Digital Pierrot Museum from Pristina to the Moon: an interview with Willred Dallto

Abstract

In this interview with Willred Dallto, recorded on April 2nd 2023, the founder of the Digital Pierrot Museum explores how artists can create autonomous spaces in a context of fragile crossborder contemporary art scenes in the Balkans. The Digital Pierrot Museum first began in 2018 with a physical exhibition in the Termokiss social centre in Pristina. Inspired by the poems of symbolist Belgian poet Albert Giraud, 50 digital illustrations were exhibited with the respective poems in French translated to English and Albanian, accompanied by music performances and film screenings. The planned transfer of the exhibition from Pristina (Kosovo) to Tirana (Albania) proved to be complex. The lack of a contemporary art scene and museums in Tirana fostered misconceptions about contemporary and digital art, all occurring in an aggravated context of the COVID 19 pandemic. Acting as curator, Dallto decided to digitalize the museum. Experienced in Microsoft Encarta virtual tours, it was logical to take the leap towards the digital space. Rather than being purely an online tool, the museum seeks to empower the visitors to have their own individual experience by exploring the virtual building freely. Relying on Unity Gameplay, the museum enables the visitor to navigate and interact with the surroundings. It seeks two objectives: “educating youth regarding art, multimedia and culture, while showing adults and parents the educative sides of video games”. This “unfinished museum” constantly receives new contributions and provides an open and living space for all artists in the Balkans.