More dynamic than ever Festival Miden is ready again to present an
intriguing selection from the global production of video art by young and
aspiring artists. A production that the festival follows systematically 7
years now, giving its audience the opportunity to obtain a holistic view
of an art form that is evolving unexpectedly, rapidly and diversely at
this very moment.

The screenings include the themed video art programs “LOL”, “THIS IS WAR”,
“TRAUMA”, “HYPERFORM”, “MONOBALANCE”, “A LAST INSTRUCTION TO THE GRASS”,
“CHARGE A SOUL”, “DARK FORWARD”, “FEELING LUCKY” and “LOCAL CALLING”.
Also, this year Festival Miden will present tributes to some very
interesting foreign festivals, art groups and curators such as Oslo Screen
Festival (Norway), All Art Now (Syria), Cyberbrothers (Russia), Videoplay
(Argentina) and CologneOFF (Germany).

Furthermore, several interesting parallel events are scheduled, including
a special screening of the themed program “Come to Life” at the
Archaeological Museum of Messenia, an introductive lecture about Video Art
History by Gioula Papadopoulou at the Municipal Conservatory of Kalamata,
while the closing event of the Festival will be the special audiovisual
party set “The New Style”, in which DJ Blue Lagoon from the well-known
Greek art group Kormoranos mixes on stage music and videos that he and his
partner Haris Lagousis have edited.

www.festivalmiden.gr / info@festivalmiden.gr / festivalmiden@gmail.com /
facebook.com/festivalmiden

With less than one month until the deadline, remember to submit your videos to...


One Minutes are videos of exactly 60 seconds. You can now send us your One Minute videos for the first-ever One Minutes Africa competition (flyers attached).

There are 6 Categories to choose from:

1. Spoken word & sound: The art of language and sound, ranging from oral history to the sounds of the street
2. In my backyard: What is it like where you live? What happens there? Give us a sense of the place and the goings-on that surround you.
3. Where history begins: With real people in real places, history begins. Express your ideas of time and experience, from ‘small’, personal histories to large-scale events.
4. Micro-commercials: Small companies run by passionate owners
5. Portraits: Even in a single minute, the essence of a person or object can be revealingly portrayed. What is your One Minute portrait?
6. Privacy: What does privacy mean for you?

8 videos in each category will be nominated for an award. Prize winners will be invited to the awards ceremony hosted by the Townhouse Gallery in Cairo, Egypt, this coming September.

Be sure to join our Facebook page, One Minutes Africa, for the latest updates and submissions!

Deadline for submissions: 15 July 2011.

Submitting your video online?

Visit The One Minutes website to fill out the forms and send us your videos through wetransfer.com

Submitting your videos by post?

Living in Africa but located outside of Egypt? Send your video as data to:
The One Minutes
Fred Roeskestraat 98
1076 ED Amsterdam
Netherlands

Living in Egypt? Send your video as data to:
Townhouse Gallery
c/o One Minutes Africa
10 Nabrawy St off Champollion St
Downtown, Cairo
Egypt

Questions still not answered? Email devon@thetownhousegallery.com

Call for Proposals


Atopia is accepting proposals for the Vitrine Project. Artists of all lands may apply.



Vitrine is a platform for experimenting with video art in public space. It offers the artists and the public a unique opportunity to engage with multi-screen video works right on the side of the street. Every winter artists from around the world illuminate the Vitrine with new video works. Sannergata is a busy route for traffic moving in and out of Oslo, and the Vitrine has the potential of reaching thousands of viewers everyday.


Vitrine is aimed at exploring the potentials of multi-screen video works in public space and the notions of transience – moving images and moving public.

We seek proposals in the form of video works that are innovative in their approach and daring in their exploration.

Sound is not an option for Vitrine and we prioritize non-violent imagery.



The fourth season of Atopia’s Vitrine will run from Nov. 2011 to Feb. 2012.

The four selected proposals will each receive an award of €1,000.



Deadline: 26 August 2011



Entry form: http://www.atopia.no/vitrine.html



Contact: vitrine(AT)atopia.no

Statement by Jens Galschiot, 8 April 2011

On Sunday 3rd April the renowned artist Ai Weiwei was arrested by Chinese police. Attempts to contact the artist have been in vain and the Chinese authorities deny any comment on the issue. Allegedly some sort of financial crime is the core of the issue. This accusation is dubious and can be used for anything.

Danish artist Jens Galschiot has on two occasions been denied entry to Hong Kong as a result of his artistic commitment in co-operation with the Democracy Movement. He has a permanent ban for entering China. On the occasion of Ai Weiwei’s arrest he declares:

“I energetically condemn the arrest of Ai Weiwei. He is one of the world’s most prominent artists, he makes outstanding artworks, and lately he has made a comprehensive exhibition at Tate Modern. All these activities highlight the fact that China has become an important part of the international art scene. Ai Weiwei stands as a prominent representative of the Chinese people, promising for the future.

I am deeply concerned that China now once again has displayed its totalitarian face to the world and once again has committed an encroachment on its own citizens. This shameful act reveals that China still has a long way to go before it can be regarded a state based on the rule of law protecting its citizens against arbitrary abuse of power.

I urge all artists of the world to express their protest against the detention of Ai Weiwei. The Guggenheim museum has launched a petition. Visit the homepage and join the petition.

Likewise I request the Danish government and all democratic governments to condemn the arrest. This abuse should not go unheeded, especially as China has become one of the most important trading partners of the West. Therefore we have a special obligation to express our concern.

In particular I summon the governments of Hong Kong and Taiwan to protest. These two entities with Chinese population enjoying free speech have a special obligation to express their disapproval of an infringement committed by Mainland China. Maybe the Chinese government will be more sensitive to criticism from their own compatriots”, Jens Galschiot concludes.

General INFO

Guggenheim’s petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/call-for-the-release-of-ai-weiwei#?opt_new=f&opt_fb=t

The artist has uploaded comprehensive documentation about China on his homepage, see

http://www.aidoh.dk/China-activities

About the detention, see

http://www.aidoh.dk/Ai-Weiwei

Contact/info/photos on Jens Galschiot: www.aidoh.dk, e-mail aidoh@aidoh.dk
Tel. +45 6618 4058, mobile +45 4044 7058

www.facebook.com/galschiot.official and http://www.twitter.com/galschiot

Newsletter: subscribe at aidoh@aidoh.dk

Sub-urban, the Urban Espresso Bar's video-lounge presents:

work in progress

05.04.2011 - 18.04.2011

ALITE THIJSEN : work in progress : 2009 - 2011

The camera is Alite Thijsen's instrument to get a view on social processes. For her the images are
snapshots, inseparable from the context. The author, the subject, the location, the accidental encounters
and the assembly, all those elements determine what is shown.

Over the past twenty years Alite Thijsen has frequently worked and travelled in Africa. Through her
experience she questions the absolute nature of knowledge gathering. The artist's video which is now on
show in Sub urban video lounge is shot in Casamanca (Senegal) during the boukout ceremony. The origin of
the boukout goes way back in the past and seems to be unaffected by evangelisation, conversion,
colonialism and globalization. In an indeterminate moment, once in twenty years, the youngsters in the
village are initiated by the elderly into social practice and tested in their defensibility.

For this important initiation former inhabitants return to their village, coming from all over the world. The fact
that the public part of the ceremonies is now open to an outsider with a camera, proofs that tradition is not a
fixed phenomenon. But what does this mean for this tradition in the future?


coming up :
19.04.2011 - 03.05.2011 : ALITE THIJSEN : CASABLANCA WORKSHOPS


SUB URBAN VIDEO LOUNGE

Screenings: daily from 12h - 17h

Urban Espresso Bar - Botersloot 44A (near Central Library) Rotterdam
sub@urbanespressobar.nl - www.sub.urbanespressobar.nl