Events — Jan 27, 2005

Time
Jan 27, 2005, 12.55 pm

January 27
27.01.05
Three relatively recent initiatives introduce themselves in this SMCS on 11: the Foksal Gallery, Warsaw, Man in the Holocene, London, and Display, from Prague.

SMCS on 11, Thursday, January 27, 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. Reservations: desk@stedelijk.nl (You will only receive a response in case of overbooking)

Over the past years artists’ initiatives have come and gone, both in The Netherlands and internationally. They are still, however, regarded as the trend-setters of the art world. Three relatively recent initiatives introduce themselves in this SMCS on 11. They are the Foksal Gallery, Warsaw, Man in the Holocene, London, and Display, from Prague. In the session attention will be given to how they came into being, the exhibitions they put together, and other activities they develop, locally and internationally.

Foksal Gallery Foundation was established in 1997 by Joanna Mytkowska, Adam Szymczyk and Andrzej Przywara. Their activities were initially focused on the management of the collection and archive of the legendary avant-garde gallery, Foksal. Very quickly they expanded their activities to include exhibitions and other projects, including research, with young Polish artists such as Wilhelm Sasnal, Monica Sosnowska, Pawel Althamer and Piotr Uklanski. In addition they organised exhibitions in various places in public space around Warsaw, but for instance also at the Frieze Art Fair. Sebastian Cichocki, a Polish curator and art critic, represents Foksal this evening because the founders are presently very busy with the Polish submission for the Venice Biennial.

Man in the Holocene is one of the newest artists’ initiatives of London, established on September 11, 2004, by Tom Morton and Catherine Patha. It will exist for only one year, closing again in September, 2005. Central to their projects is the idea of the future. ‘The Holocene is the present geological epoch. It began 8,000 to 12,000 years ago and will continue until far into the future. All documented history falls within the Holocene, a period which contains the history, the present and the future of our human race, Homo Sapiens Sapiens.’
Man in the Holocene works with internationally known artists such as Philippe Pareno, Liam Gillick and Erik van Lieshout (who has his first British solo exhibition this year). Morton and Patha will themselves make the presentation.

Display is a non-profit gallery founded in 2001 by a group of young Prague artists and art historians, including Tomas Svobodal and Zbynek Baladran. Display focuses on young artists in the Czech Republic, but also from beyond its borders, in order to create a cultural interchange and stimulate contemporary Czech art. Jan Mancuska, who is represented in the exhibition ‘Time and Again’, is closely involved with the activities at Display. He will join Zbynek Baladran in giving the presentation on this artists’ initiative.

The evening will be moderated by Ann Demeester (director of W139) and Leontine Coelewij (curator Stedelijk Museum)

SMCS on 11
SMCS on 11 is the programme of lectures, discussions,  film and video presentations of Stedelijk Museum CS. The ‘11’ refers to the 11th storey of the Post CS building , where most of the activities take place. They are regularly held on Thursday evening, when the Museum itself is open to 9:.00 p.m.


‘Time and Again’ is a component of the visual arts programme ‘Who if not we...?’, from Thinking Forward, the cultural programme accompanying the Dutch chairmanship of the European Union in 2004. Thinking Forward is comprised of diverse cultural activities in The Netherlands and the ten new member states of the EU. Thinking Forward is an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and has been developed through a commission from the Fund for Amateur Art and Theatre Arts and the Mondriaan Foundation. ‘Who if not we...?’ includes seven new exhibitions and a number of supplementary projects in Europe. The primary motivation for this programme is to investigate how art can play a role in contemporary social and political developments.