ARTLAND

The architect of Kunsthalle Rostock travelled to Louisiana to get inspiration in the sixties.  The city art gallery of Rostock was built in the end of 1960 in a park, almost like the museum of Modern Art in Denmark, but by a lake instead of the sea.

It was the first modern contemporary art gallery in DDR and it opened with grand ideas of an international program under the motto “Tor zur Welt”. The large windows with a view to the park, a beautiful inner courtyard and spacious rooms in several floors creates the impression of a little sister to Louisiana. Their collection hosts paintings, sculpture and graphic art, a lot from the DDR-times, but it also spans back from 1920 and forth.

The Baltic Sea-Biennial (Ostsee/Mare Balticum) was created here in the 80ties and 90ties, and now our co-operation within Art Line will awaken the idea of art in the Baltic region again, despite the tough economic times.

Here are some photos from Art Line meetings in Rostock Kunsthalle. On the photos are project coordinator Kristina Koebe, director Uwe Neumann, curator Ulrich Ptak, curator Agnieszka Wolodzko from CCA Laznia, curator Martin Schibli from Kalmar Konstmuseum and Art Line crew Annika Thelin and Aje Björkman.

One hour before deadline the application about Art Line was submitted to the South Baltic Cross Border Programme in the end of May.  48 pages and a lot of questions answered. Did I learn something new? Yes, lots and lots. And, it’s interesting to know more about EU-strategies and goals. Now to the sad part - we must wait around four months for the decision.

Art Line is a three year project to start up a network of art institutions in the South Baltic Region for cooperation, with two essential lines to follow.

1. The Digital Art Platform is a digital public arena for exchange in experimentation and artistic practices in digital media. It is a cooperation between artists, the academy, art institutions and  digital media experts.

2. Crossmedia works with art and digital media in the borderland between digital and “real” world. Through exhibitions, workshops, seminars, public projects and digital media art competitions we explore what public art can be if we connect the digital with a physical public place. The events will

be developed as a cooperation between art institutions, artists, laboratories and technicians in digital media.

Who are the engaged partners and associated partners?

Blekinge Museum

Laznia CCA, Gdansk

Gdansk City Gallery

Kalmar Konstmuseum

Kunsthalle Rostock

Kulturcentrum Ronneby

Baltic Sea Cultural Centre, Gdansk

Blekinge Institute of Technology

Kaliningrad NCCA

Galeria EL, Elblag

Karlskrona Konsthall

Vilnius Art Academy

And, for all events that will take place on the ferry between Sweden and Poland,

our new associated partner is Stena Line.

Keep your fingers crossed and hope for Art Line to get through the small passage into EU.