Listen to episode 3
“Art Has always Had the Capability to Show the Society in the Mirror” – this is how Tevž Logar, independent curator, concludes the dialogue with Andrei Breahnă, Accelerator project manager in the framework of podcast „Accelerator Today”.
For several years collaborator of Gaep Galley, Tevž Logar has been involved in Accelerator program not only as a mentor of the laboratory Curating. The Relation between artist and curator and in the one-on-one meetings, but ever since the writing stage of the project and the selection process of the 10 emerging artists.
Tevž Logar’s extensive expertise covers various fields of the art landscape, not only curating, as he has been consulting emerging artists as well, on their career paths. He is editor and writer and collaborates with various galleries and institutions. For the 58th Venice Biennial in 2019, he worked with the Pavilion of Republic of North Macedonia as curatorial consultant and the Pavilion of Republic of Kosovo as a writer. More about his professional achievements here.
The conversation between the two tackled topics related to contemporary art strategies of countries in South-East Europe, how artists integrate in the art ecosystem and the role of the artists in the society now and in future.
Tevž Logar on the art ecosystem: “Countries from South-East Europe have a historical heritage of the private system not bet being developed. This status varies from one country to another and it is due to the fact that if the intention is to change or improve the system, the whole spectrum of verticals, starting from the baseline, should be changed; meaning taking care of the artists and identifying opportunities for them. Then, there is the question the institutional system and then, if there is a parallel world which is the private sector, cross points where these systems meet should be found and matched. It’s not impossible to achieve that. You just need to find those points of both systems and to start connecting them. For example, if artists do not have any health insurance, then the distribution network provided by galleries doesn’t really help. It is about how to balance these elements.”
The curator advises emerging artists to understand the contemporary art system: “To emerging artists, their work should be the most important. Precision and consistency of with their work create a great baseline to build on. In addition, the fact that someone somehow will find an artist in his/ her studio doesn’t really work anymore. Regardless of the career path they embark on, artists should know and understand the mechanisms of the market. If they do that, then they can make an informed decision: either to enter the market, get interested in a non-profit activity, or to build an institutional career. It’s legitimate, as there is room for everything.”
Tevž Logar about the immediate future and the artist of the future:
“In the perspective of this year’s documenta, there are different paradigms expected to enter the art world. Thus, it will be interesting to follow, in the near future, not only how production of works will develop, but how the system will accept or assess them. Because, looking back historically, it won’t be easy, since the art world is somehow rigid. Then, there is the most important manifestation, which is the Venice Biennale, with a conservative structure. That’s why I believe the new shift of paradigm will be interesting, because it will affect not only the galleries and programming of the institutions, but also the public sector and related policies. The artist remains a reflection of our environment. I am not delusional and I know that art won’t change the world. But, art has always had the capability to show the society in the mirror, which is very importing because it affects the individuals – who are the fundament of the society.”
Here you can listen to the entire conversation with Tevž Logar. If you missed previous episodes of podcast „Accelerator Today”, you can listen to episode 1 with Andrei Breahnă & Ana-Ilinca Macri here and episode 2 with artist Pavel Brăila here. The aim of Accelerator Today is to share inspiring talks about contemporary art and connect audiences with artists (those in the program and guests as well), curators, cultural managers and project partners.