video feature
CologneOFF2011
Damascus
Tampere
Strata Foundation
Damascus
In 2009, Wilfried got contacts to Nisrine and Abir Boukhari, two sisters who had founded “All Art Now” an art organisation in Damascus/Syria, who organised in 2009 the first video art Festival.
They invited Wilfried to present a selection from his latest CologneOFF Videoart Festival – CologneOFF V – Taboo! Taboo! in the 2nd videoart Festival All art Now 2, and because the collaboration was promissing, they agreed another collaboration in 2011. But now the tragic part of the whole begins, because after all preparations were made the War in Syria started and escalated forcing the two art sisters to escape from Syria, by leaving the country, and , of course, the 3rd videoart festival never was taking place in Syria. This article would like to express Wilfried’s deep empathy with all victims of this horrible war – inviting the reader to pause for a minute!
Today in 2010, All Art Now Festival is running already the second day, and today in 2011 when actually the next festival was supposed to start in Damascus, CologneOFF 2011 has its premiere in Tampere Finland at Arteles, an art organisation dealing with art residencies, on 26 & 27 May, and on 28 May at Rajatila Gallery, all organised by Pekka Ruuska, who also prepared for CologneOFF 2011 a curated contribution of Finnish videoart. In 2017, Wilfried agreed another collaboration with the Tampere based art organisation Videokanava providing another curated selection of Finnish videoart, this time curated by Simo Sakari Saarikoski, so there are two art hotspots in Finland – Turku and Tampere – in Wilfried’s audio-visual art activities.
the entire festival program as PDF
2nd AllArtNow International New Media Art Festival Damascus/Syria – 25-30 May 2010
http://www.allartnow.com/
CologneOFF V – Taboo! Taboo!
the next festival was planned in 2011, everything was fixed, the festival was about to start when the war is Syria began, and began escating
Curated by Wilfried Agricola de Cologne (director of CologneOFF)
List of videos and artists:
Mohammed Harb (Palestine) – Without Windows, 2009, 5:00
Confusion Group (Spain) – Sorry to bother you, 2008, 6´06″
Sai Hua Kuan (Singapore) – Space Drawing No. 5 – , 2009, 1:02
Shahar Marcus (Israel) – Homecoming Artist, 2008, 4:37
Angela Washko (USA) – Washko’s PR, 2010, 2:00
Jorge Garcia Velayos (Spain) – THE BEAST / LA BESTIA, 2009, 05’ 20’’
Irina Gabiani (Georgia) – Diachronicon – 2010, 1:00
Pablo Fernandez-Pujol (Spain) – 142-143 – 2010, 2:10
Neringa Naujokaite (Lithuania) – “Horizont”, 2010, 8:53 min
Barry Morse (USA) – Mouse’s Birthday, 2010, 3:35
Lemeh 42 (Italy) – Inner sound, 2010, 10′
Kira Zhigalina (Russia) -Blank or Attempts to Draw at Nothingness, 2008, 6:00
Doug Williams (USA) – Back & Forth, 2009, 2:42
venues
Cafekultour Timisoara/Ro – 11-17 April 2011
One Shot – International Film Festival Yerewan/Armenia – 17-24 May 2011
Athens Video Art Festival – 20-22 May 2011
AllArtNow New Media Art Festival Damaskus/Syria – May 2011 (scheduled but not realised)
Tampere
It is quite a big jump from Syria cross-over Europe to Tampere in Finland
CologneOFF 2011 Finland III
@Arteles – Baltic Sea III- Tampere/Fi – 26-27 May 2011
@Galerija Rajatila – Baltic Sea III- Tampere/Fi – 28 May 2011
Performance in Videoart
Ane Lan (Norway) -Ane Lan, 2:50, 2001
Cynthia Whelan (UK) – Selfportrait, 3:27, 2005
Sinasi Günes (Turkey) – GICIR, 2006, 03:03
Boris Sribar (SR) – I love you so much I could kill for you, 3:20, 2010
Roland Wegerer (Austria) – How to Clean a Puddle, 1:48, 2008
Virginie Foloppe (France) – J.F.’s Toolbox” 2004, 5:50
Jamie Marie Waelchli (USA) – Little Pleasure, 2007, 11:09
Kisito ASSANGNI (Togo) Explosion, 2009, 2’22”
Luc Gut (Switzerland) – Alter Ego, 2008, 2 min
Agricola de Cologne (Germany) – Silent Cry, 3:05, 2008
Unnur Andrea Einarsdottir (Iceland) – Toilet, 5:00, 2005
Francesca Fini (Italy) – Cry Me, 2009, 4:34
Anna FC Smith (UK) – Which Came First? , 2009, 2:08
Beatrice Allegranti (UK) – IN MY BODY, 2005, 4 min
Videoart from Portugal
curated by Pedro Almeida And Sérgio Gomes – VideoLab project – enter here – Flash plugin-required
António Olaio -“I Have Seen The Light”,5:25, 1999
Fernando José Pereira – “permafrost (barentsburg)”, 9:13, 2009
Francisco Queirós – “Peter Pan”, 4:52, 2007
João Pombeiro – “Schizo”, 2:28, 2002
José Maçãs de Carvalho – “To President ”, 2:28, 2005-7
Margarida Paiva – “Erase”, 3:30, 20097.
Paulo Mendes – Undersound (2004, 6’)28 May
Susana Mendes Silva – “Polaroid” (2004, 1′ 40″)9.
Vasco Araújo – “Duettino” (2001, 2’06”) 10.
Maria Lusitano – “The man with excessive memory” (2005, 10′)
curated by Wilfried agricola de Cologne
Johanna Reich- Black hole, 6`00, 2009
Ebert Brothers – “Bluescape” 2006, 2:54
Agricola de Cologne – “Distortion Projected”, 4:50
Alfred Banze – Exotica, 6:34, 2010
Philip Matousek – A Beautiful Day, 3:12, 2009
Anna Porzelt – One’s Bits and Pieces (Siebensachen), 3:00, 2004
Ascan Breuer – The Kurukshetra-Report, 8:00, 2009
The old Tampere Art Museum – there will be a new one soon
WOW Finland
list of videos
Liisa Ahola & Veera Salmio (Finland) – ”Dictator”, 2017, 3:10
Anna Knappe(Finland) – ”Camp Europe”, 2017, 6:45
Taina Valkonen (Finland)- ”Forest Poem”, 2017, 1:13
Veera Nelimarkka (Finland) – ”Medical Record”, 2017, 3:55
Sabotanic Garden (Finland) – ”Uuno Turhabuto/King of Dance vol.2”, 2007, 8:16
WOW Finland
curated by Simo Saarikoski (for Videokanava Tampere)
http://wow.engad.org/simo-saarikoski-curator/
Curatorial statement
“The six videos forms a selection that deals with humanity from different perspectives. Timely reflection on the dignity of life and the inefficiency of global justice is present. There is also concern about the politicians´ methods of creating confrontation, as well as the frustration of how difficult for an individual can be to get help for his or her problems even in an organized society. At the same time, the selection tells about the continual search of man to find their own place in this world. Life can be full of adversity, but ultimately a simple insight can lead to inner peace. The viewers are able to identify with these themes, no matter which part of the world they come from.
Video details
Linda Jasmin Mayer (Finland) – ”Dove Fermarsi? (Where to Stop?)”, 2017, 6:45
Video Installation Linda Jasmin Mayer & Sebastian Kulbaka
Costume Design Andrea Ferri
Synopsis
“Dove fermarsi?” (Where to Stop?) Is the first part of a video work on the difficulty of finding your home in the world.
The aim of this journey is not a static place but a mental space that unfolds through personal relationships and is constantly changing.
Short bio
Linda Jasmin Mayer (b. 1986 in Meran, Italy) is a visual artist based in Bolzano. Mayer’s artistic practice covers a broad spectrum of strategies and forms of expression, from participatory art, to moving image, sound works and sculptural explorations, creating immersive installations that aim to offer space for contemplation. She makes use of moving images and sound in order to transform spaces into “alternative” rooms, where to expand the space of imagination and propose a different perspective. Her work develops through shared reflection and interdisciplinary collaborations, to incite the development of cross-disciplinary dialogues and new forms of expression. She received a MFA from the Time and Space Arts study programme of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in 2014, and studied at the Media School of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen in 2015. In 2010 she graduated with a BFA in Sculpture Studies from the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan, Italy. She has participated in a variety of workshops focusing on artistic research: Granada (Spain), Reykjavik (Iceland) and an advanced seminar in Methods of Research at M.I.T in Boston (USA). In 2008 she worked within the department of Art Mediation for Manifesta7 in Trentino – South Tyrol and in 2012 within the Maybe Education Program of dOCUMENTA(13). Her works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Italy, Spain, Finland, Denmark, Austria and Germany. Her graduation work, How to Break the Ice, received the Kuvataideakatemian Ystävät prize in 2013. Her video work Snowcats has been screened on several occasions, including at the Trento Film Festival in 2014 in a screening curated by MART/Italy. In 2016 she participated (in collaboration with Finnish artist Sara Pathirane) at the Colombo Art Biennale in Sri Lanka.
Liisa Ahola & Veera Salmio (Finland) – ”Dictator”, 2017, 3:10
The themes of the video are patriotism, masculinity and dictatorship. The topic examines traditional patriarchal symbols; playing with them and giving them new meanings. The footage of the work is collected from Youtube channels news-, propaganda- and documentary videos.
Short bio (max. 300 words in English)
Visual artists Liisa Ahola (1979) and Veera Salmio (1982) have worked together with video, sound and light installations since 2013. Their work has covered topics such as modern people’s preconceptions and the need to be special.
Liisa Ahola lives and works in Turku, Finland. She works mainly with video and installations. Themes of her works considers about social phenomenon with sense of humor. She is interested in topics such as fear of living and houses with mold problems.
Veera Salmio is a sculptor and visual artist from Finland. Themes of her works reflects surrounding situation of the world; human rights, women’s position in society and patriotism. “One should examine the world like a sculpture: different depending on the viewing angle; yet complete from the 360° view”.
Anna Knappe(Finland) – ”Camp Europe”, 2017, 6:45
Welcome to Camp Europe. Camp Europe welcomes refugees and expects them to be grateful and happy, providing food and shelter but not dignity. Camp Europe knows better than the refugees what is good for them and deports them back to where they came from. Camp Europe continues.
Short bio (max. 300 words in English)
Anna Knappe (b. 1982, Helsinki, Finland) lives and works in Helsinki. The backbone of her artistic practice are camera-based works, consisting of documentary style or found video footage and installations combining video projections or screens with handmade and found objects, exploring words and language as elements of building identity and the perception of reality for herself and for those seen as others, the identities of migrants as ‘mohajers’, endless migration, living in camps, and the narrative of a homeland for those who don’t have one. Anna Knappe holds a Master in Fine Art from The Academy of Fine Art in Oslo (2016) and received a Bachelor in Fine Art from TAMK, Finland, in 2012. She has shown her works in exhibitions and screenings in Norway, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Bangladesh, and India.
Taina Valkonen (Finland)- ”Forest Poem”, 2017, 1:13
Video synopsis
Trees are disappearing into paper
paper burns into ash and is flown with wind
into non existing
A view to disappearing forests in Finland
Short bio
Visual artist Taina Valkonen has done performance art in various forms for 16 years. She is living and working in Tampere. Her ways of working come from space. At the moment she is concentrating in writing and combining video performance to poetry collaborating with Markku Korsu and Leena Lehti and sound arts.
Veera Nelimarkka (Finland) – ”Medical Record”, 2017, 3:55
Medical Record handles the difficulties of getting help to mental illnesses. While it tells a story of an individual, it widens the problem into a national one.
Short bio
I am an artist using many different medias: video, painting, drawing, installation.
Sabotanic Garden (Finland) – ”Uuno Turhabuto/King of Dance vol.2”, 2007, 8:16
Synopsis
Sunbathing on frozen lake. Getting lost in the woods. Setting home on fire.
Visual research and study of finnish solitude, isolation and loneliness – presented in the form of alcoholic man, wandering endlessly from one catastrophe to another.
Short bio
Sabotanic Garden is experimental finnish performance and music group working internationally since 1996.
Credits – Dance: Pasi Mäkelä – Video: Jussi Saivo – Music: Pasi Mäkelä, Kusti Vuorinen, Janne Tuomi and Jussi Saivo
About
Simo Saarikoski (b.1980 in Finland) is multidisciplinary artist who works extensively in different fields of visual art. In his work he explores time and it’s phenomena, as well as human impact on the environment and how to find mercy for yourself in the era of social media. Saarikoski uses video, sound and watercolor painting separately or in the form of installations. He has performed with the group – Messianic Research Centre for Visual Ethics (MRCVE, funded in 2002) around Europe and US. The group’s modus operandi is to openly incorporate both scientific and artistic methods in its works. With the Finland’s state art price winner, art collective – T.E.H.D.A.S. he has realized several projects and exhibitions (e.g. “Live and Dead Art” in Pori Art Museum, 2014) and worked as a performance art event organizer and curator in Pori, Finland.
Videokanava Online Gallery focuses on presenting videos mainly from emerging video artists and filmmakers. The organisation was founded in Finland in 2014 and formed by a group of Tampere based contemporary artists. Every year a different curator selects video works for a themed exhibition from videos submitted. Every month Videokanava highlights one of the curated works by presenting it at an artist’s solo exhibition in the online gallery. In addition, the live screenings are held in art galleries and other interesting spaces in Finland and abroad.
http://www.videokanava.com
Videoart from Finland
by Pekka Ruuska, Tampere
Timo Bredenberg -“Ghost Riding” 2010, 00:03:48:10
Eero Yli-Vakkuri – “|_|_|0||700||53|, 00:12:14:02
Alexandra Smirnoff – “-” 2008, 00:01:56:03
Outi Heiskanen – “The Humanlighthouse” 2010, 00:02:03:13
Liisa KulliMäki – “I DO IT FOR THE MONEY” 2009, 00:03:09:03
Paula Lehtonen, “gaze tease”, 2010, 00:02:04:00
Tiina Lillack – “life.jacket” 2008, 00:01:00:00
Chintelligens – “Mika Boogie?” 2010, 00:03:13:00
are proud to present
Global Art & Moving Images Awards #2
2nd touring screening program – “art & nature”
coordinated by Wilfried Agricola de Cologne
to be inaugurated on 24 August 2013
@ Strata Foundation Finland
http://www.strata.fi
List of videos
Manuel Ferrer and Alena Mesarosova (Spain/Slovakia) – Irreal Time, 2012, 3:30
exDoc – experimental documentary film festival -curator Agricola de Cologne
Claudia Borgna (It) – Sweep and weep, Weep and sweep, Under, Over, In, Out, Away, 2010, 11:09
CologneOFF VII (Gwermany) – curator: Agricola de Cologne
QNQ/AUJIK (SWE) – A Forest within a Forest, 2010, 5:10
animateCOLOGNE – curator: Agricola de Cologne
Adele Rackövi (Austria) – Croax – Evolution Errors, 2012, 4:00
VideoChannel (Germany) – curator: Agricola de Cologne
Wei Ming Ho (Taiwan) – The Art Qaeda Project, 2010, 4:11
Manipulated Image (Los Angeles/USA) curator: Alysse Stepanian
Louise Coetzer (RSA) – Dead Air, 2011, 5:12
Letters from the Sky Festival Capetwon (South Africa)- curator: Kai Lossgott
Derek Larson (USA) – Landscape, 2011, 10:34
STRATA Foundation (Finland) – curator: Pekka Ruuska
Yuliya Lanina (USA) – Dodo Valse, 2010, 2.46
Videoart Festival Miden Kalamata/Greece) – curator: Gioula Papadopoulou
Juliana Alvarenga (Brazil) – Winter Garden”, 2010: 03:56
VideoBabel – Videoart Festival Cuzco (Pru) – curator: Vera Tyuleneva
Andre Scucato & Cristina Pinhero (Brazil) – Mago, 2005, 3:26
FONLAD – Digital Art Festival (Portugal) – curator: Sergio Gomes
Dan Hudson (Canada) – River, 2011, 3:00
CologneOFF VIII (Germany) – curator: Agricola de Cologne
