The Lume Melbourne, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest digital art gallery, has announced its permanent closure on 1 June 2025, coinciding with the end of its current Van Gogh exhibition. This brings the closing date forward by a year – it had previously been announced that it would wind up in 2026.
Since it opened in 2021 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, The Lume has captivated more than 1.5 million visitors with immersive displays featuring renowned artists like Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Leonardo da Vinci.
In a statement on LinkedIn, The Lume’s General Manager, Joshua Ogilvie, said over the five-year run, the gallery has transformed how people encounter art – not as something to observe from a distance, but as something to step inside, to feel in full colour and sound
While the Melbourne location is closing, The Lume’s counterpart in Indianapolis, USA, will remain operational. Discussions are underway to potentially establish new venues in other Australian states, though no definitive plans have been confirmed.
