Picture this: You’re in Hamburg, Germany. It’s the summer of ‘87, and you’re visiting a new amusement park with your loved ones—but it’s more than just a regular park: Luna Luna is the world’s first art amusement park.
Vivid colors, lights, and laughter surround you. Energetic music plays amidst the chatter. Large, peculiar-but-sweet creatures, such as clowns, elephants, and butterflies, make their way through the crowd. You see carousels and Ferris wheels, and they’re all the product of the imagination of famous artists, including Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Kenny Scharf, and Salvador Dali. Couples profess their love at Heller’s Wedding Chapel, a place where any marriage—including same-sex marriage—is accepted. People dance in unison. Living isn’t so serious anymore, and the world isn’t too dull, either. Your life is back in your hands—you can be who you are, and love who you love.
With about 300,000 people visiting within a span of three months, it looked like Luna Luna would never close. Unfortunately, though, it did. Debt and legal issues regarding a “claimed breach of contract” had taken it away from us in August of 1987. Packaged in containers and shipped off to Texas, Luna Luna was gone, alone in a desert ranch until 2022, when the containers were purchased, sight-unseen. The purchase was possible due to the help of Drake and his company, Dreamcrew.
When Luna Luna’s creator, André Heller, saw the opening of the containers over an online meeting, he apologized to the art pieces, saying, “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. You were 35 years in darkness.”
After much arduous work, Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy opened as an art exhibit at The Shed. I was able to visit Luna Luna a few weeks back and it was not at all what I expected—that’s because I had not expected it to be so incredible. And yes, my sister and I did laugh and cry.
The exhibit quickly walks you through the timeline of the amusement park, as well as global events (World War II, especially) of the time which influenced the park. It explains how Luna Luna was meant to feel like an escape from the fascist atmosphere that had blanketed the world.
Once you finish reading, you enter a recreation of the park. The exhibit displays the rides in a manner that allows you to view each detail of the art from an outside perspective. The energetic music, flashing lights, and devoted staff transport visitors to the world of Luna Luna, a world where everyone lives together and dances freely.
Whether you’d like to practice your German or enter an alternate, fever dream-ish universe, Luna Luna is the perfect place for you. Make haste, though—this fantastical world closes on March 16.
PS: On February 17, admission to Luna Luna will be free for individuals aged 3-16!
