KIKI PETRATOU
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Kunstvlaai: Festival of Independents 'INexactly THIS' The presentation for Kunstvlaai: Festival of Independents 'INexactly THIS' will showcase work of 7 artists working mainly in the fields of video art and installation: Dwight Marica (NL), Jan Robert Leegte (NL), Kiki Petratou (GR/NL), Wietse Eeken (NL), Alexis Milne (UK), Marcel Niehoff (NL), Christina Calbari (GR) The presentation derives its inspiration from the idea of the School as an institution for learning and contributing to the individual's character shaping. By appropriating teaching and learning materials such us tapes, blackboard and computer screens the project seeks to question the role of the 'educator' and the implications it has on individual participants. The works propose how each participant, forced to operate within the framework of the learning and culture industry and negotiate elements such as power, distraction, supervision and mass consumption, can withstand these external conditions and invent strategies of resistance and critique within the format of the exhibition. The project will present a wide rage of media (installation, photography, video) that reflects the way the artists respond to the concept and theme. Traditional techniques are used to suggest a viewpoint of the world, which is both fabricated and romantic. These reference to fairy tales and characters deriving from literature and folk tales like in the work of Wietse Eeken. New media and installations incorporate found footage and found objects with the intention to challenge the borders between experience and meaning like in the work of Jan Robert Leegte, Kiki Petratou and Alexis Milne. Christina Calbari's film strip-like blackboard intermingles childhood memories with school experiences to comment on feelings of anxiety and fears and Dwight Marica's re-contextualization of 'useless' objects opts for a new emotional functionality and memory. Whereas these works are generous to their social critique they also reveal authentic human impulses. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kunstvlaai: Festival of Independents 'INexactly THIS' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the end of November 2012, the 9th edition of Kunstvlaai: Festival of Independents, entitled INexactly THIS, took place in the former St. Nicolaaslyceum in Amsterdam Zuid. This edition of the festival hosted over 80 local and international artist-led initiatives, art schools, and nomadic organisations of the contemporary visual arts. Over 6000 visitors came to the new temporary location, and spent hours on the premises finding new inspiration and being slightly overwhelmed by the diversity of what was there was to be seen. INexactly THIS was curated byNatasha Ginwala and Fleur van Muiswinkel as a dynamic staging of exhibitions, live arts, film screenings, archival presentations, lectures, and workshops. The festival encouraged participants and audiences to reconsider, based on their own experiences, the qualities of speculation and collaboration, and to be part of the generous openness which is found within the diverse models of self-organisation and autonomous practice within the current contemporary arts. Unlike former editions of the festival, INexactly THIS questioned the role of education in the cultural field. Dutch art academies and international artist-led projects were challenged to showcase new approaches and research new ideas in relation to the format of art education. The festival also highlighted experimental filmmaking, both inside and beyond the Netherlands, hosting several film programmes and debates. The Kunstvlaai, which became a festival in 2012, will continue to be biennial and nomadic – a new location for it within Amsterdam is currently being sought. There will be a moment of reflection that will gather participants together in the hope of formulating a collective statement and a common goal for a new edition, based on the experiences of the previous edition and taking into consideration the social-political climate at the time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Installation View: Alexis Milne, Jobseekers, 2012 (left), Dwight Marica, Untitled, 2012 (center), Wietse Eeken, Little People, 2012 (right) |
Installation View: Wietse Eeken, Little People, 2012 (left) and When it Rains it Pours, 2012 (center below) and Jan Robert Leegte, Selections in Bliss, Site Specific Installation, 2012 (above) |
Installation View: Kiki Petratou, The Nigerian Story - A True Story, Site Specific Installation, 2012 |
Installation View: Kiki Petratou, I Still Hate Thatcher, Site Specific Installation, 2012 (left) and Christina Calbari, The Blackboard,Site Specific Installation, 2012 |
Christina Calbari, The Blackboard,Site Specific Installation, 2012 |
Alexis Milne, Jobseekers, Video Installation, 2012 |
