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Description
The purpose of the study visit of the staff of the AFA’s Faculty of Intermedia in Bergen is to visit the operating area of the artistic environment of this city, with a special focus on two institutions: Performance Art Bergen (PAB) and the Art Academy’s Fakultet for Kunst, Musikk og Design (KMD). KMD is a Norwegian equivalent of AFA and PAB brings together authors, artists associated with the intermedia idiom and with the practice of art, which is, in fact, convergent with the character of our activity. A well-prepared visit to Bergen – that is supposed to give us detailed understanding of the functioning of the counterpart university, its academic and private studios and workshops, the way artists work and to allow for discussions on shared experiences and differences between us – is intended to prepare planes for future programming, research and methodological cooperation and exchange.
The background of the project is a long-standing (despite infrequent contacts) cooperation between our circles, dating back to the second half of the 1990s, the participation of the both cities in the celebration of the “Europe 2000” - European capitals of culture, private and professional contacts between various representatives of our communities. The both environments have certain features in common: they are vintage historical centers with long intellectual traditions; the both cities are on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List; they are the former capitals and so-called “second cities” in their countries. The sphere most interesting to us – the space of high culture, new media of art, research on civilizational change, including how to respond to dangers of the pandemic and, more generally, the crisis of the civilization – is in our centers based on definitely different political models, radically different social structures and completely different international contacts in geographical and cultural terms. In this sphere we can learn a lot from each other.
Summary of project results
The purpose of the study visit is to make a site visit to the performance space of the artistic community of this city, with a special focus on two institutions: PAB - Performance Art Bergen and KMD - Fakultet for kunst, musikk og design, The Art Academy. The background of the project is the long-standing cooperation of the communities, dating back to the second half of the 1990s, the participation of both cities in the celebration of the Europa 2000 program (European capitals of culture), private and professional contacts between individual representatives of our artistic communities. The two communities share a certain symmetry - they are old, historical centers with a long intellectual tradition, both cities are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, they are former capitals and so-called "second cities" in their respective countries. Within the framework of the study visit, the participants were introduced to contemporary exhibition methods on the basis of the exhibition at the University Museum of Natural History in Bergen (new solutions combining exhibitions by contemporary artists with the museum''s historical resources/ innovative solutions for multi-media and installation exhibitions), visited BIT Teatergarasjen, met Kurt Johannessen at the artist''s studio, and visited 4 branches of the Bergen National Museum (Kode+ Bergen Kunsthall). The museum presents a cross-section of the work of Norwegian artists.
Summary of bilateral results
The participants reviewed selected units of the Bergen Academy of Fine Arts (new media, performance, sound and acoustics, animation). The ASP plans to create a 3-year exchange program based on research questions important to both institutions. As research, educational, cultural, normative, integrative institutions, the two institutions intend to jointly pursue social missions and gradually expand their field of influence. The first step is to organize an analogous study visit of Bergen representatives to Krakow.