Moderna galerija in Second Life

23 December - 24 February 2008
Noema Digital Art Gallery, Second Life
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Buzios/231/198/22

Moderna galerija Ljubljana - Media Art Collection
Curator: Igor Španjol
Programming and design: Vera Bighetti, Brazil
SL hosting: Agencía Clik, Meta Midia Digital
Production: Aksioma - Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana www.aksioma.org
Coproduction: Meta Midia Digital, Noema Digital Arts
in the frame of the action Hosting Moderna Galerija!

Featured Artists:
Zemira Alajbegović & Neven Korda, Borghesia, Vuk Ćosić, Nuša & Srečo Dragan, Marina Gržinić & Aina Šmid, Ema Kugler, Franc Purg, Igor Štromajer, Apolonija Šušteršič, Miha Vipotnik.

"Hosting Moderna galerija!"
Years of (non)policies have proved an existential threat to the basic infrastructure and intellectual and creative work in the field of visual art. The city and the country are downgrading the visual arts relative to other fields of artistic production.

Contemporary visual art has long exhibited the characteristics of total art, and for several decades now the discourse of visual art has extended well beyond the notions of classic techniques, tools and means of expression. Contemporary art includes performative, non-gallery, conceptual, contextual and traditional art practices and dimensions, and does not differentiate between 'new' or 'old' media. The effects of malnourishment, which threatens to drastically decline activities or even result in close-downs, can be seen in all spheres - production, interpretation, presentation, education, theory, documentation, archives, research, counselling or promotion.

The major international contemporary visual arts events, such as documenta, the Venice Biennale, Manifesta and others are closely connected with the Moderna galerija, public institutes, galleries, freelance artists and NGOs, all of which represent a solid basis, with well-developed international networks.

To express support for the Moderna galerija and its endeavours to secure better working conditions during renovation, we have been organising activities which aim to mitigate the negative effects that the suspension of the gallery's activities have on modern and contemporary art. Our activities are also an appeal to institutions and individuals working in the field of contemporary art to establish a networking platform to facilitate easier communication and collaboration.

About Moderna galerija
Moderna galerija (Museum of Modern Art) is the Slovene national institution for modern and contemporary art. As a museum of Slovene modern art it explores and presents the 20th-century Slovene art tradition, while as a museum of contemporary art and exhibition venue it presents new art practices and their context.
It is also a documentary, study, research and education centre, a place for discussions and reflection and for presenting art to a wider audience. Moderna galerija positioned itself as the first institution in Europe to start systematically collecting works by Eastern European artists and rewriting the history of postwar art.

About the media art collection
Moderna galerija began to assemble its media art collection in the late nineties, a time following major local and political changes. Until than its purchases of video and installation works were infrequent and unsistematic. The purpose of the collection is manifold: constituting works mainly by Slovene video artists, it means that the Museum of Modern Art has created a new dimension to its activities, i.e. it wishes to present media art, which has been overlooked until than, to establish a dialogue between traditional and media artists and in this way create a new, different view on the development of art in the second half of the twentieth century.

Although the collection is small, it do has many examples of both video and installation art, and it shows this type of work regulary. They have included net art in several group exhibitions oriented toward contemporary trends. The collection already comprises representative works that are good examples of the development of media art in Slovenia and present, despite their relatively small number, a varied picture in terms of generation, expression and technological approach. New media department is concentrated on solving the problems related to the conservation and presentation of media art. A comprehensive approach is essential in planing a realistic policy for purchasing works of this type.

How to access Noema's Gallery on Second Life:
If you don't have an account on Second Life:

. Access www.secondlife.com;
. Click on join and create an account;
. Download and install a software available after finishing your registration;
. Login on the software and choose an avatar to represent yourself on Second Life;
. Click on search and write Noema;
. Choose Noema and click on Teleport;

If you have an account on Second Life:
Access: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Buzios/231/198/22

Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Ljubljana.

Contact:
Marcela Okretič
Aksioma - Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana
Neubergerjeva 25, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
gsm: +386 41 250 830
e-mail: aksioma4@siol.net
www.aksioma.org

Aksioma is member of the Association of Non-Governmental Organizations of Slovenia.

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