Well, the day of my first 3-day Hotel Hermitage showcase has arrived, so I will post one for each day.

I had well planned all preparatory work: last touch-ups, edge cleaning, and packing, and I had completed everything three days prior. So, on the morning of Wednesday, July 30th, I would not stress out and could focus better on inhabiting the venue’s space. There were 57 people invited a week earlier, and I am posting the invitation application I made below.

Below I post the photos and videos of myself bringing the items and arranging them in the space I rented.

When I arrived and started to unpack, I realised that two hotel pieces (marked on the photos below with a yellow line) cannot stay and must be removed; otherwise, they really ruin my show :)). The hotel staff was very professional and didn’t say “no” to me. When the pieces were removed, the space became more open and improved. It was so clear that inappropriate art, when removed, gives the room back its potential.

When the hotel art pieces were removed, I started to think about displaying my works. The main factors influencing my decisions were a) light; b) the dimensions of the wall around.

I had to move many black stands to the centre to align them between the lights and along the walls. I needed to create some space between the black stands so my works can breathe and occupy their own area. It was indeed crucial. It took about two hours of rearranging the works until every piece found its place in the room. Removing the hotel’s art pieces was also a good decision, as I used the hooks for my own pieces. The thing which struck me most is how different your art looks and feels as soon as you take it from your studio and place it in a different environment. The strong, in my opinion, pieces looked more humble, and those which I thought were not that interesting looked more confident than in the studio. I placed the yellow-white peony print on two black stands, as I didn’t have a wall space to accommodate them. The black-coloured fabric worked well as the display surface. Even though these decisions came out of wall display space scarcity, it was perceived by the public as creative and many people said that placing it this way was an excellent idea and they would put it like this at home as well. There was one ugly and very noticeable hook left after the hotel’s artwork, and I covered it with one panel of the yellow-white peonies metal print.

Below is the 1.36-minute time-lapse video of my two hours of work, arranging the items in the space as part of my very first art show curating.

Below is the final set up I did for the first days:

I have placed the video below where you can see the final setting for Day 1.

The first day was quiet. I had only family members visiting me, along with my friends—a Chinese couple and a British couple, and one very close friend of mine. I was not discouraged by the silence and loneliness of that first day because I was pretty shy and terrified of my deliberate public exposure, which is not in my character. Also, intuitively, I really needed some calm moment to live with my artworks in the new space, reconnect with them, settle in, and gather my thoughts.