Over the next 12 months, Soteska and the TAM-TAM Street Gallery curatorial team will present 12 visual artists and graphic designers who, through the form of the public poster, open up fresh, provocative and in-depth reflections on how to (re)weave a resilient yet durable civil society, public spaces, street life and micro-communities.
Metod Blejec: Ripples between community and sustainability
documentary photographs of the project Ripples by Jakopič Gallery / 2023
5. 5.–1. 6. 2023
Agate Lielpētere: Who Will Feed the Cat While We’re Gone?
Triptych / 71 x 100 cm each / oil on cardboard / high-quality scan / 2023
24. 3.–28. 4. 2023
Humans, as much as some like to state the opposite, are pack animals. We depend on social interactions for mental stability, at least to some extent that is. However, in a state of crisis, much more than our mental endurance is at stake. We rely on each other’s skills, provisions, and experience.
The title of the work is a metaphor for our collective responsibility to care for one another and our environment. It highlights the importance of community and the impact it has on our chances of survival. As a society, we must learn to work together, to share our resources in order to multiply the favorable outcomes. The alternative is bleak: without anyone to feed the cat while you’re away, hunger will come, and the cat will die.
Our care for others serves as a sort of sincere, anti-capitalist form of currency of community, a reminder that our interconnectedness is not just a matter of social cohesion, but also a matter of survival.
BIO:
Agate Lielpētere (b. 1995) is a Latvian visual artist currently based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She holds a BA in arts and humanities with a specialization in graphic art from the Art Academy of Latvia, and is currently pursuing her MA in Contemporary Visual Practices at the Academy of Visual Arts in Ljubljana.
Lielpētere’s artwork has been showcased in various solo and group exhibitions, both locally and internationally. Her practice is characterized by its layered and deeply ironic nature, focusing on social issues and the search for identity. Through her work, she seeks to explore the complexities of the human condition in a way that is both thought-provoking and engaging.
The artist states: “My bad sense of humour runs in the family, blame them.” This lighthearted approach to the serious topics she explores adds an additional layer of depth to her work, inviting viewers to consider and engage with these issues in a more approachable manner.
Community and resilience: report on the work of the committee
On 20 January 2023, at the invitation of the TAM-TAM Institute, Soteska Cultural Quarter launched an open call for artworks for an exhibition as part of the TAM-TAM Street Gallery for the period March 2023-March 2024. The call was published on the TAM-TAM and Glej Theatre websites and was open until 10 February 2023 inclusive.
Within the deadline, 14 applications were received by email to poziv@glej.si. Four of these applications did not contain sufficient information about the proposal to be evaluated on an equal footing, in the committee's judgement, and the authors were invited to complete their application. All of them responded to the invitation and the proposals received were submitted for review and consideration.
The selection committee was composed of:
Bor Pungerčič - curator of Street Gallery 2023,
Tomaž Drozg - representative of the organiser - TAM-TAM Institute,
Inga Remeta - representative of the Soteska association,
Primož Zorko - expert member of the committee.
The primary criteria on the basis of which the jury evaluated the proposals were:
- consistency with the theme of the call for proposals - "community and resilience",
- consistency with the format of the Street Gallery - an artistic city poster,
- the quality of the proposed concept,
- the quality of the visual address and artistic expression.
In addition to the above, the committee also paid close attention to the questions:
- whether (or to what extent) each proposed work offers a reflection on the role and understanding of community and resilience,
- whether it raises interesting and relevant questions about the chosen topic,
- whether it challenges or questions the established form of the urban poster.
In addition to the questions posed, it also examined the rationality of executing the proposal within the envisaged technological, time and financial constraints of the Street Gallery.
In the first round of the review, the Commission focused on examining the appropriateness of the format of the works received and, on the basis of this criterion, eliminated two works. In the second round of review, the overall conclusion of the committee was that most of the works lacked sufficient contextual connection to the call theme - community and resilience. On the basis of this criterion, it eliminated half - 6 - of the remaining 12 proposals. In the third round, the committee then selected the 3 works that, in its opinion, had the greatest potential in terms of content and art, and decided to invite the artists to further collaborate and develop the final solutions that will be presented to the public as part of the Street Gallery's exhibition programme in 2023/24.
The authors of the selected works are:
Jovana Đukič and Maša Pušnik,
Teja Gregorič,
Tomi Rihtar.
We congratulate the selected authors and look forward to further cooperation!
We would also like to thank all the participants for their participation and for the effort, time and energy they have invested,
the organizing team of the Street Gallery and Soteska Cultural Quarter
Call for artworks for the TAM-TAM Street Gallery exhibition
Over the next 12 months, the Street Gallery curatorial team will present 12 young visual artists and graphic designers who, through the form of the public poster, open up fresh, provocative and in-depth reflections on how to (re)weave a resilient yet durable civil society, public spaces, street life and micro-communities.
To this end, we are launching a call entitled Community and resilience, inviting all interested parties to submit their new or existing unpublished work that can be directly or indirectly related to the theme of community and resilience. The works will be on display for a month between March 2023 and February 2024 at the TAM-TAM Street Gallery on Vegova street in Ljubljana, accompanied by a promotional event to mark the opening of the exhibition.
What we offer:
- a month-long exhibition at the TAM-TAM Street Gallery on Vegova street,
- a nominal fee and the cost of poster production,
- organisation of a promotional side-event and promotion of the exhibition.
Your application should include:
- a short biography of the applicant,
- the status of the artist or artistic group (student, self-employed, etc.),
- a brief summary of the artwork,
- information on whether the work has already been published.
Applications will be accepted up to and including February 10th 2023 by email to poziv@glej.si.
ON THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY AND RESILIENCE
The proposed curatorial concept of the TAM-TAM Street Gallery for 2023 intertwines two red threads, which also underpin the central idea of the cultural quarter Soteska - community and resilience.
The dictionary establishes "odpornost/resilience" as "endurance, resilience and endurance". It refers to "the way an individual or system copes with and adapts to negative trials or stresses, especially illness, threats, natural disasters, loss of security, loss of position, and may even be strengthened after the ordeal is over". "Resilience" appears in several international documents, especially in relation to the announced post-Covid-19 recovery plan.
Jeff Schlegelmilch, Associate Director of the US National Center for Disaster Preparedness, has this to say on the subject: "Research on past disasters shows that the most important factor in survival is social cohesion and inter-community support. Talk to a neighbour, organise a street party, get to know the people you may need to survive the storm with."
The artists will be selected through an open call and direct selection by a curatorial team led by Bor Pungerčič. The results of the selection will be announced at the end of February 2023.
ABOUT TAM-TAM STREET GALLERY
The TAM-TAM Street Gallery on Vegova street is one of the TAM-TAM Institute's galleries that provide a space for young up-and-coming artists to present themselves to the widest possible audience, and for passers-by to experience an unexpected artistic glimpse that enriches the public space. With over 200 artists' works displayed so far, the street galleries are a great example of how to breathe new life into poster boards in unexpected locations with a vision, and bring together artists from a wide range of artistic practices in the process.
ABOUT TAM-TAM STREET GALLERY
The TAM-TAM Street Gallery on Vegova street is one of the TAM-TAM Institute's galleries that provide a space for young up-and-coming artists to present themselves to the widest possible audience, and for passers-by to experience an unexpected artistic glimpse that enriches the public space.
The project Community and resilience _ TAM-TAM Street Gallery - Soteska 2023 is produced under the auspices of the Soteska Cultural Quarter, organised by the TAM-TAM Institute and Glej Theatre.
