THE INFLUENTIAL private contemporary art organisation the Buryzone has taken a new name, moved to a new location, and set a new mission. Now called Burundi, presumably after the African country, the Slovak art centre is relocating to SNP Square 12. There it will provide the public with technological and educational resources related to multimedia art and culture, and theoretical study.
In the new space the group will run a media studio, an information lab, and a multipurpose exhibition hall. There will also be a publication centre. The related HIT Gallery, which opened at Hviezdoslavovo Square 18 at the end of last year, will host exhibitions and events focusing on new local and international art scenes, an activity to which the Buryzone had been dedicated.
Burundi shares the space on SNP Square with three other groups, who together form the A4-Zero Space, a non-profit centre of contemporary theatre, dance, music, film, visual culture, and new media art. The other members are the Association for Contemporary Opera, the Association for Contemporary Dance, and Atrakt Art - Society for Advanced Arts and Culture.
Burundi's previous name referred to puffed rice, one of the friendlier and more innocuous snack foods, and offered a living-room style event and exhibition space in a quasi-residential neighbourhood outside of the city centre. The old name, they say, was specific to the character of their previous location and had to be left behind.
