Press release The third White Night “scored” again and even foreign experts came to take a look

It will be forever commemorated by the statue by Dušan Zahoranský in the Kuzmányho neighbourhood.

After successful negotiations with the owners of surrounding apartments, the placement of a statue by Dušan Zahoranský as a permanent memory of White Night 2012 became reality. “At the end of last week, the majority of people had agreed with its placement and therefore, after a long time, Košice finally obtained a new statue in a public area. It is situated between apartment blocks in Kuzmányho and Magurská streets and the sculptor will ceremoniously hand over the piece to the city when the final technical modifications have been completed,” the curator and dramaturge of White Nights, Zuzana Pacáková, from the non-profit making organisation, Košice – European Capital of Culture 2013, said today. As she clarified, the piece uses aesthetic elements of the neighbourhood, but mainly understanding the suburbs as a home and place for the majority of Košice people to live. The sculptor, who grew up and lived in Košice for many years, created this sculpture as a play on words consisting of various languages using the word “doma” (at home).

The third anniversary of White Night/Nuit Blanche, which lit up the pre-Marathon night on 6 October 2012, will also be written in history by having almost 60,000 visitors. Prepared for the night were 38 light, sound and interactive artistic installations, mobile objects and sculptures, including mapping, dance and musical improvisations created by 150 artists from nine European countries. This year’s White Night will also be remembered for 250 volunteers, 25,000 leaflets with maps which “disappeared” within the first two hours, two double decker buses full of Hungarian tourists from the partner city of Miskolc, and the third most travelled application in App Store in Slovakia on that day. “I am satisfied and I think it was the best year so far. However, I’ve also had negative reactions. It’s like that after every White Night but I’m not surprised since art is very subjective. Perhaps it’s good that people don’t just learn new things but they also compare and make their own minds up about contemporary art,” said the curator and dramaturge of White Night, Zuzana Pacáková. “For me, it’s very important that the artists who came were delighted. They were satisfied with the environment, the teamwork and the audience. The feedback I received from them is very precious to me. I don’t think I’m exaggerating but we did a lot of good work in establishing Košice on the European cultural map. Satisfied artists spread the good name of our city and if they aren’t satisfied, they not only don’t return but they also warn their colleagues about us… Therefore, I’d like to confirm that apart from the amazing number of people who came to see the city, their satisfaction is probably the greatest gratification for me,” she added.

The young, relatively small 9-member team around Pacáková confirmed that they can manage a large event without any serious problems. They also managed an unpleasant situation when, the night before the opening, vandals damaged the installation in Drevný Trh. Thanks to the altruistic help of the private company, ELTODO, it was repaired quickly and they provided replacement lighting, and on Saturday the artwork could be introduced as if nothing had happened. We must also praise the role of volunteers who changed into cultural mediators of art and, for one evening, also the spokespersons for artists and their works.

The third annual White Night was visited by renowned critics, curators and artists from Slovakia and abroad. Amongst them was also the Hungarian-Slovak artist, Ilona Németh, the top world contemporary sculptor, Dan Graham from New York, and the renowned curator, Jiří Švestka from Prague. The light installation from Elise Morin was highly praised by the French expert public in several expert critiques and the media.

Pacáková admitted that people perhaps expected more light in the streets. In her opinion, however, this is a misunderstanding. “If we are talking about a White Night, it should be perceived at a symbolic level. The city night is enlivened by art which mainly uses light elements, but it doesn’t mean that we should expect a laser show or fireworks,” she emphasised. On the other hand, it is a fact that we had more interactive and light pieces last year. “This year, we had more sculptures. The dramaturgy reflected current building activities and the closing of many areas due to reconstruction. The problem in our city is that untraditional exhibition areas are small and there are few. The Rotunda, Pyecka or Make Up Gallery are very small and we have none larger at present. But the White Night is interesting in that the concept changes every year, that we show new areas and the audience can always look forward to something unusual. However, next year we’ll have the Kunsthalle, Barracks/Culture Park, the East Slovakia Gallery and the city park available,” she said.

The White Night event has a fixed date which is the first Saturday in October and therefore the date of the next White Night is already known. As Pacáková disclosed, on 5^th October 2013 in Košice, apart from other things, we may look forward to works from stars from France and Japan. “In terms of the number of installations, we don’t wish to increase the number or extend the route since even this year people didn’t have time to see everything. We want them to enjoy it and not wear themselves out by walking….” she added.

The organisers have good news for all those who missed the White Night. For the next few weeks, it will still be possible to see some of the installations in Košice. They include sculptures by David Černý in Cassovar, the exhibition by Krištof Kintera in the Make Up Gallery in Alvinczyho Street, the minimalistic sound installation by top world sound artist, Swiss Zimouna in the Rotunda on Zbrojničná Street, as well as the black and white spatial installation by Eugenio Percossi in the Pyecka Gallery in Vítezov Dvor. Depending upon the weather, but for at least one or two months, it will also be possible to see the poetic country created by French Elise Morin on Mlynský Náhon. She can still “control” her ecological installation, Water Carrier, which is strongly symbolic and offers space for thinking about the relationship between humankind and the environment. Although the artist has already returned to her home in Paris, she can still remotely programme changes to the intensity of the light thanks to a special application on her iPhone, specially prepared for her by the technicians from DJ Center. Although these are only minor corrections, it is still the first time an artist has been able to directly modify their work even after the White Night is over.