Difference between revisions of "P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute"

Revision as of 00:30, 25 June 2016

The P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute is an umbrella organisation for the activities of the internationally renowned Slovene artist Tadej Pogačar, used both for his varied and rich art productions, as well as for his many institutional endeavours – the P74 Centre and Gallery and the Kapsula Gallery bookshop/project space, the annually presented OHO Group Award, the Sound Explicit Festival and the The International Biennial of Short Video.

Having recently turned its focus to artists' books – with the aim to produce, present, distribute and sell them – the organisation has also created the Artist's Book Collection of the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute. Since 2010 it runs the biennial Blind Date Convention, Festival of the Artist’s Book.

TADEJ POGAČAR & the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E.Museum of Contemporary Art by SODOBNA UMETNOST / CONTEMPORARY ART on YouTube

Background

The historical base for the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute was Tadej Pogačar's series of art projects that took place in the beginning of the 1990s, entitled the Museum of Contemporary Art. In 1993, this was turned into an actual institution and was renamed as the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art (PMCA).

Since then, a number of further branches of the institute have been formed. First one among them was the P74 Centre and Gallery, opened in 1991 in Šentvid, a somewhat peripheral neighbourhood of Ljubljana. Later, in 2008 – with the intention to be more actively present on the (international) art market and to bring the gallery's activities closer to the public – the Kapsula Gallery bookshop/project space was set up in an underground shopping arcade in the Ljubljana centre. In February 2012 both galleries moved to the Šiška Cultural Quarter.

Tadej Pogačnik

Tadej Pogačar exhibited his work at numerous renowned galleries and museums around the world – the MUMOK in Vienna, the San Francisco Art Institute, the NGBK in Berlin, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Central House of Artists in Moscow, and the Museo de Arte Carillo Gil in Mexico City.

In 2014 a major retrospective exhibition Tadej Pogačar & the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art: Hills and Valleys and Mineral Resources was set up by the Moderna galerija (MG) in Ljubljana, and was later also shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb.

PMCA

The P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art (PMCA) functions as a virtual institution which exists without its own space – it rather settles into territories and networks of other institutions, operating according to the principles of new parasitism. Its operations are geared towards analysing and deconstructing the symbolic centres of power. Very notable acts in this vein were the reworking of the logotype of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the theft of the introductory speech of the director of the Guggenheim from its homepage.

PMCA Projects and exhibitions

P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. realised numerous interventions into collections of other museums, including the collection of Ljubljana's Museum of Modern Art; Tretjak’s African Collection at Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts; the collection of the National Museum of Contemporary History, Ljubljana; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Naturmeuseum, Rotterdam; Műcsarnok, Budapest; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; the Max Liebermann Haus, Berlin; the Limerick City Gallery, Limerick; and the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig.

One of the more widely echoed projects of the PMCA was Kings of the Street (1995), at that time one of the first artistic street actions that actively involved the homeless people of Ljubljana. Even more resounding was the collaborative trans-disciplinary project CODE:RED (1999–2010), for which Pogačar was awarded the Rihard Jakopič Award in 2009 and about which a book was published in 2010. It comprehensively dealt with the phenomena of sex workers, and PMCA received international media attention with its 1st World Congress of Sex Workers at the 49th Venice Biennale and New Parasitism at the Padiglione dei Sex Worker in Giardini. It was also shown at a number of international events like the Manifesta 1 in Rotterdam (1996) and at the biennials in São Paulo, Venice, Istanbul, Prague, and Tirana.

In its more recent collaborative projects PMCA has also delved into artistic research and analysis of topics such as alternative urban strategies, parallel economies, and human trafficking.

PMCA publications

Among the numerous PMCA publications, one can mention 6 thematic editions of the Journal for Anthropology and New Parasitism, 2 editions of the thematic newspaper Sex Worker, and the 2007 overview about the work of PMCA, titled The Best is Yet to Come. It includes essays by Zdenka Badovinac, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Miško Šuvaković and Igor Zabel discussing the beginning of the PMCA, its strategies of parasitism and its historical and cultural significance, and situating the practice within the local and international context.

Open calls for artists

Foremost of the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E.'s open calls is the one for the OHO Group Award, which is annually awarded to a young Slovene artist under the age of 35. The institute organises it in cooperation with the Foundation for a Civil Society from New York, and sends the winners there for a two-month residency.

Additionally, the institute also regularly invites local and international artists to express themselves by artist's books, video pieces or various new media formats. Since 2008 the institute also makes a public call for artists to create short, 5-minute videos, and organises the International Biennial of Short Video.

Artists' books

As of 2004 the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute started to systematically support and popularise the production of artists' books and artist editions of both national and international authors. It has published the artists' books of many Slovene authors, among them Andrejka Čufer, Matej Stupica, Jure Engelsberger, Zora Stančić, Dejan Habicht, Tadej Pogačar, Jaka Železnikar, Andreja Džakušič, Mina Fina, Tanja Lažetič, Mladen Stropnik, Petra Varl, as well as by internationally acclaimed artists such as Mladen Stilinović, Dalibor Martinis, Sanja Iveković, Vlado Martek, Lala Raščić, Balint Szombathy and Dan Perjovschi.

Since 2009 the institute presents and sells artists' books at international art fairs such as the Miss Read in the Kunstwerke Berlin, NY Art Book Fair in P.S.1, Centre of Contemporary Arts, and at fairs in Los Angeles, Paris and Brussels. Some of the books have been included in the artists' books collections of eminent institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the MoMA in New York, the Museum of Modern Art Weserburg, the South End University in London and the CNEAI Paris. They can also be purchased in specialised bookshops such as Boekie.Woekie (Amsterdam), Pro-qm and Motto (Berlin), Printed Matter (New York), Castilo-Coralles and Florence Loewy (Paris).

The aforementioned artists' books constitute the core of the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute collection. Yet, since 2005 the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute has also acquired (by exchange or purchase) more than 170 other artists' books from all around. The books are occasionally featured at events prepared by P74 and Kapsula.

Since 2007 the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute organised several seminars about artists' books, during which many authors had offered their theoretical or practical views on the topic. Among these authors were the Croatian artist Vlado Martek, the British artist and publisher Anthony Auerbach, and the Slovene artist Marko Pogačnik, a member of the avant-garde group OHO in which he established the concept of the OHO editions (1965–1968).

Sound Explicit

In 2003 the institute introduced a new series of music events, first held at the P74 Centre and Gallery premises. As of 2011 the Sound Explicit Festival has moved to the Jakopič Gallery, where it takes place each September or October. The festival is dedicated to experimental and improvised music by Slovene artists, though it is occasionally also featuring international guests.

External links

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 | managed by          =
 | contacts = {{Contact
+| name                = Tadej Pogačar
+| role                = Director
+| telephone           = 386 (0) 1 542 5685
+| email               = tpogacar@yahoo.com
+}}
+{{Contact
 | name                = Tadej Pogačar
 | role                = Director
@@ Line 23: / Line 29: @@
 {{Teaser|
-The [[P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute]] is the umbrella organisation for the activities of the internationally renowned Slovene artist [[Tadej Pogačar]] and those of two independent gallery spaces in Ljubljana: the [[P74 Centre and Gallery]] and the [[Kapsula Gallery]] bookshop/project space. P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute is also the founder and organiser of the [[OHO Group Award]].
+The [[P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute]] is an umbrella organisation for the activities of the internationally renowned Slovene artist [[Tadej Pogačar]], used both for his varied and rich art productions, as well as for his many institutional endeavours &ndash; the [[P74 Centre and Gallery]] and the [[Kapsula Gallery]] bookshop/project space, the annually presented [[OHO Group Award]], the [[Sound Explicit Festival]] and the [[The International Biennial of Short Video]].
-Having turned its focus to artists' books with the aim not only to produce, present, distribute, and sell them (at international art fairs, in both gallery spaces, and on the Internet), the organisation has also created the the Artist's Book Collection of the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute. Since 2010 it runs a biennial [[Blind Date Convention, Festival of the Artist’s Book]].
+Having recently turned its focus to artists' books &ndash; with the aim to produce, present, distribute and sell them &ndash; the organisation has also created the ''Artist's Book Collection of the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute''. Since 2010 it runs the biennial [[Blind Date Convention, Festival of the Artist’s Book]].
-Last but not least, the institute is the basis for the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art (PMCA) &ndash; Pogačar's variegated and rich art production, known internationally for its methodology called the "new parasitism".
 }}
@@ Line 33: / Line 37: @@
 ==Background==
-The historical base for the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute was [[Tadej Pogačar|Tadej Pogačar's]] series of art projects entitled the ''Museum of Contemporary Art'' realised in the beginning of the 1990s, which in [[Established::1993]] was established as an official institution and renamed the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art (PMCA). Since then many projects have been accomplished and further branches of the institute have been formed: in 1999 the P74 Center and Gallery was opened at Prušnikova 74 in Ljubljana's peripheral Šentvid neighbourhood; to bring the gallery activities in many senses closer to the public and with the intention to be present on the (international) art market the [[Kapsula Gallery]] bookshop/project space was opened in 2008 in the underground shopping arcade Podhod Ajdovščina in the Ljubljana centre. In February 2012 both galleries and the seat of the institute moved in the [[Šiška Cultural Quarter]].
+The historical base for the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute was [[Tadej Pogačar|Tadej Pogačar's]] series of art projects that took place in the beginning of the 1990s, entitled the ''Museum of Contemporary Art''. In [[Established::1993]], this was turned into an actual institution and was renamed as the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art (PMCA).
+Since then, a number of further branches of the institute have been formed. First one among them was the [[P74 Centre and Gallery]], opened in 1991 in Šentvid, a somewhat peripheral neighbourhood of Ljubljana. Later, in 2008 &ndash; with the intention to be more actively present on the (international) art market and to bring the gallery's activities closer to the public &ndash; the [[Kapsula Gallery]] bookshop/project space was set up in an underground shopping arcade in the Ljubljana centre. In February 2012 both galleries moved to the [[:Category:Šiška Cultural Quarter|Šiška Cultural Quarter]].
+==Tadej Pogačnik==
+[[Tadej Pogačar]] exhibited his work at numerous renowned galleries and museums around the world &ndash; the MUMOK in Vienna, the San Francisco Art Institute, the NGBK in Berlin, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Central House of Artists in Moscow, and the Museo de Arte Carillo Gil in Mexico City.
+In 2014 a major retrospective exhibition ''Tadej Pogačar & the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art: Hills and Valleys and Mineral Resources'' was set up by the [[Moderna galerija (MG)]] in Ljubljana, and was later also shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb.
 ==PMCA==
-The P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art (PMCA) became renowned for the reworking of the logotype of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the theft of the introductory speech of the director of the Guggenheim from its homepage.
-PMCA functions as a virtual institution which exists without its own space and employees, but rather merely settles into territories, locations, and networks and feeds off the juices of institutions, operating according to the principles of new parasitism. Its operation is thus oriented into the analysis and deconstruction of the symbolic centres of power and the search for parallel models of cultural, economic, and social operation. The PCMA establishes inter-specific relations with institutions and social groups in order to enforce changes in the operation with the analysis of relations and actions within the systems. In recent collaborative projects PMCA has dealt with the research and analysis of alternative urban strategies, parallel economies, and human trafficking in selected urban areas.
+The P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art (PMCA) functions as a virtual institution which exists without its own space &ndash; it rather settles into territories and networks of other institutions, operating according to the principles of ''new parasitism''. Its operations are geared towards analysing and deconstructing the symbolic centres of power. Very notable acts in this vein were the reworking of the logotype of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the theft of the introductory speech of the director of the Guggenheim from its homepage.
-===Projects and exhibitions===
+===PMCA Projects and exhibitions===
-in the past two decades are numerous interventions into the collections of other museums followed, including the collection of Ljubljana's [[Museum of Modern Art]]; Tretjak’s African Collection at [[Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts]]; the collection of the [[National Museum of Contemporary History]] Ljubljana; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Naturmeuseum, Rotterdam; Műcsarnok, Budapest; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; the Max Liebermann Haus, Berlin; the Limerick City Gallery, Limerick; and the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig.
-One of the most widely echoed projects of the PMCA was ''Kings of the Street'' (1995), also one of the first artistic street actions with Ljubljana's homeless people, as well the on-going collaborative trans-disciplinary project ''CODE:RED'' (1999&ndash;2010), for which Pogačar was awarded the [[Rihard Jakopič Award]] in 2009 and about which a book was published in 2010.
+P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. realised numerous interventions into collections of other museums, including the collection of Ljubljana's [[Museum of Modern Art]]; Tretjak’s African Collection at [[Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts]]; the collection of the [[National Museum of Contemporary History]], Ljubljana; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Naturmeuseum, Rotterdam; Műcsarnok, Budapest; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; the Max Liebermann Haus, Berlin; the Limerick City Gallery, Limerick; and the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig.
-The PMCA received wide media attention and fame with its ''1st World Congress of Sex Workers'' at the 49th Venice Biennale and ''New Parasitism'' at the Padiglione dei Sex Worker in Giardini. It also cooperated on a number of international manifestations including the Manifesta 1 in Rotterdam (1996) and at the biennials in São Paulo, Venice, Istanbul, Prague, and Tirana. [[Tadej Pogačar]] had exhibitions at the MUMOK in Vienna, the San Francisco Art Institute, the NGBK in Berlin, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Central House of Artists in Moscow, and the Museo de Arte Carillo Gil in Mexico City.
+One of the more widely echoed projects of the PMCA was ''Kings of the Street'' (1995), at that time one of the first artistic street actions that actively involved the homeless people of Ljubljana. Even more resounding was the collaborative trans-disciplinary project ''CODE:RED'' (1999&ndash;2010), for which Pogačar was awarded the [[Rihard Jakopič Award]] in 2009 and about which a book was published in 2010. It comprehensively dealt with the phenomena of sex workers, and PMCA received international media attention with its ''1st World Congress of Sex Workers'' at the 49th Venice Biennale and ''New Parasitism'' at the Padiglione dei Sex Worker in Giardini. It was also shown at a number of international events like the Manifesta 1 in Rotterdam (1996) and at the biennials in São Paulo, Venice, Istanbul, Prague, and Tirana.
-In 2014 a retrospective exhibition ''Tadej Pogačar & the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art: Hills and Valleys and Mineral Resources'' was featured at the [[Moderna galerija (MG)]] in Ljubljana. In late 2015 it travelled to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb.
+In its more recent collaborative projects PMCA has also delved into artistic research and analysis of topics such as alternative urban strategies, parallel economies, and human trafficking.
 ===PMCA publications===
-Besides 6 thematic editions of the ''Journal for Anthropology and New Parasitism'', 2 editions of the thematic newspaper ''Sex Worker'', in 2007 P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute published the most comprehensive survey to date about the work of PMCA entitled ''The Best is Yet to Come''. It includes essays by [[Zdenka Badovinac]], Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Miško Šuvaković, and [[Igor Zabel]] that discuss the beginning of the PMCA, strategies of parasitism and its historical and cultural significance, and situate the practice within the local and international context. The book is distinguished by opulent image documentation, divided into chapters by early actions, the major projects carried out between 1994 and 2005, and concluding with a look at the PMCA's then recent projects, some of which had not yet been presented to the public.
+Among the numerous PMCA publications, one can mention 6 thematic editions of the ''Journal for Anthropology and New Parasitism'', 2 editions of the thematic newspaper ''Sex Worker'', and the 2007 overview about the work of PMCA, titled ''The Best is Yet to Come''. It includes essays by [[Zdenka Badovinac]], Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Miško Šuvaković and [[Igor Zabel]] discussing the beginning of the PMCA, its strategies of parasitism and its historical and cultural significance, and situating the practice within the local and international context.
 ==Open calls for artists==
-Beside the open call for applications for the [[OHO Group Award]] awarded to a young Slovene artist under the age of 35, which the institute organises in cooperation with the Foundation for a Civil Society from New York, P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute also annually invites local and international artists to express themselves in artist's book and video formats.
-===Short videos===
+Foremost of the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E.'s open calls is the one for the [[OHO Group Award]], which is annually awarded to a young Slovene artist under the age of 35. The institute organises it in cooperation with the Foundation for a Civil Society from New York, and sends the winners there for a two-month residency.
-Since 2008 P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute makes a public call for entries to artists creating 5-minute videos. Since 2010 the call for proposals addresses local and international artists/video makers. Another novelty is its thematic focus. The first thematic-focused edition exposing the notion of ''Simple Living'' with the aim of reaching the notion of simpleness. Twelve art works selected by a jury featured in the [[Jakopič Gallery]] in October 2010 within the first [[Blind Date Convention, Festival of the Artist’s Book]].
+Additionally, the institute also regularly invites local and international artists to express themselves by artist's books, video pieces or various new media formats. Since 2008 the institute also makes a public call for artists to create short, 5-minute videos, and organises the [[International Biennial of Short Video]].
 ==Artists' books==
-Since 2004 the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute systematically supports and popularises the production of artists' books and artist editions of national and international authors. The call for entries is usually published annually in the second part of the year, out of which the jury (consisting each year of new members) chooses an artist on the basis of the most interesting proposal/concept to publish her/his book with the assistance of the institute.
+As of 2004 the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute started to systematically support and popularise the production of artists' books and artist editions of both national and international authors. It has published the artists' books of many Slovene authors, among them [[Andrejka Čufer]], [[Matej Stupica]], [[Jure Engelsberger]], [[Zora Stančić]], [[Dejan Habicht]], [[Tadej Pogačar]], [[Jaka Železnikar]], [[Andreja Džakušič]], [[Mina Fina]], [[Tanja Lažetič]], [[Mladen Stropnik]], [[Petra Varl]], as well as by internationally acclaimed artists such as Mladen Stilinović, Dalibor Martinis, Sanja Iveković, Vlado Martek, Lala Raščić, Balint Szombathy and Dan Perjovschi.
-Within this programme the institute has published the artists' books of Slovene authors [[Andrejka Čufer]], [[Matej Stupica]], [[Jure Engelsberger]], [[Zora Stančić]], [[Dejan Habicht]], [[Tadej Pogačar]], [[Boštjan Pucelj]], [[Jaka Železnikar]], [[Andreja Džakušič]], [[Mina Fina]], [[Tanja Lažetič]], [[Zora Stančić]], [[Mladen Stropnik]], [[Petra Varl]], and [[Leon Zuodar]] as well as internationally acclaimed conceptual artists such as Mladen Stilinović, Dalibor Martinis, Sanja Iveković, Vlado Martek, Lala Raščić, Balint Szombathy and Dan Perjovschi.
-Since 2009 P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute presents and sells artists' books also at international art fairs such as the Miss Read in the Kunstwerke Berlin, NY Art Book Fair in P.S.1, Centre of Contemporary Arts,  in Los Angeles, Paris and Brussels. Some of the books have been included in theartists' books collections of the eminent institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the MoMA in New York, the Museum of Modern Art Weserburg, the South End University in London and the CNEAI Paris. They can also be purchased in specialised bookshops such as Boekie.Woekie (Amsterdam), Pro-qm and Motto (Berlin), Printed Matter (New York), Castilo-Coralles and Florence Loewy (Paris).
+Since 2009 the institute presents and sells artists' books at international art fairs such as the Miss Read in the Kunstwerke Berlin, NY Art Book Fair in P.S.1, Centre of Contemporary Arts, and at fairs in Los Angeles, Paris and Brussels. Some of the books have been included in the artists' books collections of eminent institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the MoMA in New York, the Museum of Modern Art Weserburg, the South End University in London and the CNEAI Paris. They can also be purchased in specialised bookshops such as Boekie.Woekie (Amsterdam), Pro-qm and Motto (Berlin), Printed Matter (New York), Castilo-Coralles and Florence Loewy (Paris).
-The aforementioned artists' books constitute the core of the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute collection. Since 2005 P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute has acquired (by exchange or purchase) more than 170 artists' books of national and international authors. The books are occasionally featured within events prepared at [[P74 Centre and Gallery|P74]] and [[Kapsula Gallery|Kapsula]].
+The aforementioned artists' books constitute the core of the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute collection. Yet, since 2005 the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute has also acquired (by exchange or purchase) more than 170 other artists' books from all around. The books are occasionally featured at events prepared by [[P74 Centre and Gallery|P74]] and [[Kapsula Gallery|Kapsula]].
-Since 2007 the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute prepared several seminars about artists' books, where many (inter)national authors had offered their theoretical or practical views on the topic, usually followed by open discussions. In 2007 the Croatian artist Vlado Martek gave a workshop entitled ''The Artist's Book as an Aspect of Activism''. In the same year two further seminars were held by the British artist, author, and publisher Anthony Auerbach; and the Slovene artist [[Marko Pogačnik]] a member of the avant-garde group OHO who talked about the books as creative tools, where he presented also the concept of the OHO editions (1965&ndash;1968).
+Since 2007 the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute organised several seminars about artists' books, during which many authors had offered their theoretical or practical views on the topic. Among these authors were the Croatian artist Vlado Martek, the British artist and publisher Anthony Auerbach, and the Slovene artist [[Marko Pogačnik]], a member of the avant-garde group OHO in which he established the concept of the OHO editions (1965&ndash;1968).
 ==Sound Explicit==
-In 2003 the institute introduced a new series of music events, first held in the P74 Centre and Gallery premises on the Prušnikova street. Since 2011 the [[Sound Explicit Festival]] has taken place at the [[Jakopič Gallery]] in September. The festival is dedicated to research, experimental and improvised music by Slovene artists, featuring also some international guests.
+In 2003 the institute introduced a new series of music events, first held at the P74 Centre and Gallery premises. As of 2011 the [[Sound Explicit Festival]] has moved to the [[Jakopič Gallery]], where it takes place each September or October. The festival is dedicated to experimental and improvised music by Slovene artists, though it is occasionally also featuring international guests.
 ==See also==
@@ Line 79: / Line 89: @@
 * [[OHO Group Award]]
 * [[Blind Date Convention, Festival of the Artist’s Book]]
+* [[Sound Explicit Festival]]
 ==External links==