Monsieur Vincent is in the UK for the first time at the Wales Millennium Centre and I couldn’t believe how I felt after going
The Vincent Van Gogh exhibition has come to the UK for the first time, in Wales(Image: Steph Colderick)
Virtual reality (VR) technology has come a long way but in the wrong hands it can seem a little bit naff. When the Wales Millennium Centre, in Cardiff Bay, announced a new Vincent Van Gogh immersive VR experience, named Monsieur Vincent, I was a little unsure of what it was going to be like.
After heading down to Wales Millennium Centre and trying out the 20-minute immersive experience, I was blown away by how I felt.
In the Wales Millennium Centre, you head to the Western Studio, which is on the first floor, and are taken into a big room which is full of swivel chairs.
Projected across one large wall are different pictures of Van Gogh’s work, including The Bedroom and Starry Night Over the Rhone, and illuminated glowing orbs that change colour hang from the ceiling.
Once you sit down in a swivel chair, you are assisted in putting on the VR headset, and then the experience begins.
The 20-minute experience takes you through the later years of Van Gogh’s life from the perspective of Marguerite, who was one of Van Gogh’s last models and the daughter of his physician Dr Gachet.
Here you learn about Van Gogh, what he was like, and how he came across from someone who actually knew him.
The experience starts in the home of Dr. Gachet, where Marguerite reminisces about the artist.
She takes the viewer on a journey through his palette of colours and famous works: in Provence, where he nearly lost himself in his quest for the “high yellow note”; the reds and greens of the cafés along the Rhône River; the vivid colours of the night sky; and in the fields of Northern France, where he explored the pure colours of exhilaration and passion.
The VR aspect is incredible; you really feel like you’re zooming along inside the paintings and mind of Van Gogh, and it is hard to remember you are actually sitting still and not moving.
The swivel chair means that whichever way you spin and look there is always something to see, which was really impressive and the experience had me gasping and smiling.
The VR is so realistic at times that you do actually feel like you are falling, and as you can grab things during the experience, it is totally immersive.
With the voiceover, the emotive music, and the story of Van Gogh, I actually felt very moved and touched by the experience – not something I was expecting after 20 minutes of VR.
Costing £6 and running in the Wales Millennium Centre until Monday, September 1, I would highly recommend this experience, which is for everyone aged 10 and over.
It is definitely worth £6 and it is great to see a UK first find its home in the Wales Millennium Centre.