The Theatre of Digital Art (TODA) is an incredible one-of-a-kind digital art space based in Souk Madinat Jumeirah. It focuses on the intersection of art and tech by showing visitors classical art in an immersive way. The idea behind it is to create a sense of wonder, not just convey information. Most art in galleries is an object sitting in a frame or a thing, so here, they work with something that is intangible. TODA uses this incredible lighting and sound system and hanging projectors that are hidden carefully from the public eye, and it turns the walls and ceiling into digital animations based on famous artworks by artists like Vincent Van Gogh or Claude Monet, animated to a soundtrack. So instead of getting loans of the actual artworks from museums which can be expensive, they work with images of the paintings. This way, visitors can see an entire collection of artworks, and not just the one or two.

So here at TODA, there’s a new exhibition that just recently opened called Being Van Gogh. It’s a one-hour experience dedicated to the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh, a Dutch artist and post-impressionist painter born in 1853. Starting in his late twenties, over the course of 10 years, he painted more than 900 paintings and only ever sold one. Today, his paintings are listed among the most expensive in the world.  

What’s hard to believe is that, during his lifetime, Van Gogh’s art was not appreciated. He had a brother Theo, who he would write letters to, detailing what he was going through and his struggle as an artist. So this show at TODA is the true story of Van Gogh’s life based on his letters to his brother Theo. There’s more than 800 of these letters, and they give us this incredible insight into his art and mind at the time.

An actor on screen plays Van Gogh (soon to be a live performance) and you hear him write those letters talking about his artistic search, his loneliness, his poverty, his dreams, and his search for inspiration. In Van Gogh’s own words. So it’s not fiction. The paintings that show on the screen walk you through his entire career while hearing what was going on in his troubled mind. So you feel like you are completely inside his paintings. It’s very emotional. You know the thoughts that he was thinking while he painted. One of his most famous paintings, Starry Night, he actually painted when he was in an asylum.

So this exhibition is brilliant. It really brings his artworks to life, and you understand him as artist instead of just seeing a painting on the wall.  Also, a lot of art galleries usually close up at around 6PM so this is more of an all day and evening environment where you can come for a night out, like you would the theater or Broadway. There’s a café lounge where you can also order drinks and snacks from to enjoy inside the theatre.

TODA also offers a Virtual Reality experience for an additional fee where you’re actually transported via headsets inside 1 of 4 famous paintings such as ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch. This has to be one of my favorite paintings which I had personally recreated as part of the Getty Museum Challenge, one of the few silver linings of the 2020 pandemic.

The venue also offers kids a fun interactive exhibit, where they can use their creative imagination to color images of animals. Once completed, the kids will be able to see their creation come to life on screen with the other animals colored by others.

In summary, TODA is one of the most unique art destinations and things to do in Dubai. Would definitely suggest a visit.

Website: www.toda.ae. Operating hours are from 12PM until 11PM. Ticket prices vary depending on regular vs. VIP starting at AED 100 for adults, and AED 50 for children. A bonus that comes with your admission ticket is a 75 Dirhams restaurant voucher redeemable at 7 of the Souk Madinat restaurants*, against a minimum spend of AED 150 per person (not valid in conjunction with other offers), so it’s great value as well. There’s a gift shop by the exit which has a few cool Van Gogh inspired things to buy.

*Souk Madinat restaurants included: Trattoria, P&B, Anar, Belgian Beer Café, The Noodle House, Ushna, and Publique.

P.S: if you’d like to find out more about Van Gogh’s life and artworks, you should watch Loving Vincent. Outstanding film, available on Netflix and Apple TV.