“ Museo d’Inverno is pleased to present the exhibition electonicOrphanage@siena, following an invitation extended to and accepted by Miltos Manetas. ElectronicOrphanage is a collection of internet-based works that had its naissance in 2001 as a space for experimentation with video games and web arts: an old Chinese shop with a display window on the pedestrian Chung King Road (in Los Angeles’ Chinatown) was turned into a giant computer monitor that showed works related to the world of the web and Neen (an artistic movement founded by Manetas in 2000). Manetas acquired some of these works over the years, and today they make up a thoroughly unique collection. The digital nature of this collection (hosted for the second time in Italy; the first was at the MACRO in Rome in 2011/2012), which can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, would make it unnecessary and superfluous for viewers to visit a physical museum space. This is precisely why Manetas has conceived a specific exhibition for Siena, intended to underscore a few loosely historiographic aspects that reconstruct certain events, with the inclusion of some documentary elements telling the story of electronicOrphanage and Neen. Collaborating for the occasion is Radiopapesse, which will transmit a carefully-chosen selection of audio materials curated and produced by Miltos Manetas, thus lending new value to the oral tradition understood as a visionary moment of awareness. Museo d’Inverno has expanded its space with the addition of an augmented-reality virtual project room (made by Lo/Studio35) for which Manetas will curate future programming; for this first occasion he has invited the Swiss artist Nora Renaud to present a work, and has written a text to be presented in the exhibition. Museo d’Inverno is a project conceived and directed by Francesco Carone and Eugenia Vanni to explore and delve into aspects of contemporary art history (often little-known) and highlight passions, relationships, friendships and collaborations through the choices made by artists invited to present works from their own personal collections. Opening Saturday 28 May 2016