Exhibition Hub Founder Mario Iacampo Has Passed Away
November 22, 2023 by Dave Haynes
Photo: Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press
A service is set for Saturday in Brussels for Mario Iacampo, one of the pioneers in the steadily emerging and evolving immersive attractions space.
Iacampo was the CEO and Creative Director of Exhibition Hub, which was putting on touring projection-mapping attractions around the world, most notably Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.
From an Instagram post by his company:
It is with great sorrow that we are sharing the very sad news of the passing of Exhibition Hub’s CEO and Founder Mario Iacampo. Mario was a true visionary who transformed how we think about and experience immersive experiences, exhibitions, attractions and live entertainment.
From bringing laser lights to stadiums to spreading culture through circuses to most recently launching the Immersive wave, he was always ahead of the curve in every project he undertook.
Mario’s impressive creativity, business acumen, and directness were matched only by his generosity, loyalty and kindness. A lifelong innovator, Mario packed hundreds of years of storytelling and memories in his too-short time on this Earth.
He was respected around the world for his ability to see things differently, which allowed him to keep all of the content he created fresh and appealing across all demographics. Mario built an entertainment empire by sheer force of will and was in constant creative motion.
Regardless of how busy he was, he always had time for a quick call to provide advice, creative input or lighten the mood with his quick wit. Mario left us peacefully in the early morning hours of November 16th.
While he is gone, his impact will endure for generations to come as we continue to build upon the remarkable foundations and growth plan that he laid out for Exhibition Hub.
The service is Saturday morning at 10 at Notre-Dame de laeken church, Parvis Notre Dame, 1020 Brussels.
I’ve not come across anything saying what happened, but am told by someone who knows Mario that he became ill about a month ago. He was born in 1957.
The one time we met was on a panel a year ago at DSE – talking specifically about immersive experiences. That’s him standing up. The panel was a technical trainwreck because the audio didn’t work, at all, but Mario and the other folks soldiered on and offer a lot of valuable insights.
Nice, obviously very smart and deeply experienced man. Another big loss for the pro AV community, and I guess as more and more of the leaders and pioneers grow older, this is sadly going to happen more and more.
My condolances to Mario’s family, friends and colleagues. I did not know him, but I thought his work, especially the Van Goch Immersive Show, was a spectacular use of modern technology to expose later generations to great past work. Rest in peace.