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International Public Art Festival “ART PROSPECT – BISHKEK: GREEN ZONES – NEW BREATH”

 

Open call for artists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine

 

Application Deadline: June 20, 2017

 

Festival Dates: 22-24 September, 2017

 

Festival Location: E. Gareev Botanical Garden and neighbouring courtyard, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

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Download press-release (.docx) 

Download application form (.doc)

Download locations description (.pdf)

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Created before the Second World War, the E. Gareev Botanical is not only a unique scientific center with the richest diversity of plants in Central Asia, but also a public space occupying 124 hectares.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Botanical Garden suffered from the typical fate of state institutions: the lack of adequate financing and pressure from the new free market.  As a result, the local authorities attempted to redesign this scientific institution for commercial purposes. Despite these challenges, the botanical garden staff has managed to preserve their unique plants and holistic garden. With the assistance of local and international citizen and scientific organizations a new concept for the garden’s development as a unique “Asian mountain garden” was drafted, dividing its territory into zones, calling for the recruitment of volunteers to restore green spaces, and taking measures to attract a broader audience. Thanks to wide public resonance and the involvement of civil society in 2016, local residents succeeded in giving new life to the garden. The situation at the Botanical Garden exemplifies the type of struggle for control of public space taking place today in Bishkek.  The Gareev Botanical Garden was chosen as the site for the Art Prospect Festival of Public Art to draw attention to this issue and help protect these territories.

 

The second location of the festival is a neighbouring courtyard, where the construction of more skyscrapers and shopping centers has created a conflict between the need for parking lots and the inadequacy of playgrounds and public space.

 

The Festival curators invite artists to re-imagine and invigorate the Botanical Garden, using art, design and architecture to create informal meeting places for diverse groups and discussions of pressing issues and meditation.  These art objects, installations and performances should stimulate reflection and discussions about the role of “green zones” as a vital part of public space, not just for rest and relaxation, but also for enlightenment and social interaction.  

 

Artists from the following countries are invited to apply to participate in the Festival: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

 

Preference will be given to art projects, which:

 

— stimulate community involvement:

— transform and reinterpret existing objects and infrastructure (site specific);

— explore the juncture between art and utilitarianism (design approach);

— use natural materials, (dry wood, branches, etc. located on-site); and

— can be maintained for a long-period outside.

 

To participate in the Festival, artists need to complete the attached application form.  

Applications will be accepted until June 20, 2017.

 

Festival Curators: Gulnara Kasmalieva, Muratbek Djumaliev

 

Festival Organizers:  ArtEast with the support of CEC ArtsLink in conjunction with Platform Art Prospect

 

Partners:

Botanical Garden. E. Z. Gareev, Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic

Public Foundation "Initiative" Archa "

Public Foundation "Yrystan"

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