[artinfo] East Art Map Newsletter No. 1 (October 2004)

[Inke Arns]

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East Art Map Newsletter No. 1 (October 2004)

EAST ART MAPonline
www.eastartmap.org

HISTORY IS NOT GIVEN.
PLEASE HELP TO CONSTRUCT IT.


Welcome to the first East Art Map Newsletter!

The East Art Map Newsletter edited by Inke Arns will be published on
a monthly basis starting from October 2004. Its aim is to inform
about the current status of the East Art Map, about newly added
artists, features, topics, etc., and to collect and distribute
information on current and upcoming activities (exhibitions, artists'
projects, festivals, publications, etc.) and opportunities (deadlines
of festivals, grants programmes, etc.) focussing on Central, Eastern
and South Eastern Europe.


Contents:

1) What is the "East Art Map"?
2) What happened until now?
3) What's next?
4) How to participate in the construction of history?
5) Submitting proposals/content to the East Art Map
6) Subscribe to the East Art Map Newsletter
7) Call for papers, ongoing exhibitions & grant programmes

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1) What is the "East Art Map"?

The project "East Art Map - A (Re)Construction of the History of
Contemporary Art in Eastern Europe" has been initiated in 2001 by the
Slovenian artists' group Irwin. The "East Art Map" (EAM) aims at
critically (re)constructing the history of art in Eastern Europe
between 1945 and the present beyond ex-Socialist 'official'
chronicles, national legend formation and fragmented information
present in the West. The concept reads: "Every single move by an
artist in Western European civilization is documented. Did you know
there is no such thing in Eastern Europe? [
] This was so for
decades, but it doesn't have to be like this anymore. We are planning
to transform the legends and stories of the underground into a legal
art history. [
] History is not given. It has to be constructed."


2) What happened until now?

Initially, Irwin, in collaboration with New Moment (Ljubljana),
invited a group of 24 eminent art critics, curators and artists from
the different ex-socialist Central, Eastern and South-Eastern
countries to select and present up to ten crucial art projects from
their respective countries and contexts over the past 50 years. In
this way, a basic data pool of approximately 200 artists and projects
was gathered. It became part of a data base that was first published
on CD-ROM (2002) , and as an issue of the New Moment Magazine (No.
20, 2002).


3) What's next?

The next step, technically as well as conceptually, is to transfer
the EAM onto the Internet and open it up for contributions by its
users. Rather than simply adding data to a quantitatively growing
database which at some point would become useless, the users who
propose new entries will have to decide which artist/event/project
should be replaced by their proposal. All the proposals will be
displayed on the website and kept for public discussion (in the
feedback area) until the final decision of the international
committee. The EAM, which was conceived as a group project, will thus
be turned into a truly participatory project. The general public and
specialists are invited to provide additional data, which may, to be
sure, change the topography of the map. In this way 1) the collection
of data will be accelerated and its organisation democratised; 2) it
will be possible for anyone to collaborate in the creation of a
history that will be unfolding before our eyes; and 3) a space will
be established and conditions will be created that will facilitate
communication among theoreticians, critics and others from all over
Eastern Europe.


4) How to participate in the construction of history?

We invite anyone who wishes to, and who thinks they have a better
idea than the original selectors, to propose a replacement for any
project or artwork included in EAM. Of course, the guidelines for
such proposals will be the same as those presented to the selectors:
people will have to write a page of text presenting their suggested
replacement and the reasons why it should be included. In addition,
we will require them to provide written references confirming the
reliability of the date of the work they are proposing for inclusion.
Every two to three months an international committee of six experts
will decide whether or not to include any of the proposals submitted.
This web site should gradually become a useful informative tool on
the questions of Eastern European visual arts.


5) Submitting proposals/content to the East Art Map

Send your proposal - complete with a) a written page of text
presenting your suggested replacement and the reasons why it should
be included, and b) written references confirming the reliability of
the date of the work you are proposing for inclusion - to
proposals at eastartmap.org or upload it directly on the website
www.eastartmap.org.

All the proposals - provided they contain the requested materials -
will be displayed on the website and kept for public discussion until
the final decision of the international committee. A feedback area
will be installed.

Any questions should be directed to the editor Inke Arns at
editor at eastartmap.org.


6) Subscribe to the East Art Map Newsletter

The East Art Map Newsletter edited by Inke Arns will be published on
a monthly basis starting from late October 2004. Its aim is to inform
about the current status of the East Art Map, about newly added
artists, features, topics, etc., and to collect and distribute
information on current and upcoming activities (exhibitions, artists'
projects, festivals, publications, etc.) and opportunities (deadlines
of festivals, grants programmes, etc.) focussing on Central, Eastern
and South Eastern Europe.

Subscribe at www.eastartmap.org

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7) Call for papers, ongoing exhibitions & grant programmes

In the "news" section on the EAM website you will find extensive
information about

1. Call for papers: Urban Festival, Zagreb 2005, deadline Dec 15,
2005
ORGANIZER: Local Base for Culture Refreshment [BLOK], Zagreb, Croatia
PARTNER: Platform 9.81, Zagreb, Croatia
FRAME: "Invisible Zagreb"
THEME: conversion, adaptation, alternation of "forgotten" places into
spaces of cultural production
PLACE: abandoned, out-of-use locations in ex-industrial zone of
eastern Zagreb
TEASERS: | creation of a parallel city | revitalization of abandoned
places | culture as art + social + political practice | interaction,
direct communication, participation | local community |
transformation, transition, change | creating "cultureplex" |

2. Avanto Festival's 2004 programme announced, November 18.21, 2004
Avanto Helsinki Media Art Festival is Finland's annual event of non-
conformist audiovisual art. The fifth Avanto will take place on
November 18-21 2004.
Once again Avanto focuses on such eternal questions as "Is the
tradition of counter-cultural avantgarde art alive?", "What are its
forms now?" and "What is the relationship between radical formal
language and radical political content?"

3. Stipend Announcement: Edith Russ Site for Media Art, 2005
The Edith Russ Site for Media Art will award 1 six-month work stipend
from July to December 2005 for artists working in New Media. There
are no residency requirements and no age limits. The artist will be
integrated into the site's activities. The 10.000 Euro stipend was
made possible by nordmedia.

4. Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, inauguration on Oct 29,
2004
The official opening of the Museum of Contemporary Art in the Palace
of Parliament, October 29: Wing E4, Palace of Parliament, 2-4 Izvor
Blvd.

5. OLEG KULIK: System of Coordinates 2004. Actions and Performances
1994-1999, Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide, Oct 7-30, 2004


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HISTORY IS NOT GIVEN.
PLEASE HELP TO CONSTRUCT IT.

EAST ART MAPonline
www.eastartmap.org

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