Intermedia arts producers
Apart from private independent cultural institutions established by intermedia artists themselves as a platform for production of their own and co-operative projects (the most significant being the
Egon March Institute,
Projekt Atol Institute,
Intima Virtual Base and
Aksioma Institute), only a handful of Slovene cultural organisations can be credited with supporting the intermedia arts fully from the outset. These are all non-governmental cultural institutions, and the most significant ones are as follows:
Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab is a pioneering epicentre of digital culture founded in 1995 by a group of new media artists and activists living and working in Ljubljana. Ljudmila has connected new media technologies and artistic projects, as well as encouraging broader creative uses of new technologies. It focuses on digital production as well as education, research and development of open standards software, providing knowledge, equipment, Internet access, website development, electronic publishing and other affordable networking services to non-governmental and non-profit organisations, art collectives and individuals active in these organisations.
KIBLA Multimedia Centre in Maribor, eastern Slovenia, is either a producer or a co-producer of various intermedia projects, often in partnership with other international producers. KIBLA is involved in the European projects Europrix TTA, E-contentplus, Patent and Interreg: INDU.PIK (together with Velenje), and is also a member of the Convention of European Multimedia Accelerator Convention (EMMAC), a technological project within the EU's Information Society Technologies (IST) Fifth Frame Programme. KIBLA was the main protagonist which compiled a nomination for the European Cultural Capital 2012 (Maribor with five other regional municipalities won the competition in Slovenia, see
http://www.maribor2012.si). It co-operates internationally and has organised several presentations abroad – a recent one was a presentation of intermedia arts in Belgrade in Summer 2007 called
Digitars (cf
http://digitars.kibla.org). KIBLA is the only multimedia centre in Slovenia that has its own venue -
KiBela Art Space - for the staging of middle-scale exhibitions.
Kapelica Gallery is Ljubljana’s most important space for presentation of Intermedia arts. Originating in 1995 and operating since 2000 as a project of
K6/4 Institute, it has produced both domestic and international projects and has provided a space for research where eminent artists involved in cybernetic or robotic art and body art practices have been presented since the 1990s, eg Stelarc, Marcel Li, Chico Mc Murphy, Survival Research Laboratories, Peljhan, Senclie, Symbiotica, De Menezes, Orlan, Tratnik, Tabar, Oreet Ashery, Riccardo Massari Spiritini, the Tissue Culture & Art Project, Paul Granjon, Bill Vorn, and Paul de Marinis.
Cyberpipe was established in 2001 within the
K6/4 Institute as a creative hub for various intermedia art-related activities and technologies, with an extensive programme of education.
The
m3c Multimedia Centres Network of Slovenia originated in the 1990s as a non-formal network known as the 'Cultural Information Backbone', which was set up as a means of stimulating media literacy and promoting the development of an information society. Providing both a technical as well as an organisational framework for production of intermedia art was one of most important objectives for the members of the network, which has since been extended with support of the Ministry of Culture and additional funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Known today as the m3c Multimedia Centres Network of Slovenia and currently comprising 15 regional centres, its main aim is to connect digital technologies based on the principles of an open and knowledge society and committed to creation, innovation, education and dissemination of information. Through long-term co-operation, the partner centres aim to establish and further develop an infrastructural and information-supportive environment in relation to information technology and digital culture. Multi-sectoral co-operation between multimedia centres in the network should also encourage training and facilitate the activities of people of all generations who are able to unite creativity, technology and management. In addition to its four original members -
KIBLA Multimedia Centre in Maribor,
Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab and
Cyberpipe in Ljubljana and
PINA Primorje Information Atelier in Koper-Capodistria, the members of the m3c Network in 2007 include
KRIK Pomurje Multimedia Centre in Murska Sobota,
Središče Art Centre in Prosenjakovci and
Prlekija Regional Multimedia Centre in Ljutomer (Pomurje Region),
Koroška Multimedia Centre in Slovenj Gradec (Koroška Region),
Kunigunda Regional Multimedia Centre (KRMC) in Velenje (Savinjska Region),
Mat Kultra Multi Media Centre in Zagorje ob Savi (Zasavje Region),
Posavje Multimedia Centre (MMC Posavje) in Krško (Posavje Region),
MMC Pulsar Multimedia Centre in Škofja Loka (Gorenjska Region),
Dolenjska Multimedia Centre in Novo mesto (South Eastern Slovenia), and
Mostovna Cultural Centre in Nova Gorica and
Mink Multimedia Centre, Tolmin in Tolmin (Goriška Region).
Museum of Modern Art Ljubljana has presented several international group exhibitions and has recently featured more and more intermedia arts, most notably the
Manifesta European Biennial of Contemporary Arts which took place in Ljubljana in 2000.
Of particular importance was the Foo Bar multimedia programme, organised by Dunja Kukovec at the Moderna galerija in 2002 and 2003. Since that time its ongoing programme of monthly events has sporadically featured events and projects by artists whose creativity is channelled through modern technology and who seek to explore technology’s impact on society. A notable example was Oscillations (2004), 30 days of sound events organised by Moderna galerija at its Mala Gallery, Moderna galerija Ljubljana, where intermedia art by the likes of Vadim Fiškin and son:DA is increasingly presented. An excellent overview of Slovene intermedia art production was presented at the exhibition
Territories, Identities, Nets: Slovene Art 1995-2005, and since that time new works have been co-produced at the 5th
U3 Triennial of Contemporary Slovene Arts of 2006, which was curated by Jurij Krpan, a programmer from
Kapelica Gallery. The latter exhibition presented artists’ work-in-progress conceived at art residencies abroad - BridA presented computer programs for visualisation, and Teo Spiller the making of WEB TV for artists; Sašo Sedlaček trash-spotted for space junk; Polona Tratnik presented the bacterial cultures of arts and culture practitioners; Mark Požlep researched the relationship between painting and new technologies; Viktor Bernik engaged in multimedia technologies and the influence of advertising; Srečo Dragan researched databases and information-collecting information, and Metka Zupanič reflected on social questions through the use of mobile phone technology.
