Independent Biennial

The Independent Biennial, originally named as Slovenian Independent Illustrators' Biennial, was established in 2007. It was set out to be an answer to the burgeoning illustration scene in Slovenia that up until than lacked a proper means of exposure, overview and reflection of this very heterogeneous artistic practice. Due to its specific nature and relatively young protagonists, it was not integrated into the established gallery networks and logics, and, furthermore, was not properly conceptualised and even recognized as an artistic practice due to it being foremost a commercially exploitable endeavour. Consequently, cultural and educational policies often miss out on it as well.

So, the Independent Biennial strives to change this and to establish some sort of a history, a more integrated community and to be a platform for promotion, collaboration and reflection of independent illustration. This being said, illustration is recognized by the biennial as very wide phenomenon, featuring not only book illustration, caricature, comics, design illustration, commercial logotypes and graffiti, but also the more 'dynamic' creations such as animation, multimedia interventions and interactive websites, and many other things as well. As illustration is often embedded in other artistic practices, the biennial is in its own way addressing the wider creative community in Slovenia.

Programme

The selection logic of the biennial is quite different from other similar institutions, as a proper curator role was enacted by the organisers of the biennial only in 2007, when they chose the 40 artists presented at its first edition. Afterwards, these artists were asked to nominate the participants of the 2009 biennial and so on. Thus, instead of institutions determining quality and innovation, the community itself is taking this role in its own hands.

Each biennial is spaced throughout Ljubljana and it various galleries and public spaces, with the chosen artists and their works also being extensively presented on the IB website. Each year, there are about 20 independent exhibitions for particular artists, who are offered to present brand new works, created just for the biennial (thus, experimental projects are more likely to find their place here as well). The biennial also holds discussions (with both illustrators as well as theoreticians, trying to outline what is currently going on a local as well as global scale); public events (such as live in situ illustrating at open spaces); audio-visual events (in 2013 involving the renowned electronica producer Vladislav Delay); and workshops (one, for example, made in cooperation with the Aalto university from Finland). Occasionally books are also being prepared and released, chronicling contemporary Slovenian independent illustration and the wider field of visual culture.

Some of the artists presented at the biennial are Ana Baraga, Anka Kočevar, Aphra Tesla, Biba Košmerl, Dunja Janković, Dušan Moldovan, Eva Lucija Kozak, Gregor Balog, Kaja Kisilak, Milan Erič, Špela Škulj, Žiga Artnak, Tilen Sepič, Leon Zuodar, Matej Jarc, Matija Medved and many more.

Venues and exhibitions grounds

A very important venue for the biennial has became Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture, where most of the happenings take plsce and which actually functions as a co-producer. Other venues are Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (MSUM), Škuc Gallery, KUD France Prešeren Gallery, Prostor Gallery, Galerija JE2, Bi-ko-fe, Café Open, City Museum of Ljubljana, LP Bar, Zaklonišče II, etc.

Excursions abroad

In 2015, Independent Biennial has - in cooperation with Kino Šiška been presented in Washington as a part of the European Month of Culture programme. There were two exhibitions being set up, one in the premises of the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Washington and the other in the gallery space of NYU – New York University. Presented there were the authors who participated at the biennial between 2007 and 2013, altogether more than 80 of them with about 100 hundred works.

A part of this 'portal biennial summary' has also been set up in the summer of 2015 in Finland, where around 50 visual works were featured in a screening exhibition at Merkillinen - visual poetry exhibition at Gallery Aila Seppälä Lahti. It was organised by Sanakuva Collective, a Finnish cross-disciplinary arts group and experimental platform, with the idea emerging during the planning of the collaboration for the Independents Biennial 5th edition.

Besides this and the aforementioned Aalto university workshops, there has been another collaboration between Slovenian and Finish illustrators back in 2012. It was simultaneousness web based project during which various artworks and applicative projects were created, thus fostering communication and networking.

External links

Independent Biennial presentation in Washington, May 2015

Independent Biennial

Contents

Programme

Venues and exhibitions grounds

Excursions abroad

See also

External links

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