Sometime end of 2019, Zunar was planning to organize a conventional art exhibition like he always does almost ever year. A conventional art exhibition would have its own processes that includes curating, vetting, hunting for a location and a bunch of other things before actually hosting it. The whole process usually takes about 3 months of intense planning and it is all done by the crew members.

However, 2020 happened and the pandemic hit everyone hard. Gathering art enthusiasts become a major challenge. Even the planning phase was badly affected. However, this did not stop us from bulldozing our way through and realizing Zunar’s idea. One fine day, on the 26th April 2020, we decided to host an online art exhibition instead. This way, we shot several birds with one stone.

First, many people think that art exhibitions are just a bunch of people looking at paintings and trying to identify meanings behind them. This bias judgement comes especially from the people who have never actually visited an art exhibition before. So, we gave everyone an open opportunity to appreciate art via online medium.

Second, art exhibitions were often hosted in specific locations for a short period of time. Making time to visit the exhibition would only be done by people who have interest in it. This, apart from the operating hours that sometimes may not be practical to most. So, going online means, you can appreciate the art exhibition at any given time, on any platform (desktop, tablet or mobile devices) at your comfort.

Third, we get a chance to do things differently. If this exhibition was being done online, we would be adhering to the new norm that includes social distancing, temperature checking and sanitizing before entering. We decided to keep things real and built a spooky haunted mansion that forces you to check your temperature before entering the exhibition too. This is probably the first time it’s being done online too. Isn’t that cool?

Now, let us show you the reality of an art exhibition. Especially one that brings about 29 different artists under one roof. Art exhibition requires only the best art on display. That means, there will be arts that never make it on the wall, and gets discarded with all the efforts thrown down the drain. That’s why, we at CRAFTORA decided to have this Backdoor Gallery to show you all the rejected or disapproved art made by the same 29 artists. Whether the concept did not jive with the exhibition theme, or the art was just not pleasing, you will find it all below.