June 23, 2015

Translating the City at ArtStays festival

Translation(s) II: Translating the City will be presented at the 13th Festival of Contemporary Art ARTSTAYS in Ptuj, Slovenia, from 10-18 July 2015.

The video project will be screened on July 12 on a big outdoor screen in the main town square.

Photo courtesy ArtStays
Between 10 and 18 July 2015 Ptuj will be hosting the 13th festival of contemporary art ART STAYS. The rich programme and the selection of artists result from the collaboration with several international galleries, museums and curators. This year’s 9-day festival happening will include over 30 events at various venues in Ptuj and its surroundings. The festival will host over 100 artists from more than 20 countries.

The programme includes exhibitions that will occur in virtually all galleries and exhibition places in and around Ptuj. An international group of artists will be creating also in Ptuj’s ateliers. Every day, the main stage at Slovenski trg square will be the place for talks with artists and curators in residence, and the venue for several performances and concerts. At the Mestni trg square, the “exhibition of the world’s smallest photographs”, entitled BLINK CIRCUS, will take place, in the evenings, streets will become lively due to musicians performing on mobile stages, and the entire happening will be accompanied by small culinary and oenological wonders. Even in the mornings, there will be a lot going on, for example at workshops for children and teenagers. Accompanying programme will include video screenings at the City Cinema. This year’s ART STAYS CINEMA focuses mainly on the artistic duo Fischli and Weiss, who won the Golden Lion prize at the 2003 Venice Biennale. Furthermore, there will be a premiere screening of the documentary about the recently deceased artist and Oscar Prize winner H.  R.  Giger, which was produced by the Swiss production house TC Films.

This year’s main exhibition, which will be placed in the Mihelič Gallery, will display an international collection of unusual and exotic artworks, and could best be described as a contemporary cabinet of wonders. Among the exhibited pieces are works by: Fernando Prats, one of the participants of the 2011 Venice Biennale;Hannah Collins, finalist for the Turner Prize, who has had exhibitions at Centre Pompidou and Tate modern; Ann and Patrick Poirier, an artist couple who has participated at the Venice Biennale in the years 1976, 1980 and 1984, the dOCUMENTA in Kassel in 1977 and the Havana Biennale in 2006; Perino and Vele, who were presented in 1999 at the 48th Venice Biennale; Dragoljub Raša Todosijević, one of the participants of the 54th Venice Biennale; Zoran Todorović, who represented the Republic of Serbia at the Venice Biennale in 2009. The exhibited collection will also display works by the established Chinese artists Hongbo Li, Zhang Qiushi and Lei Wang, and last but not least, visitors will have the opportunity to see some of Slovenian art as well, among others by Tina Dobrajc, Goran Bertok, Irwin, Boštjan Novak, Tomaž Plavec. (More)