Syndicate: Half-way through CFRONT|Plovdiv|BG

[vr@fact.co.uk (iliyana nedkova)]

dear syndicalists,

it is of an incredible relief to rejoice on the peace paralysis of the
warFRONT. but the CFRONT goes on for another 10 days. catch up with us to
test the creative potential of the various communication pipelines.

millions of thanks to the many syndicalists who have made it or are on
their way to CFRONT.

cheers,
-il_________________________________


HALFTIME REPORT on CFRONT|Plovdiv|BG

COMMUNICATION FRONT|CFRONT - branded as the most substantial art and
technology event within Bulgaria so far - is half-way through. Split into
sections of SYMPOSIUM | EXHIBITION | WORKSHOP | PERFORMANCES, CFRONT spans
from 31 May through 20 June 1999 being on the fringe and forefront of the
celebratory mix of cultural events in PLOVDIV - the accompanying European
Cultural Capital for 1999. CFRONT has also marked the opening of a new
venue - the Center for Contemporary Art - in the landmark building of the
former Turkish Baths at the foothills of the old town of Plovdiv. It is
hoped that this unique venue will be further developed as a permanent home
of moving image culture.

CFRONT kicked off on Monday, 31 May with a clubbing party dj-ed by the
award winning BAND of MAD WOMEN and later by the MINISTERS & djBALTAZAAR
[BG]. A diverse exhibition under the theme RESTORATION OF THE ENTITY which
runs till 20 June was also launched that night and has been drawing a
regular flow of local and international audience. The extraordinary
medieval spaces of the former Turkish Baths venue were illuminated by sound
fireworks, mixed media installations and new screen-based works by 20
artists from 5 countries.  Amongst them are artists from across Bulgaria
like Tanya ABADJIEVA,  Luchezar BOYADJIEV, Petko DOURMANA, Boryana
DRAGOEVA, Pravdoljub IVANOV & V. SHISHKOV, Adelina POPNEDELEVA, Kalin
SERAPIONOV, Nedko SOLAKOV and Krassimir TERZIEV. On the exhibition front
CFRONT presents also world or Bulgarian premieres of works by 4 visiting
artists like Antal BODOCZKY [Hun], Clive GILLMAN [UK], Saso VRABIC [Slov]
and Natalia ZOLOZNAJA [Belarus]. Critical discussion around the issues
raised by the exhibited works is planned towards the end of CFRONT
SYMPOSIUM.

The live sound art programme of CFRONT featured also two nights of
exclusive PERFORMANCES by the avant-garage surf power trio, known as Die
KUNST aka Richard HYLTON, David MACKINTOSH and Martin VINCENT, all visual
artists based in Manchester [UK]. Fascinated by the legend of the monster
GOLEM, a token for overcoming multicultural deficiency, DIE KUNST have
collaborated with an old horror movie - Paul Wegener's film DER GOLEM of
1920. Without sampling or referencing the film, DIE KUNST screened it
against the dramatic backdrop of the distressing bath walls and cupolas. As
the show evolved blurring the frontlines of the 1920s, the 1600s and the
1990s, the stunned viewers were all ears with their backs to the band
playing live their new DER GOLEM soundtrack.

CFRONT WEBAUTHORING WORKSHOP running parallel to the exhibition and
performances started on 2 June and brought an overwhelming number of
Plovdiv-based young artists/students to the purposefully equipped medialab
in the 15C Baths premises. For good 3 weeks a team of 8 visiting artists
affiliated with the CFRONT partner organisation known as IDEA - Innovation
in Digital and Electronic Arts, Manchester [UK] are providing the
participants with basic and advanced webart and design skills. Under the
title of INSIDE OUTSIDE the workshop's main objective is to build a
webspace which will register in a creative way all the CFRONT events and
collect contributions by artists, speakers and exhibitors. Watch out for
the CFRONT weblaunch party on www.idea.org.uk/CFRONT.

The first halftime of CFRONT has also seen 5 days of stimulating talks &
presentations which will be resumed in the final round of 5 days with the
same intensity. Reiterating a statement which Nina CZEGLEDY [Hun/Can] has
made in her key note opening presentation on 1 June can set out the vector
of the theorising forum:

_By resourcing this ancient building and by displying local and regional
work, this event firmly grounds us into local reality. Simoultaneously by
presenting topics and speakers from within an international context and
using the internet, we are transported into translocality.  In the age of
instant electronically mediated communication, the terms "local" [physical]
or "translocal" [distant, remote, global] acquired new definitions. A brief
further glimpse into the shifting meanings of these terms as well as their
relationship to current cultural and societal contexts might be an
extremely useful excercise._

In the last decade or so despite the fact that remote communication tools
like tel/fax/internet are growing more of commonplace domestic commodity,
we are drawn more close to each other beyond these commodities and the need
for personal encounters is still with us. Meeting each other off-the
on-line record is ever more so important. We can negotiate, plan and
organize via technologies enabling us to go translocal, but we are still
driven by the need to put a face to it all. Thus, CFRONT SYMPOSIUM is
trying to put a set of remarkable faces and a minds to the arts aided by
technology - an area which in Bulgaria is still considered very dubious,
hypothetical in its artistic output & a way too unaccessible &
non-interactive. CFRONT is definitely not about the technology which
crashes or aids art but about the people who engage themselves with the
creative process, the production, the display, the distribution and the
critical perception of the works. Ultimately, halfway through CFRONT, I can
reassure you that it has forged a public face with enormous impact for the
region. No need to look away for strong, influential personalities - they
have been around at CFRONT and will hopefully stay with after the closing
of CFRONT - audiences, exhibitors, workshoppers, performers, presenters,
curators. CFRONT is by them and for them.

With the prospect of CFRONT publishing a selection of the presented papers
and discussions it is worth going briefly through the list of about 20
fierce personalities who have made it to the panels of the first symposim
round. Gently moderated artist's talks and demos were alternating with
presentations of theoretical researchwork and successful curatorial or
institutional models exploring the issues of building local media
communities while acting on translocal scale and the use of old and new
communication channels to translate multicultural experiences. Amongst the
well received speakers from the first halftime were Bulgarian critics,
theorists and artists like Luchezar BOYADJIEV, Ivailo DITCHEV, Petko
DOURMANA, Boris KOSTADINOV, Dimitrina SEVOVA, Zhivka VALYAVICHARSKA,
Ventsislav ZANKOV. They have shared the presentation floor with the CFRONT
renown guests like Eddie BERG [UK], Antal BODOCZKY [Hun], Nina CZEGLEDY
[Can/Hun], Honor HARGER [New Zealand/NL], Lisa HASKEL [UK], Sue MARK
[US/BG], Stuart NOLAN [UK], Anneke PETTICAN [UK], Jen SOUTHERN [UK], Maria
STUKOFF [Australia/G/UK], Amos TAYLOR [UK/Fin] and Saso VRABIC [Slov].

CFRONT goes on for another 10 days. Catch up with us to test the creative
potential of the various communication pipelines.

by Iliyana NEDKOVA
CFRONT guest curator

_____________________________________________________________

TIMETABLE of CFRONT SIMPOSIUM between 14 - 20 JUNE 1999
[subject to minor changes]

all CFRONT events at the CENTRE for CONTEMPORARY ARTS [former TURKISH BATHS]
6th September Blvd. N179, Plovdiv/BG

CFRONT hot lines:
[t:(032) 63 44 61] [t:(032) 63 61 35] [t:(032) 62 87 45] [t: (032)45 22 77]
[arttoday@bitex.com] [vr@fact.co.uk]

detailed notes on CFRONT talks|presentations and speakers are being
collected on the CFRONT URL: www.idea.org.uk/cfront


______________14 JUNE, MONDAY
talks & presentations
10:30 - 11:00 CFRONT REOPENING NOTE by ART TODAY [BG]
11:00 - 12:00 Jen SOUTHERN [UK]
12:00 - 13:00 Rossen PETKOV [BG]
lunch break
15:00 - 16:00 Susanna PAASONEN [Fin]
16:00 - 17:00 George STANISHEV [BG]
17:00 - 18:00 Tapio MAAKELA [Fin]

18:00 - 19:00 CFRONT WEBAUTHORING WORKSHOP presented by IDEA [UK]
19:00 - 22:00 Recent Video Art from Switzerland presented by Stella
HANDLER|Thomas KNEUBUEHLER [CH] [first run of public screenings]

22:00 - 22:30 LIVE VIDEOSTREAMING between CFRONT & LISTE | ArtFairBAZEL'99
as part of 'CUCME' by Albena MIHAILOVA STUSI [BG/CH] [videoperformance]


_______________15 JUNE, TUESDAY
talks & presentations:
11:00 - 12:00 Rupert FRANCIS [UK]
12:00 - 13:00 Javor RAITCHEV|Milena DELEVA [BG]
lunch break
15:00 - 16:00 Natasha DIMITRIEVSKA [Mac]
16:00 - 17:00 Tracey SANDERS-WOOD [UK]
17:00 - 18:00 Deanna HERST [NL]

18:00 - 19:00 CFRONT WEBAUTHORING WORKSHOP presented by IDEA [UK]
19:00 - 22:00 Recent Video Art from Switzerland presented by Stella
HANDLER|Thomas KNEUBUEHLER [CH] [second run of public screenings]
22:00 - 22:30 LIVE VIDEOSTREAMING between CFRONT & LISTE|ArtFairBAZEL'99 as
part of 'CUCME' by Albena MIHAILOVA STUSI [BG/CH]


______________16 - 17 JUNE, WEDNESDAY - THURSDAY
11:00 - 19:00 CFRONT WEBAUTHORING WORKSHOP presented by IDEA [UK]
22:00 - 22:30 LIVE VIDEOSTREAMING between CFRONT & LISTE|ArtFairBAZEL'99 as
part of 'CUCME' by Albena MIHAILOVA STUSI [BG/CH]


_______________18 JUNE, FRIDAY
talks & presentations
11:00 - 12:00 Dessislava DIMOVA [BG]
12:00 - 13:00 Melentie PANDILOVSKI [Mac]
13:00 - 14:00 Iara BOUBNOVA [BG]
lunch break
16:00 - 17:00 Graham CLINTON-CHANCE [UK]
17:00 - 18:00 Bozhidar BOYADJIEV [BG]
18:00 - 19:00 Ajdin, pro.ba [B&H]

19:00 - 22:00 CFRONT WEBAUTHORING WORKSHOP presented by IDEA [UK]
22:00 - 22:30 LIVE VIDEOSTREAMING between CFRONT & LISTE|ArtFairBAZEL'99 as
part of 'CUCME' by Albena MIHAILOVA STUSI [BG/CH]


_______________19 JUNE, SATURDAY
talks & presentations
11:00 - 12:00 Diana POPOVA [BG]
12:00 - 13:00 Adele MEYERS [UK]
13:00 - 14:00 Irina GENOVA|Angel ANGELOV [BG]
lunch break
15:00 - 16:00 Svilen STEFANOV [BG]
16:00 - 17:00 Oleg KIREEV [Rus]
17:00 - 18:00 Boyan DOBREV [BG]

18:00 - 20:00 Reception Courtesy of British Council on the occasion of
Chris LEVINE [UK], HYPERVISUAL 1.2: Design in Light
22:00 - 22:30 LIVE VIDEOSTREAMING between CFRONT & LISTE|ArtFairBAZEL'99 as
part of 'CUCME' by Albena MIHAILOVA STUSI [BG/CH]



_______________20 JUNE, SUNDAY
talks & presentations
11:00 - 13:00 CFRONT WEBAUTHORING WORKSHOP DEMO by participants [BG/UK]
lunch break
15:00 - 16:00 Georgi ARNAOUDOUV|Anna BOCHEVA [BG]tbc
16:00 - 17:00 Rupert FRANCIS [UK]
17:00 - 18:00 Elisaveta MUSAKOVA|Dimitar GROZDANOV [BG]tbc
18:00 - 19:00 CFRONT FINAL FINAL NOTE by ART TODAY [BG]

20:00 - 23:00 CFRONT CLOSING PARTY presented by Gerry THE SMOKE [BG] tbc
22:00 - 22:30 LIVE VIDEOSTREAMING between CFRONT & LISTE|ArtFairBAZEL'99 as
part of 'CUCME' by Albena MIHAILOVA STUSI [BG/CH]
______________________________________________________________




iliyana nedkova         |   t r a n s l o c a l   p r o j e c t s
normally at FACT on       |   www.fact.co.uk   [FACT, liverpool/uk]
currently in plovdiv/bg on  |  t:+359 32/452577 or 634461 or 636135
always on                     |   e: vr@fact.co.uk
no attachments, p l e a s e     |   www.yourserver.co.uk/vr


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