HERO LBE CASE STUDY · BRITISH LIBRARY LICENSED
How ARTiSTORY turned one of the world's great collections into a vivid, two-hour journey across human imagination—built to tour, localise and perform.
THE CASE IN ONE MINUTE
The PIXEL World is a British Library licensed touring exhibition that transforms collection stories into a theatrical journey through exploration, literature, music, fairy tales, Chinese encyclopedic knowledge and science.
Launched at Shanghai's World Expo Museum in July 2021, the format has travelled through museums and high-footfall retail destinations—combining credible content, spectacular scenery, live interpretation and play.
THE PIXEL WORLD · ON-SITE FILM
See how monumental books, projection, responsive media, scenic environments and visitor missions turn cultural source material into a destination-scale family experience.
THE PIXEL WORLD · BRITISH LIBRARY LICENSED · TOURING SINCE 2021
THE CREATIVE CHALLENGE
The British Library's collection holds more stories than any conventional exhibition could contain. ARTiSTORY's challenge was to build a clear emotional route through that depth—without flattening the scholarship or overwhelming younger visitors.
The answer was a sequence of distinct worlds. Each gallery pairs authoritative collection content with a different mode of encounter: spectacle, close looking, physical play, storytelling, sound, guided interpretation and shareable moments.
View the project introductionTHE EXPERIENCE
Visitors move from maps and voyages to literary worlds, musical archives, fairy tales, the Yongle Encyclopedia and scientific discovery—building a connected picture of human creativity.
THE PIXEL WORLD · SIX GALLERIESEach chapter changes the palette, spatial rhythm and visitor behaviour. Families investigate maps, enter the worlds of Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes, hear great musical works, step into fairy tales, decode the Yongle Encyclopedia and experiment with scientific ideas.
Atlases, celestial maps, manuscripts and iconic authors become architectural worlds—encouraging visitors to look closely, compare evidence and follow stories across time.
Floor pianos, listening stations and storybook-scale scenes turn archives into sensory encounters that invite performance, imagination and play.
The Yongle Encyclopedia leads into a scientific square shaped by Euclid, Leonardo, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Hooke and Ada Lovelace.
INSIDE THE TOUR
Scroll through a selection of visitor experiences from Xi'an, Shenzhen and Chongqing—chosen to show the project's range without repeating the same installation.
FROM COLLECTION TO TOUR
The PIXEL World combines a globally recognised collection with audience strategy, creative development, production, operations and local venue activation.
Licensed the experience and provided the collection foundation across maps, manuscripts, literature, music, fairy tales, Chinese knowledge and science.
ARTiSTORY shaped the global audience proposition and cultural-IP framework. Shanghai Museum Box, an ARTiSTORY affiliate, designed, developed, built and operated the touring exhibition.
Museums, art centres and major retail destinations adapted the format to footprints from approximately 580 to 1,400 square metres while connecting the tour to local audiences.
Live guides, school visits, family missions, workshops, performances and media activations extend the exhibition beyond the gallery floor.
The platform preserves the British Library collection framework while allowing each host to adapt the footprint, programme mix, marketing story and visitor journey.
PROVEN AT TOURING SCALE
The PIXEL World demonstrates how museum IP can become a durable touring attraction—delivering repeatable quality across different cities, venue types and footprints.
Famous authors, stories and discoveries provide an accessible entry point for multigenerational audiences.
Six visually distinct worlds and a live-guided route support a visit of up to two hours.
Highly shareable scenes helped generate more than 57 million social views and sustained city-to-city awareness.
A modular design system allows the format to work across museums, cultural centres and destination retail.
FOR VENUE PARTNERS
The PIXEL World is suited to museums, libraries, cultural centres, shopping destinations and mixed-use venues seeking a proven, visually rich and family-facing ticketed exhibition.
Explore ARTiSTORY's cultural experience practice and more examples from our international work.