international exhibition 07.10.-08.11.
theoretical symposium 08.10.-10.10.
open-air screening 09.10.
production workshop 12.10.-18.10.

Project description:

The event is the successor project to “Communication Front” [project of electronic media art and theory], which had three editions in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in 1999-2001. If CFront arose in a very specific real situation, defined by the idea of developing networked artistic communities and solidarity in the struggle for overcoming the isolation and lack of information, on the backdrop of the blazing war in the Yugoslav republics falling apart and a new political, economical and cultural appreciation of South-East Europe taking shape, the new project is seeking an adequate answer to a changed situation, presenting a broader picture of the dynamics of the development of contemporary culture and art. At the same time, it leaves the opportunity for the situation of the moment to define the future approach and topics of the next editions of the project.

The continuity and link between the two projects on the conceptual and structural level takes a central role in expressing the priorities in terms of cultural politics of the Center for Contemporary Art, Plovdiv, Turkish Baths, and the Art Today Association, oriented towards the production, analysis and presentation of art and theory based on media art practices – electronic, communicative and digital. As a means, on the one hand, for the development and survival of the local artistic scene, and on the other, the elaboration of international strategies and perspectives of collaboration and cooperation, as the grounds for the development of critical debate and presentations related to the international and local artistic reality, but also as a chance for local actors to intervene in international events.

For a month the Center for Contemporary Art and the Art Today Laboratory will be turned into an international lab, a platform for interdisciplinary and cross-border surrounding of the topic, seeking images and ideas about “Fakes” as artistic strategies for expressing social criticism in contemporary artistic practices.

Through artistic practices based on digital and communicational technologies and in the context of discussions around the contradictions that exist within contemporary culture, the project will explore the critical reflections and social aspects of questions raised by the main topic. The aim is to be able to include the local audience in a process of approaching and engaging in the topic and material, and with discussions about the dependencies between such notions as art, technologies and society in relation to a common and inescapable technological progress, and at the same time the development of a democratic society with humanistically oriented culture.

The event is composed of three equally important parts, corresponding to three different approaches, as an opportunity to surround and explore the topic and find an adequate language: an international exhibition, a theoretical meeting, an international workshop for debuting artists from South-East Europe.