Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens in Los Angeles

The Lucas Museum for Narrative Art opens today in Los Angeles - which translates as narrative art. This means images that tell stories. Star Wars director George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson have been planning the project for years and are now making parts of his private collection available to the public.

Building looks like a spaceship

The new museum building is a huge, slightly tapered oval with arched roof gardens. Everything about the shiny silver building appears round and organic. Architect Ma Yansong says you can see a lot in it: "From one perspective it might be a spaceship about to take off - but it looks different from every direction. For me it's a cloud, a living being. You should discover that for yourself."

George Lucas wants to use his museum to help illustrators and comic artists gain more recognition because he thinks they often get neglected in museums. And he doesn't want to tell anyone what is art and what isn't. What counts is your own impression: "If it appeals to you emotionally, it's art," he says. “If not, just move on to the next piece.” From the spacious foyer, three round glass elevators take visitors up to the main exhibition rooms.

Frida Kahlo meets Indiana Jones

Individual artists like Norman Rockwell have their own galleries. The topic is often very broad: adventure, love, family or sport. On the walls there are illustrations, paintings - for example by Frida Kahlo and Diego Riviera - but also photographs, and in between models from films or statues, such as one of Indiana Jones in front of the adventure gallery.

You can simply let the pieces work their magic on you. However, if you would like additional information and classification, you have to consult the digital catalog, explains curator Ryan Linkof. "We have a digital guide, we have information about all the objects, we have researched everything, when it first appeared, what history it has illustrated, you can read that there."

Costumes, gliders, droids - and Banksy

There is also its own Star Wars exhibition. "Star Wars in Motion" features vehicles from all corners of the universe - such as General Grievous' wheel glider, Luke Skywalker's land glider and a sand crawler from the first film, Imperial speeder bikes from "Return of the Jedi", and lots of costumes, from Princess Leia to Darth Vader to C3PO.

"We are proud of our Star Wars connection - but that only makes up seven percent of the museum, we have a wide range. From cave paintings to comic drawings to the gallery of murals," says museum director Tracey Bates.

You can admire several Banksy works right around the corner and then go out onto the roof. Or take a look at the constantly running program in the two large cinemas downstairs on the ground floor.

Museum garden is intended to enhance the neighborhood

The gallery on the ground floor is intended to represent a journey through what the museum understands as narrative art: you wander through cave paintings past sphinxes into a kind of Sistine Chapel - that's somehow a very American concept. The gardens surrounding the museum are accessible without admission.

They are also intended to be an offer for the neighboring South Los Angeles district, where the average income is low and green spaces are in short supply. Landscape architect Mia Lehrer prides herself on hanging gardens, lawns with statues, and meandering paths where there used to be a parking lot.