Found Footage Workshop, KSAK Center For Contemporary Art

Location: Exhibition Hall of the Art College A. Plamadeala

Period: 26 of October - 5 of November 2007

Participants:

Alina Popa and Olivia Mihaltianu (RO), Andreea Carnu (RO), Lavinia German (RO), Liviu Pop (RO), Milena Putnik (SRB), Zoran Djurkovic (SRB), Maxim Kuzmenko (MD), Victor Ciobanu (MD), Ghenadie Popescu (MD), Alexandru Raevski (MD), Fiodorova Tatiana (MD),Vadim Tiganas (MD),

Curator/Exhibition Concept/Design: Stefan Rusu & John Davis

Found Footage ended with an exhibition organized by the KSAK Center during October 26th - November 5th in the exhibition hall of A. Plamadeala College in Chisinau. On the occasion of exhibition, a temporary space (Staged Cinema) was designed and created to show the films to the public. The design of the space included 25 original cinema chairs that recreated the atmosphere and the context of a village club cinema so popular for the Moldovan spectators, especially from the rural areas of the socialist period.

Found Footage Project (Workshop, Public Program and Exhibition) was initiated by Stefan Rusu- artist and curator (Chisinau, Moldova) in collaboration with John Davis – media artist (San Francisco) and was developed with the contribution of Joanne Richardson (Cluj, Romania – media theoretician, video artist and coordinator of D-Media and Kathrin Becker (Berlin, Germania) – art historian, curator and director of NBK Video Forum (Neuer Berliner Kunstverein)

The exhibition presents the results of the workshop which was focused on in-depth exploration of the use of archival material, the aesthetics of appropriation, sampling and detournement, and the transfer of cinematic language to digital forms. The workshop was consisted in theoretical presentations, film screenings, and assisted hands-on workshops (selection of archival sources, analogue-digital transfers, montage) and it provided an opportunity for cross-cultural

exchange between artists and students from Moldova, regional artists from Balkan countries, and the international guests who have been invited to develop the workshop.

The exhibition brings to the public attention a number of films produced by the participants that shows critical engagement toward the current condition of post-soviet and post-socialist societies. The artists where especially interested in investigating the re-use of film aesthetics and digital technologies in exploring and commenting upon the gaps/ruptures/continuities between the dismantling of socialism and the current neo-liberal system.

Workshop Leaders: John Davis (San Francisco, USA) is a media artist exploring the intersections of film, video, photography, experimental sound and social practices. Joanne Richardson (Cluj, Romania) is a cultural theorist, video artist and coordinator of D Media, an NGO producing digital media & engaged art. Kathrin Becker (Berlin, Germany) is an art historian, curator and the director of NBK (Neuer Berliner Kunstverein) Video Forum.

Project partners: D Media Association, Romania, NBK Video Forum, Germany

Organizer: KSAK-Center for Contemporary Art, Chisinau