Walk into Van Gogh’s art at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa

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Have you ever wanted to feel as though you were actually inside a famous painting? With Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, a multimedia art installation running nightly in the Aberdeen Pavilion at Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park until Thursday, September 16, you have your chance.

To my surprise, I managed to buy tickets to the show’s opening night just a few days in advance. The event is a wonderful way to enjoy Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings without having to travel halfway around the world to see them—not that most of us can travel very far at the minute, anyway.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, given that I love going to galleries and seeing the physical versions of images I’ve only encountered in books or online. However, I have to say that Beyond Van Gogh is a really enjoyable chance to experience the Dutch artist’s work in a new way.

After walking through a room of explanatory panels putting the 19th-century painter’s life and works into historical contest, my husband and I emerged into a large, otherwise dark space where walls, standalone panels and even the floor glowed with projections of a painting called Starry Night Over the Rhône. Van Gogh painted this joyful blue-and-yellow work in 1888, a year before he captured the heavens again in one of his most famous works, the similarly titled The Starry Night.

It was just by chance that we walked in at that particular moment; the show runs on a continuous loop, so you may enter it at any time in the roughly half-hour sequence. (I say “roughly” because I’m not exactly sure how long the show is. I should have been checking my watch, but I was so transfixed by the images that I lost track of time.)

The artworks are shown in thematic groups—portraits, for example, or city scenes. They dissolve into each other in various ways. At one point, tendrils of lush flowers snake across the space, prettily obliterating the projections in their path. In another instance, walls of golden landscapes almost seem to burn up with light as “Here Comes the Sun” plays on the sound system. Speaking of the music, it’s not surprising that an instrumental version of Don McLean’s ode to Van Gogh, “Vincent,” also makes an appearance in the show.

The Aberdeen Pavilion is large enough that it’s easy to appreciate the works while still keeping your distance from the other patrons. Masks are also required throughout, understandably. If your back or feet start to bother you, you can nab one of the few chairs scattered about the cavernous room, or just—as I saw many people doing—sit on the floor.

Your ticket gives you admission to the show for an hour. Once you leave the main hall, you’ll enter a gift shop, where Van Gogh-themed umbrellas, t-shirts and tote bags of all descriptions await you.

So, was Beyond Van Gogh worth the admission fee? It definitely wasn’t cheap (see the “If you go” section below for prices), but I felt we got our money’s worth.

At points, I almost felt magically transported to the sunny fields and cobbled streets of 19th-century southern France. It was the closest I’ve come to long-distance travel since early 2020—at considerably less than the price of a plane ticket. And when we wandered out of the building at 9pm on a Friday night to see Lansdowne’s restaurant patios lively with people, after so many months of silence—well, that was the icing on the cake.

If you go

The Aberdeen Pavilion is located at 1000 Exhibition Way in Lansdowne Park, in Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood. Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience is open seven days a week, from 10am until 11pm, until September 16.

Basic tickets are $42 for adults and $35.75 for children aged 5 to 15 (children 4 or under are admitted free). Prices include taxes. Tickets are sold for timed admission at 15-minute intervals and the organizers warn that you might not get in if you show up late. If you tend to be the tardy type, you can also buy more expensive tickets that allow for flexible entry times and/or longer stays.

The show is presented by RBC.

Want to come to Ottawa and make a weekend of it? You can use the map below to find accommodations close to Lansdowne Park. Note that I’ll receive a small commission if you book a place to stay by following a link on the map. (Thank you—your support helps keep this site going!)

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