2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Times
Balloon Museum Singapore is the escape all adults need
[SINGAPORE] Stressed out? Check in at the Balloon Museum and watch your worries drift away like balloons. A recent visit to the newest attraction in Marina Bay Sands found as many adults there as children. There was a woman in stilettos tiptoeing through a hall of giant inflatables. There was a man in corporate wear trying to float in a swimming pool of balls. They weren't there as parents – they were there for themselves.
As immersive experiences go – and there have been several in Singapore in recent years – Pop Air: Art Is Inflatable is best in class. Everyone in the business of crafting experiences, from brand activations to conferences, should pay a visit. In a world of relentless busy-ness and screen fatigue, sometimes the most memorable experiences are the ones that let adults play like children again.
There are several highlights among the 17 installations spread across 6,000 square metres of hall space. Hypercosmo invites you to drift in a vast, 1,000-square-metre 'pool' filled with a million floating balls. Glowing Ballet throws you into a tornado of bright balloons slapping against your body. And in A Quiet Storm, smoke-filled bubbles burst all around you to create a strangely soothing sensation.
A Quiet Storm hits you with a torrent of popping, smoke-filled bubbles. PHOTOS: BALLOON MUSEUM
Originally launched in Rome in 2021, the Balloon Museum has floated into Madrid, Paris, London, New York and, most recently, San Francisco. Although it initially attracted young families and influencers with TikTok in mind, it has impressed just about everyone with its buoyant blend of innovation and wonder.
The museum's curators and design team from Lux Entertainment haven't simply assembled a group of spectacle-makers. They've chosen artists who understand how to build mood, tempo, and even a little narrative, into their work. That's what elevates it from an Instagram-baiting backdrop into something closer to a theatre of childhood emotions.
You don't just interact with the works – you inhabit them. You swing beneath luminous clouds. You wander through towering inflatables that pulse with light, like deep-sea jellyfish. You bounce around oversized forms that look like Hayao Miyazaki giants in an electric dream. Every step is accompanied by immersive soundscapes and lighting design that elevate the experience.
The installations are highly interactive, inviting you to be playful and silly. PHOTOS: ST
As you grant yourself the freedom to be light and silly, the play becomes unexpectedly cathartic. You realise or remember that art does not have to be serious to move you deeply. Delight can be designed; play can be profound.
Pop Air: Art Is Inflatable by Balloon Museum runs at Marina Bay Sands (Expo & Convention Centre, B2, Hall F) from now until Aug 31. Tickets at S$45 for children and S$60 for adults on weekends, public holidays and school holidays; entry costs S$35 for children and S$45 for adults on weekdays outside the June school holiday period.
