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Five of the world's best attractions for 2023: A manga mecca and a $26m monument among this year's best
The new Maria Callas Museum in Greece will be dedicated to the nation's legendary soprano.
An icon celebrated, anime, manga and Nintendo honoured and a monument to freedom opens — the hot attractions for 2023.
MARIA CALLAS MUSEUM, ATHENS, GREECE
A good small, single-subject museum can offer insight into so much more than its theme. The Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw, for instance, is an insight into music itself. Dennis Severs' House in London, telling a story of life in Spitalfields in the 18th and 19th century, can also remind us of human resilience. In the northern summer of 2023, in time for her 100th birthday, the City of Athens will open a museum dedicated to the life of the legendary Greek soprano Maria Callas, and the story of a trailblazer. At the Maria Callas Museum in the heart of the Greek capital, rare live recordings and personal items of the late, great soprano are in the collection, including her handwritten notebook from school, nine medals of honour, as well as dresses and accessories from the stage and her life as a fashion icon. See mariacallasmuseum.org
SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, LOS ANGELES, US
Credit: Universal Studios Hollywood
After its first iteration debuted in Japan in 2021, Super Nintendo World opens at Universal Studios Hollywood in July 2023. A highlight promises to be Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge, a roller coaster with 3D augmentation. Riders don special goggles and battle Team Bowser on Mario Kart courses alongside characters, Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach, collecting coins and throwing shells to win the Golden Cup. (You know if you know.) After, you can shop till you drop at the Super Nintendo World store for exclusive merch, hit up the themed dining and immerse in other interactive attractions. The California Super Nintendo World is the first time the Japanese video game giant has had a large presence inside a theme park. See universalstudioshollywood.com
ANIMATE IKEBUKURO, TOKYO, JAPAN
Animate's flagship store will unveil an expansion in 2023.
Anime and manga fans have a new mecca: the already hugely popular comic bookstore Animate in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district has expanded and March 16 marks the grand opening of what is said to be the world's largest store of its kind. The multi-level megastore includes a theatre where the store will host plays and dramatic readings, and the Space Galleria on the 8th floor, where exhibitions themed around titles from anime, manga and light novels will be staged. There is also the Animate Hall for speaking events and autograph signing sessions. A floor is dedicated to apparel and household items and on another floor, there is a cafe. Animate says the store will be reborn as not just a place for shopping, but to experience anime and manga to new depths. Ikebukuro is best known for the Sunshine City complex, featuring a 60th-floor observation deck, an aquarium and the Konica Minolta Planetarium Manten. See animate.co.jp
MONUMENT TO FREEDOM AND UNITY, BERLIN, GERMANY
The metal bowl in the centre of the Monument to Freedom and Unity moves when visitors work together.Credit: Milla ~amp~ Partner
Beleaguered with delays and, somewhat ironically, disagreements, Berlin's Monument to Freedom and Unity is set to be unveiled this year. Commemorating the peaceful reunification of East and West Germany via the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the striking sculptural memorial was conceived by German architectural firm Milla & Partner who won the design competition in 2007. However, it wasn't till 2018 that government moves finally allowed it to progress. At a cost of some $26.4 million (€17 million), in the main, the piece comprises a 50-metre-long boat-shaped metal bowl that moves. Says Milla & Partner, "As with the peaceful revolution of 1989, people need to communicate and decide on joint action, in order to create the motion. It shows the strength in numbers: when there are at least 30 more people standing on one half of the bowl than on the other, the bowl will start to move, slowly and gently. New perspectives open up." See visitberlin.de
NITA MUKESH AMBANI CULTURAL CENTRE, MUMBAI, INDIA
Jio World Centre's design takes cues from Indian jewellery.Credit: Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre
A 7.5-hectare development, Mumbai's impressive new Jio World Centre is a dazzling monument to modernity and situated in India's most populous city, with 5G capabilities and a list of green credentials as long as your arm, it's emblematic of new India. Jio World Centre's design takes its cues from Indian culture, particular jewellery. The architectural firm, TVS (work includes the Las Vegas Convention Centre expansion) describes it as "a necklace that reflects the intricate design of the whole development." In addition to shopping, a convention centre and members club, the complex features an illuminated musical fountain and extensive gardens, plus, opening in March 2023, the much-anticipated Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, home to several state-of-the-art theatres. See jioworldcentre.com
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