Welcome, No Entry, an exhibition of photography by Oleksandr Chekmeniov, will travel the country in the VR format. The exhibition, which was mounted in the IZONE creative space in Kyiv for the Docudays UA in March, consists of film photographs. Due to a lockdown, the entire exhibition was digitized with immersive 3D cameras and uploaded to the DOCUSPACE platform. This is what will allow you to see the exhibits from anywhere in the country or around the world.

In the late 1990s, the photographer Oleksandr Chekmeniov created two film photography series shot at the Ovruch mental hospital: a colored reportage series and a blac-and-white series of staged portraits. However, the current digital age questions the old, well-known formats and media. “Film in particular is important for me, because I can feel it: it disciplines you, dictates many things. But the most important thing is what you get as a result,” emphasizes Oleksandr. “I feel like it doesn’t matter what you shoot with, everyone must choose for themselves what they will use to work. Actually, you can shoot with anything you want, the important thing is the shots that are made.”

At the Travelling Docudays UA, the audience will have an opportunity to watch the exhibition and walk through the IZONE creative space using VR goggles. “The exhibition’s transition from physical to virtual space can totally be seen as a sign of our times. During the lockdown, in spring, we experimented with the format and transformed the hand-printed photo exhibits into a VR project,” says Oleksandra Nabiyeva, the exhibition’s curator. “This creates a broad field for deliberation and discussion about the medium, or the means of artistic expression; about the existence of photography and exhibition in the age of new media and VR technology.”

Welcome, No Entry focuses on the vulnerability of mental hospital patients in society and exposes the hidden aspects of life in a closed facility. VR technology will allow us to interactively discuss complex social issues and to engage young people in dialogue. During the virtual tours around the exhibition, the audience, together with experts, will have a chance to dive into the issues of respect for human rights in closed facilities, stigmatization of people with mental illnesses, and to learn how contemporary visual art works with these topics.

Follow the exhibition schedule in your city or see the exhibition without leaving your home on docuspace.org!