VRso festival to debut hybrid event format in 2021

VRso festival to debut hybrid event format in 2021

In the upcoming year, the 4th edition of the Recto VRso digital art festival will undergo a significant change, transitioning into a hybrid event. Created by our website, the festival will take place both virtually and physically due to the ongoing health crisis and the transformative impact on art over the past year.

For this edition, Recto VRso is embracing a unique format, stretching across time and space. The event will consist of two parts: a virtual segment from April 14-16, and a subsequent physical restitution in July. This dual format serves to explore and question the evolving forms of virtual exhibitions and adaptations of online artworks in the current crisis context.

The virtual component of the festival will feature three days of conferences within our website World. This extensive programme invites experts from the digital and contemporary artistic scenes, including cultural institutions, galleries, museums, artists, and researchers. The discussion will center around the emergence of virtual exhibition spaces, adaptations by museums and art galleries, and linking these developments with the history of Net Art. Simultaneously, there will be an artistic celebration showcasing selected artworks, online performances, and other events.

The subsequent physical segment of the festival will take place during the our website exhibition from July 7-11. The museum exhibit will feature a physical restitution of all the reflections dicated in April, specifically at the Museé-Ecole du Jardin de la Perrine. Approximately ten online artworks will be selected and presented in real life, while the 2020 virtual gallery will be updated with the 2021 artworks. Invited artists will also contribute their projects to the gallery, which will be accessible during the festival and the remainder of the year, both online and in person.

Each year, Recto VRso focuses on a specific theme. For 2021, the theme is "Virtual exhibition / Real exhibition - Online art." This exploration provides an opportunity to question the current context as more exhibitions are displayed in both physical and virtual formats. Artists are adapting their artworks to be shown online and remotely, altering the traditional diffusion of art.

This theme is particularly relevant in the current era of restricted cultural venue access. As a result, there have been changes in the creation and presentation of art. This edition of Recto VRso looks back on the whole of 2020 and the transformation of art during this period, highlighting the shift towards online art and the new subjects it presents.

Artists seeking to participate in the 2021 Recto VRso edition can submit their projects through a call for projects, which was launched in mid-February. This call encompasses persistent worlds, video games, virtual galleries, online performances, open-source art, and more. The online exhibition will display the submitted projects organized by categories. Following the call for projects, a wide selection will be made to exhibit on the Recto VRso website, and approximately ten of these projects will be featured in the physical festival. The call for projects ends on March 20, 2021, and submissions must be available via an Internet link.

Limited specific details about the Recto VRso 2021 changes are available in the provided sources. However, considering the transformations in the digital art festival scene during the health crisis, it is expected that Recto VRso will expand its virtual platforms, invest in immersive VR experiences, and focus on accessible and inclusive art. Furthermore, the festival will reflect on the adaptation of art to social distancing, the integration of technology in art creation, and the changing ways audiences engage with art.

1. The Recto VRso digital art festival, happening in the upcoming year, is set to transition into a hybrid event, showcasing both virtual and physical segments.
2. In the virtual segment of the festival, a three-day conference will take place, discussing the emergence of virtual exhibition spaces, adaptations by museums and art galleries, and linking these developments with the history of Net Art.
3. The physical segment of the festival will take place later in the year, featuring selected online artworks from April's virtual event, and incorporating new submissions from the call for projects.
4. The theme for the 2021 Recto VRso edition, "Virtual exhibition / Real exhibition - Online art," explores the shift towards online art, changes in art creation and presentation due to the current era of restricted cultural access, and the integration of technology in art.

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