re:Store and Winzavod launch virtual digital art platform

Leaders in the arts and technology have come together to popularize modern technology, make it more accessible, and support the creativity of digital creators. Such a symbiosis of art and technology made it possible to create a new virtual platform that has no analogues .

For six years, re:Store has been holding exhibitions of contemporary art as part of the re:Store digital art project. The main goal of the project is to discover and support new names in the digital industry. Prior to that, all expositions were held in various exhibition spaces of modern Moscow. This year has made adjustments to the format for presenting the works of participants – the exhibition will be held online.

As the president of Inventive Retail Group (re:Store is part of the group) Tikhon Smykov said: “Finding real gold in the creative flow, discovering new names, and popularizing mobile content is the goal of this project. This year, re:Store has moved to a new level – together with Winzavod, we are opening an online platform for presenting digital art. We are confident that the online format will enable even more artists to show their work to the world».

The digital exhibition platform itself was developed by an international team inspired by game art. Traveling through a virtual space using a computer game engine is an independent unlimited experience, where each visitor has the freedom to choose his own route to get acquainted with the exposition, immerse himself in the world of each artist, move between futuristic parts of a full-fledged architectural gallery object.

  •  Technically, the idea of Digital Earth turned out to be feasible through the use of the capabilities of the open platform Unreal Engine and Pixel Streaming technology, which provides access to the gaming platform to a large number of viewers, regardless of the quality of the Internet connection. In navigating the gallery, visitors are assisted by caretakers voiced by artificial intelligence. The sound for the space was created by audio artist ITSU.

The galleries present 15 works of competitive finalists from the cities of Russia and foreign countries. Among them are artists Yulia Alekseenkova, Anna Gantimurova, Roman Golovko, Artem Go, Ales Lyalush, Kirill Zakomoldin, Anastasia Kvariani, Danila Lipatov, Alexei Ryabov, Anna Sapunova, Margarita Trushina, Zaurbek Tsugaev, Ksenia Sharapova, Varya Shchuka, Gray Cake group.

  •  The best works were selected by the competition's expert council, which included prominent curators and artists in the field of digital visual art: AES+F, Antonio Geusa and Svetlana Taylor. The jury included in the final list works made using digital technologies: animation, video, painting, and other works created using computer graphics, neural networks, VR and AR.

About Orchard

Having united in 2020, the re:Store chain of stores and the Winzavod Contemporary Art Support Fund launched the Digital Earth project, aimed at developing digital art and discovering new names.

  •  Digital Earth is the name of a concept introduced in the late 1990s by former US Vice President Al Gore. It described the future as a space with open access to all knowledge, scientific and cultural information, through which people can better understand our planet and the impact of human activities on it.

  •  The winners of the exhibition will receive prizes from the re:Store chain of branded stores. The reward for each author of the work, which took places from 3 to 15, will be a certificate for 10 thousand rubles for the purchase of products in re:Store. For the second place – a certificate for 50 thousand rubles for the purchase of products in re:Store. The best of the finalists will receive a grant for participation in an art residence, including all expenses, including travel and accommodation.