Prague Biennale 6
Opening: June 6-8, 2013
End date: September 15, 2013
Location: Freight Railway Station, Želivského St. 2, Praha 3 – Žižkov, Czech Republic
Transport: Subway Želivského / Tram: 9, 10, 16, 26
After the pioneering first edition, organized with the National Gallery in 2003, and following with three successful editions in the industrial space of Karlin Hall, the last edition took place in the Microna skyscraper. The 6th edition in 2013 it is based at the functionalist railway station from 1936, designed by Karel Caivas and Vladimír Weiss, in the vibrant district of Žižkov – the only freight railway station in the Czech Republic, which was recently pronounced as a national monument in March 2013.
The crucial point of Prague Biennale 6 is the section Expanded Painting, curated by Helena Kontova, Giancarlo Politi and Nicola Trezzi, which presents, as always, a spectacular international selection of contemporary painting. Participating artists include some major names on the international art scene including Ali Banisadr (US/IR), Lee Seung-Taek (KR), Bruno Munari (IT), Entang Wiharso (ID) and John Henderson (US).
This year, the former section of Prague Biennale dedicated to Czech contemporary art expands to an international context. The curators of the section titled Flow, Zuzana Blochová and Patricia Talacko, do not define generational or local connections nor the current direction of contemporary art. Rather than being similar in content and form, what the artists have in common is their ability to let oneself be carried away and to suppress the intellectual, logical and speculative part of thinking which in turn gives a unique integrity to the works. Among the participants are Quirin Bäumler (DE), Dirk Bell (DE), Milan Grygar (CZ), Čestmír Kafka (CZ), Esther Kläs (DE/US), Barbara Kasten (US), Viktorie Valocká (CZ), Lenka Vítková (CZ), Dominic Wood (AU/DE), B.Wurtz (US).
The Slovak section Beyond the Art, curated by Mira Sikorová-Putišová, will present work by a selection of renowned Slovak artists who predominantly live abroad. Their interactive and relational work is centred on social issues. Participating artists include Anton Čierny (SK), Katarina Hládeková (SK/CZ), Jana Kapelová (SK/CZ), Michal Murin (SK), Lucia Nimcova (SK / NL / BE).
Prague Biennale Photo 3 is titled Photography, Reconstructed and curated by Pavel Vančát. It aims to capture the current non-figurative tendencies, as reactions to the decline of modern photography. Instead of simply capturing reality, the exhibited artists work with the deconstruction and reconstruction of the modernist photographic image. The picture here is not simply being shot, but built up as a commentary to the image or even its critique. Among the participants are Jörg Sasse (DE), Barbara Karsten (USA) Markéta Othová (CZ), Miriam Böhm (DE), Petr Strouhal (CZ), Chris Jones (UK), Jiří Thýn (CZ), Jaroslav Rössler (CZ), Shannon Finley (USA) and others.