FORUM #6
European Cultural Exchanges 2005

[presentation] [exhibitions] [networking] [project] [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

Current Artistic Creation in Poland
[conference] [focus Poland]

Photo and video are two relatively recent media in the contemporary art of Poland. The issue of identity is a central, not to say predominant theme in most artistic approaches. It is an issue that is either tackled head-on, through works dealing with the body or portraits, or more indirectly, by working in subjects such as habitat, social space or consumer objects and daily life. It is an identity which is deeply rooted both in the distant memories and the more recent history of the country, which is going through a spectacular transition, as it (re)joins the European community. 

The work that went into setting up these projects was based on information gathered by Apollonia in the course of various visits to the country and thanks to the permanent contacts that exist between the association and the Polish art scene. In addition, these events owe much to fruitful collaboration between several art critics, curators and theorists, and in particular thanks to the contributions made by Magdalena Lewoc, Anne Laval and Ryszard W. Kluszczynski.

Dimitri Konstantinidis
Director, Apollonia european art exchanges
Co-founder, Forum European Cultural Exchanges

Thessaloniki, Greece
2005

Organization:
Forum European Cultural Exchanges
Hellenic Ministry of Culture

Coordination: ArtBOX

Partners:
Council of Europe, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Cultural Foundation, French Ministry of Culture, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art

Exhibitions & Parallel events

Contemporary Identities
Current Artistic Creation in Poland: Photography

[photography exhibition] [focus Poland]

The exhibition presents the photo based works of six Polish artists of different generations. The main body of the exhibition is formed by the artists who entered the art scene in the second half of the 90s. The common denominator of their artistic practices is the critical approach to things inspiring them. “Anne, Marie, Madeleine” is a visual tale about a woman and her position/image within the sphere of culture based on a creative, personal dialogue with the surrounding environment in its socio-cultural, political and spiritual dimension. The body as the main point of reference in the process of self-searching in the works of the invited artists: Monika Wiechowska, Marta Deskur, Bogna Burska, Agata Zbylut, Monika Matraszek and Katarzyna Kozyra lets them in many parallel ways to play with their contradictory and ambivalent nature. The subversive potential of the selected works is revealed in many different ways. 

Thessaloniki Museum of Photography
21 January - 18 February 2005

Curators:
Dimitris Konstantinidis, Anne Laval,
Magdalena Lewoc (curator, Contemporary Gallery - National Museum of Szczecin and Mare Articum Baltic Art Magazine)

Artists:
Bogna Buska, Marta Deskur, Monika Maria Matraszek, Hanna Nowicka, Monika Wiechowska, Agata Zbylut, Aneta Greszykowska and Jan Smaga, Zelda Klimkowska, Sylwia Kowalczyk, Konrad Kuzyszyn, Dominik Pabis, Wojciech Prazmowski, Jerzy Truszkowski, Pawel Zak

First presented in France, and after Thessaloniki to Belgium

FORUM Artists-in-Residence Programme (F.A.R)
[residency] [exhibition]

F.A.R. was one of the few serious attempts to establish a permanent residency program in Greece. It was initiated in 2005 by Forum European Cultural Exchanges in collaboration with Action Field Kodra - annual visual arts festival and run every year until 2008. F.A.R. collaborated with established Greek and international curators and with interesting emerging artists from Greece and abroad. In 2006, F.A.R. was presented by the Periphery of Alsace (France) as a model for cultural development. 
For more information follow the links on the right. 

DIMOSIOS ERGASIA by Patrick Meyer

[performance] [presentation]

Performances in various public spaces in Thessaloniki city centre and presentation to the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Fine Arts School by Patrick Meyer.

Thessaloniki, Greece
28 February - 4 March 2005

Artist:
Patrick Meyer

Coordination:
ArtBOX


Gazet'Art #3 
[publication]

Zoran Eric, in charge of the seminars Curating the Balkans, was invited as the chief of the editorial committee. In November 2004, one of these seminars was organised in Belgrade in collaboration with Apollonia. The aim was to examine the possibility of setting up a permanent system of residencies for art critics and curators in the Balkans. With this aim in mind, most of the columns were entrusted to young critics, while also maintaining a more theoretical and historical section with articles by renowned art critics.

Hosting magazine:
Gap, Greece, p.40 (English)
September 2005

Editorial chief:
Dimitri Konstantinidis

Monitoring of the editorial committee:
Zoran Eric

General coordinator of the project:
Milana Christitch

Texts: Anne-Marie Autissier, Louisa Avgita, Zoran Eric, Irina Genova, Vida Knezevic, Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva, Eleni Laperi, Beral Madra, Antonia Majaca, Ivana Marjanovic, Vladiya Mihaylova, Melentie Pandilovski, Hristijan Panev, Diana Popova, Germain Roesz, Maria Rus Bojan, Alina Serban

Thanks to the kind collaboration of Mihalis Paparounis

Art Criticism in the Press
[networking] [conference]

Apollonia, in collaboration with the Centre for Contemporary Art in Liège organised a workshop titled "Art Criticism in the press”. Forum was represented by Christos Savvidis and Greek art critic Augustine Zenakos.

Theatre Royal Univesitaire
Liège, Belgium
18-19 April 2005

Organized by:
Apollonia european art exchanges

In collaboration with:
Centre for Contemporary Art in Liège

NetOdyssey / Micropolis
International competition of digitalized movies 

Τhe Hellenic Culture Organization SA proudly presents the NetOdyssey internet project, a free platform for the presentation and promotion of artistic audiovisual production. This is the first initiative of its kind in Greece, a modern landscape, within which creators who work mainly with the audiovisual arts and the new technologies will be free to exchange ideas and present their work online. 
Throughout the year, NetOdyssey will proceed nationwide to a series of actions related to new technologies and the arts. For this purpose, organizers formed a wide network of national organizations and institutions (Bios Center, Fournos Centre, Ecofilms Festival, Video Dance Festival, Athens Video Art Festival, Platforma, Media Literacy Network, Laboratory of New Technologies of the University of Athens, ArtBOX), while in the weeks to follow they will be working towards the creation of an international network with the participation of foreign institutes active in Greece (Goethe Institut, Institut Francais, British Council, Instituto Cervantes, Instituto Italiano di Cultura, Hellenic American Union, Swedish Institute, Danish Institute, Dutch Institute, House of Cyprus etc). All the above will form the group of NetOdyssey’s partners, who will work closely with HCO, in order to contribute to the organization of a series of actions aiming to inform and promote art linked to technology (round tables, lectures, etc.). These actions will be announced in due time through the netodyssey.gr website.
Micropolis is NetOdyssey's first public activity, an International Web Contest of Digitalized Film and Video. HCO intends to establish Micropolis as a permanent institution and aims to mobilize all those who work with the moving image in its digital form, giving them the opportunity to show their work in a virtual exhibition. The contest addresses individuals of all ages. At the same time, the Micropolis competition serves as an excuse to chart an area that has yet to be recorded down in detail in Greece. The goal is to create a complete network of bodies, which are dedicated to digital creation and production.

Athens, Greece
2005

Organized by:
Hellenic Culture Organization SA

Network:
Bios Center, Fournos Center, Ecofilms Festival, Video Dance Festival, Athens Video Art Festival, Platforma, Media Literacy Network, Laboratory of New Technologies of the University of Athens, ArtBOX

Jury:
Dimitris Charitos (Laboratory of New Technologies in Education, Communication and Media, University of Athens), Christiana Galanopoulou (Video Dance International Festival on Movement and the Moving Image), Efie Halivopoulou (ArtBOX), Vassilis Haralambidis (Bios Center for the Arts and Technology), Elias Hatzichristodoulou (Athens Video Art Festival), Vassilis Karamitsanis (Platforma Urban Culture Co.), Nikos Nikolaidis (Media Literacy Network), Lucia Rikaki (Ecofilms, International Films and Visual Arts Festival), Dodo Santorinaiou (Fournos Centre for Art and New Technologies), Konstantinos Bhta (musician), Yannis Nenes (journalist, music producer), Nikos Patrelakis (composer, music producer)

Thessaloniki, Athens, Istanbul

[networking]