tranzit.cz/

Manifesta Coffee Break is a recurring public meeting, serving as an active tool to discuss the concept of Manifesta within a larger critical context.

The fifth Coffee Break takes place on 12 and 13 December 2009 in Murcia, Spain, in preparation for Manifesta 8, and in direct relation to the context of the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, which will take place in 2010.
Titled Towards Manifesta 8, this Manifesta Coffee Break brings together both local and international artists, curators, theorists, writers and other art professionals to reflect on Manifesta’s logic in direct relation to Murcia-Cartagena and its links with northern Africa.
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It is open for all who are interested, and consists of sessions by the three curatorial teams of Manifesta 8 together with invited speakers and guests.
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PROGRAMME:

December 12, 10.00-13.30
Chamber of Public Secrets (CPS)
“Unfaithful Relations: Art, Engagement and Audience within the Biennial Model”
with contributions by:
Sara Black, Alfredo Cramerotti, Christine Eyene, Rian Lozano, Fay Nicolson and Khaled Ramadan

December 12, 16.00-19.30
Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum (ACAF)
“The Aesthetic Compass: Human Geography and its Reverberations in Art”
with contributions by:
Jeremy Beaudry, Sherif El Azma, Bassam El Baroni, Nida Ghouse and Yaiza Hernández Velázquez

December 13, 10.00-13.30
tranzit.org
“Post-Communist as well as Post-Colonial”
with contributions by:
Zbyněk Baladrán, Erick Beltrán, Vít Havránek, Dóra Hegyi, Richard Kostelanetz, Boris Ondreička and Georg Schöllhammer

(for more info please see the attached pdf)
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In 2010 Manifesta 8 will take place in Murcia in dialogue with northern Africa. Manifesta is entering a new phase, shifting from its previous East-West dialogue to focus on North-South notions, even looking at trans-continental representation. Manifesta is expanding beyond the European continent. We believe it is now time for a moment of reflection and we would like to stimulate the debate in order to analyze what is expected from Manifesta as it expands further from its former geo-political European context. In what way can Manifesta 8 change the spectrum of a biennial and its practices for artists and curators alike? What is the ongoing relevance of the European nature of Manifesta as a biennial and in which ways can Manifesta transgress its focus on the post-Communist notion of Europe into a new time-frame partly characterised by post-colonial politics? In the next Manifesta Coffee Break this December, we invite you to actively participate in discussions with artists, curators and other art professionals and cultural producers to pinpoint the potential context in which Manifesta’s immediate artistic and political concerns can operate. In the upcoming Manifesta Coffee Break, the curators will elaborate upon these issues in collaboration with external specialists.

Situated in the Spanish cities of Murcia and Cartagena and positioned as a biennial in search of a dialogue with northern Africa, Manifesta 8 is curated by three collectives - Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum (Egypt), Chamber of Public Secrets (Denmark, Italy, Lebanon) and tranzit.org (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia) - which together form the curatorial team.