New resource:
ID: N15.1
Launch a portal:
KALEKTAR
March 30, 2015
Today, on 30th of March, 2015, launch of an internet portal kalektar.org takes place.
KALEKTAR – is a journalistic resource of the research platform on Belarusian contemporary art.
The portal will unite variety of initiatives that are already operating and are ready for implementation within the framework of KALEKTAR platform. Independent projects of the platform have their own dedicated editorial teams and goals. Every project will be represented via its own website within the unified framework of the portal’s information system.
KALEKTAR – is a journalistic resource of the research platform on Belarusian contemporary art.
The portal will unite variety of initiatives that are already operating and are ready for implementation within the framework of KALEKTAR platform. Independent projects of the platform have their own dedicated editorial teams and goals. Every project will be represented via its own website within the unified framework of the portal’s information system.
Leaders of Platform:
Sergey Kiryuschenko and Sergey Shabohin
Design of the portal and editor in-chief:
Sergey Shabohin
Project Manager:
Pavel Preobrazhensky
Upcoming plans:
The platform’s nearest future involves consistent development and connection of the encyclopedic database of the Belarusian contemporary art INDEX, which will become the main instrument unifying platform’s autonomous projects. The database will be filled in according to the principal of online encyclopedia with information webpages about names, key events, and institutions within Belarussian contemporary art. The glossary is also under development. Many experts and members of Belarussian contemporary art society will be engaged in encyclopedia’s activities.
In the near future the platform is getting ready to launch a research project ZBOR – the resource that will regularly publish essays on significant statements made by artists, groups, curators and institutions in the Belarussian art during recent decades. ZBOR will become an archive in the process of permanent construction. The main objectives of the project are preservation, interpretation and promotion of Belarusian contemporary art experience.
Construction of the archive, as the main purpose of the platform KALEKTAR – will be supported by other planned for the launch instruments: the creation and filling in of the video archive, pdf-library and media library.
Platform KALEKTAR consolidated previously initiated independent projects: ART AKTIVIST – a resource of modern Belarusian art. The portal ART AKTIVIST will become a part of the portal KALEKTAR, by integrating into the general information system.
Within the framework of the platform, the following special public events will be held: exhibitions, seminars, discussions, presentations, production of publications, and much more. Stay tuned.
In the near future the platform is getting ready to launch a research project ZBOR – the resource that will regularly publish essays on significant statements made by artists, groups, curators and institutions in the Belarussian art during recent decades. ZBOR will become an archive in the process of permanent construction. The main objectives of the project are preservation, interpretation and promotion of Belarusian contemporary art experience.
Construction of the archive, as the main purpose of the platform KALEKTAR – will be supported by other planned for the launch instruments: the creation and filling in of the video archive, pdf-library and media library.
Platform KALEKTAR consolidated previously initiated independent projects: ART AKTIVIST – a resource of modern Belarusian art. The portal ART AKTIVIST will become a part of the portal KALEKTAR, by integrating into the general information system.
Within the framework of the platform, the following special public events will be held: exhibitions, seminars, discussions, presentations, production of publications, and much more. Stay tuned.
The history of creation:
The Research Platform of contemporary Belarusian art KALEKTAR was founded in 2014 by Sergey Kiryuschenko, Aleksei Borisionok and Sergey Shabohin.
The artist Sergey Kiryuschenko in 2014 published an article on the portal ART AKTIVIST, which offered the community to reflect on the idea of creating a private museum of contemporary art M21. After a lengthy discussion of the presented project with various experts, the artist Sergey Shabohin joined the development of the concept, then, together they rethought the feasibility and timeliness of the proposal of forming a museum. As a result, the project received a significant transformation in the direction of research and the creation of an open archive, and not a museum. It was decided to create an archive as an open online resource, which was conceived as a work in progress – a constantly filled with archive information website. In order to create the most diverse and broad archive, it has become necessary to consolidate disparate sources of information and strategies. Together with the curator Aleksei Borisionok, the artists developed a joint project of creation a research platform KALEKTAR, uniting the various initiatives and approaches to the creation of the archive: research conductor (ZBOR) and events (public program), the regular maintenance of the magazine about current events (ART AKTIVIST), and an educational blog (FAC) , as well as the creation of the encyclopedia (INDEX) and the media library.
The platform was created primarily because of dissatisfaction with the situation in the Belarusian contemporary art, as well as the relative invisibility of the experience of the Belarusian art in the Eastern European and international contexts. The official cultural policy of Belarus has preserved the features of the Soviet period by inertia, borrowing a centralized bureaucratic system of vertical management in the cultural initiatives. On the one hand, the current political regime in the mid-1990s, abolished or extremely complicated the work of independent institutions (non-government galleries, foundations, associations), as well as criminalized foreign funding, which led to a prolonged stagnation of the art system and the absence of the Belarusian Research Institute of Contemporary Art, which would conduct archival activities and would contribute to the integration into the international art context. As a result, during the re-evaluation of the artistic experience of Eastern Europe in all major studies in the 1990-2000’s Belarus was practically excluded from the common archive, remaining a «white spot» on the map of Eastern European art. Despite the fact that there are various official institutions in the country, their activities are devoid of effective research and archival work in the field of contemporary art, and does not hold water.
After the year of 2005, there begin to appear observed noticeable revitalization process and the consolidation of the art community in the environment of independent culture, which led to the opening of non-governmental institutions – galleries, publications, Internet portals, researches and exhibitions. Currently there is a lot of material collected, which is in need of preservation and accumulation of acquired knowledge and experience for creation of an open archive of Belarusian contemporary art. This is important not only for avoidance of the loss and oblivion of the next period of art evolution, but also as an example of struggle against tyranny of the official cultural policy.
Thus it was decided to create an independent research platform of Belarusian contemporary art KALEKTAR, which is to unite the efforts and experience of the largest number of experts for the creation, analysis and publication of archives art scene, a critical assessment of the Belarusian culture as well as promoting the statements of Belarusian writers in the country and abroad. The creators of the platform have already started to work actively with a large number of experts in the field of contemporary Belarusian art and hope for participation of all who are concerned in the development of a common archive.
KALEKTAR Platform and all of its projects are non-profit and non-governmental projects. The project, all of the contents of the resource and the portal itself are registered in Białystok (Poland) by our legal partners. The platform is open for inclusion in activities and construction of the archive for all who are concerned. You can contact us via: contacts.
The artist Sergey Kiryuschenko in 2014 published an article on the portal ART AKTIVIST, which offered the community to reflect on the idea of creating a private museum of contemporary art M21. After a lengthy discussion of the presented project with various experts, the artist Sergey Shabohin joined the development of the concept, then, together they rethought the feasibility and timeliness of the proposal of forming a museum. As a result, the project received a significant transformation in the direction of research and the creation of an open archive, and not a museum. It was decided to create an archive as an open online resource, which was conceived as a work in progress – a constantly filled with archive information website. In order to create the most diverse and broad archive, it has become necessary to consolidate disparate sources of information and strategies. Together with the curator Aleksei Borisionok, the artists developed a joint project of creation a research platform KALEKTAR, uniting the various initiatives and approaches to the creation of the archive: research conductor (ZBOR) and events (public program), the regular maintenance of the magazine about current events (ART AKTIVIST), and an educational blog (FAC) , as well as the creation of the encyclopedia (INDEX) and the media library.
The platform was created primarily because of dissatisfaction with the situation in the Belarusian contemporary art, as well as the relative invisibility of the experience of the Belarusian art in the Eastern European and international contexts. The official cultural policy of Belarus has preserved the features of the Soviet period by inertia, borrowing a centralized bureaucratic system of vertical management in the cultural initiatives. On the one hand, the current political regime in the mid-1990s, abolished or extremely complicated the work of independent institutions (non-government galleries, foundations, associations), as well as criminalized foreign funding, which led to a prolonged stagnation of the art system and the absence of the Belarusian Research Institute of Contemporary Art, which would conduct archival activities and would contribute to the integration into the international art context. As a result, during the re-evaluation of the artistic experience of Eastern Europe in all major studies in the 1990-2000’s Belarus was practically excluded from the common archive, remaining a «white spot» on the map of Eastern European art. Despite the fact that there are various official institutions in the country, their activities are devoid of effective research and archival work in the field of contemporary art, and does not hold water.
After the year of 2005, there begin to appear observed noticeable revitalization process and the consolidation of the art community in the environment of independent culture, which led to the opening of non-governmental institutions – galleries, publications, Internet portals, researches and exhibitions. Currently there is a lot of material collected, which is in need of preservation and accumulation of acquired knowledge and experience for creation of an open archive of Belarusian contemporary art. This is important not only for avoidance of the loss and oblivion of the next period of art evolution, but also as an example of struggle against tyranny of the official cultural policy.
Thus it was decided to create an independent research platform of Belarusian contemporary art KALEKTAR, which is to unite the efforts and experience of the largest number of experts for the creation, analysis and publication of archives art scene, a critical assessment of the Belarusian culture as well as promoting the statements of Belarusian writers in the country and abroad. The creators of the platform have already started to work actively with a large number of experts in the field of contemporary Belarusian art and hope for participation of all who are concerned in the development of a common archive.
KALEKTAR Platform and all of its projects are non-profit and non-governmental projects. The project, all of the contents of the resource and the portal itself are registered in Białystok (Poland) by our legal partners. The platform is open for inclusion in activities and construction of the archive for all who are concerned. You can contact us via: contacts.
We personally thank:
Tatiana Arcimović, Zhanna Gladko, Ilona Dergach, Ilya Dounar, Andrei Dureika, Maria Kotlyachkova, Valentina Kiseleva, Alexey Lunev, Lena Prents, Monika Szewczyk
Link: