Art as Gift
Biennial for Contemporary Art
Iasi, Romania
3-18 October 2008
Opening:
Temporary Building of the
National Theatre “Vasile Alecsandri” Iasi
3 October 2008, 16:00
www.periferic.org
www.perifericbiennial.wordpress.com
Curator: Dora Hegyi (project leader of tranzit. hu/ Budapest, Hungary)
Organizer: Vector Association (Iasi/Romania)
Main partner: Banca Comerciala Romana
Periferic initiated in 1997 by the Romanian artist Matei Bejenaru started as a performance festival, which organically developed into an international art biennial organized in Iasi, the second university city in Romania.
The 8th edition of Periferic Biennial for Contemporary Art attempts to re-address the question regarding the conditions and possibilities for producing art events in Romania, in the new situation created by the recent economical developments. The event proposes self-repositioning and the involvement of different layers of public in order to grant a dynamic and democratic access to contemporary art events.
The concept of the biennial proposes an alternative model of exchange and raises the question “can art be regarded as a gift?”. The social practice of gift-giving in an everyday sense is experienced as a positive gesture, since everybody enjoys receiving and giving gifts. The exchange can be mutual, but it reflects a complex system of different motivations: power relations, dependence, as well as desire for prestige. Gift-giving is also used as a metaphor for describing the economics of art from creation/ production through sharing/distribution to reception/consumption. Periferic 8 deals with the question how the values and commodities of art are created, which are in transaction on the intellectual and commercial art market. The two end poles of the survey are art strongly connected to the market and being commercialized and gift economies suggesting alternative economic models.
Periferic 8 wishes to play the role of a mediator, thus fortifying the dialogue between various cultural fields. The project seeks to strengthen local cultural consciousness in order to form a dynamic civil community that feels responsible for its own context and suggests that contemporary art is a transdisciplinary field where social and political issues that affect a wide range of people can be discussed.
Projects and Participants:
Markus Bader / Raumlabor Berlin (DE); Joseph Beuys (DE); Johanna Billing (SE); cARTier / Vector Association (RO); CCCK – Center for Communication and Context Kyiv / Ingela Johansson (SE), Inga Zimprich (DE) with Sonke Hallmann (DE); Stefan Constantinescu (SE/RO); Guillaume Desanges (FR); Veaceslav Druta (MD/FR); Roza El-Hassan (HU); Miklos Erdely (HU); Tatiana Fiodorova (MD); Dora Garcia (ES); Felix Gonzalez-Torres (USA); Institute for Wishful Thinking / Maureen Connor, Gregory Sholette (USA); Christian Jankowski (DE); Daniel Knorr (DE); KUNST= KAPITAL (GL); Yuri Leiderman (RU); Little Warsaw / Andras Galik, Balint Havas (HU); Aniko Lorant (HU); Aurelia Mihai (DE/RO); Hila Peleg (DE/ISR); RO-MD (Moldova in 2 Scripts) / Vector Association (RO), KSA:K Chisinau (MD); Mladen Stilinovic (HR); SZAF / Judit Fischer, Mikos Mecs (HU); Rasa Todosijevic (SRB); Mona Vatamanu & Florin Tudor (RO); Tirdad Zolghadr (TXL)
Mediation Projects:
Creative Mediation Project / Studio for Art Practices and Debates (RO); Contemporary Art for Young People / Coordinated by Ana Maria Iftimi, Alexandru Bounegru, Oana Nicuta (RO); S-video IN / S-video OUT. Made in Iasi / video program curated by Catalin Gheorghe (RO); MINIpoint – Info Point program / Coordinated by Daniela Palimariu and Dan Basu (RO)
Organizer:
Vector Association, Iasi
Main Partner:
Banca Comerciala Romana
Partners:
tranzit. hu – tranzit contemporary art program is supported by the Erste Bank Group; KSA:K, Chisinau; Centre Culturel Francais, Iasi; Goethe Zentrum, Iasi; University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi
Supported by:
American Center Foundation; AFCN Romania; Municipality of Iasi; Seacex; ACAX; Hungarian Cultural Center, Bucharest; Ambassade de la Republique Francaise a Bucarest; Iaspis; Romanian Cultural Institute, Stockholm; Student House for Culture in Iasi; The National Theatre, Iasi; Romanian Literature Museum, Iasi
Media Partners:
Romanian Television Iasi, Idea magazine, Observator Cultural, LiterNET.ro, Suplimentul de Cultura, Radio Guerrilla, Ziarul de Iasi, SapteSeri, iasinights.ro, inoras.ro, Springerin
Contact:
+40 232 237486, +40 723 508738
periferic.info@gmail.com
