ART SIMPOSIUM 2007
[Ilgvars Zalans] - [Art News] - [Wednesday 31st, January 2007]

ART SYMPOSIUM “VALMIERA 2007”

Valmiera, 22 –28 July 2007

Valmiera City Council and the Art Gallery “Laipa” invite artists to participate in the Third Contemporary Art Symposium, which will take place in Valmiera, Latvia on the 22^nd to 28^th of July, 2007.

The purpose of the Symposium is to support the ongoing process of bringing a closer understanding of contemporary art issues to our community. The Symposium serves to promote involvement in the creative process through a system of recognizable values and emotions. We plan to have artists’ presentations, small concerts, theatre experiments and discussions every evening. The culmination of these activities will sum up in the Grand Finale on the 28^th of July in the City Square.

The book, “Understanding Media” by Herbert Marshall McLuhan, shall serve as the theoretical basis for this Symposium. In Mc Luhan’s definition, all media are seen as “hot” or “cold”. A “hot” medium is one that involves one single sense in “high definition” but is low in participation and involvement by observers such as a photograph. (A photograph is visually “high definition”, involving our sense of vision). “Cold” media are high in participation, completion by the audience (all kinds of improvisation, some types of theatre etc.).

This Symposium offers possibilities of communication and project realization in public environment by artists working in twenty different media types.

We are looking forward to applications from creative people in visual arts (painting, photography, video art, installation, theatre improvisation and other kinds of media).

Application should be mailed to:guna.kalnaca@lkk.gov.lv or sent by post:

SYMPOSIUM

Sanda Deisone, project coordinator

Valmiera City Council

Lāčplēša iela 2

Valmiera LV-4201

Latvia

Application Deadline March 15^th, 2007

Please enclose:

· Application form,

· CV,

· 5 photos of recent works (specify title, measures, year, technique); URL or DVD (up to 10 min)

· Personal photo (preferable in working process) for publicity of the workshop;

· Project conception and realization description.

Organizers` responsibility

Artists are provided with

Lodging in rooms with 1, 2, and 3 beds, meals 3 times a day;
Technical help and working conditions for project realization (studio for painters and graphic artists, possibilities for video paste-up, public environment for project realization etc.);
Creative work presentation possibilities;
Publicity in Symposium homepage and catalogue;

Participants` responsibility

Travel to Valmiera and back;
Creative activity presentation to Symposium organizers and participants;
Materials needed for project realization;
Painters shall donate one piece of art created during Symposium to the organizers for the community of Valmiera, graphic artists shall donate two pieces of art created during symposium to the organizers for the community of Valmiera;
Photographers shall leave in organizers’ possession 10 symposium pictures in electronic format with publishing rights;
Artists work in other media will be videotaped and shall remain in organizers’ possession.