Picture by Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience
Many museums have reconsidered how they want to present art during Covid-19, and have decided to embrace the future with the past.
Welcome to Virtual Reality.
According to an Association of Leading Visitor Attractions survey, 40% of people in the UK say that culture is their main reason for visiting a museum. During the past few years, however, the number of visitors has declined.
This has forced many museums to start thinking of more creative ways to engage visitors, which is why the difficulties caused by Covid finally forced the museums to step into the age of VR.
“It has been successful in putting some of our exhibitions online, but we are also excited to be able to open our doors to visitors,” says Paul Wilson, who works as a visitor assistant for the British Museum.
“I don’t think we will ever be fully online, but it has been great to see that our online exhibitions have been welcomed by people and that they have reached so many despite the pandemic.”
Picture by Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience
Museums such as V&A and Louvre have arranged virtual reality exhibitions for their most famous artworks. Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience brings visitors inside the artist’s most compelling works and at the same time shows the inspiration behind his art.
“We wanted to create something that’s bigger than life presentation. We wanted to create an environment and tribute to a great artist through Digital Art while at the same time respecting the original artwork,” says Mario Berti, who is one of the marketing directors for the Van Gogh exhibition.
According to Berti, the richness of colours and unique style makes Van Gogh a perfect artist for the VR exhibition. The beautiful scenes and details of his paintings follow the visitor as they hear more of his tragic but illustrious life.
VR can offer vital new possibilities for the arts through the pandemic and beyond. It can give a sense of reality and add to the experience instead of only visiting the museums. Visitors are able to see the art in a new light and dive into the smallest of details.
“Feedback has been simply spectacular. I don't think VR will ever replace actually going to the museum and having the experience of seeing the actual artwork, but I also think that they can't be compared,” Berti said.
“Both of them have their good sides, and I believe that VR will be a permanent addition to the museums."
