30 Nov 2010

Seminar and Exhibition at Y Gallery of Contemporary Art, Minsk

Participating artists: Åsa Elzén (SE), Oscar Guermouche (SE), Artur Klinov (BY), Aleksander Komarov (BY), Andrei Liankevich (BY), Marina Naprushkina (BY), Jesper Nordahl (SE), Anna Odell (SE), Magnus Petersson (SE), Igor Savchenko (BY), Sergei Shabochin (BY), Daniel Segerberg (SE) and Elin Wikström (SE).

Curator: Martin Schibli (Kalmar Konstmuseum) & Anna Chistoserdova (Y-Gallery of Contemporary Art, Minsk)
Venue: Y – Gallery of Contemporary Art, Minsk.
Official Opening: Friday, 3rd Dec 2010, 7-9 PM.
Exhibition: 3 - 22.12. 2010

The practice of making art has undergone a radical transformation in just the past couple of decades. A series of factors underlies the changes: general changes in the art world, as well as globalization and social evolution, of which the art world is also part. The changes have influenced the way artists are viewed, and even the way we define art in general. One can argue that artists have become in many ways more free, in the sense that an artist today has complete freedom to choose the manner in which he or she works—the technique, the subject, the theoretical perspective. The possibilities seem infinite, but those possibilities come at a price: to a growing extent, artists must also contribute to finding a context for their art, to finding ways to create the conditions for their own work. In addition, over the past couple of years a growing uncertainty has emerged over where contemporary art stands. Anyone working in contemporary art today may be said to live in a constant paradox. New Visual Art Practice is conceived as providing a meeting place for artists from Belarus and Sweden to discuss the conditions for making art today and to share their experiences with those conditions.

The exhibition presents a number of artistic positions in Europe today, starting with artists from Belarus and Sweden. The selection of works is based on the artistic process and gives a number of varied presentations of how artists work today. The chosen works provide the basis for discussion in the seminar New Visual Art Practice, which is to take place December 3-5, 2010. Most of the participants in the exhibition will be taking part in the seminar as well, giving presentations of their working methods.

SEMINAR PROGRAM

Friday 3rd Dec 19:00 – 21:00
Opening reception in connection with the opening of the exhibition New Positions in European Contemporary Art at Y – Gallery of Contemporary Art.

Saturday, 4th Dec, 11:00 – 18:00
11:00  Official Welcome from the organizers (Y-Gallery of Contemporary Art & Kalmar Konstmuseum).
11:15  Anna Chistoserdova, Y Gallery of Contemporary Art: “Y gallery. Featured projects”,
12:15  Martin Schibli, Director of exhibitions, Kalmar Konstmuseum, “Contemporary Art in Sweden”
13:00 – 14:00 LUNCH
14:00  Andrey Lenkevich, artists, talk about his work
14:30  Daniel Segerberg, artist, talks about his work
15:00  BREAK
15:15 Aleksander Komarov, artist, talks about his work
16:00 – 17:15 Olga Kopenkina, Curator and critic born in Belarus, she is currently an adjunct professor at New York University.
17:30 – 18:00 Sum up
20:00 DINNER

Sunday, 5th Dec,  11:00 – 17:15
11:30 Magnus Petersson, artist, talks about his art.
12:00 Sergey Shabohin, artist, talks about his art.
12:30: Åsa Elzén, artist, talks about her work.
13:15 LUNCH
14:15 Irina Solomatina, “New Belarusian Art - Re-invention of Community”
15:15 BREAK
15:30 – 16:15 Elin Wikström, artist, talks about her work
16:15 – 17:15 End discussion