Conference, Chisinau, The Republic of Moldova State University, str. A. Mateevici 60, Main Building, Conference Room – 511

November 9th and 10th 2011, 11-18

This conference was created as a networking platform for the future, for artists, art managers and curators to meet and share experiences. The event is focused on developing cross-regional cooperation among independent art initiatives from post-Soviet countries and beyond. The main theme for the conference is how art can work as a propelling force for social progress in countries where cultural institutions are not necessarily something you can depend on. How do artists work with questions of social progress? What difficulties are there where the art producers work or come from regarding the artistic practice that needs to be circumvented?

The invited artists, curators and art managers from Sweden, Georgia, Belarus and the Republic of Moldova will talk about their strategies on how to operate in peripheral regions in relation to their own work. How could an art initiative operate autonomously? How can you organize production and develop art discourse in the context of a nonexistent art market? These are the existential questions that artists and producers of culture has dealt with for decades, where a notion of transition is a given context.

After the conference in Kalmar in September we counted ten newly created collaborations involving artists from invited countries. It is the intention of the conference and its contributors Kalmar konstmuseum (www.kalmarkonstmuseum.se), KSAK Center for Contemporary art (www.art.md/), the Oberliht Association (www.oberliht.com/), with support from the Creative Force project of the Swedish Institute, that the meetings between the attendees will lead to new collaborative projects.

In conjunction with the conference there will be an exhibition, by the artists of the conference curated by Stefan Rusu and Martin Schibli, opening at ArtHotel (Gh. Asachi str. nr. 53/1, lit. “A”, Chisinau) and Flat Space (Bucuresti 68, Chisinau) at 16.00 on Tuesday 8th of November.

Speakers: Lado Darakhvelidze (GE), Lilia Dragneva (MD), Åsa Elzén (SE), Klas Eriksson (SE), Tatiana Fiodorova (MD), Åsa Jungnelius (SE), Johanna Karlin (SE), Giorgi Kevlishvili (GE), Max Kuzmenko (MD), Martin Schibli (SE), Daniel Segerberg (SE), Irina Solomatina (BY), Giorgi Tabatadze (GE), Vadim Tiganas (MD), Vladimir Us (MD).

With grateful support from:

Svenska Institutet, center for contemporary art, Chisinau

For further information please contact: Director of Exhibitions: Martin Schibli, martin.schibli@kalmarkonstmuseum.se Coordinator: Ola Carlsson, ola.carlsson@kalmarkonstmuseum.se