A £300,000 exhibition, dubbed as a ‘celebration of performing arts’ has opened today at the Wales Millennium Centre (WMC).

Designed by Continuum Group, the interactive exhibition – called Arts Explorer – includes a host of physical, mechanical and multi-media interactives and pays particular reference to the Welsh cultural organisations based at the WMC such as the Welsh National Opera, Hijinx Theatre and Diversions Dance House.

Visitors will be able to simulate a performance of Swan Lake on the interactive stage set by taking on the roles of stage director, stage hands and fly operatives. The exhibition’s other features include a virtual choir, which can be directed on a screen, a tactile model of the WMC and a write-your-own poetry wall.

Erich Kadow, the head of Past Forward – Continuum Group’s attraction design division – said: “We will have a model of the Wales Millennium Centre to help people orientate around the building, but we will also explore the building’s attributes, such as its acoustics, the materials used to achieve those acoustics and its design and construction.

“Then there will be an area explaining what happens backstage during performances, such as the principles of counterweight flying, lighting, trapdoors and moving scenery.

“Finally, there will be an interactive section, including a studio where visitors can create their own orchestral piece of music by adding in different instruments, then test it acoustically to see how it sounds in a variety of arenas – even how it would sound in a swimming pool!”

Arts Explorer took just three months to build with the project management led by Past Forward. The exhibition’s multi-media elements were produced by MindWave – Continuum’s multimedia arm.