Melbourne's Multi-Sensory Digital Art Gallery The Lume Is Finally Set to Open This Spring

The permanent gallery will launch with an immersive Van Gogh exhibition using moving images, music and smells.
Libby Curran
May 30, 2021

Fancy an art experience that extends beyond looking at works on a wall? Then prepare to be impressed by Melbourne's new 3000-square-metre, 11-metre-high immersive digital art gallery.

Originally set to open in late 2020, then postponed till autumn 2021, and now finally set to launch when the first day of spring hits — so, Wednesday, September 1 — The Lume will make its home permanently at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). The big drawcard: projections of some of the world's most celebrated artworks, which will be splashed across various surfaces. Those luminous displays will be backed by powerful musical soundtracks, too, and even complemented by aromas.

The inaugural exhibition at The Lume will celebrate the works and life of Vincent van Gogh. So, you'll be able to walk through artworks like The Starry Night and Sunflowers while listening to a classical music score. If you were lucky enough to make it up to Sydney last year for Van Gogh Alive, expect something very similar.

The project is the brainchild of Melbourne-based Grande Experiences, which, for the past 15 years, has hosted immersive exhibitions and gallery experiences in over 130 cities across the world — and is taking Van Gogh Alive around Australia this year, too. The company also owns and operates Rome's Museo Leonardo da Vinci.

The Lume will open at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday, September 1. General public tickets go on sale at 12pm on Thursday, June 3 — with wait list pre-sales from Monday, May 31.

Published on May 30, 2021 by Libby Curran
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