A large-scale multimedia exhibition featuring the works of Vincent van Gogh has opened at the Alte Druckerei in Hannover-Bemerode, offering visitors an immersive journey through the Dutch master's artistic legacy. "Van Gogh – The Immersive Experience," produced by Cofo Entertainment, will run through March 1, 2026, providing what organizers call "sophisticated entertainment" that successfully amazes, delights, and captivates audiences.

The exhibition begins with a gentle introduction featuring luminous three-dimensional sunflower objects hanging from the walls to welcome visitors. Following this initial display, guests encounter informational sections about Van Gogh's life and work, reproductions of his famous paintings, and carefully crafted stage sets designed for photography opportunities.

The centerpiece of the entire experience is the massive Van Gogh cinema, a remarkable technical achievement featuring four screens – two measuring 98 feet long on the sides and two 49 feet long on the ends – in a room standing 20 feet high. Eighteen projectors suspended from ceiling frameworks cast Van Gogh's iconic images onto the screens: sunflowers, fields, starry nights, and self-portraits. The images artfully transition from one to another, with even the floor sparkling with projected light.

The visual narrative traces the artist's life chronologically, and toward the end, the show attempts to immerse visitors in Van Gogh's mental turmoil. Water appears to flow from the paintings, the entire hall seems flooded, and a fish glides across the floor with serpentine movements. The technical complexity requires precise coordination – just before the exhibition's opening, a projector failed at 5 a.m., requiring a technician to travel from Leipzig to replace the equipment, according to Oliver Forster, CEO of Cofo Entertainment.

The immersive experience features constantly moving imagery, with colorful elements fluttering across the screens and over spectators: sunflower petals, starlight sparkles, small flames, autumn leaves, wheat ears, and brush strokes that transform into sausage-like forms. A soundtrack of sometimes grandiose music, occasionally reminiscent of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," accompanies the visual spectacle.

Narration is provided by actor Torsten Münchow, known for his voice work dubbing Antonio Banderas and Gérard Depardieu. His dramatically charged, sonorous voice shares details about the artist's life and quotes beautiful passages from Van Gogh's letters, with text occasionally floating across the projected images.

For an additional fee of 3 euros, visitors can experience Van Gogh's works through virtual reality. Seated on rotating bar stools and wearing VR headsets, guests can walk through his paintings in what amounts to a thrilling, sometimes dizzying roller coaster ride through the works of an artist whose enormous productivity was closely linked to his immense suffering. The VR experience leaves participants feeling pleasantly transported.

The exhibition follows a one-way path, meaning visitors cannot return to earlier sections after completing the colorful VR journey. However, this limitation proves inconsequential – for instance, while visitors might want to smell the soap bar sitting on a table in the recreation of Van Gogh's room in Arles, the soap is plastic and odorless, representing the apparent limits of immersion.

Cofo Entertainment is currently expanding its immersive exhibition portfolio across Germany. The company is preparing "Titanic – An Immersive Journey" in Leipzig, set to open November 28, and will launch another immersive exhibition in Dortmund on December 17. The Dortmund show will feature a Banksy exhibition titled "The Mystery of Banksy – A Genius Mind," which previously ran successfully at Aufhof in Hannover two years ago.

Tickets for "Van Gogh – The Immersive Experience" start at 22 euros and are available through tickets.haz.de and at HAZ and Neue Presse ticket shops. Due to limited capacity, organizers recommend purchasing timed entry tickets, though visitors can stay as long as they wish once inside. The exhibition is wheelchair accessible and located at August-Madsack-Straße 1, 30559 Hannover.