It's the news we'd all been anticipating but weren't quite ready for: the Lume – the world’s largest digital art gallery and the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere – has announced its official closing date, and it's much sooner than we'd thought.
After first announcing its plans for closure back in November 2024, the Melbourne cultural institution has remained tight-lipped on when the doors would shut – aside from hinting it would be likely be in 2026. Now, we have a date: June 1, 2025. Cue the tears!
Created by local Grande Experiences and located in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), the Lume has played host to a breathtaking array of groundbreaking exhibitions since it first opened in 2021, including Connection (which won the Impact Award at the 2024 Time Out Melbourne Arts & Culture Awards) and Leonardo da Vinci – 500 Years of Genius (which featured original pages of the Codex Atlanticus that are so priceless they can only be shown for three months at a time).
More than 1.5 million visitors have experienced the digital art gallery's immersive magic, and it's injected an estimated $180 million into the Victorian economy.
"The Lume Melbourne has been a defining chapter in Australia’s cultural landscape – a place where art, innovation and imagination came to life for millions of visitors," said Bruce Peterson, founder and chair of Grande Experiences and CEO of the Lume. "As we look to the future, we see an opportunity to once again redefine immersive storytelling. Rather than simply continuing, we are
choosing to evolve – embracing new technologies that will take cultural experiences to even greater heights."
The current experience, Van Gogh (which is also the Lume's inaugural exhibition and has returned for an encore season), will run until the closing date. This dreamy, kaleidoscopic collection of the painter’s most famous works allows you to feel like you're in van Gogh's bedroom or under that famous starry night. A brand new virtual reality experience has also been added: Finding Vincent. Slip on a headset and learn more about van Gogh’s life, alongside friends or companions.
Until June 1, there’s still plenty of time to bask in the wonder of the Lume’s four-storey high projections, dazzling installations and world-class offerings. So let this be your sign to check it out before it leaves Melbourne forever – you can find out more via the website.
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