PROIECT: CULTURAL TRANSLATIONS. REVISITING FOOTNOTES.

The project will bring together cultural institutions and artists from Latvia, Ukraine, Moldova and Croatia starting up the platform for collaboration and exploration of their shared cultural backgrounds, thus "translating" this common experience and its effects in contemporary cultural scenes. During implementation of the project several associated partners from other countries will be involved with the aim to enlarge this platform, to sum and to spread the knowledge and experience acquired during activities of the project to create strong network between cultural organization from post-soviet and post-socialist scenes.

The project is focusing on cultural backgrounds and common points of references between former Eastern European scenes. Mutual communication and understanding depends not just on core text, but also on footnotes, references, gestures, visual codes or expressions containing hidden messages that relate to common history, social, political, or economical backgrounds. It essentially applies to Post-Socialist territory which is melting pot of cultural identities, changing ideologies, specific visual languages etc.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE KSAK CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART CHIÅžINÄ‚U WILL INCLUDE A THREE-DAY SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE, WHICH WILL REUNITE THEORISTS, PHILOSOPHERS, HISTORIANS, LOCAL ARTISTS AND ARTISTS INVITED FROM THE FORMER SOCIALIST BLOC, AS WELL AS A CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP INITIATED AND LAUNCHED FOR THE LOCAL ARTISTS.

SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE:
The paradigm of the marxist critique of modernism and the context of current approaches of contemporary art.

Dates: 03-05 April 2014
Event organized by: KSAK - CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, Chisinau,
in partnership with the UNESCO Chair of Eastern European Studies at the State University of Moldova
Location: Moldova State University, Chisinau
Address: str. A. Mateevici 60, aud. 511, 530

Agenda_en
Agenda_ro

The aim of the conference is to research, analyse and compare criticism in the socialist era and current criticism of contemporary art. The conference is dedicated to the contextualisation of the criticism of left-wing art, inspired by the socialist past, relating to the contemporary European condition, as well as to the American post-structuralist criticism. This is a necessary undertaking, as in the local Moldovan context contemporary art is not yet integrated in the academic context, neither in terms of practice, nor in terms of theory. However, the initiatives of contemporary art have a more visible presence in the public sphere and in the independent local area, even though the latter is still marginalised.

A possible reason for the estrangement of local contemporary art is the total rejection in post-socialist times of the continuity of socialist tradition, even of its traditions in criticism. In other words, of critical approach in contemporary art, even at the risk of negating it.

But how can we cope with our socialist past in a positive manner? Can our socialist past be of use to us today? What type of criticism or what type of approach to art are relevant nowadays? In even broader terms, what are the continuities and the differences in the Marxist criticism paradigm in comparison with the context of the current approaches of contemporary art? In this respect, how can the discourse of contemporary art adapt itself to our local social context? In this meeting we aim to analyse our shared socialist past, in the light of said continuities and differences, and to define the particularities of each region.

Bearing in mind the critical Russian influence on Moldovan art before Independence, we would like to focus our attention on the works of Marxist critics and philosophers of socialist times, such as Mikhail Lifshitz, L. Reingardt and others, re-analysing their positions concerning modernism and contemporary art, also taking into account the existing regime and context. As a rule, the independent scene has accepted and adopted the western standards and concepts of the contemporary art process, completely rejected by our academic colleagues. It is in this context that we intend to analyse our past in order to find possible connecting paths.

For this purpose we structured our event in three blocks. The first aims to be a contribution that would present the art scenes of Moldova and Hungary, as well as a look from the outside that is focussed on a study applied to Eastern Europe. The second day will include three presentations regarding the orthodox Marxist criticism of modernism, in a parallel with the post-critical condition of the contemporary art criticism in Russia; a presentation concerning tradition and innovation in the domain of visual arts in Moldova in the second half of the 20th century, as well as an incursion in the post-Soviet condition of contemporary art in Latvia. The third day will include a philosophical lecture on the topic of rethinking left-wing criticism by means of contemporary art, and two philosophical and historical presentations on this topic.

Should we read more carefully the art criticism books written in socialist times, disregarding the ideological context? Could any shared experiences of the socialist era be useful to us in the future?

This is an invitation to a constructive polemic that will verbalize and debate the existing concrete contexts.

CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS:
1. Amy Bryzgel - PhD. lecturer in Art History, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
2. Kinga Lendeczki – independent cultural actor, Budapest, Hungary
3. Lilia Dragneva – visual artist, curator, scientific researcher, AŞM, Chisinau, Moldova
4. Constantin Bokhorov – PhD. art critic and curator, Moscow, Russia
5. Ludmila Toma – PhD. art critic and scientific researcher, AŞM, Chisinau, Moldova
6. Ieva Astahovska – scientific researcher, art critic and curator, Riga, Latvia
7. Ovidiu Ţichindeleanu – philosopher, theorist, Cluj, Romania/Chisinau, Moldova
8. Alexandru Lupuşor – lecturer at USM, philosopher, Chisinau, Moldova
9. Emil Dragnev – PhD, lecturer at USM, historian, Chisinau, Moldova

All the contributions of the participants will be collected and published in pdf format (electronic version) on the KSAK webpage.

CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP FOR ARTISTS - THE CONTINUITIES OF THE SOCIALIST MODERNITY

Workshop tutor: Ovidiu Tichindeleanu, philosopher and cultural theorist (RO/MD).

The practical purpose of this workshop is to help local visual artists to write, individually and in small groups, a brief artistic account that could be sent at the request of an international exhibition. The artists will go through the process of writing a text related to the realisation of both an existing and a fictional work, and they will also receive editorial feedback. The topic of the virtual call for projects will be "The continuities of socialist modernity", with a special emphasis, which will be presented at the workshop. The workshop will include two meetings over a period of two weeks, and can accommodate 8-10 participants.

The conference and the workshop are the contribution of the KSAK Centre in partnership with the UNESCO Chair of Eastern European Studies at the State University of Moldova, to the project Cultural translations. Revisiting footnotes. launched by LCCA (The Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art) in Riga, in cooperation with the cultural centre Drugo More in Rijeka, Croatia and the cultural platform IZOLYATSIA in Donetsk, Ukraine.

Associated partners: Teatru SPĂLĂTORIE(Chişinău), The Oberliht Association(Chişinău), University of Aberdeen(Scotland, UK).
The project is supported by the European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam.

Center for Contemporary Art - [KSA:K]
[KSA:K] Center is a non-profit, independent institution established in 2000. The new strategy of the Center is the development of cultural forms and art practices that reflect the dynamic of the social, political and economic transformations of the society. The Center supports advocacy activities in promoting cultural policies suitable for defining and strengthening the position of artists and contemporary art practices in society.