"The First Balkan Biennial: Cosmopolis 1 Microcosmos X Macrocosmos"
2004-12-17 until 2005-02-13
State Museum of Contemporary Art
Thessaloniki, , GR Greece

The State Museum of Contemporary Art in cooperation with the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki will be holding an exhibition titled “Cosmopolis 1 Microcosmos X Macrocosmos”. Ten countries of South-Eastern Europe (Greece, Albania, F.Y.R.O.M, Serbia-Montenegro, Romania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia), with a total of 100 artists, will participate in the exhibition, which will be presented at Thessaloniki from December 17th 2004 until February 2005. The exhibition includes approximately 150 works of art, which cover all the spectrum of modern creativity (paintings, sculptures, engravings, photographs, installations, environments, video – art, performances, etc.).

General curator of the exhibition is Magda Carneci, professor of History of Art in the University of Paris and former member of the Board of Trustees of AICA, while the director of the S.M.C.A., professor of History of Art in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Miltiades Papanikolaou has the general coordination. Ten curators from the participating countries contributed also to the selection of works: Xanthipi Skarpia – Hoipel, Eleni Laperi - Koci, Ivana Udovicic, Maria Vassileva, Nada Beros, Suzanna Milevska, Ruxandra Balaci, Andjelkovic-Dimitrijevic Branislava, Zabel Igor and Genco Gulan.

This original large-scale exhibition of high international interest, in the form of a Biennale, will provide a regular arena for the presentation of contemporary art. Besides, this is the will of the organizing committee, which wants Cosmopolis to become a new European art institution.

The subtitle Microcosmos X Macrocosmos was suggested for “Cosmopolis 1”. The curators will attempt to explore the relationships between the regionalism and globalization, localism and cosmopolitanism, urban and rural landscape, through contemporary art. The exhibits will be presented in various locations in Stavroupoli, in the port of Thessaloniki (S.M.C.A museum), and the Macedonian Museum of Modern Art. A bilingual catalogue of 400 pages in Greek and in English will be published for the exhibition.

The exhibition “Cosmopolis 1” is held with the support of the Greek Ministry of Culture.

General coordinator of the exhibition: M. Papanikolaou, X. Hoipel General curator of the exhibition: M. Carneci

LISTS OF ARTISTS

ALBANIA
National curator: Eleni Laperi, Historian of art, director in Qenda Kulturore Lindart, Tirana. Artists: Najada Hamza, Flutura and Besnik Haxzillary, Merita Koci, Piro Koci, Gazmend Leka, Rudina Memaga, Suela Muca

BOSNIA – HERZEGOVINA
National curator: Jvana Jevdjevic-Udovicic, Curator in National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo. Artists: Danica Dakic, Sejla Kameric, Kurt and Plasto, Tvico Muhidin, Nebojsa Seric-Soba

BULGARIA
National curator: Maria Vassileva, Historian of Art, Sofia. Artists: Luchezar Boyadjiev, Boriana Dragoeva, Alla Georgieva, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Boris Missirkov/ Georgi Bogdanov, Nedko Solakov

CROATIA
National curator: Nada Beros, Historian of Art, Curator in Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb Artists: Dragica Antolovic, Aleksandar Battista Ilic/ Ivana Keser/ Tomislav Gotovac, Kristina Leko, Dalibor Martinis, Mladen Stilinovic, Ksenija Turcic, Slaven Toli

GREECE
National curator: Miltiades Papanikolaou, director of the S.M.C.A., professor of History of Art in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Artists:Elli Chrysidou, Kostis Georgiou, Emilia Papaphilipou, Personal Cinema group, Yiorgos Lazongas, Evanthia Tsantila, Eleni Theophylaktou, Kostas Varotsos, Richard Whitlock, Dimitris Xonoglu, Christos Bouronikos, Yiorgos Tsakiris, Theodoulos

F.Y.R.O.M.
National curator: Suzana Milevska, Art Theoretician, Curator in Museum of the City of Skopje, Skopje. Artists: Hristina Ivanovska, Slavica Janeslieva, Alecsandar Stankovski, Dijana Tomic-Radevska, Igor Tosevski, Zaneta Vangeli

ROMANIA
National curator: Ruxandra Balaci, Historian of art, Artist director in Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest. Artists: Irina Botea, Mircea Cantor, Ion Grigorescu, Mona Vatamanu & Florin Tudor, Calin Man Marilena Preda-Sanc, SubREAL

SERBIA - MONTENEGRO
National curator: Branislava Andjelkovic & Branislav Dimitrijevic, Historian of art, director in Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade. Artists: Milena Gordic, Zdravko Joksimovic, Goranka Matic, Darinka Pop Mitic, Rasa Todosijevic, Vuc Vidor

SLOVENIA
National curator: Igor Zabel, Historian of art, director in Moderna Galerija Ljubliana, Ljubliana. Artists: IRWIN, Ziga Kariz, Polonka Lovsin, Son:DA, Apolonja Sustersic, Grega Tao Sambolec

TURKEY
National curator: Genco Gulan, Theoretician-Historian of art, Istanbul. Artists: Ali Akay, Selda Asal, Nancy Atakan, Seyda Cesur, Memed Erdener, Gulsun Orhon

ARTISTS invited by the general curator Magda Carneci
Kostas Tsoklis (Greece)
Vlasta Delimar (Croatia)
Braco Dimitrijevic (Bosnia/France)
Vadim Fishkin (Russia / Slovenia)
Sanja Ivekovic (Croatia/Germany)
Wanda Mihuleac (Romania/Paris)
Paul Neagu (Romanian/London)
Valentin Stefanoff and Nina Kovacheva (Bulgaria/France)
Milica Tomic (Serbia/Austria)

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for Greece

Other Important Exhibitions in Greece