“In April 2010, we took over 1-3 Rivington Street, then a near-derelict building, empty for a year and a half, and made it into one of the London’s most exciting cultural hubs. We are a collective of creative individuals and organisations striving to bring together art, music and film via many varied cultural events, forging/cementing local, national and international collaborations/partnerships. At Red we offer low-cost space to artists and Internet start-ups.

We host exhibitions, live art, live music and club events, literary soirees, symposiums and film screenings. We also provide with MATERIAL a bookshop and are able to publish our own books. Under the ‘{ourhistory}’ banner we curate large-scale gallery shows (currently touring internationally) covering subjects as diverse as the history of acid house and the future of art in the East End, with exhibitions such as ‘20 years of Acid House’, ‘East End Promise’ and ‘East Pop’. We are a self-funding creative enterprise, independently run relying neither on private nor public backers. One of our guiding principles is to work with, and seek input from the local artistic and creative communities, to build new business models and strengthen local, national and international ties in order to further our vision of an expansive artistic culture.” (RED Gallery statement)

FACTS

What we provide

• Two months long residency in London from April until May 2014
• Free accommodation (fully furnished with kitchen, no room service)
• Honorary: 500 € brutto per month
• Travelling costs Košice-London-Košice
• Material costs up to 500 €

What we demand

• We search for emerging Slovak artist, who is open for collaborations with local artists
• Individual artist, no duos of groups
• One presentation during the residency and one presenation after the residency in Košice
• Intermediate or upper intermediate level of English
• The artist is responsible for his/her health insurance and liability insurance for the time of the residency

Application

• PDF n°1: Curriculum Vitae – Please send a short CV including your name, address, phone, email along with educational and exhibition background
• PDF n°2: Letter of motivation – Describe in few sentences your motivation to go to London
• PDF n°2: portfolio

All material submitted must be in English language.

Deadline: 3rd March 2014, via email to zuzana.kotikova@kosice2013.sk

Kharkov City Art Gallery

The Kharkov City Art Gallery, one of the first galleries in Ukraine that has the municipal status, was founded in 1996 and since 1997 it is a member of the Association of Art-Galleries of Ukraine. Primary task of the gallery is the popularization of contemporary art from Kharkov, Ukraine and from abroad. The gallery is the most important center for contemporary art in Kharkov and well known beyond the borders of the city. Over the last 15 years, the gallery organized about 400 exhibitions, curatorial projects and art actions in the gallery as well as in the public space; including international solo and group exhibitions from artists from Austria, Great Britain, Germany, France, USA, Poland, Russia, Moldova, Israel and Armenia.

In addition to the exhibitions, more than 200 cultural actions took place in the gallery: performances, concerts, chamber plays, literature evenings, lectures, master-classes, designer’s fashion shows etc. Every second year, the gallery is organizing “Non Stop Media”, the biennale of young and contemporary art in Kharkov and Ukraine. The artist at residency will have opportunity to be active participant of the biennale.

At the Disposal of the Gallery, there is a secular (standing) hall with around 120 m² exposition areas with modern interior and professional equipment.

FACTS

What we provide

• Two months long residency in Kharkov, Ukraine: from March until April
• Free accommodation (fully furnished with kitchen, no room service)
•  Honorary: 500 €  per month
•  Travelling costs
•  Material costs up to 500 €
• The artist is responsible for his/her health insurance

What we demand

• We are searching for emerging Slovak artist, who is open for collaborations with local artists
• Individual artist, no duos or groups
• One presentation during the residency and final project/exhibition at the end
•  Compulsory attendance

Application

• PDF n°1: Curriculum Vitae – Please send a short CV including your name, address, phone, email along with educational and exhibition background
• PDF n°2: Letter of motivation and objectives – Briefly describe your motivation to come to Kharkov and the first ideas of projects you would like to realize
• PDF n°2: portfolio with artist`s statement

All material must be in English language

Deadline: 3rd February 2014, via Email to zuzana.kotikova@kosice2013.sk

OPEN CALL FOR CURATORIAL PROJECTS

FOR THE KUNSTHALLE/ HALL OF ART KOŠICE  AND THE ALFA GALLERY

IN THE BARRACKS/KULTURPARK for the years 2014-2015

As part of the Košice 2013 ECOC project, the newly-opened Kunsthalle/ Hall of Art in Košice and the Barracks/Kulturpark (Gallery Alfa) offers cultural operators, curators and artists the chance to implement their construction projects in the years 2014 and 2015

in two positions:

–       a main project for the main hall of the Kunsthalle

–       a chamber project for the Alfa gallery, or to side wings of the Kunsthalle

The open call prioritises curatorial projects according to the following priorities:

–       development of the current creative language, current topics and the shape of visual art (including architecture, design, new media or other audio-visual inputs.)

–       communication and confrontation of the domestic scene with the international context

–       experimental voices, site-specific installations, work with the phenomena of light, water and air (inflatable objects), interactive environment

Conditions of projects presented:

–       brief concept of the exhibition

–       professional CV of the curator or artist (portfolio)

–       temporary budget and technical solution for the exhibition

(floor plans for both set of rooms in the annex)

Projects received are evaluated by a commission consisting of the professional staff of Kunsthalle and invited art theorists. The period for the exhibition to take place will be agreed individually.

Deadline for posting projects: 30 November 2013

You can send projects to the following address:

EHMK Košice n.o., Kukučínova 2, 04001 KOŠICE

Mark the envelope with the password VÝZVA 2014-2015

Projects that do not fulfil the criteria or that are sent after the deadline will be excluded.

Successful applicants will be informed about the results within 2 weeks of the commission meeting.

More information about the exhibition spaces can be found at:

http://www.huk.sk

http://www.kulturpark.sk/

Contact person:  Mgr. Michal Štofa, e-mail: michal.stofa@kosice2013.sk, tel. 0907 214802

Around a hundred artists from ten countries and three continents will produce unique installations in a record 41 stations in the city centre. The dramaturge and curator of White Night, Zuzana Pacáková, has “mixed” a colourful programme consisting of 16 genres of music and fine arts. There will also be creative workshops for children and for the first time, apart from visual arts, visitors can look forward to concerts. The Barracks/Culture Park will entertain ambient house music enthusiasts with the British group, The Orb, and those who wish to have fun until morning can go to an Afterparty with 14 DJs.

“As always, all artistic installations can be seen free of charge. Tickets will only apply to musical events. Simply, some events can’t take place without an entrance fee being charged. A ticket for The Orb will cost €5, the Afterparty €3, but those who buy a ticket to see The Orb will have free entry to the Afterparty. A new event will also be a silent disco, a party with headphones. People can try this from 7.00pm to 23.00pm in Aupark and from midnight at an ‘afterparty’ in the Barracks/Culture Park,” said Z. Pacáková. As she emphasised, the entrance fee will contribute towards preparations for White Night in 2014.

“New this year will be engaging the public to ensure that an event in this format will remain in Košice and still attract world quality art and remain free of charge. In cooperation with the Košice – Tourism organisation, we have established the White Night Civic Association and we have also organised a public collection. The motto of the campaign is A Dot for White Night, since each visitor will receive an illuminated dot when they make a voluntary contribution. People will therefore become patrons of this event and will show that they are willing to support quality art in this form,” she added.

The collection will start during White Night and the illuminated dots will be available at the seven infopoints marked on the map, as well as from volunteers with special collection boxes who will move around the route. However, it will also be possible to support White Night until September 2014 via a special account, and the public will be able to continuously monitor and check the balance. “I would like to publicly thank the main partners who have supported us to date – The French Institute in Slovakia/Institut Français de Slovaquie, Alliance-Française in Košice, Košice Self-Governing Region, VSE/RWE Group and EU Japan Fest,” reminded Z. Pacáková.

Several personalities and guests who do not miss White Night include the General Director and Chairman of Východoslovenská Energetika a. s. (East Slovakia Energy Company), Thomas Jan Hejcman. “The VSE/RWE Group has been lighting up Košice night for more than 80 years. Therefore, of course, we are also a proud partner in this unique project for the second time. I believe that White Night, as a mega-successful project, also means a new light of hope for blossoming culture in Košice and the whole of Eastern Slovakia,” said the spokesperson for Východoslovenská Energetika a. s., Andrea Danihelová.

According to Z. Pacáková, due to their diversity, all the installations deserve the attention of visitors and she therefore concentrated them into one “line”.  “It starts next to the Tabačka Kulturfabrik and finishes in the Barracks on Kukučínova St. A small diversion is the City Park where, after a year’s break, we have returned with an interesting water-light installation called Drops by the Košice studio, ShowMedia, and Košice native Braňo Bernár. It has been created thanks to support from the VSE/RWE Group and I strongly recommend that you visit since it ranks amongst the top pieces this year,” she said.

Amongst around a hundred artists who will breathe life into the city night will be six artists from France and, for the first time, artists from Australia and Japan. Unique works will also be introduced by artists from England, the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain. “I’m extremely happy that for the third time we’ll have the opportunity to adore the fragile art of the French Elise Morin, who will present monumental site specific installations called Golden Age and Ex-Vivo. They are made of 22,000 metres of gold thread, specially woven for us in Lyon,” said Z. Pacáková, who emphasised the fact that this artist preferred White Night in Košice over Paris. “For me, it is a great honour which doesn’t happen often,” she confessed.

The appreciation for Pacáková’s efforts in bringing contemporary art to the city, which was unknown to the city just a few years ago, is also the participation of James Tapscott, the young Australian from Melbourne. He waived his considerable fee for the chance to come to Košice. “For James, this is his first visit to Slovakia and, since last week, he has been creating a site specific light installation in the Barracks/Culture Park, made of optical cables and called Transference Field,” informed the Curator. “A holographic object called Mol by the renowned Japanese artist, Ryoichi Kurokawa, one is one of the top contemporary artists, will be presented in Košice for the first time. It is a piece which is technologically and financial very demanding and we are able to present it thanks to the support of EU Japan Fest,” she explained.

Popular 3D mapping in an innovative form will be introduced in Košice by Italian Luca Pulvirenti, a Professor of New Media from Sicily. He called his work Landmarks of Memory and Signs and will present it on the rear façade of the historic State Theatre. Another untraditional piece will be the interactive, illuminated wall, Water Light Graffiti by French artist, Antonin Fourneau. Visitors can try the very popular interactive painting with water, which triggers light points.

“Thanks to this project, anyone can create graffiti on a wall using LED diodes with a simple environmentally friendly sprayer. Using water which has no shape or colour to create a painting using light is a magical experience regardless of a visitor’s age or artistic perception,” explained Z. Pacáková.

Equally, for the first time since installations were created for White Night, the public will be involved via so-called participatory works, created by people in conjunction with the artist, Mademoiselle Maurice. She is preparing an installation for which she needs over 30,000 pieces of origami and this work will be situated on the wall of the Executioner’s House next to Mikluš Prison. These pieces of origami are currently being produced by clients of social services care homes and students from schools around the Košice Self-Governing Region as well as the wide public, including city management with the Mayor of Košice, Richard Raši.

Mademoiselle Maurice lives in Paris and creates her works mainly using paper and thread. As she says, she loves their malleability and the emotions which these pieces can induce if they are placed in a public area and disturb the city drabness. The old Japanese art of paper folding – origami – attracted her during her stay in Japan. In the country of the rising sun, she experienced earthquakes, a tsunami as well as the explosion of the nuclear power station in Fukushima. These tragic events, together with the story of the little girl called Sadako, who believed the old legend that if she folded a thousand paper cranes (orizuru) she will recover from leukaemia caused by radiation from the atom bomb, led her to create street art works using origami.

It isn’t just people from Košice, but people from the entire region who were given the opportunity to participate in her art.  Almost 20 Košice primary schools, secondary school students, university students accommodated in Košice dormitories, as well as clients from the DOMKO Košice social services home, ANIMA Michalovce and SUBSIDIUM in Rožňava, visitors to the Stonožka Family Centre, students from the School of Applied Arts as well as prisoners from the Institute for Imprisonment and Remand in Košice were involved in the origami. Also taking part were the management and Mayor of Košice, Richard Raši, who, as a former student of the Šrobárova secondary grammar school, went back to his alma mater and on Tuesday, 24 September, together with its current students, will be making origami for White Night.

However, the White Night team from Košice – European Capital of Culture 2013 is inviting everybody who would like to join in, “We really invite everybody. Due to the magnificence of this art piece, on Wednesday, 25 September at 5.00pm in the Barracks/Culture Park, we are preparing a public workshop where we are going to teach people how to create origami with us. Everyone who wishes to join in can do so. You can also apply via the email address alexandra.varcholova@kosice2013.sk and will be sent the necessary instructions,” stressed the Curator of White Night, Zuzana Pacáková.

Mademoiselle Maurice’s installation is being created thanks to the support of the Košice self-governing region within the Terra Incognita programme. “Cooperation with actors in the sphere of culture is very important for us. We don’t want the situation where the existence and development in this area is just in the hands of professionals who work and act in the area of culture,” stated the Head of the Department of Culture and Tourism of KSK, Jana Kovácsová and she clarified that this idea is perceived mainly as an opportunity to involve schools and social services facilities. “Especially if you realise that education via art is meaningful not only for the sick but also for the healthy. It is a tool for lifting the spirit and the mind as well as for developing skills and crafts. In our long term Terra Incognita programme, cooperation with those involved is crucial, including those who haven’t been involved to date. We are really looking forward to the results and we believe that we’ll be able to use this experience elsewhere since this is also a pilot project for us and we would like to build upon it. We are the founders of secondary schools, social services facilities and cultural institutions, and this is the potential which can be built upon,” added J. Kovácsová.

This work will be one of six created by French artists and can be seen during this year’s White Night in Košice also thanks to the fact that the main partner of White Night 2013 is the French Institute in Slovakia/Institut Français de Slovaquie. Alliance Française de Košice will also provide significant partner support as well as VSE RWE Group and EU Japan Fest.

PARTICIPANTS in creating origami for White Night/Nuit Blanche 2013 in Košice:

Primary Schools: ZŠ Gemerská 2, ZŠ Belehradská 21, ZŠ Tomášikova 31, ZŠ Bukovecká 17, ZŠ Kežmarská 30, ZŠ Kežmarská 28, ZŠ Bruselská 18, ZŠ Postupimská 37, ZŠ Krosnianska 2, ZŠ Mateja Lechkého, ZŠ Ľudovíta Fullu, ZŠ Námestie Laca Novomeského, ZŠ Trebišovská 10, ZŠ Spojená škola, Vojenská 13,

Secondary grammar schools: Gymnázium Šrobárova, Gymnázium Milana Rastislava Štefánika, Gymnázium Alejová,

School dormitories: School dormitory at Medická 2, Anton Garban School dormitory, Werferova 10, School dormitory at Považská 7,

Social services homes in Košice self-governing region: DSS DOMKO Košice, DSS ANIMA Michalovce, DSS SUBSIDIUM Rožňava,

Public figures: Mayor of the City of Košice Richard Raši, Deputy Mayoress of Košice Renáta Lenártová,

Others: Stonožka Family Centre Košice, School of Applied Art Košice, Institute for Imprisonment and Remand in Košice.

NOTE: The list of origami creators is not complete as it is gradually growing to include all those to take part and like Košice White Night

For more about Mademoiselle Maurice go to:

http://www.mademoisellemaurice.com/

http://vimeo.com/50287305
http://www.doba.sk/2013/06/13/farebne-origami-street-art-diela-zaplavuju-ulice-francuzska/
http://www.doba.sk/2012/05/26/duhove-origami-z-parizskych-ulic/

Košice is gaining a new place and new possibilities for properly presenting contemporary visual art as is the standard in the rest of the world. The Kunsthalle/Hall of Art, known to Košice people as the old swimming pool hall, is one of the most architecturally interesting buildings in the town. It stopped functioning as a swimming pool after structural damage caused by the diversion of the River Hornad, an arm of which had flowed close to the building.

One of the investment projects of European Capital of Culture Košice 2013 was to save this monument and create a multi-cultural area. The original architectural layout make it ideal to use for organizing international exhibitions and workshops. The aim of the project was to maintain a connection of the world of culture with that of water both indoors and outdoors to build on its original historical function, but also to have a significant contribution to building the city. Water will be used in the form of dance and performing arts and new media.

“The refurbished Kunsthalle / Hall of Art is primarily an exhibition hall for contemporary visual arts on the international scale. For this year, we have prepared three presentations. The main exhibition is of British sculptor Tony Cragg, working in Wuppertal, a twin city of Košice. Another will be the exhibition of Constantin Brancusi, a classic in the world of modern sculpture, but whom we present as a photographer. The third exhibition is devoted to one of the key figures of the European Capital of Culture 2013 project, Argentinean multimedia artist Gyula Kosice, a native of Košice. He is generally regarded as a co-founder of op-art and hydrokinetics. He is linked to his hometown not only by his artist-name, but also by a work titled Statue for Košice, which will stand in front of the refurbished Kunsthalle / Hall of Art in Košice,” said artistic director of the Košice 2013 non-profit organization, Vladimír Beskid.

In September, Košice will play host to International Triennial of Contemporary Art, which should impact on the wider cultural infrastructure in the city. The main presentation will be at Kunsthalle / Hall of Art, Kulturpark and the East Slovak Museum in Košice. The accompanying events will be at the DIG gallery, Vojtech Löffler Museum and the ŠUV Rotunda exhibition hall. This should be one of the highlights of creative art for this season. During the Triennial in late September there will be a world congress of AICA – art historians and curators. In November there will be an exhibition of contemporary British art after Warhol, British Express, in partnership with the British Council.

“In the upcoming period, we would like to maintain a similar program and the standard we have set as well as the communication in the international environment. Our ambition is to create a strong new cultural point in Central Europe with a preference for contemporary art trends, but also intermedia and multi-genre events, where there will be periodic activities such as Triennial of Art, Days of Sound (Sound City Days), etc. Kunsthalle / Hall of Art is a very unusually laid out space with the possibility of using water directly in the main hall, therefore, it will require specific approaches and exhibition projects specifically designed for this space. The water level falls into one of the main project lines of Košice ECOC 2013 called the Košice elements – water, light, sound and new media. The main carrier of these will be, for the next three to five years, Kunsthalle / Hall of Art,” said V. Beskid, presenting his vision for the coming years.

]]> http://www.kosice2013.sk/en/kosices-hall-of-art-offers-particularly-contemporary-visual-art/feed/ 0 http://www.kosice2013.sk/en/tape-riots-in-the-kosice-streets/ http://www.kosice2013.sk/en/tape-riots-in-the-kosice-streets/#comments Tue, 28 May 2013 10:22:04 +0000 http://www.kosice2013.sk/?p=9778 Hungarian artists’ experimentation with the forms of musical theatre was fully expressed on Saturday afternoon in the streets of Košice. A crowd of people went for the music. Well known songs performed by the HOPPart theatre company echoed in the City Park, under the old bastion and on Zvonárska street. Without any musical instruments they managed to emulate current hits by Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. They also included Hungarian singles. The icing on the cake was the last song by the Košice band Puding pani Elvisovej – Gramatika (Grammar) which our southern neighbours perfectly imitated.

Smiles and bemused expressions were seen on the faces of those who met with HOPPart “on the move” and had no idea what was going on. So they decided to stop and enjoy the non-traditional joining of music and public space.

A dose of truly non-traditional performance (art, where the actions of the group in a particular place and time constitute the work of art) was provided by the German Asphalt Piloten group. Their canvas and stage were buildings, stairs, niches and subways. Two dancers, who adapted a newly built city with black tape. An artist – draped with speakers, cables, tablets and phones – recording sounds of the environment that best approximate the sound of the newly built centre on the walls of buildings. A builder, whose imagination shows him to stick tape on almost every corner to form images, which will delight fans especially of graffiti.

The tape riot was seen by many Košice residents, who watched with interest and asked what the artists were trying to do. As soon as the Asphalt Piloten have left a particular place, people flocked to the area and saw it made beautiful with unusual materials. This is also one of the goals of the USE THE C!TY festival – to highlight parts of buildings, which nobody would notice under normal circumstances.