INSTANT EUROPE. Photography and Video from the New Europe
12 December 2004 – 1 May 2005
VILLA MANIN Centre for Contemporary Art
Passariano – Codroipo (Udine), Italy
Tel +39 0432 906509
Fax +39 0432 908387
info [at] villamanincontemporanea.it
www.villamanincontemporanea.it
LUCIA NIMCOVA, ‘Slovak Women’, 2003 (c) Lucia Nimcova, courtesy the artist INSTANT EUROPE
Photography and Video from the New Europe
Curated by Francesco Bonami and Sarah Cosulich Canarutto
After its inaugural summer programme, the new Centre for Contemporary Art of VILLA MANIN opens a new exhibition: INSTANT EUROPE – Video and Photography from the New Europe
This show features the work of 26 artists from the ten new countries which since May 2004 are members of the European Community: Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Hungary.
With INSTANT EUROPE, Villa Manin Centre for Contemporary Art aims to present a panoramic view on the new member-states through photography and video. The works in the exhibition tackle socio-political questions, issues related to the problem of identity or to the very meaning of art. The artists underline different situations and contexts but they often unveil common positions:
Deimantas Narkevicius’ and Gintaras Makarevicius’ films and videos act as a testimony of the economic and cultural changes in the Lithuanian society through direct stories in which the documentary aspect merges with an intimate observation of reality.
Kaspars Goba’s photographs about the isolated life of a workers’ community in a Latvian town and Jasansky / Polak’s formal black and white images of the Czech rural landscape, represent two diverse but poetic approaches to record and portray their respective countries.
Provocation and ambiguity, cultural taboos and social stereotypes, characterise the work of Katarzyna Kozyra, Artur Zmijewski and Jaan Toomik. The artists make use of the human body to challenge pre-arranged systems or relationships in society and everyday life
By means of the artists’ diverse visions, INSTANT EUROPE aims at stimulating in the spectator both the comprehension of the specificity and the awareness of the universality of experience. This exhibition should not be intended as a complete testimony but as combination of interpretations of all those cultural, geographical, social and political realities which characterise the ten new European countries today. INSTANT EUROPE as dialogue and comparison between images which could enrich the spectator and encourage him to consider in a critical way the context in which he/she lives.
List of Artists
Kuba Bakowski, Vince Briffa, Gabor Gerhes, Kaspars Goba, Tibor Gyenis, Irwin, Lukas Jasansky / Martin Polak, Kai Kaljo, Miha Knific, Katarzyna Kozyra, Polonca Lovsin, Gintaras Makarevicius, Deimantas Narkevicius, Katrina Neiburga, Anna Niesterowicz, Lucia Nimcova, Roman Ondak, Michal Pechoucek, Arturas Raila, Andreas Savva, Ene-Liis Sempre, Liina Siib, Jaan Toomik, Veronica Zapletalova, Darius Ziura, Artur Zmijewski.
INSTANT EUROPE
Photography and Video from the New Europe Dates: 12th December 2004 – 1st May 2005 Where: Villa Manin, Passariano – Codroipo (Udine), Italy
Web: www.villamanincontemporanea.it
Info: info@villamanincontemporanea.it
Tel +39 0432 906509
Fax +39 0432 908387
