Intermedia arts training and research
Most first-generation Slovene intermedia artists were trained at art academies in Slovenia (
Academy of Fine Arts and Design and
Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT) in Ljubljana) and conducted their own research into the field, while the younger generation has largely been taught at art academies and schools abroad, mostly in Vienna, Graz, London or Germany. A few supporting creators were taught at the
Faculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, the
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, and recently also at the
University of Nova Gorica. Since Autumn 2003 the
School of Audio Engineering (SAE) Institute, Slovene Branch has also offered a selection of relevant programmes.
Important educational input has been given by the intermedia arts practitioners themselves who regularly give lectures, though unfortunately mostly abroad rather than in Slovenia, eg Marko Košnik who has produced significant texts for various media and has conducted numerous workshops and lectures related to intermedia practices, Marko Peljhan (Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara) or Igor Štromajer.
Cyberpipe runs
Net art Pipa (Net Art Pipe, NAP), which is dedicated to the exploration of computer-based art. NAP features a monthly text dealing with specific issues relating to computer-based art and culture, together with a small selection of online art works and a short dictionary of basic terms related to art and technology.
Net art Pipa is a platform that provides an insight into the history and present state of computer art and related culture. It presents outlines of individual topics and aspects of computer art, the culture related to them and a selection of art works, with tradition and present moment in mind. The programme also includes so-called weekly ‘Open Dates’ - weekly meetings for information exchange - and the monthly LinuxAudioMeetMe (LAMM), which focuses on issues and sound/music productions connected with the Linux platform. Cyberpipe co-operates with numerous organisations in Slovenia, including the
Slo-Tech and
3delavnica website teams, regional multimedia centres (including
KIBLA Multimedia Centre) and organisations abroad (including Mama New Media Centre in Zagreb and HackLab in Pula). All lectures held at Cyberpipe are available in the video archive.
As performative practice constitutes a part of intermedia artistic practice, some performing arts producers have also made important contributions to the development of the field, most notably
Maska Institute, whose publishing arm
Maska Publishing has issued several books related to new media art. In June 2007
Bunker Institute organised the event
si(e)nergija, which was dedicated to science in the arts and arts in science. The
Jožef Štefan Institute (IJS), the one of Slovenia's leading scientific research agencies, dedicated its 2006 IJS Day to the theme Science and Arts.
Intermedia art theoreticians include Janez Strehovec, Srečo Dragan (Video Section,
Department of Design, Academy of Fine Arts and Design), Jože Vogrinec, Melita Zajc and Bojana Kunst. Younger curators focusing on intermedia arts include Dunja Kukovec, Nataša Petrešin, Bojana Piškur and Igor Španjol.
The challenge for the years ahead is to develop the infrastructure for intermedia arts education within a coherent cultural policy and funding framework, taking in consideration the huge theoretical and also pedagogic potential of intermedia arts practitioners and their international network.
