PRESSINFORMATION
Vienna, January 2010

Without Borders

KulturKontakt Austria presents works from Eastern and South Eastern Europe at Galerie ArtPoint, Vienna

On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, KulturKontakt Austria contacted artists from Eastern and South Eastern Europe who had received support in the past, with the aim of finding out how they had progressed in their artistic development.

Following exhibitions with former KKA Artists in Residence in Prague, Bratislava, Bucharest, Warsaw, Belgrade and Rijeka, the curator Hedwig Saxenhuber invited the following artists to present works in an exhibition in Vienna: Koka Ramishvili (Georgia), Krassimir Terziev (Bulgaria), Galina Myznikova and Sergej Provorov (Russia), Šejla Kamerić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Katarzyna Kozyra (Poland).

Opening: 12 January 2010, 7 p.m. 
Exhibition duration: 13 January – 26 February 2010
Mon – Fri, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Galerie ArtPoint, Universitätsstraße 5, 1010 Vienna
A project by:  KulturKontakt Austria

After seven exhibitions in six countries of Eastern and South Eastern Europe – Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia – this exhibition in Austria concludes the successful exhibition series “Without Borders”. Each of the seven exhibitions was designed by curators from the respective country: Juraj Čarný (Bratislava), Vida Knežević and Ivana Marjanović (Belgrade), Carola Chisiu (Bucharest), Jiří Ševčík (Prague), Magda Kardasz (Warsaw), Ziherl Jerica (Rijeka) and Hedwig Saxenhuber (Austria). For example, the first exhibition in the Prague Cultural Forum was opened on 20 January 2009 and presented works by Ondřej Brody, Daniel Pitín, Míla Preslová and Jiři Šurůvka.

The curators were able to draw from a pool of more than 200 former participants in KKA’s Artists in Residence Programme, which has served as a stepping stone in many an artistic career.
“The exhibition series ‘Without Borders’ is important for a great number of reasons, which include historic, political and aesthetic dimensions – and also illustrates the necessity of mobility for artists and other cultural professionals,” emphasises Gerhard Kowař, Director of KKA.

“If we read the title of the series – ‘Without Borders’ – for the meaning it contains, we can perceive two sides to the coin,” explains Hedwig Saxenhuber, the curator of the exhibition series. “Is Europe really without borders? Has the dissolution of certain European border control regimes in the course of the economically motivated enlargement of the European Union been sufficient, of itself, for us to say that the dream of a Europe without borders has been achieved? Isn’t all the talk about a Europe without borders just a hegemonic reduction of ‘hidden differences’? Many of the artists who have worked in KulturKontakt Austria’s studios over the past 20 years have commented critically on this ‘removal of borders’ in Europe after the fall of the great, almost mythical border between East and West. Many have pointed out the fact that, from a theoretical perspective, the new order of the (art) world still lacks symmetry in its character. These critics have described the system of multifaceted differences between the art worlds as being interrelated and at the same time contradictory.”

INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXHIBITION SERIES ‘WITHOUT BORDERS’

Opening: 20. 01. 2009
Duration of the exhibition:
21. 01. - 06. 03. 2009 Czech Republic
Prague Cultural Forum
Jungmannovo nám. 18, Prague 1
www.bmeia.gv.at/kultur/prag/kulturforum.html

Opening: 05. 03. 2009
Duration of the exhibition:
06. 03. - 24. 04. 2009 
Slovakia
Bratislava Cultural Forum
Zelená 7, 811 01 Bratislava
www.rakusko.eu/de/kultura.aspx

Opening: 15. 07. 2009
Duration of the exhibition:
16. 07. – 15. 08. 2009 Romania
National Centre of Dance CNDB
Teatrul National, B-dul. Nicolae
Balcescu nr. 2 etja ¾, RO – Sector 1
Bucharest

Opening: 05. 10. 2009
Duration of the exhibition:
06. 10. - 05. 11. 2009 
Poland
Warsaw Cultural Forum 
ul. Prozna 8, Skryt. poczt. 814, 00-950 Warsaw
www.austria.org.pl

Opening: 30. 10. 2009
Duration of the exhibition:
31.10. – 15.11.2009 
Serbia
Kontekst Gallery
Kapetan-Misina Street, No 6a, 11 000 Belgrade www.kontekstgalerija.org 
and Belgrade Cultural Forum
Kneza Mihaila 22/II-III
www.kulturforumbelgrad.org

Opening: 04. 11. 2009
Duration of the exhibition:
05. -28.11.2009 
Croatia
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Modern Gallery Rijeka
Dolac 1/II, Rijeka
www.mmsu.hr

KulturKontakt Austria was one of the first European institutions to engage in active cultural cooperation with the countries of Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe and to support the artistic production of a young generation in this region. Over the past two decades, KulturKontakt Austria has become one of the most important players in the sphere of cooperation and exchange with these countries.

KulturKontakt Austria offers scholarships to visual artists and photographers from the countries of Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe that enable them to spend three months working in Vienna in a guest studio as well as giving them an opportunity to present their works in an exhibition at the end of their stay. The Artists in Residence – also in the fields of literature and dance – are selected by a jury of international experts. Since the inception of the programme, more than 5,000 artists have applied and 210 have participated. Through the Artists in Residence Programme, KulturKontakt Austria makes it possible for artists to develop contacts and participate in exchange with the Austrian and international art scenes.

An accompanying bilingual folder (in German and the language of the respective country) for each “Without Borders” exhibition is available at KulturKontakt Austria.

The exhibition series is a project by KulturKontakt Austria and the Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs.

COMING SOON: KKA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE 01 / 2010
250 artists from 17 countries of Eastern and South Eastern Europe applied for the 2010 AiR Programme. 12 artists were selected to receive scholarships in 2010. The first three are Dalibor Nikolic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Velimir Zernovski from Macedonia and Tonka Malekovic from Croatia. At the end of their sojourn in Vienna, they will exhibit new works at Galerie ArtPoint.
Opening: 09 March 2010, 7 p.m.
Duration: 10 March – 31 March 2010, Mon – Fri, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Galerie ArtPoint, Universitätsstrasse 5, 1010 Vienna
www.kulturkontakt.or.at/air