Sorina Topceanu (One Night Gallery): “We aimed to be among the first that encourage Romanian designers to create virtual reality art”

After ten years of working as a communication specialist for several important Romanian PR agencies and The Institute, Sorina Topceanu decided it’s time to step on the entrepreneurial road. BR set down with Topceanu and talked about her decision and the most important project she is now dedicating herself to – Open Night Gallery, in an exclusive interview.

By Romanita Oprea

How did you decide to go on your own and become an entrepreneur?

It’s been my 30 years’ birthday gift to me, a leap of courage and faith and, to be honest, a little bit of recklessness. I really did love the projects that I had been working before, but I wanted to have my own, to build it from scratch, to set my own goals and not just to find the best angle to communicate it.

How hard was it take that step?

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The first one is easy, the following ones are a little bit more challenging.

What were the main challenges?

To find the right partners with whom to make this project work. As the project has now a new core component which is virtual reality, I believe that the challenge was to understand all the technicalities required by VR and to keep imagination within a budget as this is an environment that offers so many opportunities in displaying an art event.

How was 2017 and what expectations and plans do you have for 2018?

The first edition of One Night Gallery was held in late November 2017, Love Dersidan, and it gave me the chance to test my idea. It was a complete experience for me that I enjoyed and I was able to learn a lot from. It also brought new opportunities to further develop. As I answered before, we’re now offering a mix between art and technology. Art has always been hand in hand with technology, and now we are the first local platform that encourages Romanian designers to create a new type of content using new ways of visualization and digital storytelling. This is what we are set to do in 2018.

How are you positioning on the market?

One Night Gallery is the first product launched under Love Open Gallery platform. And it is an exhibition concept focusing on Romanian contemporary art.
We are all about supporting local artists, repurposing unconventional locations and encouraging alternative artistic experiences.

And then, have a memorable after party.

Who is your competition and what do you offer differently?

We are more interested in finding the right partners to make the project grow and should we have competition in the future it could only mean one thing, that we are making things right. And about what we offer differently, we aimed to be among the first that encourage Romanian designers to create virtual reality art.

Tell us more about the Open Gallery project. How did you arrive to that concept?

While working for Romanian Design Week I came across a lot of very talented graphic designers. And though there are a few platforms that promote them, I felt that they deserve to gain much more attention as their works of art could or already complete a puzzle of visuals that we see on a daily base – from books and magazines, packaging, mobile apps to video games.

Why only one night?

A glimpse is all you need, to like something or not. We are not exhibiting new projects. We present the artist with a selection of her or his best, most representative works of art. And we truly set ourselves to create a unique experience exploring their art.

How long does it take to prepare such an event?

Two months, preferably.

How are you choosing the artists that are displaying?

We want to exhibit graphic designers from different fields, with different style and techniques.

What about the locations?

We are continuously searching for unconventional exhibition spaces, such as Verde Stop. We plan on hosting several events here, as it allows us to create various exhibition routes.

What were the results of the first event?

We gathered a very mixed audience, which actually was one of our main goals and we succeeded in making people curios for more. Another result was that it attracted a new partner, Madalina Ivascu, and that together we are making things happen at a much faster pace.

What do you expect from the second one?

All of as expect our audiences to enjoy themselves while exploring this new type of art and, of course, to come back for more. This event will also create content for our platform so it’s also the beginning of new projects within Love open gallery.

We would very much like to have an art and technology exhibition at the same level with the projects we see happening in New York or Beijing as we facilitate the showcasing of Romanian designers whom we are so very proud with, and we also do believe that each of them deserves to be properly celebrated.

You can read more about One Night Gallery here and here.