Art in the Age of Digital Renaissance: 'Sofrência' and the New Frontiers of Accessibility
We talked with Dominique Valansi who was in charge of the project of digital twin in the metaverse of the exhibition "Sofrência" for Arte nas Estações
Dominique Valansi is a journalist and social media specialist with a postgraduate degree in photography as a tool for the social sciences. She has worked with the Rio Museum of Modern Art, Rio City History Museum, International Museum of Naïf Art, ArtRio Fair, FGV Arte, Rio Film Festival, as well as producing articles for art media. She was in charge of the project of digital twin in the metaverse of the exhibition "Sofrência" for the project “Arte nas Estações”. We talked with her.
The "Sofrência" exhibition uniquely combined traditional art with modern technology by creating a digital twin in the metaverse. Can you elaborate on the challenges and opportunities you encountered in integrating these two distinct worlds?
In 2023, the innovative "Art in the Seasons" initiative facilitated three collaborative exhibitions from the International Museum of Naïf Art (MIAN) collection, a museum that was situated in Rio de Janeiro from 1995 to 2016.
Among these, "Sofrência" took a pioneering step by venturing into the metaverse, marking a significant milestone in art accessibility and exhibition. This virtual replication of the physical exhibition, originally hosted in the historic town of Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, not only reached 3,000 visitors in a population of 74,000 but also unlocked the potential to vastly extend its audience beyond geographical and temporal constraints. This expansion into digital realms echoes the adaptability and exploration of new platforms for art dissemination witnessed during the pandemic, where digital access to museums and institutions became a new norm, bridging distances and bringing global audiences closer to cultural experiences.
Moreover, the narrative of "Sofrência" and its digital evolution carries a deeper resonance considering the backdrop of MIAN's closure in 2016. Established by Lucien Finkelstein, a French jeweler and art enthusiast who made Rio de Janeiro his home, MIAN housed an unparalleled collection of Naïf art, featuring 6,000 works by Brazilian artists and 2,000 international pieces, some dating back to the 15th century. The museum's closure due to insufficient government support and the subsequent uncertainty over its collection's future highlight the digital initiative's significance. Spearheaded by cultural manager Fabio Szwarcwald and curated by Ulisses Carrilho, the "Art in the Seasons" project not only revitalizes Finkelstein's vision but also ensures the continued exhibition and appreciation of this culturally and historically rich collection, thereby preserving its legacy and making it accessible to a global audience.
How did you ensure that the digital experience mirrored the physical exhibition's essence?
The "Sofrência" metaverse exhibition meticulously mirrors its physical counterpart through a "digital twin" approach, replicating every detail from the spatial arrangement and artwork placement to the ambient setting, wall colors, and video projections, offering an authentic experience of exploring the Paço da Misericórdia. This historic edifice in Ouro Preto, which has served variously as a maternity hospital and now a cultural school, is brought to life digitally by Museu.xyz's team using Blender for 3D modeling and Unity 3D for game development, and presented on the Spatial platform for its user-friendly access, welcoming those new to Web3 with simple email or social media entry.
How do you envision the role of digital twins in preserving art and cultural heritage, especially in cases where physical access is limited or non-existent, as with the MIAN collection?
As digital realms evolve, the experience for visitors is set to improve significantly, enabling a more immersive and participatory engagement. This is particularly relevant for the "Sofrência" exhibition in the metaverse, which showcases a selection from a larger collection, featuring approximately 75 works by 20 distinguished artists, including notable figures such as Odoteres Ricardo de Ozias, Gerson, Elza O. S., Lia Mittarakis, and Mabel. The transition to a digital exhibition space not only facilitates global accessibility but also heralds new opportunities for broader exposure to this exceptional collection of Brazilian popular art.
How has the audience's response been to the digital twin compared to the physical exhibition?
In my opinion, despite promoting access, the general public still doesn't feel comfortable in the metaverse, despite it being an alternative for new access to art. In 2022, at the first edition of NFT.Rio (https://nftrio.io), we made a replica of the Parque Lage School of Visual Arts, where the event took place, in the metaverse (on the Cryptovoxels platform). The in-person audience, of 10,000 people over four days of exhibitions and debates, was much larger than the online audience, considering the global possibility of visitation. In the case of "Sofrência", the audience was also larger, but this is another initiative that implies new ways of seeing and interacting with art.
What impact do you think this digital accessibility has on the public's engagement with and understanding of naïve art?
Popular art still has little space in the contemporary market, such as in galleries, fairs and institutions, despite the quality of many productions, where the label "naive" obviously doesn't apply. There is a movement to shine a light on these artists and the relevance of their productions, but I think these are still one-off actions. Galeria Estação (http://www.galeriaestacao.com.br), in São Paulo, does an important job of talking about artists, productions and making material available online, with many videos on its YouTube channel. In the case of MIAN, the metaverse is an opportunity to give more prominence to this collection, but above all to open up the debate on new ways of interacting with museum collections.
What are your predictions or hopes for the future of museums and art exhibitions in the digital era? How do you see the relationship between physical and digital exhibition spaces evolving?
I'm very enthusiastic about digital, but I think it's essential for people to physically go to the museum and visit the exhibitions. Online can be another gateway to creating and maintaining new audiences. For the museum to reach people who live in other cities, countries, and who will be enchanted by the institution's content. Or even to captivate the younger generations, most of whose experiences are online. Digital can be a strong complement to students' educational experience, giving them access to more resources and related content. There are countless possibilities and museums must be creative to take advantage of them.
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