The launch event of the Secondary Archive – platform for Central and Eastern European Women Artists: Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and Visegrad addition
On the 27th of October, 144 artists from Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, the
Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia will join the Secondary Archive project – a unique, international research platform, representing three generations of artists from Central and Eastern Europe.
Secondaryarchive.org is a digital, constantly expanding archive that
presents the history of Central and Eastern European art from the perspective of its female creators. This year the platform went further and beyond its current virtual frame, presenting itself in a direct, empirical form of sound narrations at Manifesta 14 in Prishtina – the nomadic European biennial, whose capital embodies many of the most pressing and complex issues facing society today.
After a very fruitful year with the launch of the Ukrainian and Belarusian artists in February, the mentioned above Manifesta 14 Biennale, came the date to celebrate the launch of yet another, pressingly important expansion in the Balkan region. On the 27th of October at 6:00 pm CET, during an online conference on the Facebook profile of the Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation and the partners, Secondary Archive will be launching the statements prepared by the Albanian, Kosovar and Serbian female artists, as well as creatives form the four founding Visegrad countries. 144 artists from all backgrounds together with unknown creatives joined through an Open Call, chosen by a team of international experts, will become a part of the Secondary Archive platform. The event will be facilitated by the Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation, the list of speakers include: Hedwig Fijen – Director of Manifesta, Catherine Nichols, Creative Director of Manifesta, Adela Demetja – Tirana Art Lab (Albania), Dejan Vasić – Center for Cultural Decontamination (Serbia), Renea Begolli – Oral History Initiative (Kosovo), Róna Kopeczky – Easttopics (Hungary, as representative of the Visegrad countries) together with artists representing Albania, Kosovo and Serbia. During the event the winners of the Open Call from Albania, Kosovo and Serbia and one from the Visegrad region will be announced.
The launch event will offer not only a space for celebration of the female voices, but also raise awareness and open discussion related to the struggles and wins of the female artists of the region. With the growing tension in the art sphere, political and nationalistic turbulence and still overwhelming silencing of women in the CEE region, Secondary Archive wishes to unite, showcase, support and be loud together.
After the launch, the Secondary Archive will consist of 9 international partners and almost 500 unique female artists, making it one of the most prolific and important archives of the region.
The launch of the Secondary Archive platform is organized by the Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation (Poland) together with partners: Tirana Art Lab (Albania), MeetFactory (Czech Republic), Easttopics (Hungary), Oral History Initiative (Kosovo), Center for Cultural Decontamination (Serbia), Björnsonova (Slovakia).
The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.
Project leader: Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation
Partners: Tirana Art Lab (Albania), MeetFactory (Czech Republic), Easttopics (Hungary), Oral History Initiative (Kosovo), Center for Cultural Decontamination (Serbia), Björnsonova (Slovakia).
In collaboration with: Adela Demetja (Albania), Piotr Sikora and Daniela Šiandorová (Czech Republic), Róna Kopeczky (Hungary), Erëmirë Krasniqi & Renea Begolli (Kosovo), Mirjana Dragosavljević, Simona Ognjanović, Dejan Vasić and Jelena Vesić (Serbia), Lucia Kvočáková (Slovakia).
Project manager: Paulina Bijoch, Ewa Mielczarek
Design and graphic identification: Marcel Kaczmarek
Website: Aleksandra Gajda
Production support: Iga Maria Szczepańska, Magdalena Majewska, Asia Tsisar
Supported by: Visegrad Fund
Social networks: Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation Facebook & Instagram, Oral History Institute Facebook & Instagram, Tirana Art Lab Facebook & Instagram, Center for Cultural Decontamination Facebook & Instagram