Beyond the visual incentive

The Vincent Van Gogh immersive show ensures a rewarding experience for art lovers and enthusiasts

Paint, canvas and an eye for things that hide themselves from obvious sight: Vincent van Gogh.

The immortal artist, paradoxically, has come back to life — through his art. What was it that made this introvert pick up a brush and exert his most vibrant influence on people?

Art galleries are powerful places, filled with the memories and nostalgia of preceding centuries, but there is only that much observing a painting can do. Some can stare at the piece for hours at a time, filling their eyes with the messages, symbols and emotions trapped within the frame. Others glimpse it and move on.

How much more perceptive could it be to simply drop a viewer into the legend and life of the painter itself? Know whether their life on this planet was vibrant, melancholic or misunderstood?

The Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development of the UAE sought to do just that — offer a new level of immersion for art-lovers and casual-day-spenders alike, one that may give new meaning to the then misunderstood, now famous, Dutch post-impressionist’s life.

The 34-minute show was planned to spend six weeks in Abu Dhabi, from January 14 to February 26, and then to move to Dubai Design District from March 11 to April 23.

It features a specially chosen score of classical music. This will accompany the 3,000 pictures encapsulating Gogh’s paintings, as well as inspirational images displayed on the walls, floor and ceiling of the exhibition space using 40 high-definition projectors ensuring you have an experience that is embodied by only three things: You, an artist and his works.