The exhibition is organised by the National Council for Culture and the Arts (Conaculta), the Council for Culture and the Arts of Nuevo León (Conarte), the National Centre for the Arts (Cenart) and Canopia, with the collaboration of Fundación Telefónica México.

Following its exhibition in Monterrey, the show will be moved to the National Centre for the Arts (Cenart) in Mexico City where it will run from January to April 2016.

Using multimedia and interactive elements the exhibition embarks on a journey through space and time inhabited by Nikola Tesla: from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the early skyscrapers of New York, hotel rooms to laboratories, fame to ruin, genius to madness, and from solitude to the latest trending topic.

“We cannot envision progress in the XXI century without the work of Nikola Tesla”

The Future Is Mine: Nikola Tesla pays homage to the man considered to be the true founder of modern technology and father of the electric civilisation. The exhibition is divided into seven main themes created with the help of a group of specialists to adapt a series of technological pieces to form a dynamic and scientifically impeccable montage.

The Future Is Mine: Nikola Tesla is an adaptation of the exhibit on show during autumn 2014 at the Fundación Telefónica Space in Madrid, which attracted more than 200,000 visitors. This version was organised by Canopia and Fundación Telefónica and curated by Miguel Ángel Delgado and María Santoyo, with the collaboration of the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade (Serbia), home to the most important legacy of Nikola Tesla.

Consultancy for the Mexico exhibition was provided by theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre, director of the Nuclear Science Institute at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).

“We cannot envision progress in the XXI century without the work of Nikola Tesla, who enlightened us with a different take on science and its resources. This exhibit has been planned with great scientific endeavour, but at the same time designed to reach a wider public through multimedia, images and installations dedicated to his inventions.

“He is a key figure in world history, who from a very young age showed signs of being a great innovator with works which initially focused on searching for new forms of energy and over time developed into new inventions and discoveries such as alternating current and wireless electricity, as well as pioneering elements in robotics,” said Katzir Meza, President of CONARTE.

“We have used audiovisuals and multimedia to recreate different stages of his life, from his early years in the United States when he arrived at the Edison plant with a letter of recommendation, to the beginnings of the electricity war with the North American inventor, who felt that Tesla’s advanced concepts represented an economic threat to the industry” explains Elena Navarro, Director of Canopia México.

Other activities and an app

From 25 June to 27 September, the exhibition The Future Is Mine: Nikola Tesla, with the collaboration of Fundación Telefónica, a corporate entity of Telefónica which operates the Movistar brand in Mexico, will host workshops, projections, guided tours and other activities open to anyone with an interest in the life of the Serbian-American visionary genius.

Fundación Telefónica promotes digital education and innovation, art and culture through forums, publications, exhibitions and international competitions. It collaborates with the educational community, providing training and guidance to public school teachers and implementing the use of Information and Communications Technologies in teaching models. We maintain close relations with public, government and academic organisations, as well as receiving the support of a network of Telefónica collaborators who give back to society through an international corporate volunteer programme.

The exhibit can be viewed in the Nave Generadores building at the Centro de las Artes and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM.

An added extra to the exhibition is Teslapedia, edited by Turner, which has a free augmented-reality app developed by a specialised team from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia and Fundación Telefónica España, which is available in the App Store (Apple) and on Google Play (Android).

Sustainable exhibition

Nikola Tesla warned of the risks from using non-renewable natural resources to generate energy. In-line with his considerations, the exhibition has been developed using sustainable design and production criteria. It uses LED technology for lighting as well as energy-saving motion sensors, while a large amount of the materials used were manufactured so that they can be reused at the next site.

Who is Nikola Tesla?

Nikola Tesla (Smiljan, Serbia, 1856-New York, USA, 1943) is the “the genius from whom they stole the light”, having been eclipsed by other scientists, such as Edison and Marconi. Not only did he conceive alternating current and fundamental patents for the invention of the radio, but he was also a pioneer of visionary technologies for his time, such as robotics, vertical take-off aircraft, remotely guided weapons, low-energy light bulbs, alternative energies and wireless electricity.

After many years in incomprehensible oblivion, the science and art worlds recently reached an agreement to see him consecrated as the true founder of modern technology.

Today, Nikola Tesla has even become an icon of popular culture, appearing in video games, comics, literature, films, songs, TV series and on websites, at a crossroads of reference points which blur the lines between reality and fiction.