SCCA-Ljubljana with partners received the support of Creative Encounters: Cultural Partnerships between Asia and Europe
4th Edition (2014–2015)

We are proud to announce that our project Curating–In–Depth is one of the three projects that have been selected for the support in 2015 through the fourth edition of Creative Encounters: Cultural Partnerships between Asia and Europe, launched by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), and its partners the Arts Network Asia (ANA) and the European network Trans Europe Halles (TEH).

Curating–In–Depth, prepared by two main partners SCCA, Center for Contemporary Arts – Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Planting Rice (Philippines) and associated organisation Kurziv (Croatia), is an incubation project between non-governmental institutions from Europe and Asia, whose goals are for the development of curatorial education. It connects initiatives in the field of curatorial practices and the production of visual arts exhibitions, which share the same approach (we call it the curating-in-depth), but are rooted in different cultural environments and artistic milieus. Our assets are our diversities, connected to diverse contexts we are coming from. Together, we respond to the phenomenon of “parachuting curators” that rely on minimal engagement as they come into a new cultural milieu and discount the politics of cultural representation. All partners share the opinion that the contemporary visual arts, curatorial and critical practices should deeply engage with contexts: artists and practitioners that make up the bigger community; and that exhibitions and other artistic presentation should be supported by critical and/or practice-based research. In order to achieve this, a crossover of different manifestations (lectures, workshops, research work, modules on the practical work of the curator, study excursions) will be used in-between the project’s production, research, representation and education.

Through mobilities for curators, students and cultural operators between the Philippines, Slovenia and Croatia, we expect to increase knowledge on these cultural scenes and to develop a practice of accountability in intercultural exchanges and cross-cultural curating. The program of engagement includes, but not limited to, artist talks, workshops, and other modes of presentations structured within the aim of raising awareness that contemporary art practice is a medium for intercultural dialogue that exceeds cultural, and social boundaries. We tailor this incubator framework for new collaborations amongst artists and curators.

MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT on World of Art's website

Through Creative Encounters, ASEF, ANA and TEH actively foster connections across cultures by supporting artistic collaborations, exchanges and dialogues. Together, they aim to reinforce Asia-Europe exchanges with the objectives of deepening mutual understanding between cultural communities in the two regions, enhancing the mobility of artists and cultural professionals, and encouraging creative collaborations.

MORE: www.asef.org

CREATIVE ENCOUNTERS:www.asef.org/index.php/projects/themes/culture/3218-creative-encounters--fourth-edition-2014--2015-

Established in 2000, SCCA-Ljubljana, Centre for Contemporary Arts (a successor to the Soros Centre for Contemporary Arts – Ljubljana, 1993–1999) is a generator of innovative programmes and services that facilitate artistic and interpretative practices. Its diverse activities address artists, curators, theorists, and critics in the fields of visual and new media arts. They trigger artistic, discursive and social practices and are rooted in the interdisciplinary approach and intense international cooperation. SCCA-Ljubljana divides its programme into four complementary areas: projects, video/archive, school and services.

MORE: www.scca-ljubljana.si/arhiv/infoengl.htm

Planting Rice is a curatorial collaboration aimed at fostering the rise of cross-pollination among artistic communities. It distributes information on vital exhibitions, event, places, and mobility by and for art professionals in Southeast Asia and beyond the region who main networks and crossovers in the Philippines. Established in 2011, Planting Rice’s major component is a web-based platform that generates an archive of new and republished texts and current discussions/collaborations that are developing outside established institutions and beyond available publications. The team’s curatorial practice extends off-site and their projects include repotentializing spaces in Manila, Philippines; exploring exhibition forms of the archive; and collaborations with other collectives/institutions in supporting criticality in contemporary art practice.

MORE: www.plantingrice.com

KURZIV – Platform for Matters of Culture, Media and Society (Zagreb) is an association founded in 2009 by Clubture network and editorial board of the portal Kulturpunkt.hr. KURZIV is a platform which intervenes in Croatian media space presenting independent and contemporary cultural production, activism of civil society organizations, culture in the wider sense, everyday life, politics, policies and society. By providing informative services as well as journalistic, analytical, critical and theoretic frame, KURZIV observes relations of cultural and artistic practices with the political, social, media, economic and other practices. Logic of these interventions builds media discourse which is based on research, applying new critics and contents with the aim to produce changes in the wider cultural, social, media and political space. KURZIV presents its activities in the online and offline space and is structured in the way that changes and reshaping, deepening of all topics and forms are possible.

MORE: www.kulturpunkt.hr/node/29

[Published February 13, 2015]