FORUM #4
European Cultural Exchanges 2003

[conference] [exhibition] [missions] [networking] [ARCO] [Greece] [FYROM] [Spain] [ongoing 2000-2010]

About FORUM European Cultural Exchanges

Ongoing platform for the development and promotion of European cultural exchanges –with emphasis on Southeastern Europe– aiming towards the support and diffusion of contemporary artistic creation. Founded in 2000 in Thessaloniki by Apollonia european art exchanges (Strasbourg) and ArtBOX, and coordinated by ArtBOX, Forum includes annual events, conferences, meetings, exhibitions and networking activities, as well as the Forum Artists-in-Residence program (F.A.R., 2005-2008).

2000 - 2010

Organized by:
ArtBOX, Thessaloniki, Greece
Apollonia, Strasbourg, France
Founding Directors:
Dimitris Konstantinidis (Apollonia)
Christos Savvidis (ArtBOX)
Coordination: ArtBOX
Advisory Committee:
Efie Strousa, Denys Zacharopoulos, Nikos Xydakis

The Golden Fleece
[floating art laboratory] [performances] [screenings]

Forum 2003 hosts Costanta, the Romanian military helicopter-carrier ship which has been transformed into a floating artistic laboratory. Having departed from Constanta (Romania), and following its first stop in Varna (Bulgaria), it visits Thessaloniki (Greece), before continuing on to Marseille (France) and concluding its journey in Valencia (Spain).
Throughout its voyage in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, Constanta is home to a group of eighty artists and intellectuals from around Europe and hosts performances, workshops, screenings, conferences and other activities. The objective is to establish strong links with new partners and to strengthen the already existing network. 
Following this extraordinary experience, "The Golden Fleece. Floating art laboratory" will make two more stops: one in Strasbourg, as an exhibition reporting the voyage adventure through artistic performances and screenings; and another one in Tbilisi, where for a week, the artists and art critics from the “Golden Fleece band” will discuss their experiences with their Georgian counterparts.

Projects presented at The Port of Thessaloniki:

Performances:
"The Cube" - Theodulos (Cyprus)
"Fanfare" - Djamel Kokene (France - Algeria)
"Re(a)lax" -  Dejan Spasovic  (FYROM)
"Domicile 1" - Alfred Gharapetian (Iran)
"Embarqued Reporter" - Daniel Depoutot (France)
"Poetry, action, performance" - Germain Roesz (France)
"Recycling of the Herd" - Mobilis in mobile - Alexander Ponomarev (Russia)
"T-Shirts" - Monika Matraszek (Poland) 
"The Invitation of the Sea" - Monika Matraszek (Poland)
"Killing Time" - Djamel Kokene (France - Algeria)
"Cruise. Red Cross Poems" - Bernhard Garbert (Germany)
"Total Super Spectacle" - Groupe F / Plasticiens Volants (France)

Screenings: "Mission Accomplished" - Serge Avedikian (Armenia)
"L' Arpenteur" - Sarah Petit, Michel Klein (France / Armenia)
"Public Beach" - Le Forum Itinerant - George Cazenove (France) 
"War Games" - Personal Cinema  (Greece) 
'Many, Several, One Odyssee" - Valentin Stefanoff / Nina Kovacheva (Bulgaria)
"Portraits: Saint-Nazaire" - 2003 - Stephen Barcelo (France)
"Metamorphose" - 2003 - Jean-Claude Guiguet (France)
"Julia Jour Nuit" - 2003 - Thierry Jousse (France)
"Sans titre" - 2003 - Philippe Katerine (France)

Video Art
Tribute to young video art from Romania

Port of Thessaloniki & other venues
 Thessaloniki, Greece
5 - 7 June 2003

Organisers:
Forum European Cultural Exchanges
Contemporary Art Centre of Thessaloniki
State Museum of Contemporary Art
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art
International Institute of Mediterranean Theatre, Marseille
Τoursky Theatre, Marseille

Coordination:
Apollonia european art exchanges
ArtBOX

Partners:
Ministry of Culture of Cyprus
Photography Centre of Skopelos
Municipality of Thessaloniki
European Union-Culture 2000 Programme
Ministry of Culture of France
Royal Theatre, Thessaloniki
Cultural Olympiad
Goethe Institute Thessaloniki
French Institute Thessaloniki
Macedonia/Panselinos Newspaper
Eikona-Ichos

Under the auspices of:
Hellenic Ministry of Culture

Catalogue:
Bilingual (French, English), colour, 343 p.
Published by:
Apollonia european art exchanges
Director of publication:
Dimitri Konstantinidis
Supervisor:
Milana Christitch
Texts: Louis Bec, Georges Cazenov, Chingiz Babayev, Daniel Depoutot, Victor Duric, Bernhard Garbert, Alfred Gharapétian, Huseyn Hagverdi, Djamel Kokene, Dimitri Konstantinidis, Ketevan Kordzakhia, Guga kotetishivili, Nina Kovacheva, Anne Landréat, Eimantas Ludavicius, Brice Mathey, Monika Maria Matraszek, Richard Martin, Nino Metreveli, Jean-Claude Moinau, Nurlana, Sania Papa, Sébastien Pluot, Lado Pochkhua, Germain Roesz, Dejan Spasovic, Valentin Stefanoff, Olegs Tillbergs

Forum 2003's printed material received the prestigious National Award for Graphic Design & Illustration (EBΓΕ).

Poets, Artists and Politicians - Arts, New Technologies, Mobility
[conference]

The Conference takes place in the framework of the closing events of the Greek EU Presidency. Artists, art historians and art critics, institutional administrators, philosophers and journalists discuss on the two issues introduced by Forum. 

Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art
 Thessaloniki, Greece
6 - 7 June 2003

Coordination:
Apollonia european art exchanges
ArtBOX

Paths of Europe
[traveling exhibition]

Traveling exhibition Paths of Europe is presented in the containers used for its transportation, that have been transformed into exhibition spaces. The trucks are a symbol of the route towards joining the European Union, for the ten countries which are now candidates, namely Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. In a few words, this exhibition is a contribution to strengthening the cultural plurality which is the essence of a multiethnic Europe. For the participating countries, the exhibition is a unique opportunity to emphasise on the quality of their artistic production, precisely at  the moment that these countries are knocking on the European Union's doors. The density and the complexity of contemporary creation has been brought to a real crossroad of new destinations and pathways. These pathways are directly connected to tragic histories and at the same time to glorious moments, and constitute the essential means in order to meet and cross the European artistic plurality. The analogy with a road network is perfect: criss-crossing, speeding along, travelling and discovering unexplored cultural paths, reducing the distances between cultural heritage  and new technologies, between original modes of expression and the public, between traditional institutional venues and unexpected spaces for exhibitions.

Dimitri Konstantinidis
Director of Apollonia, curator

Central Train Station Square
Strasbourg, France
5-27 October 2002
European Parliament Square
Strasbourg, France
19-24 November 2002
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art
Thessaloniki, Greece
23 May-8 June 2003

Artists:
Norbert Francis Attard, Michael Bielicky, Achilleas Kentonis, Endre Koronczi, Jerzy Korzan, Andrzej Miastkowski, Maria Papacharalambous, Mindaugas Simkus, Nika Span, Jaan Toomik, Anita Zabilevska, Jana Zelibska

Curator:
Dimitri Konstantinidis

Organization:
FORUM European Cultural Exchanges
Apollonia European Art Exchanges

Coordination in Greece:
ArtBOX.gr

Catalogue:
Bilingual (English, Greek), colour, 150 p.
Concept & editing:
Giannis Epaminondas

Support:
Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Culture 2000 Programme of the EU
Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles Aslace

The catalogue of the exhibition in Greece

Parallel Activities / Networking

Blood & Honey - Future's in the Balkans
The Essl Collection - Art of the Present
[networking] [consulting]

Blood & Honey is one of the major exhibitions dedicated to contemporary art from the Balkans. In the framework of its preparation, curator Harald Szeemann and collector Karlheinz Essl, asked us to suggest Greek artists. We organised studio visits, portfolio reviews and meetings. As a result, Jenny Marketou was selected to participate. 

Thessaloniki, Greece
2002

Organisation of meetings & studio visits for the selection of Greek artists:
ArtBOX

Curator:
Harald Szeemann

ARCO 2003
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ART EXPERTS FORUM
[networking] [talks]

Forum's international acclaim is reflected in ARCO's invitation to host two discussion panels in the framework of the international art fair's talks programme in 2003 and 2004. 

PANEL 1: ARTISTIC IDENTITY IN SOUTH-EAST EUROPE
Directors-Moderators:
Dimitri Konstantinidis (Director, Apollonia, Strasbourg)
Sania Papa (art historian and theorist; Director, Contemporary Art Centre, Thessaloniki, Greece)

Participants:
Ali Akay (curator, sociologist; Professor of Sociology, University of Mimar Sinan, Istanbul)
Lilia Dragneva (Artistic Director, Center of Contemporary Art in Chisinau (KSA:K), Republic of Moldavia)
Zoran Eric (Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade; Ph.D. candidate at Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany)
Marina Grzinic (researcher, Institute of Philosophy at ZRC SAZU - Scientific and Research Center, Slovenian Academy of Science and Art, Ljubljana; freelance media theorist, art critic and curator, Ljubljana (Slovenia)

PANEL 2: EUROPEAN NETWORKS AND ART EXCHANGES IN SOUTH-EAST EUROPE
Directors-Moderators: 
Dimitri Konstantinidis (Director, Apollonia, Strasbourg)
Sania Papa (art historian and theorist; Director, Contemporary Art Centre, Thessaloniki, Greece)

Participants:
Luchezar Boyadjiev (artist, Sofia, Bulgaria)
Irina Cios (Director, ICCA International Center for Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania)
Melentie Pandilovski (Director, Contemporary Arts Center, Skopje, FYROM)
Nicolas Petrovitch (President, Cetinjski Bienale, Montenegro, Yugoslavia)    

ARCO
International Contemporary Art Fair
Madrid, Spain
14 February 2003

Moderators:
Dimitri Konstantinidis, Sania Papa

Participants:
Ali Akay, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Irina Cios, Lilia Dragneva, Zoran Eric, Marina Grzinic, Melentie Pandilovski, Nicolas Petrovitch

Coorindation:
ArtBOX.gr

Research Trip to Skopje

[research trip] [networking]