Questions and Answers

An artist's world lives not only in individual works, but also in how they speak to one another, how much space they need, and how they are shaped by light. On a conventional website, art can easily become a catalog. In a virtual gallery, the space becomes part of the artistic vision: the visitor enters the exhibition, moves through it, and gradually discovers the collection. That is exactly why we created The Vilbil.

No. The technology does not overshadow the art. It creates space, light, and freedom of movement. Your gallery can be understated or become part of the artistic statement. But your work always remains at the center.

Yes. Painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture do not become any less real because the first encounter happens online. A virtual gallery does not replace the original. It helps visitors see a work in context, understand its scale, and want to experience it in person.

However you have always wanted to present your work: a classical exhibition hall, a contemporary gallery, your own studio, or a world that could never exist physically. It does not have to be unusual. Sometimes art needs nothing more than quiet walls, the right light, and space to breathe.

No. In fact, we would not recommend starting with an enormous virtual museum. A small, carefully considered space often tells a story more clearly. Start with one series or a small selection of works. You can expand the gallery at any time.

They will not simply scroll through images. They will find themselves inside a space shaped around your work. They can walk through the gallery, stop, move closer, and decide for themselves what deserves their attention. It creates a sense of discovery that an ordinary website cannot offer.

Yes. They can approach a work, pause in front of it, zoom in, and examine the smallest details. The gallery does not rush them or decide how long they should spend with each piece.

We spent a long time thinking about this. The controls are intuitive enough that visitors stop noticing them within a few minutes. On a computer, they use a mouse. On a phone, they use the touchscreen. There is no need to navigate with a keyboard or game controller.

Yes, unlike on an ordinary website, where a small drawing and a large canvas can appear almost identical. The walls, floor, and surrounding space help visitors understand the scale of the work. Of course, a screen cannot replace the original, but it can provide a much stronger sense of spatial context.

Yes. Where each work hangs, what a visitor meets first and what waits further in, the light and the space around them — all of it makes a narrative. You can change the mood as someone moves through the hall and lead them toward the work that matters most, while still leaving them free to wander their own way.

Yes — and this is where a flat website gives up. A sculpture photographed from one side is a picture of a sculpture, nothing more. Here a visitor walks around it, looks at it from below, steps close: about as near to holding it as a screen can bring them.

They get the room they need. A ten-storey mural does not fit a photograph — that is the whole difficulty of showing such work. Here we can build the street it belongs to, and let visitors walk along it and look up.

Yes. The space carries motion as well as form — water that runs, fire that burns, parts that turn. Your installation behaves the way you built it to behave.

A video would show your piece through somebody else's eyes, from where they chose to stand. Here the visitor stands in front of it themselves and stays as long as they like — and with a headset, they are standing beside it.

Yes. You can create a virtual extension of a physical exhibition, present a permanent collection, preserve a completed project, or open an exhibition to an international audience. It supports the institution's work rather than trying to replace it.

Yes. A collector can present selected works in a way that allows visitors to understand the logic and character of the collection. Works can remain not for sale, while inquiries can be enabled for individual pieces.

That is completely normal. An artist should not have to become a programmer. Your role is to choose the works, arrange them, and define the atmosphere of the gallery. Our technology takes care of the rest.

Of course not. You do not need to model the space or write code. Everything is built around simple steps: describe what you want from the gallery, add your works, and choose music that supports the atmosphere.

You choose the works, the order they hang in, the mood of the space, and the music. We build the space itself from your description. You never model anything and never write code — and once the gallery is open, changing what hangs on the walls is yours to do, without waiting for anyone.

No. Everything happens in your browser — you add works, write about them, and arrange the gallery from the same place you read your email. There is nothing to download and nothing to keep updated.

Only the part that nobody can do for you: putting your works in, choosing the music, and describing your gallery — what it is, what a visitor is walking into. Everything else is our work now.

Start with a small test exhibition. Add a few works, see how they feel in the space, and show the gallery to people you trust. The first version does not have to be final. You can change and develop the gallery at any time.

We are always nearby and will not leave you alone with an unfamiliar task. We have worked hard to make everything as simple and clear as possible, and we are always ready to help if you run into difficulties. Just tell us what you were trying to do and where you got stuck.

No. They follow the link and they are inside — no account, no password, nothing asked of them. The people you invite should meet your work, not a registration form.

No. This was essential to us. The gallery opens in a regular web browser, on your own website or on the page we give you. Nothing should stand between you and your audience.

Yes. And we believe that is exactly where it belongs. Visitors remain in the world of your name and your art instead of being placed among thousands of other profiles.

Embedding takes two lines of code. Many artists paste them in themselves — but website builders differ, and some of them make it harder than others. If the code resists, send those two lines to whoever looks after your site, or to us. We will do it with you.

That is not a problem — we make you a one-page site of your own. Your name at the top, your words about the works, your gallery inside it. Not a slot in somebody's catalogue next to other artists: a place that is yours.

Share the link with visitors, collectors, curators and friends; put it in a social profile, an email, or a QR code on printed materials.

In yours. You write about your works in whichever language you think in — there are twenty-eight to choose from — and the one you choose becomes your gallery's own language. That is how it appears on your website: speaking the way you speak.

The other languages we take care of ourselves, so a visitor who reads another one can switch to it. But the gallery is not an English gallery with translations attached. It is yours, and it answers in your language first.

The gallery is streamed to them, so it asks for a steady connection rather than a powerful computer. An ordinary home or office line is enough, and a phone on mobile data usually copes. On a weak connection the picture becomes softer.

Unfortunately, not directly inside a post. But Instagram can become a doorway to your gallery: share a glimpse of the exhibition and invite viewers to follow the link.

Yes. A full-screen mode is available for smaller displays. A large monitor shows more detail, but a phone is always close at hand and makes it easy for visitors to enter the gallery directly from social media.

No. Your gallery is available in a browser on computers, tablets, and phones. And it also appears in our free VR app on Steam — one app that holds all the galleries, so a visitor with a headset can walk into yours there as well: The Vilbil on Steam.

Yes. A gallery is where a conversation can begin between the artist and the future owner of a work. You decide what is for sale, whether to display a price, or whether to discuss it privately. Interested visitors contact you directly.

You do. We do not influence your negotiations with a potential buyer or become involved in them. You can display a price or invite the buyer to discuss it with you privately. And, of course, you do not have to offer any work for sale.

No. The Vilbil does not take any percentage of a sale. All proceeds remain with the artist or the owner of the work. We charge only the subscription fee.

Yes. We understand that artists want to know the people who connect with their work. The buyer contacts you directly, and you continue the conversation and agree on the terms yourself.

You arrange payment, delivery, insurance, and documentation directly with the buyer or through your own partners. The Vilbil helps you present the work and begin the conversation.

The plans and what each one includes are on the pricing page. Two things are worth saying here: there is no commission on what you sell — the subscription is all we charge — and you can cancel at any time.

You do. The works stay yours, and ownership never passes to us. What you give us is permission to do two things: show your works inside your gallery, and feature them when we talk about The Vilbil — in our social posts, newsletters and press materials. Never for sale, never as someone else's, and always under your name.

That second part cuts both ways, and we think in your favour: when we show your work to our audience, we are showing your name to people who had not met it yet. You can withdraw the permission at any time, by letter, with no explanation and no penalty.

There is no image for them to take. Inside the gallery your work is not a file at all: the visitor's screen shows video, streamed from our side as they walk and look. Nothing is downloaded to their computer, because there is nothing to download.

And we do not keep your works as pictures on the site either. What exists outside the gallery is a small cropped tile — enough to recognise the work, not enough to be the work. Your original file stays with us and goes nowhere.

Of course not. We love physical exhibitions, and we understand that nothing can replace encountering the original work and its material presence. A virtual gallery complements the physical one: visitors can explore the exhibition before a visit, return after it closes, or experience it from another country.

Yes. Someone in another country can open the gallery through a link whenever it suits them. This does not guarantee attention by itself, but it gives an international audience a complete artistic space rather than an ordinary page of images.

Yes, and this genuinely matters to us. It opens the exhibition to people who live far away, have limited mobility, or cannot visit a physical gallery for other reasons.

That is often the better beginning. A small, well-chosen group reads more clearly than a crowded hall, and the space around each work is part of what makes it visible. You can add more whenever you are ready.

Yes. Your gallery stays unpublished until you say otherwise, and you can walk through it before anyone else can. See how the works sit on the walls, notice what you would rather change, change it, and look again.

Visitors get in only when you open the door. Until then the address simply does not answer.

Take your time over the first part: choose a small group of works that belong together — one series, one period, a few pieces in which your voice can be heard clearly. Picture a quiet space around them. Your first gallery does not need to be complex.

Then the practical part, and it is short: create your account and tell us what you have in mind. We take it from there.

Of course. You can update information, add works, change the exhibition, and create new shows. The gallery can grow and evolve with you.

You do not need to prove that you understand technology. Be yourself and remain an artist: choose, feel, and think about the viewer. We have tried to take care of everything else. The Vilbil is only a tool and should never become the center of the exhibition. You and your art always remain at the center.