Exposition
noun
1. A comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory.
2. A large public exhibition of art or trade goods.

Hello, Everyone!

It is with great pleasure that I present The Zium Exposition.

We have an incredible array of artists who have filled the gallery with work, and their names are;

A. Archival, Nicola Acler, Most Ancient, Pippin Barr, Michael Berto, Louis Brooks, Tea Bähr, Jay Castello, Pol Clarissou, James Crossley, cdbunker2, chantako, colorfiction, deuveir, Bob Doucette. Eqüietum. Joost Eggermont, Christopher Ferris, Farfama, Freya Holmér, Luis Hernandez, Grigory Kurosu, Maria Lamanna, Paul Lancelot, Leonard Lemaitre, Sirius Lemaitre, Niki Long, Charlotte Madelon, Nomi, Lur Noise, Greg Nunn, Jacob Potterfield, Horatiu Roman, Pietro Righi Riva, Ninn Salaün, nousesko, Kylin Ali Snowden, Quinn Spence, Ellis Tolsma, Tzschk, Ygor Dimas, Richard Walsh,  Zilasaule and Tu Zishi.

So, what to expect, perhaps? Well, the core experience of a Zium will never change and can never change, and if it does, well, it would not be a Zium. And what is a Zium? In simple terms, it is a piece of Art Gallery Software. It is a simulation of a gallery experience, faithful to all that that might mean. It is a great joy to conceive of and to bring together, and it is a great pleasure, and honour, to be able to bring it to you. 

The Zium Exposition is something new, and also, something traditional, particularly but not limited to the context of what has come before from The Zium Project.

As curator, this act of curation, organisation, and showcasing of art in this 'traditional' way is sacred to me. It is a modern ritual that I feel very lucky to engage with. I am very humbled and thankful for those who join me in such a pursuit. As an artist, in the act of creation, you embrace the infinite, and forge down something definitive from it. As a curator, you forge the infinite from the finite, finite pieces of art, which are finite only by virtue that they are a container for infinity.

We are all curators of our own personal worlds. We are the ultimate curators. So how interesting it is to curate outwardly. To curate and to offer. This is a special act, sacred, and ancient. The storyteller manifesting the best daydreams. The chef crafting the perfect menu. The architect and their angles and materials. The composer and their notes on the stave. The curator and their collection. Curation, simply put, is taste.

My role in The Zium is as aforementioned curator, and while I usually do mostly everything else involved in the development of one of our collections, this time more than ever I had dedicated collaborators taking ownership and leading the way on various fronts.

There may be a time to go into to detail and depth of the various collaborative tangents that we explored together, but for the moment I want to express my deepest gratitude to The Lemaitre Brothers (Leonard and Sirius), Louis Brooks, Jacob Potterfield, Nomi and Quinn Spence. Leonard was in charge of the gallery architecture, and the magnificence that we all get to enjoy in the main pavilion, is thanks to his incredible work. Sirius was on programming and UX and his contributions make the entire thing possible. Louis was on signs, maps and graphic design, and marketing materials, of which I feel very lucky to have worked so closely with someone with such an eye for detail. Jacob's contribution is his incredible work on our introduction sequence, which riffs on a shared love for similar introductory sequences in games, and was a beautiful vision that dove tailed seamlessly with that of The Zium Exposition. Thank you also to Nomi for their wonderful tourism posters and Quinn for their legacy Zium assets, filling out the experience and keeping us tethered to the visage of our previous Ziums.

On the whole, The Zium Exposition is the result of one of the most involved and inspiring collaborations I have ever been a part of. The experience was elevated beyond all hopes and dreams thanks to all the artists who contributed, and those select few who contributed to serve the gallery itself. All along the way, I was constantly humbled and constantly inspired. I feel very fortunate not only to have been trusted with the artist's works, as always, but to have had that same trust reciprocated into what has manifested as The Zium Exposition, and it is a blessing.

In closing, I want to share a thought... You see, when you create something, you should do with that thing whatever you want, for whatever reasons you feel you must. All the better if you do it in the pursuit of something. However, it is just as valuable to do the opposite, too. In the pursuit of the pursuit itself. The love of the process. Art for art's sake. "Art for art's sake" is, after all, an ideal. Yes, it is the historical ideal of the Dadaist, but something all artists must know is that they have permission. That is permission to make art, and for art's sake, if for no other reason. The artist is attuned, and lets existence itself speak to them, and then through them, and then to us, and through us, through their work, always in the correct language. Inspiration is the only permission you need in life to create.

I speak for everyone that touched The Zium Exposition that we hope you find something worth being inspired about.

All the best,
Michael Berto.
Curator