ART TODAT ASSOCIATION

WEEK OF CONTEMPORARY ART
11.09 - 18.09.2021

Opening 11.09, 18:00, Stanislav Dospevski St., City art gallery of fine arts, Plovdiv .
Johan Lorber's Tarzan performance

CONTEXTUS
TEMPORARY ARTISTIC INTERVENTIONS IN A PUBLIC ENVIRONMENT

Art is not there simply to be understood. ...
It is more the sense of an indication or suggestion.
Joseph Beuys

INTRODUCTION
Art, or more simply, "artistic interventions" in a public urban environment are among the earliest forms of human artistic activity. Practically, the paintings in the caves (the great-great-parents of today's graffiti) were a form of public communication through art. Chronologically, they precede the gallery and museum formats considered as classics today. The modern or more precisely the contemporary understanding of the concept dates back to the middle of the 20th century. Two of the main characteristics of this type of projects are their democracy and social commitment. In this context, the terms democratic and social should be understood in their broadest sense. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the most influential and significant artists of the 20th century Joseph Beuys. Beuys's basic concept-idea can be summarized as follows –
„regardless of their origin, culture, sexual orientation, education or profession, everyone is a creative person by birth, they can form and transform their own life and the society in which they exist…“
As idealistic as these thoughts may seem today, artistic interventions in public space directly and/or indirectly influence and change the social environment. It is this characteristic that underlies the idea of the CONTEXTUS project.

THE PROJECT
CONTEXTUS includes a series of art installations and actions of contemporary artists that will be realized in Plovdiv in 2021. The project does not aim to put the authors in a narrow formal or conceptual framework. The aim is for artists to develop their projects in the context of public space (architectural, social and temporal).
The Latin word CONTEXTUS, which can generally be translated as "connection, coherence", illustrates the interdependence sought in the project between the environment (as an architectural and social fact) and intervention-art.
Another important aspect that again refers to Beuys is the inevitable "interactivity." Placed in the public space, the art object/action provokes a reaction.
These reactions can be of different nature:
- direct, when the spectator with his actions directly participates in the artistic process,
- indirect, when changes in the environment lead to a change in behavior,
- on a mental level, when the given art object provokes certain thoughts beyond the object-intervention in its aesthetic sense, etc.
The individual events (installations, performances, etc.) will be realized at different times and places in Plovdiv. This will allow the project to be focused on each individual action and, accordingly, to provoke public attention for a longer period of time.
Text: Yohannes Artinyan

Participants:
7+1 Art group (Yohannes Artinyan, Pancho Kurtev, Ilko Nikolchev, Kamen Tsvetkov) – art installation “XL PROJECT” (Underpass “Chifte Hamam”)
Johan Lorbеer, Berlin – “Tarzan” (Facade of City art gallery of fine arts, Plovdiv) ; video works (Showcases on the main street)
Marina Popska – “The Ideal”, art installation, felt objects (The excavations in front of the Central Post Office)
Sandro Arabyan – “In the beginning”, photo installation (Underpass of the Tunnel – North)
Sevdalina Kochevska – “bad Beuys”, neon (Central showcase of City gallery of fine arts); “Links”, art installation-performance (The excavations in front of the Central Post Office)
Tsvetan Krastev – “Game with the Sea”, video installation (The fountain with the Pelicans); video works (Showcases on the main street)
Guerrilla actions in public with videos of Johan Lorbeer and Kiril Kuzmanov

Curator Yohannes Artinyan

The Week of Contemporary Art is a project by Art Today Association, a member of Goethe-Institut’s international network of German cultural societies abroad.

With the support of Municipality of Plovdiv, Goethe-Institut Bulgaria, National Culture Fund Bulgaria

Media partners: BNT2, http://xn--b1agjhxg2e.com/, Katra FM, Pod tepeto, Media Cafe, Kapana

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1251293261977687