International Festivals
Participation international art-projects: 'A Balkan Tale' [Goethe-Institut Athens Greece] ⋈ 'Accademia Dantesca' [Jahnishausen Germany] ⋈ 'Aberto Brasilia' & 'Anatomia da Escrita', [National Museum of Brasilia Brazil] ⋈ BAW Art Festival [Tirgu Mures Romania] ⋈ Encontros d'Imagem [Tibaes Portugal ] ⋈ 'Out of Space' [Fotofestival Lodz Poland]
Blind Walk / White Walk Analogio Festival Athens Greece.
Blind walk / White walk invites you to follow the steps of blind walkers, inspired by the novel Blindness of José Saramago and the blind prophet Tiresias in the poetry of Homer.
This bilingual (Greek/English) walk combines sound immersion with live performances between the contemporary Theater Technis in Plaka and the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus, along the road towards the Acropolis.
Actors: Jenny Dagla, Polyxeni Thanou, Charis Symeonidou, Yiannis Tsaparegas, Nikolaos Georges Chaldeakis
Sound walk / field recordings: Geert Vermeire
Compositions: Stefaan van Biesen
English texts read by Rosa Prodromou.
Blind Walk/White walk Homer and Saramago is a concept by Simona Vermeire and Sissy Papathanassiou
A collaboration between the Milena principle and AnalogioGR
A production by the Analogio Festival 2016
With the institutional support of the José Saramago Foundation, Lisbon.
Live performance, Sunday October, 2nd at 12 am.
Soundwalk made with / available on Echoes.xyz in PlayStore and AppleStore. Free download.
Anatomia da Escrita National Museum Brasilia Brazil 2012.
Exhibition Anatomia da Escrita by Yiannis Melanitis, Stefaan van Biesen and Geert Vermeire, produced by the Milena principle, at the National Museum of Brasilia closes its doors with 5.833 visitors, including Brasilian president Dilma Rousseff and ex-president Lula.
At the occasion of the visit of Dilma and Lula to the National Museum of Brasilia a closed reception was organized in the exhibiti...on space of Anatomia da Escrita with guests invited by the president and ex-president on April 25th, during the last week of the exhibition.
The interactive sound and video installation “360 degrees / travelling spaces” by Enrique Tomas, Stefaan van Biesen and Geert Vermeire was presented at the main space of the Bienal of Literature in Brasilia and had more than 2.000 participating visitors.
The introductory event to Anatomia de Escrita, called Corpus´Island, from March 1st to March 15th included lectures about visual arts and José Saramago by Simona Vermeire in the National Library / the National Museum of Brasilia and an exhibition of paintings by Yiannis Melanitis and videopoems by Stefaan van Biesen and Geert Vermeire in the National Library.
The project Anatomia de Escrita connected the act of writing with visual arts, including several art works inspired by the Portuguese writer José Saramago, and was a part of the artistic program of the Bienal of Literature 2012 in Brasilia, the largest of its kind in South America.
Artists: Yiannis Melanitis, Stefaan van Biesen, Geert Vermeire and Enrique Tomás. Literary consultant: Simona Vermeire. Curator: Geert Vermeire.
A Balkan Tale Soundproject Goethe-Institut Athens Greece 2012.
Enrique Tomás, Stefaan Van Biesen and Geert Vermeire are working together on several projects connecting literature with sound art via new medias and interactive technology. After a pilot project and workshops in SMAK, Museum of Contemporary Art in Ghent and at E-Culture Fair in Hasselt, followed projects in several museums and important cultural venues in Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Germany (Museum Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Museum Deichtorhallen Hamburg), Belgium (BOZAR), Italy and Turkey. On this moment an interactive poetry video and sound installation of Enrique Tomás, Stefaan Van Biesen and Geert Vermeire is presented at the Bienal of Literature of Brasilia, the largest of its kind in South America.
Brasilia Brazil 2012.
[the Library of Walks] Jardim Botanico.
During this land art festival Geert Vermeire will give workshops, lectures and organise public walks to complete 'the Library of Walks'. This installation is based on a study by Stefaan van Biesen [2003]. Now it can be seen for the first time during the very first land art festival in Brazil June-September 2012. The visitors will be invited to make a walk and put their findings or impressions in a glass jar. Then they will become a part of this library of experience.
The Library of Walks, an art project by Stefaan van Biesen, in cooperation with Geert Vermeire [since the Art Bienal BHTS Beveren Belgium 2003], and elaborated by both in a continuation of public walks and performances in numerous artistic interventions, is presented and created by Geert Vermeire at the exhibition Galeria Aberta at the Botanical Garden of Brasilia and the Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil. Geert Vermeire realises artistic walks and workshops about 'walking as an art' in the Botanical Garden, creating a first Library of Walks in Brasil.
Accademia Dantesca Jahnishausen Germany 2011.
Canto Indentro
Soundscape-Performance of the Milena principle at Accademia Dantesca Jahnishausen 04.06.2011 ⋈ [near Dresden] Germany. 'Canto I' from the Divina Comedia, Dante. 5 speakers & languages: Linda Ivens, Stefaan van Biesen, Annemie Mestdagh, Walter Van Dam and Geert Vermeire. An inferno of words. The soundscape 'Passio' was created by Stefaan van Biesen for this event.
The Milena principle was invited by the Accademia Dantesca Jahnishausen for an artistic project in which renaissance and contemporary culture are connected.The original Accademia was founded by King Johann of Saxony, who has translated Dante's Divine Comedy in Castle Jahnishausen. The King founded a group of artists, writers and experts, called the Accademia Dantesca, to discuss the work of Dante and to collaborate on an interdisciplinary way on this project. Famous member were for example Carl Gustav Carus and Ludwig Tieck.
The contemporary Accademica wants to restore this culture of dialogue with interdisciplinary meetings in the castle Jahnishausen. Goal is to iniate event linking the arts, culture and environment, as well working on the conservation and restoration of Castle Jahnishausen. The castle will be a meeting place between artists, cultural experts and ecological and environmental workers and act as an interdisciplinary center with projects open to participation for a large public.
Growing Silence Goethe-Institut Athens Greece 2011.
A project to promote the qualities of silence and space in an urban context. Our project is about the experience and importance of urban silence and the connection between space and silence.
Not the physical definition of silence, or the acoustical definition counts. Through a phenomenological approach to silence the artists explore how sound unambiguously works on the human being (in this case in an urban context). Silence is an instrument of experience and as well as an instrument of knowledge.
The project wants to realize a cultural bridge between the presence of silence as access to historical and natural soundscapes and the inner experience of silence. Silence is not limited to a material-accoustical aspect, silence is as well a part of city life as an inner space, a breating space.
This project tries to involve young people in the making of and creating of (urban) silence. We invite students and young artists into the design process and try to engage them in the future development of their environment and to excite them about the city. Approaching silence will explore silence in the city, looking for design tools for the shaping of places and urban experiences.
In the Goethe-Institut Athens the Belgian artists Stefaan van Biesen and Geert Vermeire show videos of performances and art projects in Germany, next to an installation/performance made in Athens, documenting urban artistic interventions realized together with students of the Athens School of Fine Arts.
Aberto Brasilia National Museum of Brasilia Brazil 2011.
Aberto Brasilia. the Milena principle [ Geert Vermeire and Stefaan van Biesen ], are invited by Wagner Barja, director of the National Museum of Brasilia and one of leading art curators in Brasil, to participate to 'Aberto Brasilia', a large exhibition about art in the public space of the city to be inaugurated in june. The event includes major Brasilian artists and as well six artistic projects from Europe and the USA. Works of arts and interventions will be shown in the public space of Brasilia and in several museums and other indoor spaces of the city, including the National Museum, the Funarte Complex for Contemporary Art of the Ministry of Culture and in the television tower. A large exhibition at the CCBB and gardens is presenting an overview of the works of the Milena principle and the other participating artists which include Waltercio Caldas Cildo Meireles, Guto Lacaz, Nelson Felix, Paulo Bruscky, Ronald Duarte, Antonio Manuel, Luis Alphonsus Guimaraens, , the collective Corpus informáticos, Karina Dias, Rodrigo Paglieri, Cirilo Quartin,... The event will be completed with conferences and conversations with the artists about contemporary art in urban and in public space.
http://www.abertobrasilia.com.br/
Fotofestival Lodz Poland 2011.
Fotofestiwal, Lodz is one of the biggest festivals of Poland. It takes place during spring time. A number of eminent artists, professional photographers, and individuals interested in photography arrive in Lodz during this festival. The festival was started in Lodz in 2002. The plan of holding the event in the city was an unprompted decision. The idea of conducting such an event was suggested by some of the members of the Institute of Culture Sociology, Lodz. Festival's main office is located in the Art Center, but the exhibitions are held throughout the Lodz. Exposures are accompanied by photography workshops, lectures, concerts and film screenings on topics related to photography. For several years FOTOFESTIWAL is the largest in Poland and one of the most significant events of its kind in Europe. Member of two world associations of photography festivals: Photo Festival Union and the Festival of Light. Thanks to permanently cooperates with international curators, who each year take part in creating the festival program.
Encontros d'Imagem Braga Portugal 2010-2011.
Now celebrating over 20 years, the Encontros da Imagem photography festival is held in Braga and is a leading visual arts event at the national and international level. Involving wide-ranging participation by Portuguese and foreign artists, the Encontros da Imagem festival shows works in various areas of photography – including historical, documentary and conceptual photography. The exhibitions are coordinated by the Museum of the Image and are held in various venues in the city, including the Casa dos Crivos, the Castle Keep, the Biscainhos Museum and the Monastery of Tibães.
BAW Art Festival [ Digital art ] Tirgu Mures Romania 2010 .
The Milena principle participated and advised at BAW in Tirgu Mures, a Festival that dedicates itself to the relation between science/technology and art, inspired by father and son Bolyai, both reknown early 19th century mathematicians, the latter one of the pioneers of non euclidean mathematics. At BAW Geert Vermeire worked together with Escoitar, our partner from Vigo/Santiago de Compostela, on several sound projects, exploring the city through sound, creating a sonoscope and experimenting together with Portuguese contemporary musicians/composers with the noTours technology of Escoitar. Simona Vermeire collaborated to a workshop for children and Geert and Simona Vermeire gave lectures about interdisciplinary approaches towards science and technology. We had as well the chance to meet Augustin Ioan, to discuss our mutual projects for Guimaraes 2012. The Festival has an academical/reflective part with conferences of artists and scientists, next to an experimental part, a "laboratory" where artists and scientists work together in small projects or workshops. It was organized by the Hungarian Academy for Science in Transylvania, connected with the Tirgu Mures University and by the City of Tirgu Mures in the renaissance Citadel of the city. The organisers were very enthusiast about our contribution and they want to engage themselves further in our activities. The president of the Hungarian Academy for Science in Transylvania, as well vice mayor of the city and a doctor in nuclear physics wants to elaborate the festival on an European scale, keeping the format as an academical/reflective part about 'science/technology and art' (in collaboration with international and local universities) and a more experimental part with a laboratory for art and technology/science workshops. Kamilla Csegzi is an architect and has the artistic direction. She's interested in integrating interactions in the urban space of the city with a social artistic and community directed approach. Their ambition is to organize events (with as well the intent to promote the heritage of the two Bolyais) in different countries in Europe. This intention fits perfectly into the approach of the Milena principle, connecting science with art, travelling events, a nomadic university with workshops in several countries. The connection technology and art is one of the specialities of Escoitar. To connect art and sound/technology in public space is as another important aspect of Escoitar and of our partner Spacepilots from London.