CAfE partners attended the opening of 2013 art symposium Proudění-Strömungen last July 2013
At the beginning of the summer holidays, the 15th German-Czech Arts Symposium Proudění-Strömungen (meaning Flow – or maybe better Currents) was held at the Cultural Centre Řehlovice from 12th to 21st July 2013. Twenty-one artists from the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia and Austria were working in the Centre, a former farm, on a double topic „Keep Going”: 1. Keep going the tradition of Řehlovice symposia. 2. Carry on the theme of last year’s symposium, a reflection on the current state of the society and it’s culture and economy.
Artists created a lot of artwork and presented them at the „anniversary opening” on Sat 20th July: Art pieces that captured both the state of the society & politics and connection to the past Currents. Some artists adapted Keep Going to a symbol of their own ancestry & heritage, artist’s imagination or mutual experience during the symposium.
The latter approach can be found in the work of Martina Staňková We Carry On and also in the performance Symposion by Czech-German artist Victor Sanovec, author of the book „Jüdische Kochschule”, Jewish Cooking Seminary. Martina Staňková’s large painting was created during one afternoon event. It used bodyprints, cast painting and using brush and is a kind of record of free associations given by all symposium participants. Shared experience was also the motto of Victor’s performance, a feast of culinary delights accompanied by a talkon Jewish cuisine. Thus was the Symposium characterized by freedom again, whether in the artists’ approach or in the selection of their techniques.
Among the artefacts presented we can find paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, installations and videos. „Keep Going” also became the main topic of the introductory discussion, which has been an essential part of „Currents”-Symposia for years: the politicised debate with guests Štěpán Rattay from the civic association Oživení (Revival) and Jaroslav Bican, journalist and student of political science at Charles University Prague. The discussion went back to the subject of the previous year’s symposium. Jaroslav Bican outlined the causes of the current crisis of the political system using examples of well-known Czech corruption cases (e.g. ongoing case concerning the resigned Prime Minister Petr Nečas). Štěpán Rattay focused on the efforts of the association Oživení to appeal to the local political representatives and promote changes in legislation (de-politicisation of public administration, transparency in the funding of political parties and governmental contracts).
Under this lines we highlight some of the artworks created and presented during the KCR Symposium 2013:
The Tree of Knowledge by Helena Hlušičková (CZ)
Helena Hlušičková uses in her installation The Tree of Knowledge hyperbole typical of her artistry: She asked “How to carry on today” and requested “pieces of advice for today and all the next days” from all participants – then she burned these individual messages on ceramicapples and hung them up on a tree. (Technique: ceramics)
Bed by Lake by Zuzana Hromadová (CZ)
Zuzana Hromadová “continues” in her installation Bed by Lake with the topic of current social and economic uncertainty. The way out of the crisis becomes her environment – her family – because the individual person is not capable of finding a solution. So she offers a general principle, space for reflection – a bed with words “As you make your bed so you must lie on it”. (Technique: iron bed, wire)
Emerge – shine – disappear … continue by Frank Joerges (DE)
Frank Joerges’ installation transforms Sisyphean challenge without a goal and success into a playful metaphor. He translates futile gestures into a meaningful creative process. Brush dipped into water creates a painting on a tile but on a sunny day it soon dries up to make way for the next painting. (Technique: brush, water, tiles)
Hannah Montana by Dirk Montag (DE)
Drops of water fall at intervals into metal buckets. The observer perceives Dirk’s installation as a sound recording, rhythm of a clock mechanism. The falling drops represent an alternative in a globalised world – it can fill the pail and overflow. (Technique: sound collage, installation in space)
Suitcase by Marek Rubec (CZ)
Marek Rubec was one of the artists who reused the theme of the 14th Currents-Symposium Cutting Wind was. A drawing on the wall shows hands grabbing a (cash-filled?) suitcase as a symbol of ubiquitous corruption or exposing information – and invisible interests of both political parties and individuals. (Technique: charcoal)
WordNet – Thinking in Two Worlds by Mandy Schwarz (DE)
Our everyday life is characterised by thoughts converted into words. We learn foreign words, we grasp their meanings in our native language and – we forget. Mandy Schwarz captured this process in her installation WordNet – Thinking in Two Worlds. She was waving a three-hundred meter long paper strip in the farmyard granary seven days long: free associations of both German and English words,. Net weaving: learning was outweighed by forgetting, during the opening performance on Saturday she destroyed it. (Technique: installation – chipboard, paper tape, marker)
Untitled by Júlia Zorkovská (SK)
Júlia Zorkovská deals in her installation Untitled with her own adolescence. It is a minimalist plexiglass labyrinth described with letters. Looking from one particular angle you can read a sentence. “I tried to get from my parents a sentence which remained in their memory as something really negative. When I conceive that situation from their perspective I’m really sorry even though I was felt justifiably angry then. But to understand this wounding something I had to get off the chaotic labyrinth of my pubescent Self and observe the whole from a different point of view” /Júlia Zorkovská/. (Technique: plexiglass)
Next to all of it, a selection of creative videos from the spanish CAfE partner Cultural Association TripleZeta were presented in a public screening event. Presented videos were specially selected to build up a unique collective movie under the main theme of the symposium “Weitermachen / keep going”.
More about the Symposium under: http://www.kcrehlo.cz/
CAfE 