First look: New Dubai exhibit lets you walk around famous paintings

Dubai has ushered in a new era of fully immersive interactive art.

Dubai is now home to a brand new Theatre of Digital Art (ToDA), which allows visitors to walk around some of the most famous paintings in the world.

The area, which covers 1,800 sqm and is located at Souk Madinat Jumeirah is officially open to the public.

The new gallery uses a combination of light technology, virtual reality and an incredible soundtrack to put you in the most transcendent mood.

ToDA’s premiere exhibition is titled ‘From Monet to Kandinsky, Revolutionary Art’, is a very unusual presentation of classical art in digital format.

The multimedia show has a duration of 45 minutes, and features masterpieces by art world icons including Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Wassily Kandinsky, Georges Seurat, Paul Cézanne, Edvard Munch, Juan Gris, Robert Delaunay and Paul Klee.

The sensory experience art space incorporates 3D, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, including a range of activities – from painting masterclasses where visitors can bring famous artworks to life, to unique artefacts.

ToDA can accommodate up to 500 visitors, but to align with Dubai-wide health and safety guidelines, it will begin operations at a reduced maximum capacity of 120 visitors with regular facility-wide sanitisation programmes.

The Theatre of Digital Art Dubai represents a milestone art experience unlike any other in the Arabian Gulf.

This gallery contributes to Dubai's goal of embracing the use of new-age solutions within the arts and culture space. ToDA will also serve as an important destination to strengthen and diversify the emirate’s arts and culture sectors as well as empower the creative industries.

Selected works depicting diverse modernist movements such as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Pointillism, and Expressionism are on large-scale display at the theatre, including Munch’s Scream, Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Blossoming Almond Tree, and Monet’s Water Lilies.

As a sensory experience art space, ToDA’s VR space incorporates 3D, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.

ToDA also has an interactive exhibit for kids is a specially designed art space featuring multi-dimensional spaces with secret passages and portals to magical worlds.

ToDA Dubai is open daily from 12 noon to 11pm.

Ticket prices start from Dh45 entry for children (3-15 years of age), Dh75 for adults, while kids under 3 years old can enter for free.

The VR room experience is priced at additional Dh25 for the regular ticket holder.