"NOT EXIST IN"

Going through the peculiar situation of lockdown and the arrival of the second wave of the pandemic, it is becoming more and more difficult for an artist to exhibit his work offline. Exhibitions and events, as well as communications are increasingly taking place online. Speaking as an artist and looking for new ways of communicating with his audience, Mikhail Porollo began to think about how an artist could survive in the current circumstances. The idea of creating a virtual museum to display his work came to him while reading a book, which examined various ways of "showing" art. In addition, he always liked the idea that the poster becomes part of the public space. Art gets inside our computers and smartphones and goes outside museums on the streets - open spaces. At a time when the planning and booking a visit to a museum or gallery has become a part of our life, the chances of the viewer meeting the "beautiful" in reality decrease, and the desire to visit the exhibition decreases. In addition, many people simply do not want to take the risk of contracting the virus. The concept of "the bubble", which must be observed in a pandemic, is narrowed and also carried over to the art world, which must somehow be accessed. This idea has transformed into the creation of a virtual museum (so far rather a small gallery), in which anyone (that is, the artist who created this museum) can exhibit his works and which everyone can visit by simply scanning the QR code - a kind of digital "entry-key" into the virtual world of exposure. The campaign to promote the first exhibition "Not-Exist-In" at the Museum Of Virtual Exhibitions by Mikhail Porollo will take place in early November 2020 in 100 locations around the city (100 identical posters in 19 Brussels communes). The exhibition will include three recent projects from the artist. The exhibition itself will be available on the website afterwards for at least a month. The virtual space will have several rooms, just like in a "bricks and mortar" museum. It will also be possible to supplement the visit with an audio guide. In addition, you will even be able to visit a virtual cafe in the museum. The difference from the "real" museum (and also its advantage) is that the museum can be visited at any time and any number of times - even after the end of the advertising campaign.