What To Know About The Two Van Gogh Exhibits Headed For Boston
You've got questions, we've got answers.
If you’ve been on social media over the last few weeks, you’ve almost certainly come across the news of a Van Gogh exhibit coming to Boston…and perhaps have even realized, there are two!
If you’ve found yourself confused over which one to get tickets to or what the differences between them are, trust that you’re not the only one—and we’re here to help answer all your questions. Yes, all of them.
To clear things up, we’ve decided to break down all the questions we’ve seen floating around, in addition to any others you may find to be of interest concerning these two immersive Van Gogh exhibits coming to Boston this fall.
Is there just one immersive Boston Van Gogh exhibit, or multiple?
As mentioned, there are two different Van Gogh exhibitions coming to Boston this fall!
- “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” by Exhibition Hub, opening September 24.
- “Imagine Van Gogh: The Immersive Exhibition” by Encore Productions and Fimalac Entertainment, opening December 21.
Is there a scam?
Nope, not at all. These are just two different exhibits put on by two different companies that happen to both be highlighting the legendary post-impressionist Dutch artist!
Who is Exhibition Hub, and what’s the deal with Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience?
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience in Boston is being put on by “edutainment” company Exhibition Hub & sold through events app Fever. The teams at both companies bring decades of experience in the entertainment and production industries to this exhibit. However, this particular experience actually began back in 2017 in Europe! It has visited cities in Italy, the UK, Belgium, and China (which you can see more about on their website here) before now making its way to the U.S. this year with digital productions in Atlanta, NYC, Miami and across the country.
Exhibition Hub has also created similar immersive art experiences featuring Monet and Klimt.
What about Tandem Expositions and the Imagine Van Gogh Exhibition, then?
“Imagine Van Gogh: The Immersive Exhibit” began last year and has toured in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver. This event is being put on by artistic directors Annabelle Mauger and Julien Baron who collaborated at Cathédrale d’Images in Les Baux-de-Provence, in partnership with Encore Productions and Fimalac Entertainment.
What’s actually the difference between these two Boston Van Gogh exhibits?
Both experiences highlight Van Gogh’s paintings in a unique way, bringing the famous works to life from floor to ceiling with different elements of color, sound and light using projectors, animations and more.
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience:
- 60-75 minutes long
- It will offer additional larger-than-life galleries diving into Van Gogh’s life, artistic technique, and influence
- It will feature an additional VR experience, and large scale video mapping technology
Immersive Van Gogh Boston:
- Hour-long walk-through experience
- It will feature amplified 3D images of some of Van Gogh’s greatest works and classical music by some famous French composers.
What about VR?
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience will be the only exhibit of the two in Boston offering the VR element, which guides visitors on a 10-minute journey through “A day in the life of the artist.” This VR journey is in addition to the large scale, 360-degree video mapping show.
- The equipment (including chairs) will be fully disinfected after each use.
- Each visitor will also receive a disposable mask for the eyes (to avoid contact between the skin and the goggles).
As of publication, Imagine Van Gogh: The Immersive Exhibition does not appear to have a virtual reality component.
Where are they going to be in Boston?
The Imagine Van Gogh Exhibition will be taking place at SoWa Power Station in the South End. The Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience location is yet to be announced.
Oh! This was featured on Emily in Paris, right?!
Not quite. The Van Gogh exhibition featured on the Netflix show Emily in Paris was organized by L’Atelier des Lumières, and is called “Van Gogh, Starry Night.”
Currently, none of the exhibitions available in Boston are organized by L’Atelier des Lumières. Still, they both feature a large-scale Van Gogh image projection experience that will remind visitors of the show featured on Emily in Paris!
Which Boston Van Gogh exhibit is family-friendly?
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience has an educational interactive experience included as part of the exhibit, making it perfect for families or school trips. According to its website, it is completely suitable for all ages.
The Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit does not explicitly state whether or not they offer content specifically tailored for children, but does offer children tickets and family packages.
How are they COVID-19 safe?
Since all the art is digital, both Boston Van Gogh exhibits are touchless, socially-distant events. Both websites promise reduced capacity and mask requirements as per city regulations, timed entry, temperature checks, social distancing markers, one-way flow, and more.
Which Boston Van Gogh exhibit should I go to?
That’s for you to decide! If you really want to go down the rabbit hole, you can always go to both and rate them for yourself. They are opening just a few days apart after all…