Virtual Van Gogh exhibition set to attract shoppers, art lovers in Dubai

Shoppers and art lovers will soon be able to step into Van Gogh masterpieces projected onto walls and floors in an immersive experience in a Dubai shopping center.

The installation by French firm Culturespaces is reminiscent of “Loving Vincent”, the 2017 drama chronicling the life of the Dutch post-impressionist, in which moving images were created using frames painted on canvas.

The exhibition, which will showcase digital displays of works from the Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Remy collection and others including Irises, opens on July 1 and will run until mid next year.

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“Our mission is to make art accessible to all and to be able to share this new way of discovering art with as many people as possible,” Catherine Oriol, director of Infinity Des Lumieres at Dubai Mall, told AFP as a pianist played nearby.

The exhibition is in the mold of the Atelier des Lumieres in Paris, where classic works are shown alongside complementary sound and visual displays.

Shoppers and art lovers will soon be able to step into masterpieces projected onto walls and floors in an immersive experience, through an exhibition in Dubai Mall set up in the mould of the Atelier des Lumieres in Paris, which will open on July 1 to run until mid 2022. (AFP)

The Dubai Mall exhibition seeks to “connect visitors directly to the art”, Oriol said.

One of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, Dubai has in recent years become a global hub for tourism and luxury services.

It has sought to remain open to overseas visitors even as the coronavirus pandemic has hammered international travel.

“We hope in the future that we will be able to create new exhibitions related to the region, (such as) calligraphy and poetry,” said Oriol.

After an initially strict lockdown, life in the Gulf emirate – one of the first destinations to once again welcome visitors in July last year – has largely returned to normality, with restaurants, hotels and beaches open to the public.

It is set to host the six-month World Expo opening in October, after it was delayed by a year due to the pandemic.

Culturespaces has opened a number of digital art exhibitions around the world, including in France and South Korea, and is scheduled to launch another in New York next year.

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