Drake invests in modern-art theme park restoration
(Credit: Alamy)

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Drake invests in modern-art theme park restoration

Imagine a playground designed by the great modern-art minds of Salvador Dalí, Kenny Scharf, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Hockney, Keith Haring, Sonja Delaunay, Roland Toper and many more—that is exactly what Luna Luna was. Now, Drake has invested $100 million to bring this dream back to life. 

The original idea for the barrier-breaking exhibition came from Austrian artist Andé Heller. In 1987, he looked to create the ultimate festival by curating the most creative minds in his field and asking them to develop a real-life fantasy world.  

He tasked these artists with making the wonderful Luna Luna into a “bridge between the so-called avant-garde – the artists who were a little snobbish sometimes and didn’t connect with the masses – and the so-called normal people”. This fairground was akin to a Dr Suess utopia. 

Naturally, the theme park was one of those ideas that proved too good to be true. Shortly after opening in Hamburg, Germany, it fell on hard times financially. It has been in storage ever since. With his $100 million investment, Drake is looking to kickstart the restoration. 

Drake said in a statement: “When I first heard about Luna Luna I was blown away. It’s such a unique and special way to experience art. This is a big idea and opportunity that centres around what we love most: bringing people together.”

This surrealist art exhibition is set to hit the road again in 2023 with an American tour planned followed by an international run thereafter. Heller’s fantasy of creating a “travelling terrain of modern art” in the timeless world of the fairground is set to be reborn.