(Press release)
4 May 14 — July 26, 2009
Karlin Hall, Thamova 8, Prague 8
Polymorphous, multifaceted, multicultural and in continuous dialogue with itself as well as with its audience; these are the qualities of PRAGUE BIENNALE 4, presented this year together with PRAGUE BIENNALE PHOTO 1.
Prague Biennale directors Giancarlo Politi and Helena Kontova have created an open forum on painting, presenting this issue through several declinations and manifestations: locals, nationals and internationals. The result is EXPANDED PAINTING — a title coined on the occasion of Prague Biennale 2 and inspired by Rosalind Krauss’s “Sculpture in Expanded Field.” This term becomes the starting point for a series of sections which aim to spotlight and engage the actual state of painting in Central Europe together with other countries like Mexico, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines, in cooperation with a team of active and creative curators.
The counterparts of this parade of paintings and painters never seen before internationally are ART IN GENERAL and FOCUS ITALY, which confi rm once again the Biennale’s mandate and its attention to a multiplicity of interests and themes. ART IN GENERAL captures the current situation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, featuring peculiar and unexpected curatorial visions, while FOCUS ITALY brings ‘on stage’ a fraction of Italian artistic production that is often overshadowed.
PRAGUE BIENNALE PHOTO 1
Debuting this year, PRAGUE BIENNALE PHOTO 1 is an extensive overview of new photographic production in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia, through a curious link to the United States, reaffi rming the importance of photography in these countries.
Featuring four sections, this counterpart of the Biennale confirms once again the nature of such an event: synergy, juxtaposition and pluralism become the ingredients for this Prague Biennale, which is the sole rendezvous for artistic production in Central Europe and beyond.