The Early Visual Media Lab - CICANT (Lusófona University), in collaboration with the Institute of Art History (FCSH, NOVA University of Lisbon), has released the first three videos of the interview series ‘What is a Cosmorama?’. The series is developed within the scope of the FCT-funded research project Curiositas.
The interviews were conducted during the exhibition The Cosmorama in Lisbon – Virtual Travels in the 19th Century, curated by Victor Flores, Susana S. Martins, and Ana David Mendes. The series aims to shed light on the cosmorama, a little-known nineteenth-century visual medium that played a significant role in the history of visual culture.
Cosmoramas were optical attractions in which images were observed through magnifying lenses, producing an immersive illusion of depth. Popular throughout Europe and the Americas, they combined scientific experimentation, educational intent, and entertainment, occupying a transitional space between early peep shows and modern exhibition practices.
The interview series comprises six thematic videos, released in two stages. The first three episodes focus on the cosmorama’s media context in the nineteenth century, its visual themes, and its audiences. The remaining three videos, to be released at a later stage, will explore the reasons behind the cosmorama’s disappearance, the physical recreation of a cosmorama device, and the use of virtual reality and digital data visualisation as tools for historical and media research.
Watch the videos here