Brooklyn Pop: Immersive exhibit turns Brooklyn history into interactive experience
Brooklyn Pop, located inside Industry City in Sunset Park, features more than 3,000 pieces spread across an 11,000-square-foot installation.
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What started as a personal collection for Brooklyn artist Kaves has grown into a massive immersive experience celebrating Brooklyn’s culture, history and identity.
Brooklyn Pop, located inside Industry City in Sunset Park, features more than 3,000 pieces spread across an 11,000-square-foot installation.
Kaves, who was born and raised in Bay Ridge, described the project as a tribute to the borough that shaped him.
“It was my way of writing the dearest love letter to Brooklyn I could,” he said.
Once a month, the exhibit transforms into an interactive theatrical production called “A Brooklyn Dream,” featuring 30 actors, live music, dancing and food.
Audience members move through different rooms and decades as the story unfolds around them.
“It’s a fever dream,” Kaves said. “You’re transported into these different time periods, the ’70s, the ’80s, the ’90s.”
The experience follows a young version of Kaves navigating life in Brooklyn through the decades, while also exploring his family’s roots and artistic influences.
“It’s a three-generational love story, underdog story through the eyes of an artist,” he said.
Visitors move through recreations of movie sets, old-school social clubs and vintage Brooklyn scenes.
“At any given moment, you might get scooped up and get put into the card game, or you might get pulled onto the dance floor,” Kaves said.
The exhibit also reflects Kaves’ early years as a graffiti artist. He said he started painting trains at age 10 and completed his first train car at 13.
Beyond nostalgia, Kaves said the project is also about preserving Brooklyn’s identity as neighborhoods continue to change.
“If we don’t hold on to our stories, it would be tragic if we lose our accents, we lose who we are,” he said.
Brooklyn Pop is open to the public Thursday through Sunday at Industry City. https://thebrooklynpop.com/
