Immersive exhibitions have become a defining museum format, but the most memorable experiences do more than surround visitors with dazzling visuals. They use technology as a means of storytelling. This is the approach back Football is freedomthe latest report on Mercer Labs Museum of Art and Technology in New York, where artist Roy Nahumin collaboration with Rohan Marley and the Marley family, explores football as a shared cultural language through architecture, interactive media and spatial planning.
Rather than tracing the history of the sport, the exhibition examines soccer as a global connector—one that shaped Bob Marley’s life alongside his music and continues to bring people across cultures and generations together. Spread over 40,000 square feet over three floors, Football is freedom unfolds through 15 installations that combine 360-degree projection, volumetric light, robotics, digital media and interactive systems into a single narrative experience.
Football is Freedom spans 15 immersive installations across three floors at Mercer Labs in New York. Photo: Peter Murdock.
The exhibition is organized around three conceptual chapters: the past, the present and the future. The first draws from Marley’s lifelong relationship with football, weaving his words, images and legacy throughout the experience. The present captures the collective energy of the modern game, while the future imagines how emerging technologies could reshape both sport and the shared experience.
Rather than relying on a single immersive environment, Mercer Labs treats each installation as its own separate spatial experiment. Field of Dreams surrounds visitors with a 360-degree cinematic landscape, while The Journey transforms specular surfaces, light and reflection into an infinite environment inspired by the idea of movement and collective experience. Near, Future imagines a visual training ground where shiny architectural forms, robotics and athletic performance converge in a futuristic arena.
Light, projection and interactive technology transform football into a shared cultural experience. Photo: Peter Murdock.
Interactivity also plays a central role throughout the exhibition. Visitors can create digital characters that become part of the evolution Crown Kids ecosystem, while The cello invites the audience to shape an ever-changing musical composition performed by robotic instruments. Elsewhere, Words of Freedom features a robotic arm that constantly writes and erases messages in the sand, turning language into a meditation on memory and permanence.
Even the quietest moments of the exhibition emphasize material experimentation. In UnityBob Marley’s lyrics are translated into Braille before being turned into mechanical musical compositions, reframing language as a tactile and auditory experience. Throughout the exhibition, familiar technologies are redefined as creative tools, blurring the lines between installation art, digital design and the museum experience.
Reflective surfaces, volumetric light and digital environments create a range of immersive spatial experiences. Photo: Peter Murdock
As museums continue to embrace immersive storytelling, Football is freedom offers a reminder that technology alone is not what creates meaningful experiences. Instead, Mercer Labs uses light, movement, interaction and spatial design to create environments that encourage participation, inviting visitors to explore how play, creativity and collective identity can occupy the same space.
Football is freedom is at the Mercer Labs Museum of Art and Technology in New York until July 31.
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