AICA seminar in SKOPJE

The AICA seminar organized in Skopje was hosted in the premises of the National Gallery's Multimedia Centre Mala Stanica. Participants received a warm welcome expressed by Suzana Milevska - the local organizer, followed by the intervention of Ana Frangovska, contemporary art curator in Mala Stanica – on behalf of Maja Krstevska the director of the National Gallery. An opening welcome speech was also addressed by Marie Luise Syring, Acting AICA General Secretary.

The participants in the seminar were art critics and curators active in the region and internationally: Dunja Blazevic - Sarajevo, Iara Boubnova - Sofia, Melentie Pandilovsky – Skopje, Branka Curcic - Novisad, Zoran Eric - Belgrade, Eva Fotiadi Amsterdam / Thessaloniki, Albert Heta - Kosovo, Slobodan Jovanovic - Belgrade, Tziara Syrago – Thessaloniki.

Each participant contributed with a lecture focussing on one of the three proposed topics of the seminar: 'Patrimony and Current Art Creation'; 'National and international Distribution'; 'Art Teaching, Publishing and Searching Policies'. The seminar was attended by art critics and curator from Skopje and also by journalists from the local media channels.

The three sessions were concluded by a round table discussion on the “Future Role of Criticism”. A special discussion was dedicated to exchanging information and setting the premises for future collaborative AICA projects in the region.

The proceedings of the symposium will be available on line at the AICA’s website (www.aica-int.org).

In order to create more opportunities for collaboration and give a better perspective on the local art scene, the talks were followed by site visits to: The Museum of Contemporary Art, The National Gallery - Old Bazaar collection, Cultural Centre “Točka”: “Kontrapunkt” www.kontrapunkt-mk.org/eng/tochka/stoe.htm and “Lokomotiva” Center for New Initiatives Arts and Culture www.lokomotiva.org.mk, “CK”- artist run cultural centre. We were met by local curators who introduced us to the mission and the activities of these institutions and provided us with contact information and copies of the publications they produced.

I had the opportunity to hear interesting presentations which updated my information on the contemporary art scene and context in the region and also to meet new specialists from the region. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the organizers for inviting me to participate.

My participation to the seminar was enabled thanks to the support granted by the European Cultural Foundation in the frame of Step Beyond mobility fund.