HOSPITABLE UTOPIA / VIDEOPARK FESTIVAL 2021

For its 2021 edition, the Contemporary art festival Videopark introduced a new program. A ten day research residency in Užice (Serbia), organised in collaboration with the Art & Science Department of the University of Applied Arts Vienna and Improper Walls (Vienna), from July 17, 2021 to July 25 2021.

Centred around the topic of “Hospitable utopia”, the residency offered a wide range of activities to develop an idea and better understanding of the local conditions. Participants were introduced to Užice’s historical background, cultural heritage and nature and became familiar with the characteristics of the environment, allowing them to adapt and root their art practices accordingly. They explored the city and its surroundings, visited monuments of essential value and worked with the local community. The artists translated those experiences via visual mediums such as film, photography, drawing, installation and performance. Being confronted to the crucial problems that this community is facing - depopulation, transition and economic crisis - they developed works connecting the various impressions made during their exploration and the idea of hospitable utopia.

Following the festival program, and after devising within the space of old barracks, the participants exhibited their research at the Gallery Reflektor.

https://uvuu.rs/galerijareflektor/
https://improperwalls.com/

festival Director: Miloš Vučićević festival Curators: Urte Speirokaite, Ale Zapata, Justina Speirokaite

Participants: Els Van Houtert, Christos Kyritopoulos, Lindsey Nicholson, Eugenie Desmedt, Marton Zalka, Margit Busch, Aurianne Chevandier, Olivier Hölzl, Verena Tscherner, Georgij Melnikov, Lena Violetta Leitner, Jelena Marta Glišić, Radomirka Siljanovski, Nenad Nedeljkov, Milica Dukić and Dejan Clement

Film by Marko Kostić
https://www.instagram.com/mensch_production/