OPERATORS of an innovative touring exhibition have decided to keep York as its home until March next year - after it was due to close at the end of the year.
The Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience display in York St Mary’s will continue to welcome visitors until March 31 2023.
The attraction, which uses sound and light to animate and display over 200 of Van Gogh’s famous works in a Zen-like setting within the nave of the church, originally opened for a six month run in July 2019, but thanks to its popularity it will continue to welcome visitors throughout the rest of this year and into March.
Exhibition manager, Evie Blackstock, said: "The run up to Christmas has to be one of the busiest and most stressful times of the year, so we are encouraging frazzled shoppers to come and recharge their batteries with a calm, relaxing experience surrounded by Van Gogh’s paintings, projected and animated onto the walls of the history York St Mary’s.
"The best way to enjoy the experience is to settle into a deckchair and let the soothing soundtrack wash over you as you are surrounded by stunning artwork – it instils a real sense of calm, recharging the batteries so people are ready to face the outside world again with renewed vigour."
After the immersive show – which runs on a 35-minute loop, so viewers can enter and leave at any point – visitors can then enjoy some mindful colouring of Van Gogh’s works, with their illustrations projected onto a virtual gallery on the wall.
“Some people initially think that this is just for children, but engaging the creative part of your mind is very soothing for adults, too – there is great satisfaction from finishing an artwork,” Evie added.
A small exhibition about Van Gogh’s life and work awaits on the mezzanine floor, along with an optional extra – a virtual reality visit to Arles, France where Van Gogh was at his most productive. Donning virtual reality (VR) headsets, visitors are taken on a digital recreation of the village, starting in the house where Van Gogh stayed, before travelling around the streets and sights familiar from his paintings.
Evie said: "As a visit takes around an hour, this is something that people can easily fit into a trip to York – to rest their feet and their minds. It is little wonder that we’re the longest-running version of the exhibition in the world."
York was the first venue chosen to host Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience in the UK, in York St Mary’s, next to JORVIK Viking Centre, followed by Leicester.
Tickets cost £13 for adults, £11 for concessions and £9 for children. The attraction is open every day except Tuesday from 10am to 6pm.
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