The immersive exhibition ‘Van Gogh Vivo’ arrives in Guayaquil on June 5

Van Gogh Alive (real+compelling), an exhibition that opened its doors in Quito last October and is still on display in the capital, will arrive at the Main Port on June 5. It will be located in the parking lot of the Policentro shopping center.

For now, the exhibition will be on display in Guayaquil until September 15, although it could be extended depending on the popularity of the proposal, which will consist of an immersive space and six museum galleries.

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The immersive space will feature a series of projections of Van Gogh’s works and expert staff will lead attendees on the tour, the guided portion of which will last approximately one hour.

“The immersive part is important because it managed to get people who wouldn’t necessarily go to a museum, especially young people, to start there,” says Nicolás Romero Ordeñana, director of Arriba el Telón (AET), the organizing company of the event. The immersive space will feature more than 30 projectors, which will show the life of Van Gogh and his works, some with animated effects.

The museum rooms will feature screens showing videos of actors representing Van Gogh, his brother Theo and his wife, essential characters in the Dutch artist’s history, who supported him financially and brought his works posthumous worldwide recognition.

In another room, some of the painter’s most important paintings are ‘sculpturally displayed’, where visitors can walk through the works.

The sample will have a maximum of 2,000 visitors per day. Most visitors stay an average of 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, as the tour lasts about an hour, but the public may stay longer to admire the exhibit.

The installation is still in Quito, but will be dismantled and transported to Guayaquil from April 24. The sample is expected to arrive in the Mainport on May 15 and assembly will take three weeks.

Ecuadorian artists, such as the sculptor Edgar Cevallos, participated in the original montage of the exhibition. “He and several Ecuadorian painters and sculptors helped us set up and prepare everything in Quito,” says Romero, adding that part of the show, especially the technological part, was produced in the Netherlands.

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AET Ecuador, jointly responsible for the immersive experience with Dutch company Cooltural Holanda BV, planned to open the exhibition in Guayaquil on February 2, but the reception of the exhibition in Quito was “extraordinary”, according to Ordeñana, so who decided for the stay of Van Gogh Alive (real+compelling) in the capital.

What’s more, the company originally planned to host the immersive experience on Simón Bolívar promenade, but “there wasn’t the space needed,” says Romero, as the installation requires about 1,500 square feet of free space.

The costs are as follows: $3 (seniors and disabilities), $4 (children), $6 (adults). The exhibition is open Monday through Friday from noon to 8 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased from May 2 at the physical box office of the exhibition or via the Ticketshow website.