Young Balkan Artists
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Mostly site specific works by twenty-five artists from eight Balkan countries in three of the most important monuments of Thessaloniki
The exhibition "Young Balkan Artists – Variations in Balkan Spaces" takes place right after the great exhibitions dealing with the Balkans, which were organised by significant western curators: "Blood and Honey" by Harald Szeemann, "In Search of Balkania" by Roger Conover, Eda Cufer, Peter Weibel, and "In the Gorges of The Balkans" by Rene Block. The aim of the project is not actually to respond to these exhibitions, nor to comment on the views held by the West regarding the area [1]. Rather, our goal is to establish the conditions that will enable young artists from the area to work together and speak through their work about the things that unite and divide them. To communicate, exchange views and experiences, to get to know each other.
The three buildings selected, remnants from the city's Byzantine and Ottoman periods, their form recognized by all Balkan people, serve as vehicles of the common cultural heritage. These monuments become the familiar venues that house the -mostly original- art works presented. Artists had to find ways to overcome the practical difficulties ensuing from the installation of a contemporary art work inside a monument, where interventions must be kept to a minimum. Furthermore, other issues had to be solved, such as the historically charged environment and the intense architectural elements of the building - shell. Finally, artists were confronted with special technical difficulties in supporting, hanging and lighting their works due to these particular exhibition spaces. Beyond dealing with the practical, special exhibition circumstances, the organisers of the project intended to give participating artists the opportunity to promote their work. For this purpose they scheduled guided tours of the exhibition and meetings between the artists and curators and gallery owners from Greece and abroad. Thanks to those meetings, some artists accepted invitations by curators to exhibit their works in future exhibitions or initiated collaborations with galleries. The artistic world of the Balkans is not unknown to Thessaloniki, and the city has had continuous contact with the contemporary art scenes of the neighbouring countries in recent years. Important exhibitions have been staged, interesting annual institutions have been formed such as the the "Young Balkans" by the Cultural Olympiad and the Forum for European Cultural Exchanges, co-founded and coordinated by ArtBOX.gr, with the support of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Forum attempts to record the problems of the artistic activity of the area on an annual basis by means of exhibitions and specialists meetings. These mobility problems of the Balkan artists are not new. Obtaining a visa is not always an easy procedure, and it is certainly not the most pleasant. The difficulties in the mobility of artists are made worse by the bureaucracy in charge of the transportation of art works. The most critical question in this exhibition was whether a common artistic language would emerge, which possibly exists in the Balkans, or whether there would be some reaction even to the idea of the existence of such a language-identity, often expected to be presented by Westerners. I find it difficult to give a clear answer to this question. The artists themselves –most of them at least– were skeptical about the existence of a common artistic Balkan identity. But it was established that there are many common problems in relation to the promotion of their work - both exhibition and market-wise. It is, therefore, much more certain to speak of a common reality or, even more pragmatically, of a common interest. Apart from all this, however, I had before me the picture of a group of young people with dreams, anxieties, ambitions and talent, who worked with Balkan enthusiasm and western punctuality, united beyond flags and borders. I know well that this group is probably not representative of our contemporary societies, but could constitute a hope for the future of the Balkans. The processArtists Selection
For the selection of the artists a network of established art critics and curators, active in the area and very close to the young artists of their countries, worked together with me. The help from the following people was decisive: Eleni Laperi - Albania, Asja Mandič - Bosnia, Iara Boubnova - Bulgaria, Zoran Petrovski - FyroM, Irina Cios - Romania, Zoran Erič - Serbia, Montenegro, Kossovo, Beral Madra - Turkey, Nuran Terzioglu - Turkey. Their response was immediate and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Without their support, it would have been impossible to organise this exhibition. Thanks are also owed to the artists who donated their works to the collection of the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art. In a very short time, interesting projects arrived in our offices from many young artists aged 30 or less. In most cases, the proposals went over the predetermined limit of 2 artists who were to participate from each country. The quality of the proposals made the final selection very difficult. Arrangements were made so that the 14 artists from the Balkan countries would immediately meet their 10+1 Greek counterparts during their first trip to Thessaloniki. First visit - acquaintance with the exhibition spaces
All of the artists –except for Lala Rascic and Anna Foka who could not come due to previous engagements– traveled to Thessaloniki, in order to see the places up close. Even their counterparts from Thessaloniki, who pass daily outside these buildings, saw them now from a different point of view. They listened to their sounds, tasted their smells, touched the surfaces-palimpset, noticed the light, felt the passing of time. At the same time, they met their counterparts, were guided in the museums of the city, and held discussions with art historians. We teamed up closely and discussed their proposals. A lot of the artists modified their proposals after their contact with the buildings.
Second visit - installing the exhibitionThe next visit took place a few days before the opening. The atmosphere was definitely warmer. Most of the artists had already become friends. Some of them had travelled together to Greece. Their professionalism and perfect cooperation with those in charge in each country, as well as the effective organisation by the Hellenic Culture Organization ensured the handy installation of the works inside the monuments.
Opening NightDuring the opening night hundreds of visitors had the opportunity to watch the performances given by Veronica Tzekova and Andrei Farcasanu.
NetworkingThe day following the opening, everybody met at the women’s prison in Eptapyrgion. There, the artists met curators Efi Strouza (President of AICA Hellas), Dimitris Konstandinidis (Apollonia, Strasburg), Michel Salsmann (Professor of Fine Arts, Paris), Lina Tsikouta (Curator of the Greek National Gallery) and art critic Augustine Zenakos. The artists presented their portfolios, talked with the curators, exchanged views, together visited the exhibition and, then, headed for the center to watch Ivan Mudov’s performance. The latter was misleading the drivers in the center of Thessaloniki by imposing a foreign symbol of authority and creating a small traffic confusion.
The guided tours of the exhibition continued even after the opening. Established art historians and gallery directors from Greece and abroad visited the venues. The Common Project - Pazaar HamamA collaborative project to which all artists contributed was staged in Louloudadika (Pazaar Hamam). The project was based on Radmila Onchevska’s proposal and took its final form after a lot of discussions with her. Radmila was allowed to make the first, honorary, intervention. Haris Pallas materialized the second intervention and from that point on undertook the painstaking but very interesting work of implementing the interventions-orders given by the other artists. The whole communication was made possible via e-mail while each step was announced on the specially designed board in order to inform the public.
Christos Savvidis Curator / Coordinator of the exhibition Other venuesBey HamamEptapyrgionPerformance by Ivan MoudovVideo documentation on top of the page
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Eptapyrgion, Bey Hamam (Paradeisos Baths), Pazaar Hamam (Louloudadika)
The exhibition in Bey Hamam
The exhibition in Eptapyrgion
Performance by Ivan Mudov
Performance by Andrei Farcasanu
First half of the catalogue: texts; pages 1-55
Second half of the catalogue: the exhibition, pages 56 - 150
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