The opening day, June 2023
Since February 2022, many artists have found themselves outside their country. The fact remains that the large creative community is faced with the question of where to further develop their career. It is good if the relocation took place in the USA, Great Britain or Germany, for example. There are many contemporary art galleries, there is a formed art community, there are opportunities for a visiting artist to fit into the local context. But what if the artists came, for example, in Montenegro?
Montenegro is a very small country with a population of about 600 thousand people, with a huge history and a very authentic cultural heritage, which is certainly reflected in the local contemporary art. I asked myself this question six months after my relocation, when everyday issues were gradually settled and the brain began to perceive the surrounding context. I looked around to assess the local art sphere. I realized that despite the proximity to Europe, it would be quite difficult for artists who arrived here and plan to develop. Of course, if the artist already has a name and international art experience, then it will be easy to integrate into the local art environment. But if the artist has two or three years of practice only? What if before the artist exhibited only in local galleries in their country?
Having experience in exhibitions as an artist, I realized that I wanted to organize an event for contemporary Russian-speaking artists in Montenegro. The idea of organizing an exhibition was born from the thought that it could take years to establish cooperation with local galleries, but the need to show art already exists now. I understood that this would be my first experimental exhibition and it might not work out. Nevertheless, in a month and a half, a place for the event was found, and I found a curator forthis project also fo free. The partner for organizing this event was another artist - Taisia Lovina, who, in fact, provided the place for the exhibition. The space for the event was a huge semi-basement garage of her ceramic studio.
I with partner wrote down the concept, we held an open call for artists, and selected 14 artists. We called the event Art Weekend. The duration of the event is 4 days - from Thursday till Sunday. Preparation for the event took a month, which we spent searching for artists and 3 days we spent converting the garage space into a gallery.
According to my personal feelings, the event turned out to be very interesting. It included an exhibition of artists, an artist talk and a lecture. We didn't spend much of our own money, which went mainly to paint the walls, blocks for installations and welcome drinks for opening day.
Author: Galina Bakinova Date: 30.11.2024
copying is possible only with a link to the source
