Art connoisseur shows European collection
GERMAN fine art collector and resident of Slovakia, Arnulf R Hess, opens an exhibition of his private collection of around 30 central European paintings at the Luxor Business Club at Štúrova 3, Bratislava, March 3. The works, which are also for sale, will be displayed until April 6.
The paintings on show were created during the four centuries ranging from Baroque to neo-impressionism. They are landscapes and still-life works, mainly from the Romantic period of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Art connoisseur Hess has been living with his family in Bratislava for two years. He spent the last 22 years in the IT business. Prior to that he taught chemistry at New York University. To balance his scientific day jobs he devoted his free time to art and culture.
The exhibition is open Monday to Friday from 11:00 to 23:00.
Francophone festival offers 40 films
THE INTERNATIONAL Festival of Francophone Film will take place March 11 until March 19 at Bratislava's Istota cinema. Forty films will be screened, the SITA news wire reported.
This year's festival theme is "searching the roots". Each day will look at this issue differently.
The festival will feature Belgian, Canadian and Swiss evenings. The traditional Film Night will run from Friday, March 18 from 20:00 until 8:00 in the morning. It will show six films with the theme of childhood. The pre-premiere showing of Tony Gatlif' Exil March 12 will be accompanied by a performance by two French DJs at the Spojka Club at 22:00.
For the first time the festival will also tour other Slovak towns. Košice will host the event from March 14 to 20 and Žilina from March 21 to 23.
Learn photography the creative way
THE PROLIFIC Žilina-Záriečie Station art centre has started a new cycle of creative photographic workshops.
Approximately once a month, young professional Slovak photographers teach participants untraditional approaches to photography. Among the lecturers are Tibor Takáts, Lucia Nimcová and Žilina native Martin Kollár.
"The workshops are designed to inspire and develop photographic skills, as well as discover new approaches and possibilities in the medium of photography. They focus on developing the way of thinking when taking pictures," said Robo Blaško, the workshops' organizer.
The opening workshop took place on February 26. Under the leadership of Tibor Takáts, the participants focussed on photographing small, inanimate objects. A member of cult grouping AGAT, Takáts has exhibited in seven European countries and received residency grants for Kulturkontakt in Austria in 1998 and Kulturfabrik in Luxemburg in 2000.
The next workshop will be led by Lucia Nimcová, the winner of the Institute for Public Affairs grant for working on a pictorial report of the country and laureate of 2004 Mio Photo Award in Japan. It starts Friday, March 11 at 17:00 and lasts until March 13. Those interested need to bring their cameras and pay the entrance fee of Sk400. The workshop is also open to discuss previously taken works. For more information visit www.stanica.sk.
Art with a scent
MINIATURES from nature.
photo: Courtesy of K Gallery
A HUNDRED miniature poetic objects made in combinations of all kinds of material are currently on display at the small Bratislava's K Gallery on Ventúrska. Under the title Wires, artist Daria Permon exhibits prehistoric animals made of mustard seeds, chestnuts and juniper berries, beetles from silk paper and a medieval garden full of herbs and spices, the daily SME reports.
"I want all objects I make to express the feeling of fragility. That's why I needed an intimate space for exhibiting them," Permon told SME.
Many of these works are aesthetically arranged in special boxes joined with wires and will be exhibited until April 1.
The artist studied monumental painting in Bratislava. After her studies at L'ecole des beaux arts in Marseille, she stayed in Paris. She switched to miniatures because according to her "the small is also big and can have the same power".
Prepared by Spectator staff
