ONE of the biggest crowd-pullers since the Wales Millennium Centre (WMC) opened in a blaze of publicity last Friday has been a 21st century interactive exhibition there designed by a York firm.

The Continuum Group, in Margaret Street, York, designed and built artsExplorer, a hands-on, interactive gallery in the heart of the new centre, which provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the theatre world.

Crowds marveled at the way the exhibition explains the vision of the WMC, the steel-plated international arts venue in Cardiff, which will house seven key cultural organisations, including the Welsh National Opera and Hijinx Theatre and will play host to the best internationally in music and dance. artsExplorer is a celebration of those performing arts, using stage sets and models, lighting, instruments, voices and acoustics,

The host of physical, mechanical and multimedia interactives comprise an interactive stage set where visitors can take on the roles of stage director, stage hands and fly operatives to put on a performance of Swan Lake.

Visitors can control spotlights, footlights, and coloured lighting which can all be activated.

There is also a virtual choir which the visitor can play on screen; musical mixing desks and acoustic exhibits; sound booths; a tactile model of the WMC, plus a write-your-own poetry wall. echoing the poem on the front of the building: "In these stones horizons sing".

Continuum was appointed by the Wales Millennium Centre last August, and produced the exhibition in only three months.

Erich Kadow, design director for Continuum, said: "Having an opportunity to be involved in such an innovative arts sector attraction has been hugely exciting, especially with a project of such major international standing.

The artsExplorer project was masterminded by Past Forward, the design and build arm of the Continuum Group - experts in designing cutting-edge exhibition solutions and communicating complex ideas to a wide audience. The multimedia elements were produced by MindWave, Continuum's multimedia team.

Updated: 09:56 Wednesday, December 01, 2004