In 1994, the Volklingen Ironworks in the German state of Saarland became the first industrial monument in the world to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once a driving force behind the Industrial Age, the ironworks later produced the steel for military helmets in World War One and armaments in World War Two. Following its closure in 1986, the site became a unique venue for art, culture and nature. Until October 2022, its fully restored blower hall is presenting a spectacular exhibition entitled 'The World of Music Video'. supraGuide DIVA multimedia devices from tonwelt play a central role in the event.
 

The restored blower hall at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Volklingen Ironworks is a truly gigantic venue. Yet when visitors first enter this 6,000 square meter hall for The World of Music Video' exhibition, it feels more like stepping into a Silent Disco. Throughout the hall, the images of famous historical or contemporary music videos can be seen playing on a number of enormous screens. Though strangely, nothing can be heard from them. Not until the visitors put on the headphones of their supraGuide DIVA multimedia devices and approach one of the circular markers on the floor. Because when that happens, the audio track for whichever video they're watching suddenly starts to play as if by magic - completely automatically and perfectly lip-synched to that particular hanging screen. All around the hall stand metre-high machines and oversized ovens surrounded by pipes, girders, platforms and small common rooms, silently evoking some very different sounds from the industrial past. Old style TVs flicker in the niches between these architectural features, creating intimate contrasts with the large-scale projections floating above them. The TVs stand on pedestals which each contain a small triggerPoint XS. When visitors move their supraGuide DIVA towards these triggerPoints to scan the signal, the sound is once again lip-synched perfectly with the video playing on that TV.

A journey with and through an art form

"Music videos are comprehensive works of art set to a beat, a special creative platform for musicians, film directors, artists, designers and choreographers. Music videos are reflections of our times and an integral aspect of our contemporary culture; accessible everywhere, produced worldwide, they are an essential component of the global entertainment industry. They are also a world of their own in their unique fusion of film, music, art, dance and contemporary issues." That's how the exhibition describes itself in its introduction. And it's undoubtedly true. All the topics that surround us in our daily lives become merged together in music videos. Digitalisation, artificial intelligence, political violence, gender and gender equality, environmental destruction, culture, politics ... Everything becomes condensed under the magnifying glass in a highly artistic way.