The Bogotá Planetarium has been updated to combine culture, science and art

Ovidio Castro Medina

Bogotá, August 29 (EFE). With an Interstellar show in high definition and with David Bowie’s musical transformation in the background, projected using pioneering laser technology across Latin America, the Bogotá Planetarium has begun a new phase in which audiences can live immersive experiences in the arts, sciences and technology.

The new planetarium outfit includes the Griffyn 4K32-RGB laser projection system, making the stage one of the most modern in Latin America with the latest technology.

Initially, the Mayor of Bogotá chose “Interstellar Traveler, Show by David Bowie” in which he also presented the Fundación Orquesta Sinfonic de Bogotá, whose musicians wore costumes reminiscent of the crews of interplanetary ships.

There Bowie’s subversive music was played in the dome where planets, stars, and astronauts were also shown, all amidst thousands of colors that made the show all the more realistic.

“The planetarium is a place where citizens meet, not only science, but also arts, culture, and creativity,” Catalina, director of the Provincial Institute of Arts (Idartes), told EFE Valencia.

Regardless of culture, Valencia highlights that the new projection system has a high efficiency index compared to electricity consumption. In addition, the projectors are equipped with laser technology, which has lower electricity consumption compared to traditional xenon gas lamps.

A friend of the environment

The new equipment, in addition to allowing for better colors, and new immersive experiences, is “more environmentally friendly,” said Carlos Mauricio Galeano, Deputy Director of Equipment at Departmentes.

With all of this, it would be “reducing the carbon footprint because projectors rely on laser technology that makes the lamps last longer and in about 10 or 15 years, when they lose their useful life, they won’t pollute as deeply as they once did. The technologies do. Halogen-based” .

Musically, he noted, Bowie, who was born in London in 1947 and died in New York in 2016, “written music for the stars, planets, and the space race.”

As of September 4, the artists who will dominate the planetarium with their music are Gustavo Cerati, Daft Punk, Queen, Coldplay, Metallica and the incomparable Michael Jackson. None of them need an introduction.

to see and hear

On December 22, 1969, then-Colombian President Carlos Leras Restrepo inaugurated the Bogotá Planetarium, but under the direction of Virgilio Barco Vargas (1986-1990) the scene shifted and began to become a fascinating cultural center of the city.

The space race, which brought about changes in humanity, sparked interest in astronomy, science, and exploration of the universe, leading to the construction of large planetariums, a tool invented in Germany, but rediscovered in that decade as a way to satisfy an eager public. for scientific knowledge.

From above, the iconic theater is shaped like a snail and among the many anecdotes a part of its equipment was made possible by an alliance made by the mayor of Bogota with the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia.

This is how the projection system, screen and equipment – which will enter retirement – arrived from Jena, in the then GDR, which at the time was the best equipment offering planetariums.

With the new equipment that will be projected onto the 23-meter-diameter dome, audiences will be able to enjoy films such as “The Birth of Planet Earth”, produced by Spitz Creative Media, and “Revealing the Invisible Universe”, from the European Southern Observatory (THAT). .

“They are Voldom projections,” explains Galliano, who recalls that this is an immersive viewing format based on 360-degree panoramic films.

After renovations, the planetarium now has a 650 square meter space museum, five exhibition rooms and interactive spaces.

Likewise, it contains a library specializing in astronomy and space science, a children’s room designed to offer specialized content for children and a balcony from which part of the city center can be seen. EFE

ocm / jga / ares

© EFE 2021. Redistribution and redistribution of all or part of the contents of the EFE Services, without the prior and express consent of EFE SA, is expressly prohibited.