Further to our visit to the V&A Museum for the Alice in Wonderland exhibition, if you’re looking for more art and culture, then be sure to check out the Van Gogh Immersive Experience. Relaxing day out learning about Van Gogh and some chill out time under the starry night.
Date Visited: Monday, 30th August 2021
Location:106 Commercial St, London E1 6LZ
Getting There: A short walk from a few stations, Shoreditch, Liverpool Street and Algate East.
Cost: From £11.50 for a standard child ticket, up to £32 for a VIP adult ticket which includes the VR experience and starry night gift poster.
Review:
Set up in an old warehouse near Spitafields is the Van Gogh Immersive Experience. Cara was aware of the Sunflowers pieces and Starry Night, so it wasn’t all new to her. On arrival, you check-in and take in some green tea before heading upstairs to learn about Van Gogh’s life and history. There’s a fair bit of reading so Cara tended to skip through this section of the exhibit. We made our way downstairs to the more interactive and ‘immersive experience’ of the exhibition.
To the right, there’s a room full of colouring options. This is where Cara enjoyed the most and spent the most time. Yes, we probably could have done this at home with some print outs off Google. We’d definitely have more crayons and pencils to use. But there’s something about sitting in an old warehouse, with other strangers, colouring in. Therapeutic.
After completing a few sheets and collecting some for home, we walked over to the next room for the VR experience. It wasn’t Cara’s cup of tea so she spent a few minutes on the phone while the VR headsets took you back into France. The main attraction though is another stairs down and through the curtains. Van Gogh’s Immersive Experience bombards you visually by bringing his famous paintings to life, backed by a Ministry of Sound Chill Out session like soundtrack. You can choose to relax on a bench, desk chairs or even a rug on the floor.
Chilled times…
All up, we spent about an hour or so inside the exhibition. Obviously, if you have older kids, or are more interested in Van Gogh than a six year old, then you’ll spend a heck of a lot more time inside. Nevertheless, it was both an educational experience, looking into Van Gogh’s life and troubles, while also being fun and engaging.
The good thing about its location is that it’s close to other areas like Spitafields market, Brick Lane, Shoreditch. There’s also plenty of options for food and drink.
For more info: https://vangoghexpo.com/london/
Ratings:
Burn Time: 3 out of 5 – For us, it wasn’t the longest of stays. However, for an older family, you could spend an entire day here.
Value: 3 out of 5 – Unless you’re really interested in the Alice of Wonderland story, you might want to give this one a miss. Instead, enjoy the free exhibits within the V&A Museum itself.
Overall: 3 out of 5 – The courtyard was the highlight of the V&A Museum for us! Perhaps we’ll revisit once Cara is slightly older.
If you’re an art fan, particularly a Van Gogh one, be sure to check it outw. Let us know your thoughts below!
