ART+COMMUNICATION 2012 festival this year explores “Art of Resilience” theme. From October 4 to November 4, 2012 Riga and Liepaja will be the host cities for the 14th International Festival for New Media Culture “Art+Communication ‘2012”. The “Art+Communication” festival is renowned across Europe for its proposed innovative themes. Each year, the festival gathers around hundred participants from Latvia, Europe and other world countries discussing newest ideas and future development trends in the field of new media art. By continuing the festival theme of its previous editions on art’s role in building sustainability, this year’s festival with the title “Art of Resilience” looks at the scenario of sustainable development from the position of resilience tactics, re-approaches relations between nature and technologies as well as discusses the role of art in addressing “techno-ecological” issues.
The main festival programme will take place in Riga, October 4 – 6 in Spikeri at kim? Contemporary Art Centre, RIXC Media Space and Spikeri Concert Hall.
Bacteria battery floating in the pond. Photo: Raitis Smits
* October 4 – EXHIBITION OPENING at RIXC Media Space
The festival programme will kick off with the opening of “Art+Communication 2012” exhibition on October 4 at 19.00 at RIXC Media Space. Artists from Switzerland and Germany – Christian Hübler and Ivonne Wilhelm from Knowbotiq collective will participate in the exhibition with their installation and performance “Dancing with’without Darwin”, which received recently the Swiss Art Award 2012. The exhibition also features artists from Latvia Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits and Martins Ratniks from RIXC, who together with sound artist and composer Voldemars Johansons will present their ongoing art-science research project “Bacteria Battery”, which reveals the mutual relations between systems of biological and electrical networks. Installation “Bacteria Battery” has been developed in collaboration with the scientists from the Faculty of Biology at University of Latvia and Institute of Solid State Physics in the framework of Studiolab – European art-science project.
The exhibition at RIXC Media Space (11. novembra krastmala 35) will be open to the public until November 4, 2012. Entrance (to both festival opening and exhibition) is free.
* October 5 – CONCERT in Spikeri Concert hall
During the special programme of the festival, on October 5 at 19.00 Sp¥™eri Concert Hall will host Festival’s “Art+Communication” concert and audiovisual performances exploring relations between nature and technologies – through both harmonies and contrasts. The concert will feature American jazz musician and philosopher David Rothenberg who combines clarinet improvisations with sound recordings of whales and birds in their natural habitats. Whereas the well known British experimental electronic musicians Mark Fell & Matt Steel / snd will create live performance with soundscapes of electronic space. Also Latvian musicians and sound artists will offer program rich in contrast: Jekabs Nimanis and Maksims Sentelevs together with Indian classical dance artist Ieva Orbidane will create an electro-acoustic performance where they will improvise on the three quintessential elements – water, wind and fire. And last but not least, the audiovisual multi-channel performance by Martins Rokis will combine improvisation elements with generated sound structures based on the signal analysis of insect and bird communication.
Tickets to Art+Communication’2012 concert are available online http://www.bilesuparadize.lv. Tickets cost 5 Ls. Tickets will be also available at the entrance at Spikeri Concert Hall (Maskavas Street 4/1).
* October 5 – 6 – CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOPS in kim? Contemporary Art Center in Spikeri
On October 5 and 6, kim? Contemporary Art Center in Spikeri will host an international conference, artist presentations and workshops open to the public. The international conference “Art of Resilience” will include lectures and presentations by world renowned visionaries, artists and scientists, media art curators and theorists, featuring Michel Bauwens, David Rothenberg, Armin Medosch, Christian Huebler / knowbotiq, Eric Kluitenberg, Léonore Bonaccini and Xavier Fourt / Bureau d’Etudes, Sabine Himmelsbach, Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits / RIXC, Kristian Lukic, Vincent Guimas / Ars Longa, Nathalie Aubret / Pixelache, Anna Trapenciere / MPLab.lv, Erich Berger, Bart Vandeput / Bartaku, and others.
In parallel to the conference, visitors are welcome to participate in three workshops: Belgian artist Bartaku will lead Temporary photoElectric Digestopians Worklabs # 11 “The Aronia M. PPB Session” on edible-sun-electric experiments with aronia power plant juice, while the young scientists from the University of Latvia together with RIXC artists will lead “Bacteria Battery” workshop on how to make electricity from waste water, and how to approach and interpret this novel bio-technology from artistic and cultural perspective. And last but not least artist Lina Kusaite will conduct the “Resilient dialogs / citizens and the city” workshop addressed particularly for school children and youth.
Participating in workshops and attending the conference and artist presentations is admission free.
On October 5 and 6 visitors will be welcomed and informed on festival programme by festival guides at kim? (Maskavas iela 12/1). Admission free.
* October 26 to November 4 – Follow-up events in Liepaja
At the closing of the festival, from October 26 to November 4 Art Reserach Laboratory (MPLab) at Liepaja University (Kurmajas prospect 13, Liepaja) will host an “Art+Communication” satellite-event – the third international new media art week “iWeek” with workshops, public lectures, presentations, exhibitions and audiovisual performances by upcoming artists.
Bureau in bathhouse (or sauna). Photo: Raitis Smits
* INFO
* For more information please visit festival’s home page
* RIXC on Twitter
* RIXC on Facebook
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* ORGANIZERS
Festival is organized by RIXC Center for New Media Art in collaboration with Art Research Laboratory of Liepaja University. The conference “Art of Resilience” takes place in the framwork EU Culture 2007-2013 supported project “Survival Kit”.
* Festival team:
Festival curators: Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits
Visual concept and design: Martins Ratniks
MacGhillie image used in festival promotion materials: from knowbotiq’s “MacGhillie – just a void” project
Festival exhibition scenography: Rudolf Bekic un Raitis Smits
Festival Producers: RIXC: Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits, Agnese Baranova, Daina Silina
Assistance: New media art students from Liepaja Unviersity / Art Research Lab, and others
* Festival venues and addresses:
Festival exhibition – RIXC Media Space, 11. Novembra krastmala 35 (entrance from Minstereja street), Riga
ART+COMMUNICATION concert and audiovisual performances – Spikeri Concert Hall, Street Maskavas 4/1, Riga
Conference “Art of Resilience” and workshops – kim? Contemporary Art Center – 3rd floor, Street Maskavas 12/1, Riga
The 3rd international new media art week “iWeek” – Liepaja University Art Research Laboratory, Kurmajas prospect 13, Liepaja
* Support: State Culture Capital Foundation (SCCF), EU Culture Programme 2007 – 2013 (Survival Kit project), Riga City Council, Latvian Ministry of Culture, Nordic Culture Point, EU 7th Framework Programme (FP7) (Studiolab project), Kurzeme Programme of SCCF, Cultural dept. of Liepaja City Municipality
Media Support: Veto Magazine, KulturasDiena.lv, Riga.com, Easyget.lv, Kultura.lv, Artterritory.com, Studija, Rigas Laiks, Anothertravelguide.com, ir, euroawk.
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* Contacts:
RIXC Center for New Media Culture, 11. Novembra krastmala 35-201, Riga, LV-1050
Ph.: +371-67228478 (office), +371-26546776 (Rasa Smite, mob.)
e-mail: rixc ( at ) rixc.lv