ART WITHOUT BORDERS

CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 4/2013. Contemporary Art in Public Space Beata Bigaj, Art without borders

BEATA BIGAJ

ART WITHOUT BORDERS Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

Beata Bigaj, March. Tribute to Deyneka, 110 Ă— 130 cm oil on canvas, 2012, source: authors archive

Art without borders

Those who are interested in culture probably know what the contemporary German or Italian art is like. But how many of us know what and how is created in Latvia, Estonia and Turkey?

Perhaps a similar issue attracted the founders of the International Association Focus Europe. Eight years ago in Neudrossenfeld they gathered a group of artists and friends of art under the logo of support of the transnational creativity and cultural exchange between the countries of Europe. In this way the Association was initiated, directed by Lutz Benno Kracke, at the present day gathering the artists, including Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Slovakian, Sweden, Italian, German, Hungarian and Turkish. The Association promotes the art through the collective and individual exhibitions organized across Europe, supporting artistic contacts through the workshops and plain-airs, publicizing the cultural www.CyberEmpathy.com

BEATA BIGAJ

CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 4/2013. Contemporary Art in Public Space Beata Bigaj, Art without borders events through the media, including the dynamically maintained focuseuropa.de webpage.

One of the fixed points of the Association is to organize the large overview exhibition of the members and the invited artists (according to the statute no less frequently than every two years). This year there was the seventh such an exhibition, under the name – the Association motto - "Art without Borders".

The7th ICA International Contemporary Art Exhibition took place at the Castle Plassenburg in Kulmbach and lasted from February 10 to March 10.

A look at what has been collected at the exhibition provides a basis for the conclusions about the state of art beyond the borders in Europe. But first of all -some “technical” data.

The preparation of the exhibition took more than six months of the organizers. The jury selected 110 works by the 54 artists representing a variety of the painting techniques - figurative and abstract - as well as prints, drawings and photos. The exhibition also includes sculptures and installations made of the different materials, and even jewelry art. These works were created by the artists from Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Switzerland, Slovakia and Turkey. The new members of the organization, particularly supported by this time, were Slovakia and Turkey. The Kulmbach and Bayreuth authorities and the financial institutions helped the organizers of the exhibition.

The opening of the exhibition became a media and social event. The vernissage on Sunday morning, February 10, brought together some 180 guests including the authorities and the media. Most of the artists have already arrived to Kulmbach a few days before the vernissage. They have had the opportunity to meet with the city authorities of Kulmbach and Bayreuth and spend the time with each other occasionally visiting the beautiful surroundings.

So many organizational data. And what about the quality and the types of the works?

The assessment of the value (quality) of the art works, that's the role of the criticism, art history, public exhibition or perhaps the dealers. As I write these words, I deal with a creative activity and I have presented my www.CyberEmpathy.com

CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 4/2013. Contemporary Art in Public Space Beata Bigaj, Art without borders works in Kulmbach and my judgment in this context of the other works in the exhibition could seem clumsy and biased... Only, from my point of view, I can honestly point out that all the works "held the level�: and a large part of them are really interesting. But it is easier for me to judge fairly the ways of the artistic expression. And they were certainly different - conceptual, realistic, abstract. Serious and satirical. Referring to the history, the art history and inspiring by the current events.

Different, as sometimes is different the contemporary art.

This last point, in the context of the multiplicity of the countries represented in the exhibition and their diversity, seems the most interesting and has been also highlighted in the press comments.

Because this one exhibition gathered dozens of the various works of the different artists from the countries with a different history, economy, political systems. And despite the diversity of the means, techniques, creative language, watching the exhibition you could feel that it was not divisive boundaries affected these differences, but the need to adapt the techniques and the artistic language to the idea of expression. So the abstraction was represented by the work of Estonian and Italian, the conceptuality by Lithuanian and Polish, the expression by Turkish and Italian, and so on.... The different types and trends, but also a similar awareness, sensitivity ... Does this mean that the art has been "caught" by the globalization? If by this last popular word one means the consciousness of the latest trends, the history of art covering the entire world (not just regions), the knowledge of the issues important to everybody, etc. – it is so ... Due to the universal access to the same data some processes, conflicts and risks affect people regardless of their inhabited area. Thus, the subjects of the works at the exhibition held in Plassenburg were various, but often important for everybody. And its work representing the full cross-section of possibilities of the artistic expression.

At the same time the artists presenting their work in Kulmbach do not seem to have a tendency to over-allocate to the spirit of modernity and national unity eliminating the national individualism and do not renounce their own culture and heritage. The proof of this is the fact that some of the works in the exhibition have clearly alluded to the history of the countries, and even the artists themselves in conversations with each other and recipients of their works have stressed the national identity.

This, however, does not create the barriers to the agreement; the understanding of the certain emotions, even appearing in the history of the region, facilitates now the fairly widespread awareness of the www.CyberEmpathy.com

CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 4/2013. Contemporary Art in Public Space Beata Bigaj, Art without borders historical similarities and the knowledge gained through the widespread media.

It is very interesting to observe such a mix of the cultures and also the approximation of the emotional awareness and equality of each of them.

It is even more interesting to see the work in the company of the artists, who speak the different languages but fraternizing in the blink of eye.

The exhibition in Kulmbach will circle through a year around the world, and those, who are interested in exploring it I refer to the always current page of the Association (focuseuropa.de). Or maybe in a year it will be an opportunity to see the new works of the new artists and the new countries including those that participate at the exhibition this year....

In conclusion, some words about the Polish artists. Except the undersigned the exhibition was attended by prof. Andrew GĹ‚owacki and Ms. Marika Wata. The Polish works have not only caught the attention (which can be seen for example in the notes of the press after the exhibition), but in general it seems to be sincerely enjoyed by the organizers-as evidenced even by the very good places to display the works. The Polish works also have gained the extremely positive feedback from the visitors of the vernissage and the subsequent guests of the exhibition...

I encourage you to preview the activities of the Association and at all to track the contemporary art of the Polish neighbors (also not necessarily the next-door). Definitely it is worth to do!

The organizational data are taken from the pages and articles: focuseuropa.de frankenpost.de Gerd Emich, Kunst ohne Grenzen in Kulmbach, mobil.frankenpost.de

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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 4/2013. Contemporary Art in Public Space Beata Bigaj, Art without borders

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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 4/2013. Contemporary Art in Public Space Beata Bigaj, Art without borders

7. ICA Kulmbach 2013

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