Empress Joséphine’s Garden Immersive Exhibition | ILA | Adelaide | Review
Empress Joséphine’s Garden – Immersive Exhibition at ILA | Review
Empress Josephine’s Garden is a beautifully presented, immersive experience that captures the profound impact of Empress Joséphine’s contributions to art, botany, design, fashion, and culture.
We ventured into the heart of the city to experience ILA’s (Immersive Light and Art) latest exhibition – blending art, creativity and technology. This isn’t a loud, interactive exhibition, but rather an informative and beautiful account of Empress Josephine’s life and the role she played during the Age of Enlightenment.
We were entranced by the exhibition – it provided a fascinating insight into the challenges she faced, and the ways in which she harnessed new opportunities. Born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie, she endured poverty, a difficult first marriage to Joséphine de Beauharnais and was imprisoned for several months during the French Revolution. She then became Empress Josephine after marrying Napoleon Bonaparte. Sadly, he annulled their marriage after she was unable to produce an heir, and she spent her remaining days living in the beautiful Château de Malmaison.
It’s hard not to imagine Josephine as a determined woman, capable of influencing those around her. She had a passion for botany and art and used her position as Empress of the French to commission artists and explorers to source rare plants from around the world, including specimens collected from Australia’s coasts during 18th-century expeditions. The result was a spectacular collection of botanical specimens and artworks, which translated into beautiful furnishings, porcelain, interior designs and fashion. Perhaps she was one of the original “influencers”!
The exhibition is displayed on ILA’s 110 square metres of wall-to-wall LED screens. You can choose to either move around the space or take a seat and watch the exhibition unfold around you. The exhibition runs for around 25 minutes, but you can stay longer.
It’s easy to lose yourself in this exhibition – it is visually stunning and very interesting. We think that older kids, teens and adults will really enjoy this, particularly if they love art and history.
Showing only at ILA until 17 May 2026.
If you want to make an occasion of it, the ILA Bar (located next to the exhibition on level 1) offers refreshments and also a full French experience, which includes a glass of bubbles and petit plats – a trio of delectable sweet treats inspired by the exhibition.
FIND OUT MORE HERE
Location:
63 Light Square, Adelaide
For more information and all enquiries please visit the ILA website.
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. All photos are by Play & Go (unless specified).
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