PRESS CENTRE

Ilze Stala
Public Relations Coordinator
Center for Art Management and Information (MMIC)
t. +371 7322196 / +371 9625062
info@dummyemail 
www.mmic.lv

"Pink House" Latvian Artists Call for a Discussion
english  italian  latvian

This year the multidisciplinary art project "Pink House" will be presented as a collateral event of the 51st International Venice Biennale. "Pink House" is an art project organised by the Latvian artists Aigars Bikše and Kristaps Gulbis, and the Center for Art Management and Information (MMIC).

The "Pink House" project focuses on analysing and evaluating various aspects of equality in the context of European western and eastern relations. Possibly, we are nearing a threshold in time where cultural zones of influence are changing – a time where principles that have exhausted themselves over millennia will be replaced by new ones.

Europe is battling between fear and hope while dismantling economic and political borders between Europe's East and West that have been considered immutable for centuries. This may be the highest point on the road to turning the idea of equality and equal opportunities into reality.

Are we embarking on new "barbarian times," where a rich but exhausted (outdated and depleted) culture is being superseded, giving way to a newer and more dynamic ethos that requires spiritual and physical living space for its development?

"Our 'Pink House' project is located in Venice's industrial district Marghera. We wish to accent the fact that Venice, which is often perceived as a tourist mecca and city-museum, harbours an entirely different neighbourhood that is also the living and breathing Venice of today. We are aiming to diminish elitism in art and culture, thereby offering openness and accessibility," comment the project's authors Kristaps Gulbis and Aigars Bikše.

The "Pink House" is a 150-square-meter-large, 9-meters-high, mobile, inflatable building, created in the style of classical Greek architecture. The sanctuary formation has preserved only its outer shell. The formation indicates former cultural symbols and signs that have lost their content and meaning. The banal colour accents a sign removed from its context becoming a component of pop culture.

Various activities will take place at the "Pink House" in accordance with the project's concept:

• a socio-political conference – in co-operation with "Transparency International Latvia – Delna";
• research on the situation in the society after the enlargement of EU;
• a cycle of panel discussions – ensuring an opportunity for various social groups, youth non-governmental organisations and European university students to express their ideas, defend their points of view, make presentations and provoke discussion;
• a mud fight tournament – between men and women, encouraging discussion on the possibility of equality in the broadest of contexts. The tournament will take place in a specially equipped 3-meter-large arena. The battles will be projected on a screen with the help of lighting and audio equipment, thus creating an impressive show.

A tent community will be set up around the "Pink House" for the project's supporters, volunteers, and the participants of the discussions, seminars and mud fights, thus creating a socially active atmosphere at the site of the project.

The project is part of the international co-operation programme "Generation Europe" that has received financial support from the EU programme "Preparatory Actions for Co-operation on Cultural Matters." The project will take place from 2005 to 2006 in nine European countries.

GENERATION EUROPE is international programme and network established by the Centre for Art Management and Information in Riga Latvia in collaboration with international partners. The primary aim of GENERATION EUROPE is the creation of experimental projects that would seek innovative solutions for breaking down elitism in artistic and cultural space through openness and accessibility, the involvement of passive segments of society in cultural processes and the integration of Europe’s cultures.

The GENERATION EUROPE partners are: Birmingham Institute of Art & Design University of Central England (UCE), United Kingdom; Ludwig Museum Budapest - Museum of Contemporary Art, Hungary; Bremen 2010, Germany; British Council, United Kingdom; Latvian Art Academy, Latvia.