The DIVA News page refers to public presentations, exhibitions, screenings, publications in Slovenia and on the international scene, connected to participations of DIVA Station Video Archive and the video artists who had contributed their video artworks to the archive. We also introduce events organised by DIVA Station (SCCA-Ljubljana) in order to promote its content and usage.
How can we present video works in a physical space of a gallery in order to follow a curatorial concept researching the relationship between space and video and simultaneously provide the chosen videos with an adequate setting that would efficiently address their contents? The exhibition Proximity Effect offers a well elaborated proposal that follows the narrative conceived along the concept 'the image of transition displayed in video works or how the space has been disintegrating'. As a result, the exhibition takes the visitor on a tour of six different spatial installations beginning with spatial screenings (Discipline, Vertigo Bird), to be followed by installations placing the video in a relationship with the spatial object, and thereby with the human body (Path of Crazy Wisdom, The Park of Culture, Construct, Quick/Slow).
The image of transition displayed in video works or how the space has been disintegrating.
DIVA Station is continuously preparing exhibitions with specific themes involving in-depth research. In the exhibition Proximity Effect (15 March–8 May 2016), our collaborator and curator Nika Grabar questions the meaning of space in chosen video works by artists Zemira Alajbegović, Neven Korda/Borghesia, Marko Peljhan, Sašo Podgoršek & Iztok Kovač, Nataša Prosenc Stearns, Miha Vipotnik.
In cooperation with Slovenian Cinematheque SCCA-Ljubljana organised Between Film and Video,
a two-day program focused on the relationship between short films and video art. The films and video works (also from DIVA Station) by Marko A. Kovačič, Davorin Marc, Jasna Hribernik and Nataša Prosenc Stearns were screened, accompanied by a panel discussion. Among various opinions, the speakers have also concluded that in the time of hybrid post-media artistic practices and digital art a distinction between the two artistic expressions has become obsolete and new expressions such as moving images or the art of projection have emerged to evade a more precise definition of art forms.
On winter solstice (21 December 2015), when night is at its longest, SCCA-Ljubljana joined the international event promoting short films. Under the title With Every Minute More Time, Miha Kelemina curated a program of 17 video works from DIVA Station. In the crowded Slovenian Cinematheque (as well as in other 15 art cinemas in Slovenia) the screening of innumerable short films and videos took place till the early morning. more
The exhibition in Vžigalica Gallery (1 Dec 2015 – 10 Jan 2016) enabled an opportunity for the artists to establish a dialogue, which resulted in two video installations, each presented in its own wing of the gallery: Jasna Hribernik: (Post)Production and Nataša Prosenc Stearns: Night Spring, Wishing Well. Additional video works that try to find new narrative structures – migrating frame – are displayed in the gallery’s central space.
DIVA Station (Barbara Borčić, SCCA-Ljubljana) participated at the presentation of the Kulturnik.si portal, press conference and coffe at Pritličje (Ljubljana, November 2015).
Kulturnik web portal consists of a metasearch engine and features cultural news and events aggregated from various Slovene digital sources and collections related to arts and culture. It aggregates data from more than 2.000 sources, among them the online video archive DIVA Station which was presented as a success story. Congrats!
DIVA Station was presented by Barbara Borčić (curator and head of video programs at SCCA-Ljubljana ) at the international symposium Museums of Film – Film in the Museum in Zagreb. Borčić presented the procedures of production, historisation and functioning of DIVA Station, the archive of video and media art in Slovenia.
Creating physical and virtual, analogue and digital archives is a necessary tool to enable us a reflexion on contemporary art production. UNESCO has adopted 27 October as the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.
Ana at the Station has been conceived as an experimental project based on a research of physical and on-line archive DIVA Station. Ana Čigon has been searching for her position as an artist within the history of video and performative practices registered by DIVA Station, which led her to the performative action of intertwining her artistic practice with the creation of other artists. Through eclectic knitting of written, spoken and performative quotes from her videos and videos of other related artists her artworks strived for contextualisation with the aim of formulating a critical stance towards her own creativity. Ana Čigon’s research concluded with a performance at the Project Room SCCA on the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage which UNESCO has proclaimed on 27 October. DIVA Station thus joined the celebration with the practice of an “open archive” to trigger a constructive exchange and emancipated work by the artists as well as their capacity to comment and interpret the av archive and the archiving practices of today. Ana Čigon (1982) lives and works in Ljubljana and Štanjel, Slovenia. Graduated in 2012 from Master programme (MA) of Interface Cultures at The University for Art and Industrial Design (Kunstuniversität), Linz – Austria; in 2011 graduated from Master programme (MFA) of VIDEO at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Ljubljana; in 2007 graduated from Painting (BFA) at the same academy; in 2005 Socrates/Erasmus exchange programme at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin - Ireland NCAD.
The visitors were invited to observe and comment with questions the selection of video works the artist exhibited at the Project Room. The artist thus created multiple variations of entering the av archive. Picturesque stories from the archive occurred and showcased the variability of the av content in the archive.
Barbara Borčić presented DIVA Station in frame of the exchange program Curating-In-Depth in Manila (The Philippines), while Ricky Orellana presented Philippines audiovisual archive Mowelfund; the presentations were followed by projections of works from both archives: program Diva Station Presents and program of short films from Mowelfund. As a part of the Curating-In-Context symposium organised by Planting Rice the event was presented under the name Problematizing Experimental and Archival Practices in Video and Film (Blackbox, De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, Manila, 5th August 2015). That was the first encounter with video art in Slovenia for the Philippines public and with Philippines film production (including the films by John Torres) for us from Slovenia.
