Drake invests $100m in relaunching 1987 Luna Luna art carnival
The art world's biggest names were commissioned to create iconic installations for the amusement park which was open for just three months in 1987.
Wednesday 23 November 2022 13:37, UK
Drake has pledged $100m (£84m) of his fortune to support the reboot of an art carnival which featured work by Keith Haring, David Hockney and Roy Lichtenstein in 1987.
Luna Luna was an open-air museum and amusement park which opened to visitors in Hamburg, Germany from 4 June to 31 August 1987.
Austrian artist André Heller collaborated with 32 artists who created colourful and original sculptures and installations for the project.
Jean-Michel Basquiat designed a Ferris wheel composed of his drawings, while Haring created a carousel painted with his iconic cartoon characters and symbols.
British artist Hockney created an enchanted forest installation on a temporary pavilion construction.
The amusement park was due to tour around Europe after its successful summer in Hamburg but it was shut down due to issues over its ownership and associated lawsuits.
Heller eventually sold Luna Luna for $6m (£5m) in 1990 to the Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation but it was still dogged by legal issues.
The installations spent 15 years locked up in a park in Texas until Drake and his arts and entertainment company DreamCrew became involved.
The rapper, whose real name is Aubrey Drake Graham, and creative director Michael Goldberg now plan to restore the park's artworks, establish a team to curate the works and prepare for a global tour.
"When I first heard about Luna Luna, I was blown away," Drake added in a statement. "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."
A documentary of the restoration is currently in the works, and Luna Luna is due to open in Los Angeles in late 2023 before a North American and then world tour.