The Santorini Biennale of Arts announces the “Design a wish for Greece” International Poster Competition, a parallel project that aims to support the image of Modern Greece around the world.

Greece is not only the country of Parthenon, the country of Aristoteles, of Democracy, of Philosophy, the country of Myths, the country that inspired millions of people around the world. Greece is a modern country like yours and suffers today from the unstable world economy.

After years of living into an European umbrella characterized by the values of solidarity, of unity, of many “freedoms”, of fraternity and equaliance, the economic crisis showed us that the truth of these values and ideas is far a way from the reality as the latest phenomena our societies are living today is a kind of an economic “racism”.

Can we really discriminate Iceland about its last bankruptcy? Are Italians lower class people than Germans?  Can we defamate Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and many other countries in the world just because of their economic situation? Ethically, we do not have the right!

The “Design a Wish for Greece” project aims to fight the humiliation Greece suffers today and aims to show to the world that helping our country to retrive its glory is an important action of dignity and solidarity. And is not an action like this only for Greece but also for all those people and countries that today they feel weak in front of the storm of the economic or military “power”.

The exhibition will be held at the same time in big cities around the word from 10 Jan 2012 to 10 Mar 2013 and then will travel to Santorini from 20 April 2013 to 30 Sept 2013. For more information visit WWW.SANTORINIBIENNALE.GR/DESIGN-A-WISH-FOR-GREECE

The Hellenic Centre for Photography invites submissions for the Athens Photo Festival 2012. HCP accepts proposals from established or emerging artists, galleries, curators and organizations world-wide, in all areas of contemporary photography practice and forms, ranging from art and documentary photography to photographic installations, film and video.

There are two categories for submission: Photography (still images only) and Multimedia. Submission to Athens Photo Festival 2012 is open to all artists from around the world over the age of 18. An artist can be an individual or a group of individuals.

Each year, the festival focuses on a specific theme through photographic exhibitions, screenings, talks and educational activities. This year’s festival theme under the title “Art/Doc Intersection”, intends to explore the boundaries between fine art photography and documentary practice. Each proposal should contain a series of 8-12 images. These works can be about “Art/Doc Intersection” in its broadest interpretation or work unrelated to this year’s festival theme.

The selected projects will be presented in the upcoming Αthens Photo Festival, which takes place in Athens during the months of October and November. Deadline: 31 August 2012 For more information visit WWW.HCP.GR

Festival focuses on narrative and/or abstract art projects which combine image and sound, communications and networks, from video art works, documentaries and short films, digital animations, media installations, url and network projects, objects, interactive and robotized objects, open source applications, audiovisual performances, mobile technologies, electronic music, advanced technologies in art practice...

ENTRY FORMS are online and artists can easily provide their video previews directly by web form or they can send materials by regular post. For more information visit WWW.VIDEOMEDEJA.ORG (source: videomedeja.org)

The exhibition comprises a compelling selection of design production spanning the first two dynamic decades of a young European country. A broad array of distinctive designs set in dialogue with historically iconic design objects captures the exceptional strength, quality and specific character of contemporary design in Slovenia.

 »The latter /historic design/are thrilling: Peter Florjancic's ubiquitous 1969 slide frame became famous when used by Agfa and Kodak, while Davorin Savnik's 1979 ETA 80 phone for Iskra is an elegant plastic archetype, and was a common sight in homes and offices of former Yugoslavia. Only a few of the contemporary examples emanate the same vitality, but curator Maja Vardan's selection is impressive and diverse. … Slovenian design is active in the sports, tech, fashion, furniture and luxury fields…There is even a humanitarian design example.«(Domus, Vera Sacchetti, February 2012)

The Silent Revolutions’ exhibition has already been successfully presented in London, United Kingdom (Tent London, London Design Festival), Eindhoven, the Netherlands (Dutch Design Week) in 2011 and in Milan, Italy (La Triennale di Milano) in 2012. It received positive response from the foreign media and was so far well attended with altogether more than 40000 visitors. After presentation in Belgrade it will travel to Helsinki, Finland.  For more information visit WWW.SILENTREVOLUTION.SI  (source: www.mao.si)

The Santorini Biennale of Arts mission is to promote both emerging and established artists that are working on the borders between different art disciples, allowing them to surpass the traditional (and perhaps limiting) concepts of classicism, modernism, contemporary and applied arts. The Santorini Biennale of Arts will be dedicated to hosting artist-led events presented in full co-operation with the organizers. The Santorini Biennale of Arts is inspired by the ways in which ideas are born and disseminated – how they then develop and diversify within our increasingly interconnected global society.

Art and culture continue to play a distinctive role in defining the past, present and future direction of human endeavour. In recognition of this, the Santorini Biennale of Arts wishes to cultivate a spirit of research and experimentation; also, to present an environment ideal for open and continuous dialogue. Pursuing a programme of cultural collaboration that is at the same time both regional and international, Santorini Biennale of Arts intends to support and promote the free exchange of both artistic and cultural experience.

Reflecting the strengths of co-operation across all borders, encouraging and rewarding excellence, Santorini Biennale of Arts will work to advance a broad framework of activities enabling participants to initiate a wider dialogue for new ideas and social change. Ideally, by our art, we can provoke and motivate humanity to take action on today’s fundamental issues.

Art Categories: Art Installation, Ceramic Art, Collage Art, Comic Art, Drawing, Short Film, Glass Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Painting, Paper Art, Photography, Sculpture, Video Art, and a Song Competition. 

The theme for 2012 is The Past. History, Time, Memory and Nostalgia: How do you define your relationship with The Past? How do people you have met in the past, all of your experiences, your memories affect you in the present? Might they subconsciously or even explicitly influence your future? We as individuals each carry forward our own past as ‘vessels’. If everything about the present moment is determined by the past, then, when collectively imagining our future, we ignore the lessons of the past at our peril.

The open call for artist submissions is now open through 19 May 2012! Artists are invited to submit their works into the following sections: Photography, Glass Art, Graphic Art, Comics, Sculpture, Art Installation, Industrial Design, Ceramic Art, Collage Art, Paper Art, Illustration, Painting, Drawing, Video Art and Short Film. For more information visit WWW.SANTORINIBIENNALE.GR (source and photo: santorini biennale)

All interested exhibitors can apply by submitting an on-line registration which, apart from general information about the author(s), has to include several reference works and a basic concept of the D-Day presentation. Students are allowed to exhibit works created as part of their educational programs; however, all such works must stipulate information about the mentorship (i.e. the presentation should be in accordance with the specific rules of the academic institution, if such rules have been proscribed). The final application deadline is 8 May 2012. 

For more information visit WWW.DAN-D.INFO (source and photo: dan-d.info)

Competition is usually open to all authors of 30 years or younger, but this year we will make an exception, and open the competition also for 31-year olds, because the festival did not happen last year and they couldn´t submit their works - so to all who were born later than 17. May 1981. If entry was created by more than one person, all the authors must have been born after this date. Each submission must be accompanied by a photocopy or scan of a legal document with clearly visible birth date for all authors in question. People in supporting roles (mentors, project managers, authors of music, etc.) are not subject to this rule. 
The Entry must be created to promote ideas, people, brands, products or services. Entries may have been commissioned or not, published or not, rejected by the client or designed specially for the festival. Actual publication or implementation of an idea is not required. Entries that were submitted to either of the previous Magdalena festivals can not take part in the competition. Entries of anonymous or unknown authors are not eligible. The organizer may use submitted entries for the promotion of the festival. The competition is open to authors worldwide. There are no limitations for personal participation to the festival.

Complete on-line submission forms, upload entries on-line or/and send them to the festival office (see technical instructions for each group). Send proof of age (photocopy or scan of the legal document) of all credited authors. Entries by authors, born after May 17, 1981 are eligible. Pay for registered entries - by May 4 - and attendance fees. Catch the early birds deadlines for lower prices! If you decided and marked in the submission form that you will deliver your entries yourself: send materials by post or bring them to the festival office by May 4, 2012. Maximum size allowed for printed materials is 100 x 70 cm. If sending by post, mark your package with the registration code of the entry you are sending. For more information visit WWW.MAGDALENA.ORG (source: magdalena.org) 

Emre Baykal worked for the Istanbul Biennial as Assistant Director from 1995 to 2000 and as Director from 2000 to 2005. In 2005, he co-curated the public space project "Istanbul Pedestrial Exhibition II: Tunel - Karakoy" together with Fulya Erdemci. From 2005 to 2008, he worked as the Director of Exhibitions at santralistanbul where he directed the inauguration show entitled "Modern and Beyond", an art historical account of contemporary art in Turkey, with more than 450 works from the 1950s up to the 2000s. In 2009, he was invited to Depo, Istanbul as Artistic Director. Emre Baykal currently works as Exhibitions Director and Curator at ARTER, an initiative of the Vehbi Koc Foundation. Emre Baykal has curated many group exhibitions including "Second Exhibition" (ARTER, 2010-2011), "Tactics of Invisibility" (with Daniela Zyman; T-B A21, Vienna; Tanas, Berlin; ARTER, Istanbul 2010-2011), "Mahrem" (in the context of Nilüfer Göle's "Non-Western Modernities Project", santralistanbul; Kunsthalle Wien Project Space; Tanas, Berlin, 2007-2008); "Transfer" (a residency project exhibition in collaboration with NRW Kultursekretariat and co-curated by Basak Doga Temur, santralistanbul, 2007); 24th Istanbul Contemporary Artists Exhibition (with Susan van de Ven and Marcus Graf; Aksanat, 2005), "The Visitor" (with Rob Perree; Galerist, 2004) and solo shows by Mona Hatoum ("You Are Still Here", ARTER, 2012), Kutluğ Ataman ("Mesopotamian Dramaturgies", ARTER, 2011), Deniz Gül ("5 Person Bufet", ARTER, 2011) and Ali Kazma ("Obstructions", YKY Kazım Taşkent Art Gallery, 2010). Emre Baykal contributed to numerous publications and exhibition catalogues and is the author of Kutluğ Ataman, You Tell Me About Yourself Anyway (2008) published as a part of the Contemporary Art in Turkey series by Yapi Kredi Publications.

The Pavilion of Turkey in Venice Biennale has been held under the coordination of IKSV since 2006. In 2007 Hüseyin B. Alptekin, under the curatorship of Vasıf Kortun; in 2009 Banu Cennetoğlu and Ahmet Öğüt, under the curatorship of Başak Şenova; in 2011 Ayşe Erkmen, under the curatorship of Fulya Erdemci and curatorial collaboration of Danae Mossman had represented Turkey. For more information visit WWW.IKSV.ORG (photo: iKSV)

The Klovicevi dvori Gallery, as organiser of the exhibition the Fourth Croatian Biennale of Illustration, hereby invites artists/illustrators to participate at the exhibition of original book or magazine illustrations for children, young people and adults, and original newspaper and commercial illustrations. 

Illustrators may submit a maximum of 6 illustrations for the competition, which need not have been published. The jury will award 1 prize – the organisation of a solo exhibition in the following year, and one special recognition. The jury will be composed of: Irena Bekic, Zlatko Bourek, Frano Dulibic, Ranka Javor and Iva Sudec. The highest award of the event enables the artist’s solo exhibition next year in one of the exhibition halls of the Klovicevi dvori Gallery. Croatian and foreign artists participate in the competition for the prizes equally. The special recognition is awarded for many years of work in illustration, for innovative illustration or to the best young illustrator. Artists shall take back their unaccepted works 10 days after the publication of the results reached by the jury.

The Fourth Croatian Biennale of Illustration will be held from 5 June to 29 July 2012 in Zagreb, in the Klovicevi dvori Gallery. For more information visit WWW.GALERIJAKLOVIC.HR (photo: croatian biennale archive)

The Istanbul Design Biennial, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts for the first time, explores a wide range of fields, from urban design (environmental, urban and regional planning) to architecture, photography, industrial, graphic, fashion, textile and interaction design, and all related creative fields.

The theme of the Istanbul Design Biennial is adopted as “Imperfection” (Kusurluluk) at the suggestion of Deyan Sudjic, Director of The Design Museum in London and a member of the Biennial’s advisory board. The two curators of the biennial, Emre Arolat and Joseph Grima will present two different approaches within the framework of the biennial theme. The deadline is 2 June 2012 for project submissions to the Istanbul Design Biennial exhibitions “MUSIBET” (curated by Emre Arolat) and “ADHOCRACY” (curated by Joseph Grima). There are no disciplinary or geographic limitations to the projects that can be submitted for inclusion in the biennial. For more information visit ISTANBULDESIGNBIENNIAL.IKSV.ORG (photo: iKSV)

The exhibition is divided into two-dimensional works (a series of four photographs from the video "History is nothing but muscles in action" and a performance "Interview through Sculpture") and two video projections, where the physical element and the body rise to a pivot around which all the work rotates.

Starting from the critical aspect of Who-Is-What and What-Is-Who, the two artists move like living sculptures with the intent to study human action, starting from the purely muscular process until the time that an action can be defined as that and established its relevance over time. They are both the creators and the product of their work with clear references to the contemporary tradition of body art, almost as if they would be incorporated into their work, negotiating a possible way out of this world which they have self-created and that apparently seems to leave no escape.

Alex Mirutziu: His work draws on different fields of research, writing, theatre, photography, video and lately mainly to the performance. The artist proposes a survey of social and political processes that he calls revolutionary, and his body in all its ambiguity, it is the preferred solution.

Razvan Sadean: Even his work includes germination from contemporary writing, web-art, photography and literature. In his works he focuses so obsessively on the dramatic materiality of the body, so obscene, socially awkward and often with extreme realism. For more information visit WWW.SPAZIOVAULT.COM (photo: alex mirutziu, razvan sadean)

Curator Michele Drascek will present material form different archives, focusing on the key members of the conceptual art movement – band Laibach, visual art group IRWIN, graphics studio New Collectivism and Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre -, according to a press release of Chelsea Space. The timely show Neue Slowenische Kunst 1984-1992, which will be set up with support from the British Council in Slovenia, is a component of a unique three-part presentation alongside a symposium and Turbine Hall concert by Laibach at Tate Modern and a survey show of publications and films at Calvert 22. Neue Slowenische Kunst emerged in the early 1980′s in the former Yugoslavia and is widely considered the last true avant-garde of the 20th century, critically reflecting on totalitarianism across visual art, theatre, music, performance, design and theory. (photo: BAN)

The workshop graphic, novel. takes this relationship between W.G. Sebald’s work and graphic novels as a starting point to enhance an in-depth study on how to access memory through image and text. It aims at taking the potential of the literary and graphic elements of graphic novels further by drawing on the author’s ‘poet(h)ic of remembering’, but also by the direct encounter with and research into the environment the workshop is set in. The participants are invited to creatively delve into yet unprecedented graphic-novelist techniques, sketching what has been lost, what is to be retrieved, and how to conjoin the missing bits and contradictions of recent local history.

Throughout the workshop, the participants are invited to work on a chosen context presented to them in the city of Pristina. The results of the workshop will be shown in a group exhibition during the 'Polip Literature Festival' held from May 11-13, 2012. For application form visit WWW.TIRANAARTLAB.ORG (photo: qendra.org)

Naoussa International Film Festival is in the pleasant position to announce the Call for Entries for its 9th edition. In the forthcoming festival - which will take place the period from 27 to 30 of September 2012 - exceptional short films will be screened and great ideas will be utilized thus confirming that the Naoussa International Film Festival constitutes a unique cultural experience.

Short films from all over the world, cinematographic tributes, activities for children, theatrical performance, concerts, master classes, workshops, contests, conference, actions of social and environmental sensitization, are some of the events which will be realized in the 9th edition. Naoussa International Film Festival after making significant investments in acquiring state-of-the art technological infrastructures on digital cinema and important changes in the process of films’ submission in favor of the cinematographers addresses an invitation to cinema creators to submit their work in the great cinema celebration.  

The official procedure of short films submission to the 9th Naoussa International Film Festival will expire on 6 April 2012. The Terms of Participation and the Application Form, along with more information regarding the submission process can be found at the Festival’s website (www.naoussafilmfestival.gr and www.niff.gr). Directors can submit their applications directly through the on-line submissions system at the Festival’s website.

Ghost Project' s slogan for 2012 is GET REAL!. Instead of pleading to manufacturers to start appreciating local design talents, the organisation Mikser is intensifying its proactive role in bringing young designer’s projects to a real market by starting its own production, in the midst of the economic crisis. GET REAL! is a call to designers to do their share of making the world a more pleasurable place to live and to take social and economic challenges as an inspiration for solutions that open up new possibilities for our tumultuous times. Products, furniture, lighting, interior elements, everyday objects, home accessories, stationary, aid products and recycled materials that offer innovative yet rational solutions to everyday problems, will be evaluated according to the following criteria: 1. innovative features that enhance the quality of contemporary life, 2. ergonomics, 3. rational production costs, 4. an environmentally friendly production process.

Applicants will be able to register and submit their projects by filling in a Ghost Project form online at WWW.MIKSER.RS from 15 February until 31 March 2012. (photo: mikser.rs archive)

Fulya Erdemci is a curator and writer based in Istanbul and Amsterdam. Erdemci was curator of the 2011 Pavilion of Turkey at the 54th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale. Since 2008 she has been Director of SKOR (Stichting Kunst en Openbare Ruimte) Foundation For Art and Public Domain in Amsterdam. Her projects at SKOR include: 'Morality Wall: Between You and I', four facade projects in collaboration with Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2010; 'Actors, Agents and Attendants', international research, symposium and publication series, the first edition, 'Speculations on the Cultural Organisation of Civility' was co-curated with Andrea Philips and Markus Miessen in 2010, and the second edition 'Social Housing-Housing the Social' (Amsterdam 2011) with Andrea Philips.

Fulya Erdemci, was among the first directors of the Istanbul Biennial (1994-2000), was director of Proje 4L in Istanbul (2003-2004) and worked as temporary exhibitions curator at Istanbul Modern (2004-2005). She was invited to curate the 'Istanbul' section of the 25th Biennale of São Paulo 'Metropolitan Iconographies: Cities' in 2002 and joined the curatorial team of the 2nd Moscow Contemporary Art Biennial 'Footnotes on Geopolitics, Market and Amnesia' (2007). Erdemci initiated the 'Istanbul Pedestrian Exhibitions' in 2002, the first urban public space exhibition in Turkey that centred on the "pedestrian" and co-curated the second edition in 2005 with Emre Baykal. In 2008 Erdemci co-curated SCAPE "Wandering Lines: Towards A New Culture of Space", the 5th Biennial of Art in Public Space in Christchurch, New Zealand with Danae Mossman, presenting the work of 25 international artists throughout the urban spaces of Christchurch city. Erdemci has served on international advisory and selection committees, including "The International Award for Excellence in Public Art" initiated by the Public Art (China) and Public Art Review (United States) Shanghai, May 2012; the SAHA, Istanbul, 2012; the 12th International Cairo Biennial, Cairo, 2011; and, De Appel, Amsterdam's, Curatorial Programme '10/'11 and '09/'10. Erdemci has taught at Bilkent University (1994-1995), Marmara University (1999-2000) and at Istanbul Bilgi University's MA Programme in Visual Communication Design (2001-2007). Recently in 2012, she was named the Laurie Chair at Rutgers University, New Jersey.

The curator of the 13th Istanbul Biennial was appointed by the Advisory Board of the Istanbul Biennial. The advisory board consists of the artistic director of dOCUMENTA (13) Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, artist Ayşe Erkmen, art consultant Melih Fereli, director of Exhibitions and Public Programs and chair of the Exhibitions and Museum Studies Program at San Francisco Art Institute Hou Hanru and director of the Al-Ma'mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, Jerusalem Jack Persekian.

The 13th Istanbul Biennial will be held between 14 September - 10 November 2013 following the professional preview 11-12-13 September. The conceptual framework will be announced at a press conference in autumn of 2012 by the curator Fulya Erdemci. For further details: HTTP://BIENAL.IKSV.ORG/EN (photo: iKSV)

Iron Sky is a dark science fiction comedy about Nazis escaping to the dark side of the Moon in 1945 and returning to Earth in 2018. Towards the end of World War II the Nazi scientists made a significant breakthrough in anti-gravity. From a secret base built in the Antarctic, the first Nazi spaceships were launched in late ‘45 to found the military base Schwarze Sonne (Black Sun) on the dark side of the Moon. This base was to build a powerful invasion fleet and return to take over the Earth once the time was right. Now it’s 2018, and the Nazis are returning…

Iron Sky is one of the most anticipated films coming out of Europe in 2012. The film was inspired in part by Laibach and especially their 2006 album VOLK (Mute/EMI), therefore from very early on the film’s director Timo Vuorensola wanted to have Laibach create the music for it. When both the band and the filmmakers connected, the vision started to become a reality. Iron Sky premieres at the Berlinale on 11.2.2012 and will be released on the 4th of April 2012. (source: NSKtimes)

CURATOR ON TOUR Upneet Kaur / ARTIST Unknown / LOCATION West London

With a tradition of 48 years, BIO is one of the world’s oldest international design events. With the publication of these Rules for Participation, the Organiser of the Biennial, the Museum of Architecture and Design, is inviting submissions for the 23rd Biennial of Design. At the same time we are announcing the appointment of Margriet Vollenberg and Margo Konings, from the studio Organisation in Design, as the curators of BIO 23. The curators have decided on the theme for BIO 23, namely, Design Relations, and they will select the works to be exhibited. In making their selection, they will be guided by the criteria of functionality, sustainability, commercial viability, cultural significance, social importance, the concept of the work, the use of materials, the production process, and aesthetics.

Applicants may be designers, commissioners, manufacturers, academic tutors, or students, who are involved in the creation of the submitted work, as well as BIO’s partner organisations, provided they do so with the consent of the author of the work or concept.To be eligible for submission, finished works must not have been in production or, for the submission of design concepts, must not have been conceived, before 1 January 2010.

Eligible disciplines from which works may be submitted are: product design, industrial design, environmental design, communications design, transport design, spatial design, social design, experimental design, and others. Either finished design works or design concepts may be submitted from these fields.

Entries for BIO 23 will be accepted between 6 February and 30 March 2012. Entries may be submitted via the BIO website: www.bio.si, with the entry fee paid via the website at the same time. This method is simple, fast and reliable. Only one work may be submitted per entry form except when submitting a series of items, in which case this must be clearly stated in the entry form.
The Museum of Architecture and Design must receive all completed entry documentation, as well as the entry fee payment, by 30 March 2012, the deadline for entries. For more information visit WWW.BIO.SI (photo: bio.si)

Subsequently, texts such as IRWIN’s East Art Map (afterall books, 2004) have introduced the idea of “mapping” differing manifestations of contemporary art practice, and holding together separate but inter-linked national histories in creative and historical tension.

This session, therefore, seeks to build on these two approaches towards the Balkans (including the six former Yugoslav Republics, as well as Albania, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey). In what ways and by what methods have artists from these regions articulated some kind of “Balkan” sensibility in their work? What alternatives have they posed to the geo-political understanding of “the Balkans”? Is the term “Balkan” a useful one, to be set alongside post-modernism and post-socialism, in unlocking some of the cultural specificities in the region? Does the term “Balkan” lead to a greater understanding of the art produced from the region, or merely muddy the waters?

38th Annual AAH Conference & Bookfair, The Open University, Milton Keynes, 
29 - 31 March 2012. For more information visit WWW.AAH.ORG.UK (source: annual aah)

If so, then BIFC grants might be just the opportunity you are looking for! The BIFC supports artistic and cultural work within the Western Balkans that are either created by or in collaboration with organisations from the region. You can apply for a grant throughout the year as there are no deadlines. Since the funding program of the BIFC began in 2006, more than 90 organisations have already benefited from BIFC grants.

Representatives from the BIFC Regional Hub in Ljubljana (a BIFC advice and information center) and the European Cultural Foundation office in Amsterdam (the founder and manager of the fund) are organizing a presentation about the BIFC, as well as a workshop for people who are interested in applying for BIFC grants. The event will take place on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at ODA Theatre, Pallati i Rinisë dhe i Sporteve nr. 111, Prishtina, Kosovo.  Working language will be English. The workshop is free of charge.

As there are only a limited number of spaces available for the workshop, please apply by email INFO@BIFC-HUB.EU (source: bifc)

We are pleased to announce that the 8th edition of Video Vortex will 
take place at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, Croatia,
 between the 17th and the 19th of May, 2012. So far Video Vortex has 
taken place twice in Brussels and Amsterdam and once in Ankara,
 Split and Yogyakarta.

The Video Vortex network was founded in
 2007 and deals with the cultural, political and artistic aspects of
 online video. Video Vortex 8 is organized by the Kazimir Association in
 Split and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb in collaboration with 
the Institute of Network Cultures in Amsterdam. For more information visit http://post.in-mind.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre (source: cimatics.com)

The exhibition comprises photographs, video material, TV programmes, magazines, fanzines, posters, and comic books from the period between 1977 to 1984. Together they bring the atmosphere and the spirit of the times which gave birth to an artistic movement to life which, later on, began to be referred to as the 'New Wave.' 

According to the curators of the exhibition, even though the initial idea was to present alternative youth cultures from all over the former Yugoslavia, the quantity of relevant material that still has not been processed is so immense that there was no way it could adequately be represented. 

'The title for the exhibition was taken from an album of the Krstic-Saper (1987) duo, with kind permission from the members who, at the time, were former members of the Belgrade-based cult band Idoli. However, we wanted this exhibition to be a Yugoslav one but we did not have sufficient funds. This is why I hope that our exhibition will inspire others to continue the research we initiated with our ‘Belgrade episode,' said Marina Martic and added that this was the last authentic youth scene in Yugoslavia which was not affected by nationalism. (source: south-east europe: people and culture)

The decision to present the 69th Politika Award for Fine Arts to Dzafo was made by a jury of three art experts: art historians Liljana Djinkul and Sasa Janjic, and the editor of the culture section of Politika, Marija Djordjevic.
The artist told Politika that he was surprised to hear that he had won the award, as the competition this year was very strong.

He said that as a young man he believed he could change the world with his art, but this belief was shattered by the events of the 1990s in Serbia. Dzafo explained that during the 1990s he stopped creating for awhile and dedicated himself to the fight for social justice.
'I started painting again recently. I can’t explain why. Maybe its because I have always believed in the utopist notion that art can change the world for the better,' Dzafo said.

Dzafo, who has included rabbits in his art regularly for 18 years, graduated with a degree in painting from Belgrade's Faculty of Fine Arts in 1978. He is the founder of the Led Art group, and cofounder of the Center for Cultural Decontamination in Belgrade, as well as the multimedia center Led Art in Novi Sad and the Art Clinic.

An exhibition of Dzafo’s paintings is currently taking place at the Nova Gallery in Belgrade.

The Fine Arts Award will be presented at Politika's yearly celebration on 25 January 2012. (source: balkaninsight)

Vikenti Komitski is correcting spelling mistakes in nationalistic graffiti on buildings in Sofia. On top of that he is taking care of those people working on the streets of the city by installing coffee cup holders on doors, drainpipes, telephone booths and railings.

Veronika Tzekova is concerned with the lost sense of cosines, safety and good neighborhood relations. The spaces for children to play in the city have drastically disappeared and so the plays are disappearing as well. The artist is reconstructing the Chinese jump rope, the Hopscotch and the neighborhood football – free and joyous games that are born out of human relations while building new ones.

Kiril Kuzmanov has constructed a complex machine involving a bicycle, an umbrella, a loudspeaker, etc. He is using this weird looking device to eavesdrop on the life in the streets of Sofia. Then he is broadcasting back the recorded sound with a three seconds delay. No one is protected from feeling stuck in between the public and the private sphere in the modern city – that is the ironical but rather valid "message" of this work.

Miroslav Hristov and the Plus Group are making the point that the urban environment needs to take a break from the human (ours!) violence. They put "Do Not Disturb!" labels (familiar from hotels) next to animate (people, reading newspapers on benches) as well as inanimate objects (cars abandoned everywhere). They also furnish various monuments with sleeping pillows – precisely where the city is sleeping instead of debating its past and present.

Samuil Stoyanov is 'dressing' the street lamps in the center of his home town Dobrich with black plastic bags usually used for garbage disposal. The artist is commenting on the already habitual absence of the human aspect in the urban environment, on the lack of beauty and rational simplicity there – the kind of simplicity through which the street lamps become magically transformed at either night or day...

This is a project by < rotor > association for contemporary art, Graz; University of J. E. Purkyne, Usti nad Labem; [BLOK] – Local base for cultural refreshment, Zagreb; The Blue House Foundation, Amsterdam; Institute of Contemporary Art, Sofia and NABA – New Academy of Fine Arts, Milano. (photo: ica-sofia)

Vogel portrays 34 artists in their studios and accompanies them to their favourite spots in the city. Driven by the camera eye, the artists were challenged to view their hometown in a new light. Their 'favourite places' are shot in colour. The artist portraits are in black and white. The photographies are accompanied by brief statements written by artists themselves, describing 'their city' Istanbul. 34 artists present their personal perception of an exciting metropolis. Oscillating between productive chaos and institutionalisation, local politics and globalisation, the European Capital of Culture 2010 has an impressive art scene to offer.

Christa Frieda Vogel has focused on three generations of artists: the 60- to 80- year-olds, such as Ara Güler, the well-known Armenian-born photographer, or Burhan Doğançay, a painter, who is valued highly in the art market. Secondly, the 40- and 50-year-olds, such as Mahmut Celayir, who, after having worked in Stuttgart for several years, returned to Istanbul and established his work in the art market. Similarly, the painter Erdoğan Zumrutoğlu also belongs to that generation. He is a frequent guest in museums across Europe, constantly seeking an exchange between East and West. And finally, the 20- to 30-year-olds, such as Hande Varsat, who studied sculpture and faces difficulties because contemporary sculpture has not yet found its proper place in Turkey. For more information visit www.christafriedavogel.com (photo: christa frieda vogel)

The deadline for the Balkan Snapshots open call has been extended, as the festival was moved from October 2011 to May 2012. For more information visit www.balkanburo.org (photo: balkanburo)

The new issue of New Moment magazine is a project of reconstruction of an untold history of advertising - the one that had been created in primarily former Yugoslavia in times when West had not been expecting to see anything more than propaganda coming from the East. Content is a patchwork of personal stories of both first-hand participants (many of them true pioneers of advertising in the region) and witnesses from the Western countries who, in one way or another, got in touch with creativity from the East: Bob Isherwood, Bob Garfield, Andrew Rawlins, Donald Gunn, Vladimir Ceh, Boris Miljkovic, Jernej Repovs, Ivica Vidovic, Lazar Dzamic, Sasa Zograf, Jure Apih, Meta Dobnikar, Slobodanka Lazarevic – Sakan, Milena Trobozic – Garfield, Bojan Hadzihalilovic, Nenad Lozovic, Jugoslav Vlahovic, Nina Milosevic, Nadežda Milenkovic.

Design of New Moment magazine No 33 was led by an idea to reproduce design techniques from before-computer era, so each spread has been hand made in a form of a collage and then photographed. You can buy it in Ideas Gallery, 14 Hilandarska Street, Belgrade (10-17h), or order it by sending a mail to office@newmoment-magazine.com, price: 20 EUR (photo: newmoment)

CURATOR ON TOUR LukaTOY / ARTIST Unknown / LOCATION Ljubljana

Repeat till end video was first shown in Madrid in September 2011 at La Casa Encendida, then in Gijon at Centro de Cultura Antiguo Instituto (October 2011) and in Israel in Tel Aviv, Sderot, Haifa and Jerusalem (November 2011).

Razvan Sadean's video talks about love, that cannot be overlapped by words, the genuine love, uncorrupted by human normative residues. These normative residues, are dismissed through a self generated process of auto-mutilation, departing, suffering, madness, drowsiness, despair, and rejection. 

Marko Stojanović from Belgrade presented his latest multimedia exhibion Edukacija at the Center for Urban Culture Kino Siska in Ljubljana. The work ironically entitled Edukacija / Education is based conceptually on the phenomenon of a new reading of the world of art in the sense of status-defining or a simulation of serious and devoted culture exploration. Displaying the scenes from Serbian TV shows and series that in their set feature artworks of world renown, the author explores the function of art in the context of mass media. 

The art commercialisation phenomenon that could be traced in Sex in the City or, e.g. with Lady Gaga, had begun evolving much earlier in a country that has no art market and has had its major museums closed for decades due to renovation. TV Pink, accused of being the ultimate trash, each Sunday serves millions of viewers with the most expensive Mark Rothko painting. They see it as a decorative pink patch. In the absence of the final effect, this phenomenon could be assessed as a simulation of the simulation of explorations into culture. (photo: markostojanovic)

CURATOR ON TOUR June / ARTIST Peter Movrin / LOCATION Ljubljana

From 25 November until 4 December 2011 Jakopič Gallery (Ljubljana) will be hosting in collaboration with Wolfova V an exclusive Maison Martin Margiela, Spring-Summer/Fall Winter exhibition. The exhibition will be showcasing the défilé collections of the fashion house named after Belgium designer from the period between the years of 1989 and 2011.

The exhibition will be presenting 23 models from the house of Maison Martin Margiela, each for one year of the 23 years that have passed since 1989. The unseen works of established local designers, as well as some of our up-and-coming designers will also be presented at the exhibition along with selected photographers and video artists, in order to conceptually round off the exhibition. Each with its own vision composed in a certain time and place, the artists presented will be: Nataša Peršuh, Zoran Garevski, JSP, Maria Moderna, Maja Mehle, Young@Squat, Matjaž Tančič, Saša Hess, Tomo Brejc, Mitja Božič, Marjeta Grošelj, Ana Lazovski and Srečko Molk. (photo: projekt27)

CURATOR ON TOUR zeZ / ARTIST Unknown / LOCATION Novi Sad

Turkey’s first street art gallery exhibits a genre of work influenced by graffiti, street art, illustrations and comics. Owned by a couple that spent a long time abroad envying the street art, came back and opened this white painted, small but intense gallery. They embraced street art and are working with many artists.

They update their exhibitions almost every month, you can follow their past & current & future exhibitions from their website. Also there is a small shop with t-shirts, books or prints and toys (some are handmade by owners). You may have some difficulty finding the place but when you see that entrance door and creative logo you’ll know where you are. Beware that place is closed on Sundays and Mondays. For more information visit www.whatismilk.com (photo: BAN)

Gothic. Power of era about God’s Excellency and people’s humility. People who were longing for raising into altitude. Architecture, the art of painting and statuary were strongly marked by the religious motives of Christianity. Architecture was the most expressive among these arts; it combined the era with its powerful objects and showed its strength with details like rosettes, glass partitions and Christian symbols.

Peter Movrin applied rays of light into materials with notches, changed a dressing, turned and combined into shapes that come from outside the body. As a contrast to the powerful details on the leather, there is light poetic of material that mitigates the collection and adds a bit of romanticism. He combined the investigation of the era and people’s characters with the Eastern world and its (Islam) religion. Rich jewellery of tiny details is applied as small braided notches, thus one can feel a connection with the Eastern religions and suffering. There are also lace-like face pranks. Covered faces and curiosity about what is under meters of dark material drives us investigate forms that are showed by body movement. For more information visit www.notjustalabel.com/petermovrin (photo: squat)

Internationally recognized as a pioneer of performance art, Abramović has been testing the boundaries of performance for over 30 years, presenting work that physically and mentally challenges the performer and the viewer. Since the beginning of Abramović’s career in Belgrade during the early 1970s, the body has been both her subject and medium. Exploring the limits of her being, she has withstood pain, exhaustion and danger in the quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. This retrospective will introduce Abramović, widely acclaimed for the importance of her contribution to the history of performance art, to a Russian audience. In so doing, it follows in the footsteps of worldwide exhibitions of Abramović’s oeuvre such as Balkan Baroque, presented at the 1997 Venice Biennale, Seven Easy Pieces at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2005), and in Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present at The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010). (photo: zimbio)

CURATOR ON TOUR Jenny Lee / ARTIST Marko Stojanovic / LOCATION London

On view there will also be the Museum of Affects. In the Framework of L'Internationale, the founding partners of which are the Moderna galerija , the Július Koller Society in Bratislava, the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) in Barcelona, the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, and the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst in Antwerp (MuHKA).

The Museum Contemporary Art Metelkova derives its specificity not only from its geopolitical and cultural position, but also from its orientation which questions hegemonic history through a multiplicity of narratives, heterogeneous approaches to historicizing, resonance between the urgencies of different localities, and reciprocal methods of learning. (photo: BAN)

Celebrating its 6th anniversary in 2011, Contemporary Istanbul is Turkey’s most comprehensive contemporary art event to date, expanding Istanbul’s cultural and artistic life to the world. Consisting of national and international galleries chosen by the organizational committee, art institutions and sector representatives, the premier art fair of the region will open its doors this year to art lovers on November 24-27 at Istanbul Congress Center / Exhibition Area (IKM) and Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Center / Rumeli Hall (K). Contemporary Istanbul showcases contemporary paintings, sculptures, videos, photographs, installations and limited editions with the participation of national and foreign galleries. For more information visit www.contemporaryistanbul.com (photo: contemporaryistanbul)

The exhibition is designed as a kind of an international artistic dialogue which raises different questions about something that is not only sex; therefore questions on sexual identity as a variable category, gender, relationships between two people (or more than two), about trust, intimacy, pleasure, about how, at the same time, we can be powerful and sensitive, where the boundaries are set and who sets them and finally, why should we review and re-define the entrenched social standards. Call for entries www.uaa.rs.ba (photo: minimummaximum)

D'CLINIC studios is a place for creative individuals/groups to live, work, research, investigate, experiment, understand, meet and have fun. Located in the northeast of Slovenia in the small town of Lendava; where the sun (almost) always  shines and the wine (almost) never runs out! D'CLINIC supports both established and emerging arts practitioners; regardless of whether visual artist, musician, curator, theorist, writer,... 

The residency has both indoor and outdoor spaces for creativity. The offered working space is flexible, and generally adopted to each artist's individual requirements and needs. Each proposed project is agreed individually. (1) up to 80 sqm studio space (2) a large garden (3) fully furnished accommodation with single bedrooms.  D'CLINIC welcomes each and every passionate professional from all creative businesses, nationalities and ages, this includes: visual artists, designers, working craftspeople, puppeteers, architects, industrial designers, performing artists, photographers, composers, curators, producers, journalists, media artists, writers, poets, thinkers, researchers,... If interested, visit dclinicstudios.com

ZagrebDox Pro, a program intended for authors and producers of documentary films, takes place as part of the ZagrebDox International Documentary Film Festival. It includes a project-development workshop, pitching forum for selected participants and a number of other events open to the general public.

Authors and/or producers from the following countries are eligible to participate in the workshop and pitching forum: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy, Kosovo, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia. Projects from other European countries can also be submitted, provided they deal with the topics connected with the above specified region and have found, or are in search of, co-producers from the region. As the workshop activities are individual and intensive, the workshop tutors will select not more than 12 projects, each represented by one or two persons (director and/or producer).

The deadline for submission of applications for ZagrebDox Pro 2012 is 16 December 2011. Applications can only be submitted online. For more information visit www.zagrebdox.net (photo: zagrebdox)

Razvan Sadean and Alex Mirutziu from Bucharest have presented their newest research project History is nothing but muscles in action at the legendary ZE DOS BOIS. They had been working together for this particular piece in residence for the duration of two weeks, hosted by esteemed art centre, Ze Dos Bois in Lisbon, Portugal.

Razvan Sadean and Alex Mirutziu have presented their newest research project ‘History is nothing but muscles in action’ at the legendary ZE DOS BOIS. They had been working together for this particular piece in residence for the duration of two weeks, hosted by esteemed art centre, Ze Dos Bois in Lisbon, Portugal. This project is eventuated as a collaborative work between Alex Mirutziu and Razvan Sadean, both working within specific performative frames, debating powerful and controversial narratives with personal instrumentation. Within their own country they are often seen as transgressive and nuanced, with daring attempts to use big words that take up a lot of space. Cultivating sensitivity to temporal and spatial issues in a disorienting Romanian art scene, Razvan Sadean and Alex Mirutziu, insist as practitioners with their own corporeal machines with commitment and hyper- criticality. For more information visit international-loner.blogspot.com (photo: artistsarchive)