Who among us hasn't looked at a Vincent van Gogh painting and dreamed of walking into a world of his swirling, colourful brushstrokes? Well now you won't have to travel to another realm to do so – in fact, you won't even need to travel to another continent.
The Lume is a new immersive digital art gallery set to open in South Melbourne in Autumn 2020. Sprawling across 2,000 square metres of exhibition space, the $15 million gallery will use 150 state-of-the-art projectors to surround visitors with art. It will also use a musical soundscape and aromas pumped into the gallery to conjure up a multi-sensory experience, bringing the artwork to life. Going to a Van Gogh exhibition? You'll be able to literally stop and smell the sunflowers.
The gallery is the work of Melbourne-based company Grande Exhibitions, who have been touring larger-than-life art exhibitions in cities all around the world for 15 years. The Lume will be their first permanent gallery, and is likely to be replicated in other cities if successful. The company is known for works celebrating the work of Van Gogh and the French impressionists, and Leonardo da Vinci. Judging by the images they've released, we're pretty confident Van Gogh will play a major part in their ongoing exhibitions, which they're anticipating will attract 400,000 people each year.
We don't have a whole lot of details just yet – or even an address – but we do know the gallery will open in Autumn next year and will be open 365 days a year. We also don't know how much it will cost, but we've got everything crossed that it won't cost an arm and a leg – or an ear – to see the world's most famous artworks come to life in a three-dimensional space.
More information is available at thelume.com.au.