[spectre] Buryzone, Bratislava, Slovakia

[Nina Czegledy]

BURYZONE, Bratislava, Slovakia
http://www.buryzone.sk
http://www.multiplace.sk
http://www.nmn.sk   - alternative festival of new media culture
http://www.stupidesign.sk - recent Buryzone project New Media Nation

BURYZONE is an independent alternative gallery and club in Bratislava,
Slovakia established in 2001 and operated by a no-profit association. The
space organizes regular events on each Friday in a small family house.
These events include exhibitions, lectures, discussions, presentations,
screenings. The bigger events are organized off site, mostly in cooperation
with other organizations. Last year the great opening event of Buryzone was
celebrated by a performance and an exhibition by STUPIDesign in
collaboration with Polish graphic students. The opening of the library
offering catalogues and books and exhibition of book like art objects
served as a good excuse for a second opening event. In the summer of 2001
Beyond Gagarin. was one of the biggest events organized by Buryzone  This
open air festival took place in a nearby park presenting performances,
drama and concerts. A monument made from concrete, from the Socialist era
served as the festival stage. The Multiplace  alternative festival of new
media culture was held in April 2002 in three Slovak cities: Bratislava,
Trnava, Nitra. The series of events included an interactive exhibition by
Ivor Diosi, projections, VJs. etc.,

This interview was conducted by e-mail with Maria Riskova and in person
with Ivana Moncolova at the Tranzindex Symposium, on September 28, 2002.

Maria Riskova graduated 1998 with a degree in art history in Trnava,
Slovakia. She has co-founded with other graduates of the university the
ERRATA group (www.errata.sk). In 1999 she started to work for the State
Gallery in Trnava, where she was responsible for the realization of the
Poster Triennial the biggest international event in the field of graphic
design in Slovakia (www.gjk.sk). In January 2001 Marisa in collaboration
with  STUPIDesign, co-founded BURYZONE, where she continues to work as the
curator and manager of the organization. Marisa is also an editor of the
3/4 revue - magazine for arts, culture and media (www.tristvrte.sk).

Ivana Moncolova is a student of art history and culture at the University
of Trnava. She has a part time job at the Slovak National Gallery and is
also a free lance journalist. Currently Ivana volunteers at Buryzone,
working as a curator of some of the exhibitions and fulfills some other
tasks as well.


Nina Czegledy: In view of Buryzone's success, can you tell me more about your
audiences and special events?

Ivana Moncolova: Our regular audience ranges from ten to hundred people,
consisting of students,artists, theorists and the general public. On the
three weekdays when we are open the public has an opportunity to come in
for a coffee or a drink, read journals and chat. Every Wednesday evening we
have a broadcast event, however our broadcast range is only 10 meter. We
would like to stream on the internet, but we have neither the time nor the
funds to do so, consequently we began in this modest fashion and intend to
develop it step by step. Heavy Metal For Sale  was one of our popular
events. People brought objects and records for sale as well as video tapes
and curiosities such as a guitar made of soap. These events bring in not
only artists but a much wider audience. Eighties  was another similar
event, dedicated to fashion items and other objects from the eighties. We
had an exhibition of posters from the eighties and an opening disco party
with hits from the eighties.

 Nina Czegledy: You have initiated Buryzone less than two years ago. Can
you tell me about the background, in Bratislava? How and why this group
formed?

Maria Riskova: Concerning the art scene, just like in a few other EE
countries the issue of the "missing generation is still evident. Artists
and theorists from 6Os remain active and are still having their small and
big arguments. But this is disappearing now. My peers, who finished school
4-5 years ago and even later, are starting to be very powerful. We have so
many possibilities compared to our colleagues who had to "sit at home" in
70s and 80s. The other side of the story is that a lot of people are still
passive, used to be consumers. And what is worse they still believe in
dreams about the West and thus they make the difference between East and
West bigger then it actually is. Many young people prefer to leave the
country, instead to start their professional life here (and I understand
them - "I am tired",  is the feeling of my last few months as well). I also
planned to study abroad  before BURYZONE. Now this idea is only postponed.
I recomend to everybody to spend some time abroad. It is for a lot of young
people the biggest education and I think we will see results here in few
years when they start to come back home. So, maybe this was an answer WHY
we started BURYZONE last year. Of course, my words are somehow black and
white as the situation is much more complex. The beginning of BURYZONE
itself was happy a coincidence. It seems to be a logical consequence of the
situation and our previous activities. The beginning is quite simple: two
friends: Robert Parso, rented the space for the graphic studio STUPIDesign
and me, having experience with organizing events intended to share. Both of
is have a lot of ideas.
(In the very beginning also another owner of the studio Peter Huba
cooperated but he started later his own studio). Robert came one day with
the idea to start the club with a gallery. Everybody in studio knew how the
place should look like. Soon we had a lot of volunteers, mostly our
friends, helping with everything we needed. Of course, after some time the
first excitement was not so high and few permanent volunteers stayed
helping with the realization of the events. I am working as program
coordinator and also manager of the club and gallery, (what is actually the
living room of the house), and the other activities outside. At the
beginning people in club and the studio were the same. Now the club is
independent from the studio, paying its own rent but still closely
cooperating with it. We decided long time ago not to enter the battlefield
of older colleagues and establish our own playground what we are having now
in Buryzone.

NC: Can you tell me about recent Buryzone developments?

MR: The biggest one is the ability to realize the New Media Nation project
supported by a grant from EU in the program Culture 2000. The project aims
to involve people from arts and culture environments in new media
production. It consists of various types of events, alternative new media
festival, workshops, international text competition for students,
conference and more (please find more information about it at www.nmn.sk).
Actually, this is a very new development for BURYZONE, the program begins
in September.

NC: I have been very impressed by the spontaneous way the regular Friday
events are organized. Can you describe Buryzone activities and aims?

MR: We try to educate people how to change from consumers to producers and
presenters of their works. The club is also a contact point and informal
space where can meet people being active in different cultural and social
environments. Practically, we offer space and any help needed mostly for
young, not established artists, theorists and organizers to prepare
exhibitions and any other activity - screening, VJing, presentation of
work, lecture. Everybody is also welcome to bring interesting topics or the
persons who can present a lecture. People use this possibility -more then
half of the events are presented from tips of our visitors and friends.
Some of people need conceptional help what we can also proovide.Often it's
the first impulse for public presentation of their work or knowledge.
Sometimes better known people from the domestic scene give a presentation
especially if their work needs alternative space or audience. Events which
we initiate are mostly presentations of foreign artists and theorists and
events which are providing a balance for the program. We always have some
extra suggestions and if we need more music, or more fine art we utilize
this. Now during the New Media Nation project it is little bit different,
we initiate much more events. The structure of the program is simple. The
Buryzone gallery and library  is open three days a week from Wednesday to
Friday. Every Friday we have an event, every three weeks a new exhibition.
>From this season we have every Wednesday non-live music events.

NC: Before Buryzone you worked as a curator can you tell us about your
previous experience? especially the conference CENTRE?EDGE, Elite?Averige,
organized in 1999?

MR: I was active in a Group of Young Art Historians and Art Consumers,
called ERRATA. We formed the organization after finishing our studies at
the university in Trnava, the city which is on the cultural periphery of
the Slovakia capital Bratislava. In 1999 the situation with the "arguing
old generation" was still strong (and we felt it even stronger right after
our studies, without our own experiences). Everyday we had to face a
situation when someone had considered us less skillful then our colleagues
from the Bratislava university. So, we decided to discuss this issue at the
international conference which we named CENTRE?EDGE, Elite?Averige. We knew
that the topic was at that time already old-fashioned but it was the main
issue for us after finishing that school and we needed to face it somehow.
Also one of the impulses to start the group was to be more powerful (and
clever). From the beginning we wanted to fight those prejudices and work on
few new projects. The conference was the first one, then we did one very
successful exhibition in the train from the west of Slovakia - Bratislava
to Kosice, another big cultural centre which was considered on the cultural
periphery. (Again the same old topic,  but the aim of the action was more
trying to organize an event in a public space). Then we did few more things
and by now the members are having their own "business" - I have Buryzone,
the initiator ot ERRATA Viera Jancekova is now the youngest state gallery
director in Slovakia, other two members started to edit an art magazine,
etc. This group was important for me, as I saw that curating exhibitions in
a white cube is not my aim and generally I tend more to organize events
then involve myself in theory, or exhibitions. Before Buryzone I worked in
the state gallery in Trnava, organizing accompanying events for big
international graphic design events. This work gave me the very valuable
knowledge: in no way do I want to be an employee of any state institution.

NC: What are your plans for the future?

MR: There are a few versions of my plans  and as usual they depend a lot on
some other people around me. From the next year, only me will stay with the
organizations from founders, as Robert Parso plans to devote again more to
graphic design. My first plan is to continue with BURYZONE in the same form
as it is now, but I want to find people who could run Buryzone without my
permanent presence and they could realize their own visions about the
programs and the management. I would like to be responsible only for part
of the activities because I plan to shift my work more to research and
educational activities, mostly in new media. I am impressed by the work of
some of my colleagues who run similar spaces for new media and
technologies, so I want to try establish here a space with a medialab and
mediatheque, but not isolated from other fields of culture. This shift of
Buryzone is on the way now. Every audience needs a special attitude.
Slovaks still aim to stay locked into their own profession, so sometimes
one needs "tricks" to attract them to new things. That's why existence of
the space presenting both old and new media, discussing art, science and
social issues in balance has some sense here. People here do not trust new
things which are orthodox. It would be perfect if I could run a "new media
section" in a space like Buryzone. If I will not find people who could take
part of my work, I will concentrate on establishing the media space. Next
year I will be the curator of the Trnava Poster Triennial, the event I
participated in two years ago. Then the other plan is to go to study
somewhere abroad for some time, but I need to find an offer which is
perfect for me. Another plan is to start editing an alternative magazine
with my friends and to edit publications on theory, but this plan I can
save for later, now I feel this is the time for running (spaces).