This fall, Madrid will experience the journey back to Ithaca firsthand thanks to a new immersive experience: *The Odyssey: The Immersive Journey* will open its doors on September 18 in Hall 16 at Matadero Madrid. The exhibition arrives at a time of renewed global interest in Homer’s epic, driven in part by the premiere of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film, which has brought the story of Odysseus back to the forefront of cultural discourse.
The setting begins in ancient Greece and unfolds across various spaces within MAD, each associated with a key episode of Odysseus’s journey. Visitors enter a sort of prologue that establishes the hero’s context: the Trojan War, the impossible return to Ithaca, and the promise to return to Penelope. From there, the experience unfolds like a journey: rooms that evoke the churning waters of the Mediterranean, encounters with mythical creatures, islands that seem timeless, and decisions that the audience must make symbolically—as if sharing with Odysseus the responsibility to press on despite the temptation to linger at every port. As in Nolan’s best films, time and space are perceived differently; here, the exhibition plays with the story’s rhythm, its scales, and the sense that the epic is also constructed within the mind of the one experiencing it.
The exhibition brings together five distinct formats: theatrical reenactments, an interactive metaverse, multisensory virtual reality, immersive 360° projections, and a holographic installation. Each of the hero’s eight great trials features its own visual language and original soundtrack.
Inside the Journey to Ithaca
One of the key elements of the experience is the active role of the audience. It’s not just about watching Odysseus’s adventures, but about feeling that his decisions, fears, and doubts are also our own. Through small interactive activities—choosing a route, responding to visual cues, participating at specific moments along the journey—the exhibition offers a contemporary interpretation of the myth: What does “returning home” mean today? What trials are we willing to overcome to keep a promise? How long would we accept being lost on our own personal journey? This approach transforms the Greco-Roman classic into a metaphor for life in the 21st century, in which odysseys are no longer just maritime, but also emotional, professional, or existential.
The family package (three people, including at least one child) starts at €16.90 per ticket. The experience is fully accessible to all visitors.
This immersive exhibition is the direct follow-up to *Cleopatra* and marks MAD’s fifth collaboration with the visual studio Sila Sveta and sound designer Rene Merkelbach. Tickets are available through the official MAD Artes Digitales website.