cinÉart
SO FAR, SO CLOSE
Photography exhibition
9 - 26 October
Abbaye de Neumünster (Agora Marcel Jullian, Caves voûtées)
Complementing the CinEast festival’s thematic cycle So Far So Close, an eponymous photography exhibition will be presented to the public, bringing together works of sixteen artists from Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, as well as Luxembourg, Italy and the Netherlands.
A quarter of a century has passed since the fall of the Berlin wall ended the painful division of Europe. 25 years during which the people of Eastern Europe, but also those from Western Europe, have strived to bring down the physical and economical barriers and remove the cultural and human boundaries that used to separate us. A quarter of a century seemed to be a good point in time to try to define the state of affairs of the reconciliation process. And this was the challenge taken up by the curator Jagna Olejnikowska, who has been searching for answers to some key questions by means of more than a dozen carefully selected photographic projects:
Are there still two distinct Europes or does only one Europe now remain? Can we still talk about the specific identity of Eastern Europe today? Is there a complete unification of Europe happening now? And, if so, is that desirable?
To highlight the complex relationships between the East and the West, the exhibition offers several principal aspects:
- What are the elements that best define the identity of Eastern Europe? The persistence of the communist times, a certain sociality, strong religiousness? (projects by Andrej Balco, Tamas Dezso, Federico Caponi)
- Have the changes of the last 25 years been mainly in the intense westernisation of Eastern Europe? (projects by Pawel Repetowski, Pawel Piotrowski, Henryk Kuœ and Przemek WoŸny) If so, have they contributed to a loss of traditional identity? (projects by Evžen Sobek, Wojciech Gepner and Rados³aw Budnicki?
- What are the current borders of Europe? Where does Western Europe end? Are any new borders appearing? What is the situation of countries on the fringes of the EU, such as Ukraine and Moldova? (projects by Nicole Segers, Dana Popa and Syl Geyer)
The elements of answers outlined by the photographers participating in the exhibition are often original and sometimes surprising. They will undoubtedly impel members of the audience to ask themselves whether what brings Eastern and Western Europe together is not ultimately stronger than what separates us. Is the wound inflicted by the Iron Curtain finally about to heal and give way to a more complex and multi-polar geometry?
Artists participating in the exhibition:
Andrej Balco (SK), Federico Caponi (IT), Tamas Dezso (HU), Syl Geyer (LU), Henryk Kuœ (PL), Dana Popa (RO/GB), Pawe³ Repetowski (PL), Nicole Segers (NL), Evžen Sobek (CZ), Pawe³ Piotrowski (PL), Mieszko Stanis³awski (PL) , Przemek WoŸny (PL), Rados³aw Budnicki (PL), Wojciech Gepner (PL), S³awek G³owacki (PL), Bart Ró¿alski (PL)
Curated by: Jagna Olejnikowska
Organised by CinEast asbl in collaboration and with the support of CCRN.