of Tlaquepaque

Florencia Silva Garcia

The Regional Museum of Ceramics of Tlaquepaque showcases a selection of crafts dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection features pieces created by renowned artisans from the region using various techniques, including burnished clay, high-temperature firing, "barro bandera," and "petatillo," among others. The Museum aims to rescue, preserve, and promote the creation of traditional crafts specific to the area, particularly ceramics, emphasizing quality, tradition, cultural value, and design

Museo Cabañas

Florencia Silva Garcia

This museum portrait of the Museo Cabañas in Guadalajara highlights a UNESCO World Heritage Site of remarkable neoclassical design. Celebrated for its history and cultural importance, it features José Clemente Orozco's iconic "El Hombre de Fuego" murals and serves as a vibrant center for art, history, and community engagement.

Museum of Modern Art (2nd Floor)

Florencia Silva Garcia Alexis Gambis

Museum Portrait by Florencia Silva Garcia & Alexis Gambis - As the clock approached 5 p.m., we wandered through MoMA's second floor, drawn to the 1980s–Present galleries and Christian Marclay's The Clock. The corridors buzzed with a lingering hum of visitors, reflections shimmering across polished floors, while film projectors and suspended shapes cast shifting patterns of light and shadow. Amid this dynamic scene stood Science New Wave luminary Rosa Barba's Aggregate Matters, its glowing forms and kinetic energy captivating small groups of onlookers. The ticking of Marclay's clock echoed through the space, anchoring the flow of time in a moment that felt both fleeting and infinite. Visitors lingered, their curiosity woven into the art as the museum quietly approached its close.
Recorded on December 12, 2024 at around 5pm

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Neuquén

Sol Cabezas

Located in the vibrant city of Neuquén, Argentina, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Neuquén (MNBA) is a distinguished cultural institution showcasing an impressive collection of Argentine and international art. The museum is celebrated for its modern architecture and dynamic exhibitions, featuring works from classic masters to contemporary creators. With a focus on accessibility and cultural enrichment, MNBA Neuquén is a cornerstone for art enthusiasts and a vibrant hub for artistic dialogue in the region.

The Golden Eagle Pharmacy Museum

Lydia Cornett

The Golden Eagle Pharmacy Museum in Budapest holds a quiet alchemy of time itself. Behind its Baroque façade, ancient glass bottles line the shelves, their faded labels whispering forgotten remedies. Mortars and pestles sit still, as if waiting for hands that will never return, while the dim light catches the soft curves of apothecary jars, gleaming with a ghostly sheen. Outside, the hum of Buda's Castle District ebbs and flows, yet within these walls, a hushed stillness lingers. The museum exists in a moment suspended between science and superstition, where the echoes of pharmacists past dissolve into the dust motes that drift through the air—an enduring monument to care, craft, and the mysterious remedies of another age.

Museo Paraje Confluencia

Sol Cabezas

En un rincón del sur argentino, una modesta casa ferroviaria construida entre 1920 y 1930 se erige como testigo silencioso de los albores de una ciudad. Erigida por la Compañía Ferrocarril del Sud para dar cobijo a los trabajadores que, junto a sus familias, llegaron impulsados por el eco del progreso, esta edificación guarda en sus muros la memoria de vidas moldeadas por la historia. Décadas más tarde, en 1998, el tiempo se detuvo para este edificio cuando la Municipalidad de Neuquén emprendió una restauración que fue tanto un acto de rescate como de amor por su legado. Convertido en museo al año siguiente, sus salas comenzaron a narrar, como un viejx cronista, los relatos de pobladores: sus luchas, sueños y los objetos cotidianos que forjaron la identidad de una ciudad emergente. Con imágenes y reliquias que susurran fragmentos del pasado, el Museo Paraje Confluencia es más que un archivo; es un poema hecho de madera y memoria, un viaje íntimo al corazón de Neuquén y su historia compartida.

behind, before, below

Perdita Phillips

Tumbled together in a disordered mélange are fragments discarded in the back room of a regional museum. Spectral sounds of knockers far underground are heard. Reversing the power of the archive, the scholarly rubs up against the trivial in a jumbled record of past junctures, forgotten profundities, celebratory events and the puzzlingly extraneous. What forces brought together this sedimentation? Like an eddy, the anteroom collects the debris of forgotten heydays. The fragmentary glimpse into the back room refuses to be made into a coherent narrative. The study lab beyond is now vacant, as wooden drawers are emptied—the hands-on teaching collection now dispersed—as pedagogic priorities change. Museums today are a difficult joy. Some, such as the Western Australian School of Mines Mineral Museum, are a time capsule of the desire to collect, possess and categorise, materialising the colonising impulse in encyclopaedic format. The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the Goldfields of Western Australia owes its origins to the deformation and associated volcanic intrusion of ancient Archaean rocks. A little-visited asset, the museum houses over 3000 specimens of minerals and ores, as well as a replica of "The Golden Eagle", a 35 kg (78 pound) gold nugget discovered at Widgiemooltha in 1931. The building dates from 1907, only 14 years after the initial discovery of gold. It is "a fine example of the Federation Academic Classical style", with archival photographs confirming the lithic wonders that have been held in stasis for a hundred years. But half a kilometre below ground, mining continues today.
Photography and sound recording 2023-2024.

The Whitney Museum of American Art

Florencia Silva Garcia Alexis Gambis

The Whitney Museum of American Art champions bold artistic expression and the evolving narrative of American art. On Saturday, January 4, at around 5 PM, the museum buzzed with life, its modern architecture glowing in the warm light of sunset. Visitors explored exhibitions like "The Edges of Ailey" and "Orchard Survival," alongside its renowned permanent collection, creating a vivid snapshot of creativity, culture, and community.

Brooklyn Museum: Solid Gold and Beyond

Florencia Silva Garcia Alexis Gambis

The Brooklyn Museum, a dynamic hub for art, history, and culture, is showcasing Solid Gold and Brooklyn Artists, celebrating cultural symbolism and local creativity. A museum portrait by Labocine was shot on January 8, 2025, at 4:30 PM, capturing the spirit of Brooklyn's vibrant art scene.

Territorio y Teatro: Un Encuentro en el MNBA-NQN

Sol Cabezas

En los pasillos silenciosos del Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Neuquén, dos mundos conviven en un delicado equilibrio. Por un lado, los deslumbrantes vestuarios del Teatro San Martín despliegan su opulencia: texturas, colores y formas que alguna vez dieron vida a personajes e historias, ahora congelados en su esplendor. Cada hilo, una memoria; cada diseño, un eco del arte teatral que desafiaba el tiempo. Por otro lado, una exhibición fotográfica abre una ventana hacia el paisaje patagónico, donde la inmensidad del territorio y la huella humana se entrelazan en un juego de luces y sombras. Cada imagen revela un rincón donde la naturaleza y la historia susurran secretos atemporales. En seis minutos, "Territorio y teatro: un encuentro en el MNBA-NQN" teje un diálogo entre dos narrativas que coexisten: el artificio sublime del escenario y la verdad desnuda de la tierra.

El latido de la tierra

Sol Cabezas

En el corazón de la Patagonia, donde los vientos susurran historias milenarias y los lagos reflejando el paso del tiempo, un museo guarda los vestigios de un territorio en constante transformación. En el Museo de Historia Natural de San Martín de los Andes, los fósiles, las piedras y los restos de antiguas especies conviven con los relatos de los pueblos que habitaron estas tierras. Cada objeto es un eco de la vida que fue, una pieza en el rompecabezas de la memoria geológica y cultural de la región.
A través de una mirada poética e investigativa, "El Latido de la Tierra" recorre sus salas y sus alrededores, donde el pasado no está muerto, sino palpitando en los huesos de un dinosaurio extinto, en la huella de un glaciar que se retira, en el canto de un ave que resiste. Durante seis minutos, la película nos sumerge en un viaje entre la ciencia y la emoción, explorando cómo este museo no solo custodia restos, sino que da voz a la historia de la naturaleza, tejida en un equilibrio frágil y eterno.

Museo del Barrio

Florencia Silva Garcia Alexis Gambis

Museo del Barrio, across from Central Park in New York, is a dynamic cultural hub celebrating Latin American and Caribbean art. It showcases a vibrant mix of historical and contemporary works, inviting visitors to explore rich narratives through diverse exhibitions and community events. We captured it at on Saturday, Feb 22 at around 4pm.

Museum of the City of New York

Florencia Silva Garcia Alexis Gambis

As part of our Museum Portrait series, we spent Saturday at The Museum of the City of New York (across from Central Park) – a stroll down memory lane. We felt the pulse of old NYC—holographic echoes of our early days, raw graffiti from the '80s, a tribute to changing democracy with Shirley Chisholm at 100—and experienced "You Are Here" on the 3rd floor, an immersive film journey weaving together thousands of cinematic NY moments across 16 screens. Our Museumportrait was filmed at around 5pm on Saturday, Feb 22, capturing the vibrant spirit of the city.

Museo Arqueológico Eduardo Casanova - Tilcara, Jujuy

Florencia Silva Garcia Alexis Gambis

The Museo Arqueológico Eduardo Casanova in Tilcara, Jujuy, is a fascinating museum dedicated to the rich pre-Columbian history of the Quebrada de Humahuaca region. Located in the heart of Tilcara, this museum showcases an extensive collection of artifacts from Indigenous Andean cultures, including pottery, textiles, tools, and ceremonial objects. Named after archaeologist Eduardo Casanova, it is closely linked to the Pucará de Tilcara, an ancient fortress and one of Argentina's most significant archaeological sites. The museum offers insights into the daily life, beliefs, and traditions of the region's early inhabitants, making it an essential stop for those interested in Andean history and archaeology.

Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken

Florencia Silva Garcia

Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken is a museum of cinema of Argentina located in Buenos Aires. It was established on 1971 and holds a collection of 65,000 reels of film.
The cinema was recorded on Sunday, March 16 at around 1pm in the afternoon

Centro Cultural Recoleta - Comienzo del juego (Cortázar)

Florencia Silva Garcia Alexis Gambis

The Centro Cultural Recoleta is an exhibition and cultural events centre located in the barrio of Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It holds sculptures and exhibitions, as well as concerts and artistic presentations and workshops of diverse types The exhibition "The Beginning of the Game" at the Centro Cultural Recoleta was held as part of the "Cortázar Year," commemorating 110 years since his birth and 40 years since his death. This show drew inspiration from the Argentine writer Julio Cortázar's imagination, showcasing works by various artists that engage with his literary universe and explore themes present in his work.
The exhibition and museum was recorded on Sunday, March 16, 2025.

teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi

Florencia Silva Garcia

teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi is an immersive digital art museum created by the Tokyo-based collective teamLab. Located in the Saadiyat Cultural District, it features dynamic artworks that change and evolve through interaction with visitors and natural elements. The experience blurs the line between art, nature, and technology, offering a constantly shifting and inspiring environment. A must-visit destination for creativity and innovation.

421 Arts Center

Florencia Silva Garcia Alexis Gambis

421 Arts Campus, formerly known as Warehouse421, is a cultural hub in Abu Dhabi's Mina Zayed district, dedicated to supporting emerging artists and creative practitioners from the UAE and the wider region. Established in 2015, it offers a dynamic space for exhibitions, workshops, and community engagement.​
Filmed as part of Museum Portraits on Saturday, April 26, 2025.
Currently, the campus is hosting several exhibitions:​
Abdullah Al Saadi: Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia
This exhibition presents over 40 years of the Emirati artist's practice, curated by Tarek Abou El-Fetouh. ​
- Alla Abdunabi: Are your memories of me enough for you? A solo exhibition by Libyan-British artist Alla Abdunabi, exploring the concept of simulacra and how symbols evolve and shape cultural narratives. ​
- Ana Escobar Saavedra: It Starts Where It Ends Part of the Artistic Development Program, this exhibition examines where the self exists—both within and beyond the physical body—while navigating the tensions between permanence and impermanence. ​
- Unstable Grounds: NYUAD MFA Graduate Exhibition 2025 Showcasing the work of graduate students completing the two-year Master of Fine Arts in Art and Media at New York University Abu Dhabi, this exhibition highlights research and experimentation exploring the environment, displacement, migration, memory, and human connection. ​
These exhibitions reflect 421 Arts Campus's commitment to fostering artistic exchange and supporting the growth of the UAE's creative ecosystem.

Louvre Abu Dhabi

Florencia Silva Garcia Alexis Gambis

We visited the Louvre Abu Dhabi on Friday, April 25, 2025, around 7 PM, just as the sun dipped below the horizon. The museum's iconic dome by Jean Nouvel cast a mesmerizing "rain of light" over the tranquil waters, creating a serene and contemplative atmosphere Inside, we explored the current exhibition, Kings and Queens of Africa: Forms and Figures of Power, which runs until June 8, 2025. This groundbreaking showcase, in collaboration with the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, offers an exceptional glimpse into the lives of Africa's most revered and powerful figures. The exhibition features masterfully designed royal attire, sacred symbols of spiritual influence, and much more .​ The museum's permanent collection is equally impressive, comprising over 700 artworks spanning from prehistoric times to the present day. Highlights include ancient artifacts, religious manuscripts, and masterpieces by renowned artists such as Manet, Gauguin, and Mondrian .​ Our evening visit was a harmonious blend of art, architecture, and ambiance, making it a truly unforgettable experience