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Large Swedish-Serbian art initiative in Belgrade
"I believe that Belgrade Art Fair will fulfill realistic expectations and already in the first year manage to present the current contemporary art scene, here and abroad. A significant art project that Belgrade and this part of Europe have lacked is commencing." Nenad Bogdanović
The first international artist-run art fair in the Balkans will take place from 25th to 28th October 2012 in Belgrade.
The fair is an initiative of Formverk (art zone), a Swedish organization with extensive experience in exhibition activities within the artist-run and non-commercial art scene, now based in Serbia, in cooperation with MOBA, a Serbian NGO with comprehensive contact network within and outside the Balkans.
"Launching an art fair for artist-run initiatives started as an idea a few years ago, when we began to establish artistic collaborations in the Balkans," says Stina Pehrsdotter, artistic director of
Formverk (art zone), and points out: "It's a very exciting region and there is a bubbling art scene that we experience is not adequately addressed in the rest of Europe."
Fifteen European galleries, initiatives and organizations focused on artist-run, independent and non-commercial activities, have been invited to create a joint exhibition of high quality art, and to open up possibilities for exchange and the opportunity for the public to take part in an interesting conference program.
The conference is conceived as a panel discussion during which Dimitrije Tadić (coordinator of contemporary visual arts and multimedia at Ministry of Culture in Belgrade), Andreas Ribbung
(Supermarket art fair in Stockholm), Maxim Illukin (ABC Art Fair in Moscow), Edmund Piper (Berliner Kunstsalon in Berlin) and Nia Pushkarova (Watertower Art Fest in Sofia) will discuss their experiences and the opportunities for artist-run initiatives and fairs.
"During the years of our work and exchange with artists and organizations in the Balkans, we have felt that there is a need for a meeting place, and an interest in the artist-run scene in Europe.
Therefore, we are creating the opportunity to show exceptional, authentic art and providing a space for discussion around the conditions necessary for the artist-run scene," explains Niclas
Hallberg, artist in Formverk (art zone) and project manager for the Belgrade Art Fair.
The exhibition also includes a performance program composed by Nenad Bogdanović, a renowned Serbian performance artist, who has invited eight European performance artists, including Joakim Stampe (Sweden), Laura Cristin (Italy), Radoslav B. Čugalj (Serbia), and Waldemar Tatarczuk (Poland) among others.
In addition, there will be four different video programs, made by organizations that arrange video art festivals:
Unbound Studio from Pune (India),
Papay Gyro Nights from Orkney (Scotland),
NOVA with video art from the Nordic countries and
AIVA, a new international video festival in Ängelholm (Sweden).
Formverk (art zone) exhibits Zoran Todorović, the controversial conceptual artist from Belgrade, who represented Serbia at the Venice Biennale in 2009.
Participants:
Art Klinika - Serbia,
ART LAB - Sweden,
Candyland - Sweden,
Duplex10m2 - Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Gallery 69 - Norway,
Kultivator - Sweden,
Kuten - Finland,
Microwesten - Germany,
MAS Gallery - Serbia,
MOBA - Serbia,
Nis de la Pinani - Slovenia,
OFIS - Russia,
Third Belgrade - Serbia and
Water Tower art festival - Bulgaria.
Belgrade Art Fair is realized with the support from the Swedish Institute, the Swedish Arts Council and the Swedish Embassy in Belgrade.
Contact: Stina Pehrsdotter +381 62 1968 014, info@belgradeartfair.com
www.belgradeartfair.com |
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