Now
in its 16th year, the event dedicated to
electronic arts, independent and non-narrative
video, plus new forms of digital and film
experimentation, has acquired historic status.
Over the years the exhibition formula has
been constantly revised and expanded to
cover the ever-changing modes and subjects
of its annual full immersion in the "undisciplined"
domain of the audiovisual arts.
The
now traditional advance opening night at
a partner venue in Europe is to be held
this year at the TopKino theater in Vienna on 7 November, with an evening dedicated to Austrian and
Italian videos on the rapport between image
and architecture. The closing night is also
to be hosted internationally, in Paris
on 28 November, thanks to a partnership
with the legendary French magazine Bref,
dedicated to video, shorts and experimental
filmmaking.
In
Milan, as ever
the home base for INVIDEO, the exhibition
will feature a broad selection of international
productions from the past year (including
many advance premieres and previously unseen
works), with works from the five continents, backed up by presentations, seminars,
meetings with filmmakers, artists and academics.
The programme includes a forum with writer
and director Alain
Fleischer, head of the innovative
Contemporary Arts "school" at
Le Fresnoy in France; a seminar led by Philippe
Dubois (University of Paris III)
on the "improbable movement" along
the confines between photography, film and
digital; a solo show dedicated to the remarkable
German experimental artist Egbert
Mittelstädt; a tribute to the
Italian collective Fluid
Video Crew, who combine social commitment
with research into new languages of expression;
a survey of new tendencies in Spanish and
South American videomaking, including the
rapport with new technologies and contemporary
arts, presented by Claudia
Giannetti, head of the MECAD arts
and design media centre in Barcelona; due
homage will also be paid to the late Nam
June Paik, the "father"
of video art. A series of documentaries
by Marina Spada
on major photographers (Mario Cresci, Vincenzo
Castella, Francesco Radino) will be presented
on three separate evenings, with the subjects
themselves in attendance.
As
always, INVIDEO will be devoting space to
the interaction between video
and music: this year we will be exploring
the visionary world of Sweden's Jonas Odell, whose celebrated videos have garnered prizes all
over the world for their stylish mix of
humour and nostalgia. Music and its fusion
with images will also be at the centre of
the advance premiere of the musical/visual
performance by OPUS (Antonella Bersani, Matteo Pennese &
Walter Prati) and Raúl Gabriel, with
"layout" by the writer and librettist
Giuliano Corti. The core of the event will
be the intense programme of screenings, watched as ever by a numerous, enthusiastic and demanding
audience, and enhanced by the presence of
many of the filmmakers.
The
titles selected go far beyond mainstream
media fare: video dance, reprocessed amateur
and archive footage, poetic documentaries,
reflections on stricken areas around the
planet, portraits of artists and places,
visionary glimpses of reality, short, lyrical
compositions, statements of social engagement,
video-musical and pictorial abstraction,
digital animation, experimental film. The
line-up of artists includes both established
names and many new discoveries.
In
the week following the Milan screenings,
from 16 to 18 November INVIDEO will continue
c/o the Sala Maddalena in Monza; close by
the venue, the Nine Hotel will be hosting
Art Hotel until
the 19th: opening its doors to 5 Italian
and international artists who will be given
a free rein to reinterpret and arrange its
spaces, transforming them into a video art
exhibition.
INVIDEO is directed by: Chicca Bergonzi, Romano Fattorossi, Sandra Lischi
Programming and organization: Valentina Di Prisco
Invideo is an AIACE project supported by: the Ministry of Culture, Department
of Cinema; the Region of Lombardy, Department
of Culture and Regional Identities and Autonomy
in Lombardy; the Province of Milan, Department
of Culture; the City of Milan, Department
of Culture, Museums and Performing Arts.
Italian/English catalogue edited by Sandra Lischi and Elena Marcheschi.
Partners: the British Council, CCS-Swiss Cultural Centre, City of Monza,
the Austrian Cultural Forum, the Milan Goethe
Institute, the Cervantes Institute of Milan,
the Italian Cultural Institute in Vienna,
the French Cultural Centre of Milan, Nine
Hotel Monza, Sixpackfilm Vienna.
