Atlantis 11. Art and Power (Imaginative Geographies)

  • International Group Exhibition and Panel Discussions

    The project was implemented during the 54th Biennale of Contemporary Art in Venice.

    Sala Giochi, Collegio Armeno ‘Moorat Raphael’, Venice
    June 1-7, 2011

Seven partners from Armenia (ACSL), Bulgaria (Art Today Association), Germany (Henrich Boell Foundation – Brandenburg and Rohkunstbau, Marqguardt ), Georgia (GeoAIR), Moldova (K:SAK), and Slovakia (SPACE) connected within the already-existing Atlantis Network through transnational cultural exchanges and cooperation in the field of contemporary art.

Guest curators from the above-mentioned organizations (Susanna Gyulamiryan (ACSL), Ulrika Grelk (Rokunstbau), Nini Palavandishvili (GeoAIR), Katarina Slaninova and Jurai Carni (SPACE), Jakob Racek (Art Today Association), and Inka Thuneke (Boell Foundation – Brandenburg)) presented their projects at the exhibition under the title ‘Art and Power (Imaginative Geographies)’ during the 54th Biennale of Contemporary Art in Venice. The curatorial team also organized two extended panels with topical issues held by prominent art professionals, curators, and critics. The ‘Art and Power’ project is part of the long-term networking program which promotes cultural reflection of identity, the identity of the partner countries, and their cultural and political heritage through organizing workshops, conferences, seminars, artistic and curatorial exchange, and exhibitions.

A documentary film named ‘Missing Link’ was produced during the days of Biennale preview (producers, camera. and idea: Adel Idris, Denis Bartev and Stefan Rusu (K:SAK, Moldova)). The documentary is based on interviews, reflections on the phenomenon of National Pavilions, the methods and principles of artistic selection, the role of governments and involvement of power structures, as well as the whole idea of the big projects in general.

 
Program

Panel 1 (June 2, 2011): Good Governance? Bad Curating!
Svetlana Kuyumdhzieva (Bulgaria), curator and the organizer of the Bulgarian pavilion of the 54th Biennale
Ruben Arevshatyan (Armenia), cultural critic
Adrienne Goehler (Germany), curator
Bogdan Ghiu (Romania), philosopher
Yvona Ferencova (Czech Republic), artist

Panel 2 (June 3, 2011): Imaginative Geographies
Defne Ayas (Turkey and The Netherlands), curator at Witte de Witt
David Quadro (Hong Kong and Switzerland), curator and the director of Art Hub
Philippine Hoegen (The Netherlands), curator and co-operator at St. Joost Academy in Den Bosch
Archie Galentz (Germany and Armenia), artist, the founder of InteriorDAsein, member of ACSL

The project has been funded with support from the European Commission. The project only reflects the views of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.