PUBLIC art will hit the streets and open spaces of the Slovak capital and the spa town of Piešťany as the 16th year of Socha a objekt (Statue and Object) begins on June 23 in Bratislava and on June 24 in Piešťany. Artworks will be installed on streets or in parks, as well as in several smaller galleries, to make the work of artists from 13 countries visible to people who do not normally visit galleries or museums.
“The chance to encounter artwork without any barriers in the outdoors of both cities enriches cultural events and helps build people’s relation towards art and cultivate the aesthetic feeling of viewers,” Viktor Hulík, the main organiser of the event, told the TASR newswire. He said contact with works of art in an outdoor setting is a completely new experience for many people, adding that the works of art juxtaposed in an outdoor environment with local architecture as a backdrop creates unique compositions and an extraordinary atmosphere.
Over the past years, Bratislavans and visitors alike have become comfortable with strange objects suddenly appearing in their familiar milieu. This summer statues and sculptures will be placed in Hviezdoslavovo Square and in the Clarissen Church courtyard in Bratislava and on Spa Island in Piešťany as well as in the capital’s House of Culture, the Gallery of the Slovak Artists’ Union and in numerous other small galleries and national cultural institutes.
In all, 162 artists from 13 countries from all over the world will present their works, among them Viktor Vasarely, Milan Dobeš, Claudia Christoffel, John Hiigli, Kyungwoo Chun, Mária and Andrej Rudavský, Marco Goldenbeld, Jozef Jankovič, Hugo Demartini, Ašot Haas, Christina Kubisch, Peter Jansen, Stanislav Pamukčev, Judit Rabóczky, Francoise Morellet, Kamil Kuskowski, Andrea Maria Krenn, Getulio Alviani, Petar Barisic.
The artworks will stay in their “summer residences” until August 28. More information can be found at www.galeria-z.sk.
