THE EVENT
The 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana
23 September–20 November 2011
The art event—the central theme of the 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana—experienced a remarkable development in the twentieth century and today appears as a privileged medium. It is employed as a medium by a broad range of various figures from the contemporary art world in a broad spectrum of different forms. At the exhibition, which seeks above all to present as fully as possible the energy and vitality of the current trend of art events, a selection of such events will be presented in four different groups based on themes that are typical for contemporary art: violence, generosity, emptiness, and the search for the sacred and ritualistic. These topics were selected, among other reasons, because the events that thematize them also meet the requirement that they are not something new, neither in terms of their artistic iconographic motifs nor in terms of actual human or social practice. Events in which we can with impunity partake in violence, in “shamanistic” violence to oneself, in Dionysian or absurdist ritual, or in the establishment of an idyllic communitas that shares a common meal are, indeed, activities that have been practiced and even depicted for millennia.
In the exhibition, as well as in an extensive programme of artistic and theoretical events, the Biennial poses the questions: Why and how has the event become a suitable vehicle for a variety of artistic purposes, poetics, and content? Is the choice of this medium a response to specific impulses and voids in our “desacralized” everyday existence? And also, what are the potential dangers of such a development, given that it is happening more and more in the completely formalized framework of art institutions, which in recent decades not only house and exhibit contemporary art, but also commission and produce it. Thus they have become commissioners of contemporary art of a similar type and scope as were once the aristocracy and the church.
The curator of the 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana is Beti Žerovc.
For statement by the curator and detail information on the Biennial please visit 29gbljubljana.wordpress.com
Venues of the 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts: International Centre of Graphic Arts, Museum of Modern Art (Moderna galerija), Jakopič Gallery, Gallery of Cankarjev dom, public non-gallery spaces in Ljubljana
Pre-opening day: Friday, 23 September 2011
Opening: Friday, 23 September 2011 at 7 pm, in front of International Centre of Graphic Arts
Opening hours of the 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts: Tuesday–Sunday, 10 am–6 pm
In conjunction with the 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts there will be a marathon of lectures and discussions on the topic of “the event” (from 30 September to 1 October) and a two-day international symposium (4–5 November).
Organizer:
Mednarodni grafični likovni center / International Centre of Graphic Arts
Grad Tivoli, Pod turnom 3, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia,
tel. + 386 (0)1 2413800, www.mglc-lj.si
Press contact:
Lili Šturm: tel. + 386 (0)1 2413818, lili.sturm [at] mglc-lj.si
