Syndicate: Venice meeting, June 1999

[andreas broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>]

here's the little text i wrote for the Oreste documentation; for the record
...; greetings, -a


[start of text here:]


Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 20:47:22 +0100
To: Oreste <bom1790@iperbole.bologna.it>
From: Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>
Subject: Syndicate: Venice meeting, June 1999

Dear friends,
here is a short reminiscence of the Syndicate meeting that we held in the
Oreste space at the Venice Biennial on 10 June 1999.
The 'Syndicate' is the (slightly ironic) name of a network of people
involved in media culture and media art in Europe. Established in January
1996 as a platform for the exchange of information and the fostering of
ties between East and West European cultural practitioners, the Syndicate
regularly organises meetings in different European cities and communicates,
in between these meetings, through an internet mailing list. At the
beginning of 2000, around 430 people from over 30 European and some
non-European countries are subscribed to this mailing list, most of them
artists, curators, organisers, critics, theorists. The division between
East and West is growing less important as people cooperate in
ever-changing constellations, in ad-hoc as well as long-lasting
partnerships.
The war in Kosovo and Yugoslavia in the spring of '99 heavily occupied the
network. Therefore it was important that we could organise a meeting in
Budapest even during the war. The meeting that happened in April '99 was
originally planned to take place at Cinema REX in Belgrade where it would
have brought together media artists, curators and critics from different
European countries, as well as from the FRYugoslavia, to initiate public
debate and informal discussions about the role of media art and electronic
culture in the ongoing transformation processes. The plans for this meeting
in Belgrade were overruled by the war situation that developed in
Yugoslavia in the second half of March '99. Nevertheless, there was a
strong feeling that a meeting should be held in order for people from the
network to be able to see each other, reaffirm old ties and to work
together on projects and ideas for responding to the renewed crisis
situation on the Balkans. Thus, the meeting was re-routed to Budapest where
a group of 38 people from 12 countries assembled and discussed the question
which role artists and cultural producers can play in such a situation.

Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 16:47:48 +0100
From: Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>
Subject: Syndicate: meeting in venice?

The opening days of the Biennale di Venezia are a great and crazy meeting
place for so many people, that it was an obvious choice to organise an ad
hoc gathering of Syndicate members - not least because it is an easy place
to get to from both the North-West, and from the South-East of Europe.

Data: martedì 1 giugno 1999 21.01
Da: bom1790 <bom1790@iperbole.bologna.it>
Oggetto: oreste says: welcome

The kind invitation to the Oreste space in the Italian Pavilion meant that
we had a central meeting place in the Giardini that was easily accessible
for many. The date was fixed for 10 June, 16.00 hrs.

From: "Roberta Iachini" <robiachi@tin.it>
Subject: from Emilio Fantin
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 21:13:24 +0200
The invitation card for Oreste space in Venice biennale (day 9-10-11june)
for 20 people are avalaible in the Library PATAGONIA Dorsoduro 3490/b 30123
Venezia tel 041.5285333

In the end, fewer people than expected showed up. The Macedonians,
Bulgarians and Albanians were involved in their Biennale presentation, the
Slovenes and the Romanians had their openings that same evening, the
presentation of IRWIN's Transnacionala book and the press conference for
the exhibition After the Wall - so many events were happening in parallel
that it was impossible to get everybody together in one place at the same
time.
Nevertheless, in the two or three hours that we spent on the Oreste
terrace, around twenty people showed up, had a coffee, exchanged some news,
discussed the situation on the Balkan and distributed some propaganda about
new and upcoming projects. Additionally, some Italian colleagues got their
introduction to the Syndicate. In the evening, many of us met again at the
street party of the Slovenian Pavilion opening. Those of us who had been
home or to the hotels in between, came back with the news and the first
pictures of the end of the bombing in Yugoslavia, and the first NATO troops
moving across the border into Kosovo. An uneasy relief dominated the
atmosphere that night.

Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 15:52:38 +0200
From: Andrej Tisma <aart@eunet.yu>
Subject: Syndicate: PEACE HAS FINALLY COME


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