OPENING: 19/10/2024, 17.00

On October 19 Jam Factory Art Center invites to the next exhibition dedicated to social interaction during times of great trauma and upheaval.

The exhibition, “Structures of Reciprocity”, is based on the concept of architectural constructions in which the main elements support one another without additional reinforcements. This model serves as a metaphor for the societal structure of mutual support, which Ukrainian society painfully and intuitively rediscovered in 2014 and again in 2022.

What is known in architecture as a reciprocal structure was intuitively and painfully rediscovered by Ukrainian society in 2014 and with renewed vigor after February 2022. This reciprocity manifested as a long-lasting gesture of giving and support that sustains life and resists destruction, a fragile and vulnerable connection between people when the common strength rests on each individual. This relationship embodies great trust in each other, the symmetry of balanced movement, and a complex multi-level network.

Such a social reciprocal structure is both quite utopian and absolutely real. It emerges through a daily process of collectively defending a democratic society of equality and mutual support, a society that can rely on itself (and sometimes only on itself) in times of extreme threat. This is the daily reality of mutual aid and support in Ukraine during the great war. It is a daily struggle and inquiry for the future.

The exhibition, “Structures of Reciprocity,” is based on the concept of architectural constructions in which the main elements support one another without additional reinforcements. This model serves as a metaphor for the societal structure of mutual support, which Ukrainian society painfully and intuitively rediscovered in 2014 and again in 2022.

Structures of Reciprocity

The exhibition Structures of Reciprocity offers a shared process for exploring and experiencing different aspects of social interaction in times of great trauma and upheaval. Drawing on the architecture of the Jam Factory Art Center, the exhibition invites you to two spaces. One is the Space of the Past—the basement—where artists will share stories from Ukraine and other countries and continents: images of remembering and forgetting, loss and recovery, and reclaiming their own voices and histories. The other one is the Space of the Present—on the main exhibition floor—where a series of interactions, conversations, and co-creations will take place throughout the exhibition period, within a structure created by architect and artist Oleksandr Burlaka, based on the principle of structural reciprocity. Supported by various artists, different groups of visitors will weave new meanings, objects, forms, and connections from their own war stories, live through losses, and seek healing. Together, this diverse Past and a fluid, moving, mutually supportive, and co-creative Present will attempt to outline the contours of a possible and desired Future.

Curatorial team: Kateryna Botanova, Ilona Demchenko, Ksenia Malykh
Project architect: Oleksandr Burlaka

Artists:

In the Space of the Present:
Alevtina Kakhidze
Felipe Castelblanco
Oleksandr Burlaka
Olena Turyanska
Olga Shyshlova
Yasia Khomenko
Zhanna Kadyrova
_Mediaklub (Photinus Studio) together with students of The Transcarpathian Academy of Arts and Photinus School.

In the Space of the Past and between spaces:
Anton Shebetko
Binta Diaw
Christian Nyampeta
Dana Kavelina
Dasha Chechushkova
Felipe Castelblanco and Lydia Zimmermann
Francis Alÿs
Maksim Kolomiiets
Open Group
Oraib Toukan
Roman Khimei and Livyj Bereh
Yana Kononova

The content presented at this exhibition reflects the experiences and ideas of artists and various communities to provide multiple points of view and follow the principles of a democratic society. The views presented are not intended to offend or hurt any feelings or sentiments and may not always correspond with the views or beliefs supported by the institution.

Please note that some works are presented in their original languages, including English, Arabic, Yiddish, Spanish, German, Polish, and Russian.

OPENING: 11/10/2024, 18.00

Curated by Vikenti Komitski

As part of the LOOK Festival 2024 Punta Gallery is excited to present a solo show by the London-based artist Won Joon Choi, featuring large-scale paintings created during a one-month residency in Sofia. Choi’s work is blending painting, collage, stencils, and printer ink to create textured, multi-layered compositions.

His paintings engage in a search for narrative—but resist settling into one. Instead, Choi reveals a surface of reality as if seen through a microscope. Found images and materials appear and vanish, merging into abstract symbols. Some transform into signs, hinting at hidden meanings, while others fade entirely, leaving only traces. Choi treats signs as remnants of past images, like footsteps or stamps. His work turns the canvas into an archaeological site, where layers of memory, time, and history overlap. Won Joon Choi is an artist and explorer, and his creative practice is deeply connected to his experiences of traveling and observing nature. Whether in the Arctic Circle or in the Rila Mountains, Choi walks alone, driven by a desire to discover something elusive. He searches, but the object of his search remains unclear—perhaps an answer, a question, or simply a deeper understanding of the world around him. His art becomes a reflection of this ongoing process of exploration—a dialogue between the outer world and the inner landscapes of thought and perception.

Further information: https://puntagallery.com/Won-Joon-Choi

OPENING: 05/10/2014, 18.00

Julije Knifer – Meanders Without Bounds

The Art Encounters Foundation is bringing for the first time on the national cultural scene of art the works of the great Croatian painter Julije Knifer (1924 – 2004, b. Croatia).For 5 weeks, the Julije Knifer – Meanders without bounds exhibition can be visited at the Art Encounters Foundation exhibition space in Timișoara, curated by Ami Barak.

The exhibition presents the most comprehensive collection of Julije Knifer’s artwork, bringing in Timișoara paintings and drawings created throughout his life.

The opening of the exhibition will take place on Thursday, September 5th 2024, at 18:00, and can be visited until October 12th, 2024, Tuesday to Saturday, between 12:00 – 18:00, offering an guided tour every Saturday at 17:00.Born at Osijek, Croatia, Julije Knifer is recognized at international level for his abstract works, characterised by repetitive meandering forms, that have significantly influenced contemporary art. He was one of the founding members of the Gorgona group, an avant-garde collective from Zagreb, active in 1960, which promotes a nonconformist and experimental form of art. His work, focused on the use of simple lines and geometric forms, explores concepts as time, space and repetition, becoming emblematic for the minimalist movements.His artistic career influenced contemporary art, being recognized as one of the most important abstract artists from the 20th century. Knifer studied at the Academy of Fine Arts from Zagreb, where he began to develop his unique style based on the use of geometric shapes and black and white. His work reflects a constant concern for visual structure and repetition, bringing a high-impact minimalist aesthetic to the forefront.

These repetitive and minimalist meandres express a deep concern for time representation issue and demonstrate a form of anti-painting through the extreme reduction of forms and content. His meandres reflects a continuous exploration of the art free concept from the traditional constraints, offering viewers a unique introspection and reflection experience.

Julije Knifer represented Croatia in the 2001 Venice Biennale, and in 2014 the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb mounted a full retrospective of his work. He has exhibited at Centre Pompidou, Paris, MAMCO in Geneva and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, and his works are in numerous private and public collections around the world, including the MOMA in New York, the Tate London, The Centre Pompidou in Paris and the National Gallery in Berlin.

Art Encounters Foundation is dedicated to promotion of contemporary art and encourages cultural dialogue through high-quality exhibitions and events. By bringing Julije Knifer artworks in Romania, the Foundation reaffirms its commitment to providing to the public access to important artworks and supporting the development of the local art scene.

This event represents an extraordinary opportunity for art lovers, critics, students and a wide audience to connect with the artworks of an exceptional artist whose impact on abstract art continues to be felt today.

The exhibition benefits from the invaluable help of Ana Knifer, to whom we are extremely grateful.

Julije Knifer – Meandres without bounds exhibition is organised by Art Encounters Foundation and co-financed by AFCN. An event possible thanks to strategic partner with Banca Transilvania followed by the support of ISHO.

During the colder months, we lack light and warmth, and since ancient times, the long dark evenings have been filled with small handicrafts. With the sounds of bubbling and the smell of hot beeswax, we let our own memories be shaped into keepsakes that will either collect dust on the shelves, or maybe someone will let them rekindle. Beeswax will warm our palms while we work and its intoxicating aroma will waft through the air.

Workshop schedule:
1. Searching for a memory
2. Sketching the shape of a candle
3. Modeling
4. Coloring the candle

Terezy Šiklove mainly devotes herself to author’s book and comic book creation. She cooperated, for example, with the publishers Baobab, Kher, Taketaketake and Xao. He regularly exhibits at domestic and foreign comic festivals. Last year she exhibited at the Bologna children’s book fair, the Hamburg Comics festival, or A Occhi Aperti in Bologna. Characters from her comics and stories visit each other in different ways, so it is no coincidence that they can also be found among the candles. Tereza came to their production through the theme, close to her, of slowing down and withdrawing, which, among other things, she worked into her author’s book for children Obr.

Entry: 490 CZK

Further information: https://petrohradskakolektiv.com/PROGRAM

Pilecki Institute Berlin invites to an international conference (P)OSTKOLONIALISMUS – postcolonial perspectives on Poland, Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

What contribution can postcolonial theoretical approaches provide to the development of new perspectives and a better understanding of the entangled history of Germany with Poland, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe? Which colonial paradigmscan be found, for example, in historical narratives and Erinnerungskulturen (cultures of remembrance), as well as in artistic approaches such as literature, film, etc.?

A representative study recently commissioned by Pilecki Institute Berlin has revealed the prevailing stereotypes and knowledge gaps in German society regarding the history and present of Poland, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe. In light of the study results, the Pilecki Institute Berlin is organizing a three-day conference, titled “(P)Ostkolonialismus – Postcolonial Perspectives on Poland, Ukraine and Eastern Europe”. Researchers from various academic disciplines will discuss the potential benefits and challenges of postcolonial and decolonial perspectives on the historical and contemporary entanglements of the areas under study. Our aim is to create a discursive space to illuminate and question the continuities of colonial traditions of thought in Germany, their impact on the German history of violence, and their influence on contemporary Erinnerungskulturen.

In the 19th century, Poland, the so called “Wild East”, already formed part of Germany’s colonial aspirations (Kopp 2012). Both Prussia and the German Empire, as well as the Nazi state, repeatedly attempted to fulfill their colonial settlement ambitions in Eastern Europe. The German mass crimes in the region during the Second World War were based on these continuities of anti-Slavic policies and convictions.

These patterns of thought and behavior towards Eastern Europe continue to have an impact in many respects to the present day. Colonial traditions of thought are also reflected in Erinnerungskultur and historical debates. The gaps and absences in German collective memory of the National Socialist war of extermination in Eastern Europe have come to light, not only in the wake of 24 February 2022 and corresponding discourse on the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

By integrating diverse interdisciplinary and interpretative perspectives and initiating a constructive dialogue between them, we address the following question: How can postcolonial and decolonial approaches dismantle prevailing stereotypes and address knowledge gaps as well as absences in German Erinnerungskultur?

The event is open to the public and takes place on site.

Admission is free. Registration is required. The deadline is 22/10/2024.

contact for questions:

Dr. Elisabeth Katzy

e-mail: e/./katzy/@/pileckiinstitut/./de

phone: +49 157 805 822 30

Lukas Wieczorek

e-mail: l/./wieczorek/@/pileckiinstitut/./de

phone: +49 151 646 734 67

Find the full agenda here

Deadline for applications: 09/10/2024

The Educational and Cultural Centre Broumov in cooperation with Pickle Bar are opening a call for residency applications for artists (visual artists, performers, poets and writers) residing in Germany.

The project is realised in the framework of Ora and lege project and Pickle Bar’s program Sturm and Slang, dedicated to the transformation, hybridation and disruption of language (slangs, dialects, and queer linguistics) as means of forging new being and identity in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Middle East, the Baltics and Central Asia and their significant diaspora communities.

Two selected participants will have the possibility to realise an artistic publication with the support of Pickle Bar curatorial team (Patricia Couvet and Anastasia Marukhina).The residency includes:
· Accommodation in the house in the monastery garden for 30 days
· Fixed allowance for expenses in the amount of CZK 25,000 (brutto)
· Travel costs from Germany and back
· Graphic design and printing costs for an artistic publication for a budget of CZK 15,000 (brutto) as an output of the residency stay

Part of the residency is also public event (e.g., readings, presentations, debates, workshops, etc.) organized or facilitated by Educational and Cultural Centre Broumov.

Term of residency:
The residency stay will take place in the Broumov Monastery, Czech Republic for a period of one month from 1 to 30 November 2024.

Applicants must meet the following requirements:
· to reside in Germany
· have completed studies
· demonstrate a professional career of at least 5 years
· have at least a basic knowledge of English
· to be free from their professional obligations for the duration of the residency
· to have an interest in the topic of Sturm and Slang and explore how it connects to their own practice

Applications are sent by filling out this form. The closing date is October 9, 2024. The results will be published no later than October 11, 2024 on the website https://picklebar.berlin/.

The Ora et lege (Pray and Read) project was founded in 2020 in collaboration with curator Monika Čejková as a dialogue between contemporary art and the essence of the teachings of the Benedictines and the Catholic Church in general. It is a project thematically focused on the work of contemporary visual artists with text. From the very beginning, it has been conceived as a small biennial, with the main exhibition at the Broumov Monastery in Eastern Bohemia, with alternate years dedicated to lectures, workshops, residencies, and exhibitions both locally and internationally.

The Broumov Educational and Cultural Center with its cultural, educational and community activities aims to revive the national cultural monument – the Broumov Monastery, in which it is based. It creates interdisciplinary environmental and artistic educational programs for children and adults, inspiring further learning. It organizes professional and interest-based cultural events at the national and international level and encourages dialogue regarding our culture and tradition, history, coexistence in the European space.

For inquiries regarding residencies, please contact vkcb/@/klasterbroumov/./cz.

The performance Wound arises from the affective relationship with Zachęta — its collection, archive and the current exhibition Tears of Joy — and concerns the mediation of artworks, the transmission of their material un/presence through the receptive performing body. By setting in motion the silent vibration of the selected works, Wound enters into a dialogue with the traces of censorship, destruction, and rejection present in them, as well as their abject, triumphant corporeality. Through voicing and embodiment, Wound touches the institution’s history differently: by examining the relational nature of bodies of art, their sensual and unstable boundaries, the dialectics of the inside and the outside, of what is present and what is hidden, lost, rejected. Wound is a rehabilitation and embodiment that simultaneously reconciles with loss and does not allow forgetting about the scar.

Concept and performance: Marta Ziołek
Drama collaboration: Teresa Fazan
Production collaboration: Alicja Berejowska
Coordination: Jess ynukawska
Costume : HAWROT . Fabric inspired by Rorchacha’s ink stain test, created in collaboration with Angelica Markul.
Drums: Bruno Jasie jaski
Make-up: Maja Tumaniec

*The performance will feature nudity and loud noises.

The performance takes place within the public program of the exhibition “Tears of Joy” (08.06.-29.09.2024).

Further information: https://zacheta.art.pl/en/kalendarz/marta-ziolek-rana?setlang=1

OPENING: 04/10/2024, 18.00

The aim of the project is not to “keep alive” the cultural industry by providing new, sophisticated forms of entertainment.
Wojtek Ulrich

Mechanical Locusts, Wojtek Ulrich’s latest exhibition, focuses on his exploration of reality and illusion and the changing cultural determinants in society throughout history. He creates situations, models or objects that take the form of an experiment to test how truth can be artificially generated. Of great importance here is AI, but also the process of hybridisation of the human body in a transhumanist reality.

One of the characteristics of Wojtek Ulrich’s practice is the shortening of the distance between the artist and the viewer, as well as a constant concern that most of us strive for a sense of mental balance and stability due to the unchanging naivety of the human species.

The artist returns to Wrocław with a new project. This time, his intention is to answer questions about the imperfections of reality. One of them is the failure of civilization to keep pace with technology. As he blatantly puts it, “We use religion and mythology to justify our ideas and to always be on the ‘right side.’” Ulrich leads us through the cellar of civilisation, debunking common myths and, as is his wont, suggesting alternative scenarios for the future. As he himself emphasises, it is not the aesthetic problems that concern him, but the conceptual field of action, necessarily created on his own terms.

Mechanical Locusts

When we enter “this” world, we should put rose-tinted glasses and a plastic bag in our pockets, just in case. If we are expecting something exciting, something breathtaking, we are most likely in for a surprise. Will it be a good one? Well, that depends on the viewer.

The values we are used to no longer matter. The aim of the project is not to “keep alive” the cultural industry by providing new, sophisticated forms of entertainment. There will be no competition of whose truths and reflections are supreme. The field of conceptual action is paramount, but on its own terms. We are shown a world that can only be felt if we are brave enough to pluck with our bare hands all that is unburnable but still hot from the fire of events. And if we are, the conversation will unfold in such a way that we will see ourselves from a different angle.

We may think that we know what cruelty is, that we have an idea of the civilisation of the future, of human nature and its wondrous transformations. Yet upon entering the “chamber”, some of us may feel fear and anxiety that everything we believe in, what is best in us, is a myth created to make us feel better. But others may feel a sense of peace and stability because of the immutability of human naivety.

The works are “wet and rough” and the events may seem familiar. It cannot be otherwise, as we are led through the cellar of civilisation to see how easy it is for history to come full circle. By creating a perfect copy of a situation and placing it in its proper place, are we returning to the original? Or have we already become the original, only in another dimension? The replica of the chair on which Rudolf Hoess was hanged is just one example that provokes us to rethink our values.

The exhibition may seem unusual, although it shows nothing out of the ordinary. Some may leave disgusted, but only those whose minds, dazzled by commercialism and the rush for “lightness of being,” do not understand that everything that happens does not happen without impacting our lives. Aesthetic problems are outside the sphere of action. They do not concern the artist.

Maybe we’ll end up taking a bath in the same bathtub where hundreds of litres of DNA went down the drain, causing unimaginable pain to the victims. Let’s do this if, after the exhibition, we are not invited to dialogue with the artist.

Katarzyna Wójcik

Wojtek Ulrich (b. 1963) studied at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław and at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf. In the early 1990s he moved to the USA. His multimedia installations with large metal sculptures, photography and video have been shown in galleries in Europe, Toronto, Chicago and New York. His dual education and long time spent living on another continent have influenced his artistic technique and perception of reality. He uses the latest technologies in his practice, also to create films and installations.

Further information: https://66p.pl/en/mechaniczna-szarancza-wojtek-ulrich

Three insignificant persons stand in an insignificant space and do nothing. They do not act. They hesitate. They hesitate in front of a pile of insignificant memories that won’t go away. When words are said, they sound like an insignificant farewell. Despite the world’s utter indifference to them, time takes pity and rests in Pidzamche until they find their perfect goodbye.

It starts with light. Natural, non-theatrical light. The kind of light that always seems to be coming from somewhere else. From outside of where we are. From a place that promises something different. Not better or worse, but simply different. Different enough to stay with us, to make us wonder. To make us hope. If you absolutely must use words to describe this performance, you could call it a study of illumination.

A study of the illumination of time. How do you design illumination of minor time? Time that is seemingly insignificant, unimportant, irrelevant. Time that tries (tries, but does not succeed) to hide from History and Politics? Small. Time that tries to frame millimeters of joy and pain and loss and sadness and laughter? Millimeters of crushing loneliness that you feel in line in a supermarket, millimeters of redemption you feel singing karaoke with your friends, millimeters of tears you shed in a taxi because the world is beautiful but that is insufficient, millimeters of empty space that used to be filled by your favorite body.

Some possible instructions: first, you cover all windows that bring light from somewhere else and make sure you are in that perfect darkness that makes time pretend to stop. Then you take that pile of irrelevant, extremely important minor times and you light it up and magnify it. You don’t care about order or chronology. Look at them in any order and they will start making sense. You lay down on the carpet like you used to do it when your eyes and your friends’ eyes were red. You leave the big, bright lights for the stories that have heroes. Here, lamp lights are enough. Finally, you begin to feel.

Eyes from the outside could say, if they absolutely have to, that the choices of lightning design, visual composition and mise-en-scene quote from Rembrandt and Caravaggio and the contrast between this method of visual representation, mostly used for scenes of so-called historical greatness and importance, and the scenes of utter banality in the story underline this intention of bringing the little life that happens in the shadow of enormous Life to the forefront in order to compose an intimate, analogue multimedia love-letter to small fragments of Paradise, as Jonas Mekas would say. If you should hear any of these words, ignore them and know any of this was absolutely accidental. All you wanted to do was remember that time you and your best friends were eating corn chips on the carpet.

— director Alin Uberti

Based on the play ‘Three Cripples Came’ by Dmytro Levytskyi

TEAM

Director: Alin Uberti

Actors: Anastasiia Lisovska, Vasyl Vasylyk, Oleh Oneshchak

Set and costumes designer, light designer: Cosmin Stancu

Composer: Alyona KOMA

Production manager: Vlad Bilonenko

Slide on a poster: Vil` Furgalo // Urban Media Archive // Center for Urban History

Further information: https://jamfactory.ua/en/events/performance-take-now-with-you-october/#/

The main exhibition of the 9th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial The Fine Lines of Constructiveness is open at the Kai Art Center from 5 October 2024 until 16 February 2025.

The exhibition features artists from the Baltic and Nordic countries, representing fields of applied art and contemporary craft, including a variety of techniques and materials.

The main exhibition of the triennial is curated by Maret Sarapu, focusing on constructiveness, rebuilding and moving towards solutions. “For me, constructiveness is, above all, a willingness to experiment, to look for unexpected collaborations, to innovate and make something new,” says the curator. “Constructiveness can emerge when means are scarce, energy low or when it is understood that we need to be gentle with one another.” It can also appear in natural clear-mindedness. Constructiveness does not mean merely “pointing to the sore points in society” and stopping there. So, the exhibition includes works that showcase individual or collective methods to move towards solutions.”

Artists: Karin Roy Andersson (Sweden), Riikka Anttonen (Finland), Ieva Baltrėnaitė-Markevičė (Lithuania), Sofia Björkman (Sweden), Per Brandstedt (Sweden), Vincent Dumay (Sweden), Signe Fensholt (Denmark), Hanne Haukom (Norway), Liisa Hietanen (Finland), Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė (Lithuania), Kati Kerstna (Estonia), Lauri Kilusk (Estonia), Karel Koplimets (Estonia), Arja Kärkkäinen (Finland), Krista Leesi (Estonia), Alves Ludovico (Finland), Jennie McMillen (Sweden), Anda Munkevica (Latvia), Kadi Pajupuu (Estonia), Anu Penttinen (Finland), Tiina Puhkan (Estonia), Saara Renvall (Finland), Vilde Rudjord (Norway), Taavi Teevet (Estonia), Margit Terasmees (Estonia), Ketli Tiitsaar (Estonia), Linda Vilka (Latvia), Ellisif Hals (Norway), Yuvia Maini (Sweden) and Cassius Lambert (Sweden).

Curator: Maret Sarapu is an artist and curator based in Tallinn. She has graduated from the Department of Glass Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts (BA 2002, MA 2005). She has taken additional professional courses and been in artist residences both in Estonia and abroad, including Creative Glass Center of America (USA), the Glass Centre of Sunderland University (UK) and GlazenHuis (Belgium). Maret Sarapu has curated numerous glass art exhibitions in Estonia and participated in group shows in Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Denmark, Russia, Germany, Turkey and USA. Her works belong to notable museum collections. As a curator, she is interested how a constructive and solutions-oriented approach is expressed in contemporary craft what solutions can be found through creative practices. Sarapu is interested in art as a source of resilience, helping people overcome difficulties and finding meaning in challenging situations.

Team: Merle Kasonen, Maret Sarapu, Keiu Krikmann, Anu Almik, Katre Ratassepp, Laura Pappa

Tallinn Applied Art Triennial is an international art event established in 1997, organized by NGO Tallinn Applied Art Triennial Society. The triennial contributes to the development of the fields of applied art and contemporary craft. Alongside the international main exhibition, The Fine Lines of Constructiveness, the 9th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial also hosts an exciting satellite programme, taking place in various locations all over Tallinn. More information: www.trtr.ee/en.

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