25. Međunarodni festival multimedijalne umetnosti - IMAF 2023

25th International Multimedial Art Festival - IMAF 2023

02. 09. 2023 - 15. 09. 2023. Odžaci - Novi Sad 

Mostly for the projects that were organized within the IMAF festival, in recent years, and even many years before, there were some thematic frameworks. Many of the themes came spontaneously, and unfortunately, thanks to many unfortunate circumstances from current life streams around the world. For the past few years, the participants of the part of the festival, which is presented online, have been invited to respond thematically, with their artistic video works related mainly to global social problems. It has been a multi-year pandemic, distancing during the pandemic, lockdowns during the pandemic and ultimately wars, which are happening or have happened in Europe and other parts of the world.
However, we have decided that this year's edition of the IMAF festival will not be burdened with any theme or demands in that sense. Artists are invited to participate and at their discretion freely choose the topics that best suit them and their sensibilities. Another reason for making such a decision is that this year the IMAF festival is celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the continuous presentation of its multi-layered programs. 25 years or a quarter of a century of existence and multimedia artistic activity and cooperation on the art scene of Serbia, Europe and around the world.
For the last two years, within the program of the IMAF festival, a children's art workshop and an artistic manifestation called "The Day of The Rabbit" have been held. The author of this interesting project, Spike Mclarrity, after extremely successful events in the past years, decided to organize "The Day of The Rabbit" for the third time, with the help of the IMAF festival. This children's event will be held on September 2, on the plateau in front of the Odzaci Sports Center.
The online presentation of performance videos consists of 25 works, selected at the IMAF festival competition. 25 artworks by over 30 artists from 21 countries around the world. The presentation of 25 works, along with the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the International Multimedia Art Festival - IMAF, will begin on September 2 and end on September 7, 2023.
The program of the 25th International Festival of Multimedia Arts - IMAF 2023, with the presentation of artistic actions and live performances, will be held from September 8 to 10. The festival will be held, for the fourth time, in the area of the abandoned Motel "Šumice" and now traditionally in the SULUV gallery in Novi Sad. Over fifty artists and art groups from all over the world applied for an open competition at the beginning of the year. The following artists have been selected to participate live at this year's anniversary festival: Bartolomé Ferrando (ES), Dagmar I. Glausnitzer-Smith (DE), Ewa Rybska (PL), Wladyslaw Kazmierczak (PL), Godwin Constantine (LK), Lada Uchaeva (ME/RU), Ileana Gherghina (RO/GB), Spike Mclarrity (GB), John G. Boehme (CA), Katerina Olivova (CZ), Kelvin Atmadibrata (ID), AnimaeNoctis (Silvia Marcantoni Taddei & Massimo Sannelli) (IT), Dejan Bogojević (RS), Nenad Bogdanović (RS).

 

Nenad Bogdanovic

Uglavnom su za projekte koji su bili organizovani u okviru IMAF festivala, poslednjih godina, pa i mnogih godina ranije, postojali neki tematski okviri. Mnoge teme su dolazile spontano, i nažalost, zahvaljujući mnogim nesrećnim okolnostima iz aktuelnih životnih tokova širom sveta. Proteklih nekoliko godina učesnici, dela festivala koji je prezentovan onlajn, su pozivani da odgovore tematski, umetničkim video radovima povezanih uglavnom uz globalne društvene probleme. To je bila višegodišnja pandemija, distanciranja tokom pandemije, zaključavanja tokom pandemije i na kraju ratova, koji se dešavaju ili su se dešavali u Evropi i drugim delovima sveta.
Medjutim, odlučili smo da ovogodišnje izdanje IMAF festivala ne bude opterećeno bilo kakvom temom ili zahtevima u tom smislu. Umetnici su pozvani da učestvuju i po svom nahođenju odaberu slobodno teme koje njima, i njihovom senzibilitetu, najviše odgovaraju. Razlog više za donošenje ovakve odluke je taj da festival IMAF ove godine proslavlja dvadeset petogodišnjicu kontinuiranog predstavljanja svojih višeslojnih programa. 25 godina ili četvrt veka postojanja i višemedijalnog umetničkog delovanja i saradnje na umetničkoj sceni Srbije, Evrope i širom sveta.   
Poslednje dve godine, u okviru programa IMAF festivala, održava se dečija likovna radionica i umetnička manifestacija pod nazivom “Dan zeca”. Autor ovog zanimljivog projekta Spajk Meklariti (Spike Mclarrity) je, nakon izuzetno uspešnih dešavanja proteklih godina,  odlučio da po treći put, uz pomoć festivala IMAF, organizuje “Dan zeca”. Ova dečja manifestacija će biti održana 02. septembra, na platou ispred Sportskog centra Odžaci.
Onlajn prezentacija video zapisa performansa čine 25 radova, odabranih na konkursu IMAF festivala. 25 umetničkih radova od preko 30 umetnika iz 21 zemlje širom sveta. Prezentacija 25 radova, uz proslavu 25. godišnjice Međunarodnog festivala multimedijalne umetnosti – IMAF, počeće 02. septembra i završiće se 07. septembra 2023. godine. 
Program  25. Međunarodnog festivala multimedijalne umetnosti – IMAF 2023, sa prezentacijom umetničkih akcija i performansa uživo, biće održan od 08. do 10. Septembra. Festival će biti održan, po četvrti put, u prostoru napuštenog Motela “Šumice” i sada već tradicionalno u galeriji SULUV u Novom Sadu.  Na otvorenom konkursu početkom godine se prijavilo preko pedeset umetnika i umetničkih grupa iz celog sveta. Za učešće uživo, na ovogodišnjem jubilarnom festival, su odabrani sledeći umetnici: Bartolomé Ferrando (ES), Dagmar I. Glausnitzer-Smith (DE), Ewa Rybska (PL), Wladyslaw Kazmierczak (PL), Godwin Constantine (LK), Lada Uchaeva (ME/RU), Ileana Gherghina (RO/GB), Spike Mclarrity (GB), John G. Boehme (CA), Katerina Olivova (CZ), Kelvin Atmadibrata (ID), AnimaeNoctis (Silvia Marcantoni Taddei & Massimo Sannelli) (IT), Dejan Bogojević (RS), Nenad Bogdanović (RS).

Nenad Bogdanović

 

 

IMAF 2023 ONLINE PARTICIPANTS:

Alexandra Holownia (Poland-Germany)
Alireza Amin Mozafari (Iran)
AnimaeNoctis (Italy)
Artur Tajber (Poland)
Bill Aitchison (UK-China)
Calum Eccleston (UK)
Cândida Monte & Bernardo Stumpf (Brasil)
Craphone Liu & Min Szu Hsu (Taiwan)
Dimple B Shah (India)
Eugenia Grammenou (Greece)
Eva Dabara (Israel)
Gaby Bila-Günther (Australia-Germany)
Jordina Ros & Pere Estadella (Spain)
Judith Price & Grace Salez (Canada)
Kareen Labbé Weber (Chile)
Khaing Su (Myanmar)
Natthaphon Chaiworawat (Thailand)
Noel Molloy & Aodha Molloy (Ireland)
OMAYUMI (Japan)
Paco Justicia Cazorla (Spain)
PAS  Performance Art Studies (Germany)
Sanskar Verma (India)
Satadru Sovan (India)
Sofía Vera (Mexico)
To K Du (Vietnam)

 

 

Exhibition at SULUV Gallery, Novi Sad
09/09/2023 - 15/09/2023
 
Performance as destiny
(1998 - 2022)
A retro look at the performances performed in Vojvodina / selection
 
video and photography
 
The exhibition Performance as destiny is part of the 25th IMAF, and looking back, it wants to remind you of some very interesting performances and art actions that have been performed in Vojvodina over the years, first of all within IMAF, and then at some other related art events, manifestations. The International Multimedia Art Festival (IMAF) is largely dedicated to performance, fostering its various forms, striving for the afirmation of this artistic discipline. This is the festival with the longest tradition in Vojvodina. In addition to it, there were several performance festivals and complex exhibitions that dedicated one segment to performance, but their duration was limited to 1-2 performances. Of course, this does not diminish the importance of the performed performances and the artists presented because, on the contrary, recent international and domestic artists participated in them. This exhibition will present a selection from the rich production of performances and artistic actions performed at IMAF (Odžaci/Novi Sad), the Festival of Premiere Performances (Pančevo, 2002), the Festival of Artistic Performances and Actions (Novi Sad, 2016), the exhibition Conflicts, provocations, relationships, anxiety, energy, determination/Art in an expanded field/View of the artistic situation/Vojvodina 1997/2014 (Novi Sad, 2014)
 
The performative form is doubly attractive, both for the artists and for the audience. For artists, because they can establish a relationship with the audience and the public in the most direct way, with the help of their own body and props. This form allows them to express their ideas, thoughts and feelings in the most sincere, emotional and intimate way and share them with the audience. For the audience, the attractiveness of the performative form is manifested in communicativeness, in the possibility of participation and co-participation, in interactivity.
 
Selected performances will be presented with video and photo documentation and an art video and will highlight the performances of the following artists: Era Milivojević, Balint Sombati, Andre Stitt, Shaun Caton, Seiji Shimoda, Alastair McLennan, Cai Qing, Lenka Klodova, NON GRATA, Dragan Vojvodić, Vesna Perunović , Božo Vasić, Nataša Teofilović, MP art, Coco Fusco, Nenad Bogdanović.
 

Svetlana Mladenov

Izložba u SULUV Galeriji, Novi Sad
09. 09. 2023. - 15. 09. 2023.
 
Performans kao sudbina 
(1998.- 2022.)
Retro pogled na performanse izvedene u Vojvodini / izbor
 
video i fotografija
 
Izložba Performans kao sudbina je deo 25. IMAF-a i pogledom u nazad želi da podseti na neke vrlo zanimljive performanse i umetničke akcije koji su tokom godina izvedeni u Vojvodini, pre svega u okviru IMAF-a, a zatim i na nekim drugim srodnim umetničkim manifestacijama. Internacionalni multimedijalni umetnički festival (IMAF) u najvećoj meri je posvećen performansu negujući njegove različite forme, težeći ka afirmaciji ove umetničke discipline. Ovo je festival sa najdužom tradicijom u Vojvodini. Pored njega bilo je još nekoliko festivala performansa i složenih izložbi koje su jedan segment posvećivale performansu ali njihovo trajanje je bilo ogranićeno na 1-2 izvođenja. To naravno, ne umanjuje značaj izvedenih performansa i predstavljenih umetnika jer, naprotiv u njima su učestvovali recentni internacionalni i domaći umetnici. Ova izložba će predstaviti izbor iz bogate produkcije performansa i umetničkih akcija izvedenih na IMAF-u (Odžaci/Novi Sad), Festivalu premijernog performansa (Pančevo, 2002.), Festivalu Umetnički performansi i akcije (Novi Sad, 2016.), izložbi Konflikti, provokacije, relacije, strepnje, energije, odlučnosti/Umetnost u proširenom polju/Pogled na umetničku situaciju/Vojvodina 1997/2014 (Novi Sad, 2014.)
 
Performativna forma je dvojako privlačna, kako za umetnike, tako i za publiku. Za umetnike jer mogu na najdirektniji način, uz pomoć sopstvenog tela i rekvizita da uspostave odnos sa publikom i javnošću. Ova forma im omogućava da na najiskreniji, najemotivniji inajbliskiji način izraze svoje ideje, misao i osećanja i podele ih sa publikom. Za publiku privlačnost performativne forme se manifestuje u komunikativnosti, u mogućnosti učestvovanja i saučestvovanja, u interaktivnosti.
 
Odabrani performansi biće predstavljeni video i foto dokumentacijom i umetničkim videom i ukazaće na izvođenja sledećih umetnika: Era Milivojević, Balint Sombati, Andre Stitt, Shaun Caton, Seiji Shimoda, Alastair McLennan, Cai Qing, Lenka Klodova, NON GRATA, Dragan Vojvodić, Vesna Perunović, Božo Vasić, Nataša Teofilović, MP art, Coco Fusco, Nenad Bogdanović.
 

Svetlana Mladenov

IMAF 2023 review:

Svetlana Mladenov

25th International Festival of Multimedia Arts - IMAF 2023

This year’s International Festival of Multimedia Arts - IMAF was held in celebration of the 25-year jubileeof continual work on the presentation and affirmation of the performative art. The audience in Serbia had the opportunity to meet numerous domestic and foreign artists and establish more direct contact with their artistic research in the field of performance and artistic actions. It was realized in Odžaci and Novi Sad in the period from 2nd – 10th September 2023.

After several trending topics that the Festival dealt with in previous years, this year it has offered the artists a possibility to choose their own topic based on their own sentiment towardsthe context of time and place, based on personal story, and close to their artistic discourse and research in the field of performance and artistic actions.

The theme of the Festival was officially free, which contributed to the variety of artistic concepts, and made this year’s jubilee festival even more interesting and rich for the audience. The problems that the artists dealt with were mostly related to global issues arising from the crisis with the recent Covid-19 pandemic, new war hotspots and their consequences on the lives of individuals, and geopolitical decisions and their impact on the planet and the life on it. Accordingly, ecological issues were also in focus and, through them, the artists showed their empathy towards nature and its preservation, realizing how its destruction directly affects the life of every individual inhabitant of this planet.

Personal traumas and negative experiences also encouraged individual artists to speak about them in a universal artistic language and give them a general meaning.

The program of the festival had several segments: children’s art workshop, exhibition, video presentation, live performance.

After two successful children’s art workshops at IMAF in 2021 and 2022, this very popular event was organized againat the 25th IMAF, 2023. TheRabbit Day - a children’s art workshop authored by Spike Mclarrity from Great Britain, was held in Odžaci on September 2nd 2023, on the plateau in front of the Odžaci Sports Centre.

The video presentation of documentary and art video recordings of the performances took place from 2nd – 7th September. The content of this presentation consisted of works that had been selected at the IMAF Competition. 25 video works by over 30 artists from 21 countries were presented. The following artists participated:Alexandra Holownia (Poland-Germany), Alireza Amin Mozafari (Iran), AnimaeNoctis (Italy), Artur Tajber (Poland), Bill Aitchison (Great Britain-China), Calum Eccleston (Great Britain), Cândida Monte & Bernardo Stumpf (Brazil) , Craphone Liu & Min Szu Hsu (Taiwan), Dimple B Shah (India), Eugenia Grammenou (Greece), Eva Dabara (Israel), Gaby Bila-Günther (Australia-Germany), Jordina Ros & Pere Estadella (Spain), Judith Price & Grace Salez (Canada), Kareen Labbé Weber (Chile), Khaing Su (Myanmar), Natthaphon Chaiworawat (Thailand), Noel Molloy & Aodha Molloy (Ireland), OMAYUMI (Japan), Paco Justicia Cazorla (Spain), PAS Performance Art Studies (Germany), Sanskar Verma (India), Sofía Vera (Mexico), Satadru Sovan (India), To K Du (Vietnam).

This year, the festival offered another content – the exhibitionPerformance as destiny (1998-2022) – Retro view at performances performed in Vojvodina/selection of videos and photos. Given that this was the 25th IMAF jubilee, it was necessary, and with a good reason too, to look back at and critically review the performances performed primarily within the framework of the IMAF, but, also more broadly, at related artistic manifestations within the Vojvodina cultural space in a period of 25 years, the period of the duration of the festival.

The choice of performances was determined by their inventiveness, content and strong connection with the context of time and place.

The exhibition was held in the SULUV (Association of Visual Artists of Vojvodina, TN) Gallery and lasted from September 9th to 15th 2023.

The International Multimedia Art Festival (IMAF) is largely dedicated to performance, nurturing its various forms, striving for the affirmation of this artistic discipline. This is the festival with the longest tradition in Vojvodina. Apart from this one, there were several other performance festivals and complex exhibitions that devoted one segment to performance, but they were limited to 1 or 2 times of being held. This, of course, does not diminish the significance of the performances and the artists presented there, quite the contrary, relevant recent international and domestic artists participated in those festivals.

This exhibition presented a selection from the rich production of performances and artistic actions performed at IMAF (Odžaci/Novi Sad), the Festival of Premiere Performances (Pančevo, 2002), the Festival of Artistic Performances and Actions (Novi Sad, 2016), and the exhibition Conflicts, Provocations, Relations, Challenges, Fears, Energies, Determinations/Art in the Expanded Field/Review of the Artistic Situation/Vojvodina 1997/2014 (Novi Sad, 2014)

The performative form is doubly attractive, both for the artists and for the audience. For artists, because they can establish a relationship with the audience and the public in the most direct way, with the help of their own body and props. This form allows them to express their ideas, thoughts and feelings in the most sincere, emotional and intimate way and share them with the audience. For the audience, the attractiveness of the performative form is manifested in the communicativeness, in the possibility of participation and co-participation, and in the interactivity.

The selected performances were presented in the form of video and photo documentation and art video and show the performances of the following artists: Era Milivojević, Balint Szombathy, Andre Stitt, Shaun Caton, Seiji Shimoda, Alastair McLennan, Cai Qing, Lenka Klodova, NON GRATA, Dragan Vojvodić, Vesna Perunović, Božo Vasić, Nataša Teofilović, MP art, Coco Fusco, Nenad Bogdanović.

Live performances and art actions were being held at IMAF for three days: September 8th, 9th and 10th, the first day in Odžaci, and the next two days in Novi Sad. In Odžaci, the artists had at their disposal the abandoned Šumice motel, and in Novi Sad, the gallery space of SULUV, as well as the open public space on Mihajlo PupinBoulevard. More than fifty artists and art groups from various countries of the world applied to participate in this part of the program. 15 artists and art groups were selected for presentation at the Festival:Bartolome Ferrando (Spain), Dagmar I. Glausnitzer-Smith (Germany), Ewa Rybska (Poland), Wladyslaw Kazmierczak (Poland), Godwin Constantine (Sri Lanka), Lada Uchaeva (Russia/Montenegro), Ileana Gherghina (Romania/Great Britain), Spike Mclarrity (Great Britain), John G. Boehme (Canada), Katerina Olivova (Czech Republic), Kelvin Atmadibrata (Indonesia), AnimaeNoctis (Silvia Marcantoni Taddei and Massimo Sannelli) (Italy), Dejan Bogojević (Serbia), Nenad Bogdanović (Serbia).

In her performance We Lost Our Wings, Ileana Gherghina pointed out the importance of environmental issues, highlighting the violence that is perpetrated against nature. She applied a sophisticated form of performance that strongly underlined the importance of the need to liberatethe nature, which we have captured by our wrong decisions.

The terror of human against human, the abolition of freedoms and free will, life and work according to the dictates and orders of the power centres, fear and its consequences are the problems that Lada Uchaeva’s Hop Hop performance, performed by her own body, with simple additional elements such as a skipping rope and sound, talks about.

Katarina Olivova used a more expressive form in doing her performance Cry when you grow old, which required two-way full trust in the artist-audience relationship. The performance is based on an intimate-public relationship in which the artist exposes her naked body, without prejudice, to the gaze of the observer, inviting him/her to forget the existing stereotypes and prejudices. Through free dance and body movement, she says that it is not only the female body served to us by marketing experts,but that it is every bodythat is beautiful: the natural, authentic, young or elderly. She raises a number of questions in the field of gender and identity.

AnimaeNoctis (Silvia Marcantoni Taddei and Massimo Sannelli) develop their own intimate story through their performance. The name Silvija overcomes depression speaks of the artist’s personal experience, but through the form of performance.The performance speaks of the emotions and intimacy of two people, of friendship, understanding and support.

The theme of war was dealt with in the performances by Nenad Bogdanović, Godwin Constantine, Ewa Rybska and Wladyslaw Kazmierczak. The outbreak of new war hotspots in the world brought new victims, suffering, poverty and refugees. That there is never any justification or excuse for war, that the first victim of it is the truth, that it rests on deception and that it is a crime, is what Nenad Bogdanović says with his performances Minut po minutćutanja (Minute by Minute of Silence) and Crvena i crna (Red and Black), performing them with precisionand clearly, using different elements in addition to his own body such as: a helmet, black and red colours, a map of the world and messages written on paper. Ewa Rybska and Wladyslaw Kazmierczak presented themselves with joint performances performed in free city spaces in Odžaci and Novi Sad. They expressed their protest against the war and all kinds of terror by walking along Novi Sad’s Mihajlo Pupin Boulevard, dragging two chairs behind them, which they destroyed at the end, blindfolded, taking care not to injure themselves. Godwin Constantine played with a camouflage pattern, which in itself is a military symbol that refers to war operations, victims and suffering...

John G. Boehme’s performance is about the pandemic, the truths and lies related to this lightning-fast viral expansion of Covid-19. It was performed in a simple way, but very effectively, without many props and excessive narration.

Kelvin Atmadibrata grappled with all those forces that negatively affect human life, mobility and health, exposing their manipulative nature. In his performance, apart from his own body, he used different props, often of undefined purposes, that he attached to his own body.

Through his poetic interactive performance, Dejan Bogojević pointed out the importance of togetherness and sharing of empathy among people. The artist himself began the first verses of a new poem, and then left it to the audience to write its continuation in order to obtain a common new poetic form.

In his performance, Bartolome Ferrando emphasized the importance of communication and its different forms. Apart from communicating using speech and defined symbols (words) of certain meanings, the artist explored some other possibilities of communication on the level of undefined vocal language, where it was possible to express numerous states and moods, different emotions: joy, sadness, anger, repentance, shame, happiness... Performance Sound writing is based on the extremely rich and colourful voice possibilities of the artist.

Dagmar I. Glausnitzer-Smith raises questions about truth and lies, the real and the apparent. What is hidden behind the veils? Do we always see clearly? Is the truth always there, in front of us, but we just don’t realize it and continue to search for it? Why are some important facts for human existence obscured and difficult to recognize?

Spike Mclarrity, as a proven friend of IMAF, has established a special relationship with this festival because he has participated in it several times already. With a lot of enthusiasm and energy, he also takes on other roles: a host, an educator, a moderator, etc. In addition to his artistic performances and, always notable, live performances in Odžaci and Novi Sad, he, very wittily and attractively, managed the Children’s Art Workshop Rabbit’s Day, he also led the audience through the festival and performance presentations, inviting them to join in, and, sometimes, to get involved directly. Because of his charm and sincere empathy, he deserves the merit for the stimulating and warm atmosphere that coloured the 25th IMAF.

His performance Keeping the Light, which closed this year’s festival, deals with issues of spirituality through research into the relationship between life and death and their intertwining. Birth and death, like light and darkness, are part of the same life cycle. Exploring the possibilities of their reconciliation, the artist gave the personal grief a universal undertone.

The 25th IMAF, with its various programs, made it possible to view the results of the latest productions of performances and artistic actions at the international art scene and the local cultural space, thus fulfilling this-year’s mission. Its evaluation will indicate guidelines for finding the best concept for the next, 26th festival that is already being prepared.

IMAF 2023 recenzija:

Svetlana Mladenov

25. Međunarodni festival multimedijalne umetnosti-IMAF 2023.

Ovogodišnji Međunarodni festival multimedijalne umetnosti- IMAF održan je u znaku jubileja 25 godina kontinuiranog rada na prezentaciji i afirmaciji performativne umetnosti. Publika u Srbiji imala je priliku da se upozna sa brojnim domaćim i inostranim umetnicima i uspostavi direktniji kontakt sa njihovim umetničkim istraživanjima u oblasti performansa i umetničkih akcija. Realizovan je u Odžacima i Novom Sadu u periodu od 2-10. septembar 2023.

Posle nekoliko aktuelnih tema kojima se Festival bavio prethodnih godina, ove godine je pružio šansu umetnicima da sami prema svom osećanju za kontekst vremena i mesta i lične priče odaberu svoju temu blisku njihovom umetničkom diskursu i istraživanju u oblasti performansa i umetničkih akcija.

Tema Festivala je zvanično bila slobodna što je doprinelo raznovrsnosti umetničkih koncepata, te ovogodišnji jubilarni festival učinilo za publiku još zanimljivijim i bogatijim. Problemikojima su se umetnici bavili u većini su bili vezani za globalna pitanja proistekla iz krize sa nedavnom pandemijom Covida-19, novim ratnim žarištima i njihovim posledicama na život pojedinca, te geopolitičkim odlukama i njihovom uticaju na samu planetu i život na njoj. Shodno tome ekološka pitanja su takođe bila u fokusu i kroz njih umetnici su pokazali svoju empatiju prema prirodi i njenom očuvanju shvatajući kako njeno uništenje direktno utiče na život svakog pojedinačnog stanovnika ove planete.

Lične traume i negativna iskustva podstakla su pojedine umetnike da o njima progovore univerzalnim umetničkim jezikom i daju im opšte značenje.

Program festivala je imao nekoliko segmenata: umetnička dečja radionica, izložba, video prezentacija, izvođenje performansa uživo.

Posle dve uspešno izvedene dečje umetničke radionice na IMAF-u 2021 i 2022. godine i na 25. IMAFU 2023. ponovo je organizovana ova vrlo popularna manifestacija. Dan zeca-dečja umetnička radionica čiji je autor Spike Mclarrity iz Velike Britanije održana je u Odžacima 2. septembra 2023. na platou ispred Sportskog centra Odžaci.

Video prezentacija dokumentarnog i umetničkog videa, zapisa izvedenih performansa  odvijala se od 2-7. septembra. Sadržaj ove prezentacije činili su radovi koji su odabrani na Konkursu IMAFA. Predstavljeno je 25 video radova od preko 30 umetnika iz 21 zemlje sveta. Učestvovali su sledeći umetnici:

Alexandra Holownia (Poljska-Nemačka), Alireza Amin Mozafari (Iran), AnimaeNoctis (Italija), Artur Tajber (Poljska), Bill Aitchison (Velika Britanija-Kina), Calum Eccleston (Velika Britanija), Cândida Monte & Bernardo Stumpf (Brazil), Craphone Liu & Min Szu Hsu (Tajvan), Dimple B Shah (Indija), Eugenia Grammenou (Grčka),  Eva Dabara (Izrael), Gaby Bila-Günther (Australija-Nemačka), Jordina Ros & Pere Estadella (Španija), Judith Price & Grace Salez (Kanada), Kareen Labbé Weber (Čile), Khaing Su (Mjanmar), Natthaphon Chaiworawat (Tajland ), Noel Molloy & Aodha Molloy (Irska), OMAYUMI (Japan), Paco Justicia Cazorla (Španija), PAS  Performance Art Studies (Nemačka), Sanskar Verma (Indija),  Sofía Vera (Meksiko), Satadru Sovan (Indija), To K Du (Vijetnam).

Festival je ponudio ove godine još jedan sadržaj, a to je zložba Performans kao sudbina (1998.-2022.) – Retro pogled na performanse izvedene u Vojvodini/izbor videa i fotografija. S obzirom da je ovo jubilarni 25-i IMAF opravdano, a i potrebno je bilo vratiti se pogledom u nazad i kritički se osvrnuti na izvedene performanse pre svega u okviru IMAF-a,  ali i šire u okviru vojvođanskog kulturnog prostora na srodnim umetničkim manifestacijama i to u periodu od 25 godina koliko je i trajanje festivala.

Izbor izvedenih performansa je uslovila njihova inventivnost, sadržaj i čvrsta veza sa kontekstom vremena i mesta.

Izložba je realizovana u Galeriji SULUV-a i trajala je od 9. do 15. septembra 2023.

Internacionalni multimedijalni umetnički festival (IMAF) u najvećoj meri je posvećen performansu negujući njegove različite forme, težeći ka afirmaciji ove umetničke discipline. Ovo je festival sa najdužom tradicijom u Vojvodini. Pored njega bilo je još nekoliko festivala performansa i složenih izložbi koje su jedan segment posvećivale performansu ali njihovo trajanje je bilo ograničeno na 1-2 izvođenja. To naravno, ne umanjuje značaj izvedenih performansa i predstavljenih umetnika jer, naprotiv u njima su učestvovali recentni internacionalni i domaći umetnici.

Ova izložba predstavlja izbor iz bogate produkcije performansa i umetničkih akcija izvedenih na IMAF-u (Odžaci/Novi Sad), Festivalu premijernog performansa (Pančevo, 2002.), Festivalu Umetnički performansi i akcije (Novi Sad, 2016.), izložbi Konflikti, provokacije, relacije, strepnje, energije, odlučnosti/Umetnost u proširenom polju/Pogled na umetničku situaciju/Vojvodina 1997/2014 (Novi Sad, 2014.)

Performativna forma je dvojako privlačna, kako za umetnike, tako i za publiku. Za umetnike jer mogu na najdirektniji način, uz pomoć sopstvenog tela i rekvizita da uspostave odnos sa publikom i javnošću. Ova forma im omogućava da na najiskreniji, najemotivniji i najintimniji način izraze svoje ideje, misli i osećanja i podele ih sa publikom. Za publiku privlačnost performativne forme se manifestuje u komunikativnosti, u mogućnosti učestvovanja i saučestvovanja, u interaktivnosti.

Odabrani performansi su predstavljeni video i foto dokumentacijom i umetničkim videom i ukazuju na izvođenja sledećih umetnika: Era Milivojević, Balint Sombati, Andre Stitt, Shaun Caton, Seiji Shimoda, Alastair McLennan, Cai Qing, Lenka Klodova, NON GRATA, Dragan Vojvodić, Vesna Perunović, Božo Vasić, Nataša Teofilović, MP art, Coco Fusco, Nenad Bogdanović.

Izvođenje  peformansa i umetničkih akcija uživo odvijalo se na IMAF-u tri dana: 8. 9. i 10. septembra, prvi dan u Odžacima, a druga dva u Novom Sadu. U Odžacima  umetnici su imali na raspolaganju napušteni motel Šumice, a u Novom Sadu galerijski prostor SULUV-a kao i javni  slobodni prostor u Bulevaru Mihajla Pupina. Za učestvovanje u ovom delu programa prijavilo se preko pedeset umetnika i umetničkih grupa iz raznih zemalja sveta. Za predstavljanje na festivalu odabrano je 15 umetnika i umetničkih grupa: Bartolome Ferrando (Španija), Dagmar I. Glausnitzer-Smith (Nemačka), Ewa Rybska (Poljska), Wladyslaw Kazmierczak (Poljska), Godwin Constantine (Šri Lanka), Lada Uchaeva (Rusija/Crna Gora), Ileana Gherghina (Rumunija/Velika Britanija), Spike Mclarrity (Velika Britanija), John G. Boehme (Kanada), Katerina Olivova (Češka), Kelvin Atmadibrata (Indonezija), AnimaeNoctis (Silvia Marcantoni Taddei i Massimo Sannelli) (Italija), Dejan Bogojević (Srbija), Nenad Bogdanović (Srbija).

Ileana Gherghina je kroz svoj performans Izgubili smo krila ukazala na važnost ekoloških pitanja, ističući nasilje koje se vrši nad prirodom. Primenila je soficistiranu formu izvođenja koja je još više podvukla značaj potrebe oslobađanja prirode koju smo zarobili svojim pogrešnim odlukama.

Teror čoveka nad čovekom, ukidanje sloboda i slobodne volje, život i rad po diktatu i naredbi centara moći, strah i njegove posledice su problemi o kome govori performans Hop Hop Lade Uchaeve izveden sopstvenim telom uz jednostavne dodatne elemente kao što su konopac za preskakanje i zvuk.

Katarina Olivova je koristila ekspresivniju formu izvođenja svog performansa Plači kad ostariš koja je zahtevala dvosmerno puno poverenje  na relaciji umetnik-publika. Performans se bazira na odnosu intimno-javno u kome umetnica svoje nago oblo telo izlaže, bez predrasuda, pogledu posmatrača,  pozivajući ga da  zaboravi postojeće stereotype i predrasude. Poručuje kroz slobodni ples i kretanje tela da nije lepo samo ono žensko telo koje nam serviraju marketinški magovi, već svako: prirodno, autentično, mlado i vremešno. Pokrenula je niz  pitanja iz oblasti rodnosti i identiteta.

AnimaeNoctis (Silvia Marcantoni Taddei i Massimo Sannelli) kroz svoj performans razvijaju sopstvenu intimnu priču. Sam naziv Silvija prevazilazi depresiju govori o ličnom iskustvu umetnice ali kroz formu  izvođenja,  performans govori o emocijama i intimnosti dvoje ljudi, o prijateljstvu, razumevanju i podršci.

Temom rata bavili su se u svojim performansima Nenad Bogdanović, Godwin Constantine, Ewa Rybska i Wladyslaw Kazmierczak. Otvaranje novih ratnih žarišta u svetu donelo je nove žrtve, patnju, nemaštinu i izbeglištvo. Da za rat nikad nema opravdanja ni izgovora, da je prva žrtva istina, da on počiva na obmani i da jeste zločin poručuje svojim performansima Minut po minut ćutanja i Crvena i crna Nenad Bogdanović izvodeći ih precizno i jasno, koristeći pored sopstvenog tela, različite elemente kao što su: šlem, crna i crvena boja, mapa sveta i na hartiji ispisane poruke. Ewa Rybska i Wladyslaw Kazmierczak predstavili su se zajedničkim performansima izvedenim u slobodnim gradskim prostorima u Odžacima i Novom Sadu. Svoj protest prema ratu i svakom teroru izrazili su šetnjom novosadskim Bulevarom Mihajla Pupina, vukući za sobom dve stolice koje na kraju, zavezanih očiju uništavaju pazeći da se i sami ne povrede. Godwin Constantine se poigrava maskirnim dezenom koji je sam po sebi vojni simbol koji referiše na ratna dejstva, žrtve i stradanja…

O pandemiji, istinama i lažima vezanim za ovu munjevitu virusnu ekspanziju Covida 19 bavi se performans John G. Boehme. Izveden je jednostavno ali vrlo efektno, bez mnogo rekvizita i preterane naracije.

Kelvin Atmadibrata se uhvatio u koštac sa svim onim silama koje negativno utiču na ljudski život, njegovu mobilnost i zdravlje razotkrivajući njihovu manipulativnost. U svom performansu sem sopstvenog tela koristio je različite rekvizite, često nedefinisane namene koje je priključivao na sopstveno telo.

Dejan Bogojević kroz svoj poetski interaktivni performans ukazao je na značaj zajedništva i deljenja empatije među ljudima. Sam umetnik započeo je prve stihove nove pesme, a onda je publici prepustio pisanje njenog nastavka kako bi se dobila zajednička nova poetska forma.

Bartolom Ferrando je u svom performansu podvukao značaj komunikativnosti i njenih različitih formi. Sem sporazumevanja govorom i definisanim simbolima (rečima) određenih značenja, umetnik je istraživao neke druge mogućnosti sporazumevanja na planu glasovnog nedefinisanog jezika, gde je samo bojom i jačinom glasa i različitim glasovnim bravurama moguće izraziti brojna stanja i raspoloženja, različite emocije: radost, tugu, bes, pokajanje, sramotu, sreću…Performans Zvučno pisanje se zasniva na izuzetno bogatim i koloritnim glasovnim mogućnostima umetnika.

Dagmar I. Glausnitzer-Smith postavlja pitanja u vezi istine i laži, realnog i prividnog. Šta je skriveno iza velova? Da li uvek vidimo jasno? Da li je istina uvek tu, ispred nas, samo mi to ne shvatamo i nastavljamo da tragamo za njom? Zašto su neke za ljudsku egzistenciju važne činjenice zamagljene i teško ih je prepoznati?

Spike Mclarrity kao provereni prijatelj IMAF-a, uspostavio je poseban odnos sa ovim festivalom jer je već više puta bio njegov učesnik. Sa puno entuzijazma I energije preuzima i druge uloge: domaćina, edukatora, moderatora. Pored njegovih umetničkih nastupa i izvođenja uvek zapaženih performansa u živo u Odžacima i Novom Sadu, vrlo duhovito i privlačno rukovodio Umetničkom dečjom radionicom Dan zeca, takođe vodio je publiku kroz festival i prezentacije performansa pozivajući je da se priključi, a ponekad i direktno uključi. Svojim šarmom i iskrenom empatijom zaslužan je za stimulativnu i toplu atmosferu koja je obojila 25. IMAF.

Njegov performans Čuvanje svetlosti kojim je i zatvoren ovogodišnji festival bavi se pitanjima duhovnosti kroz istraživanje odnosa života i smrti i njihove isprepletanosti. Rađanje i umiranje, kao svetlost i tama deo su istovetnog životnog ciklusa. Istražujući mogućnosti njihovog pomirenja umetnik je ličnoj tuzi dao univerzalni prizvuk.

25. IMAF je svojim različitim programima omogućio sagledavanje rezultata najaktuelnije produkcije performansa i umetničkih akcija u okviru internacionalne umetničke scene i lokalnog kulturnog prostora, te time ispunio svoju ovogodišnju misiju. Njegova evaluacija ukazaće na smernice za pronalaženje najboljeg koncepta narednog 26. festivala koji je u pripremi.