World Wide Video Festival preview
by Storm Janse van Rensburg
The 19th World Wide Video Festival opens in Amsterdam on October 10, compiled by festival director Tom van Vliet. The annual media art überfest kicks off this year with a heavily packed, week-long programme of discussions, seminars, screenings, lounging, VJs, DJs and live events, after which an exhibition will run until November 11 2001. What form this extended exhibition will take is not clear from the media package.
More than 100 artists from 26 countries will participate, with a special focus on Africa and the Arab world. A component of the festival is 'Meet the Artist', a forum for interaction, discussion and presentations in which more than 70 artists are expected to participate in a four-day period.
The brief for the 'Africa in Focus' section states that "traditionally, most media art is being produced in Western Europe, North America, Japan and South America. Relatively little is known to come from Africa ..." Unfortunately this statement exposes some naivety about the production of new media work on the continent and its diaspora. However, a number of African countries will be featured. There seems to be a heavy bias towards southern Africa, including premieres of new works by Fernando Alvim, Tracey Rose, Matt Hindley and Minnette Vaacute;ri.
'RETREKS unSUNg CITY', the multi-media, site-specific parking lot event originally curated for the Johannesburg CBD by Rodney Place (see Artthrob October 2000), will be transported to Europarking and will hopefully survive this relocation with Place's special brand of irony and acerbic edge. Artists include Brett Murray, Jane Alexander, Robyn Orlin, Stephen Hobbs, William Kentridge and Rodney Place. The event will run for two nights only, on October 10 and 11.
'Sul/South - Voyages into Mutant Technologies', curated by Jose Ferreira and previously exhibited in Maputo (see Artthrob May 2001), is another cornerstone of the festival. It consists of works by 14 artists from decolonised countries such as Mozambique, Angola, South Africa and Brazil and will be shown on October 12 and 13.
Promising to be an interesting component of the festival, particularly in the light of recent cancellations of cultural events and exhibitions by skittish museum directors in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the US, is a showcase of new Arab video, '(in)tangible cartographies'. Jayce Salloum was commissioned by the festival to curate and compile an extensive programme of video work from Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and Syria, among other countries. Dealing with "interstitiality between countries, cultures, influences, politics, ideologies and subjective dispositions/dispossessions", an array of video art, personal essayistic work and experimental documentaries will be presented.
Another festival attraction is 'Baby', the World Wide Media Lounge situated in a tastefully redecorated former church with 24 luxurious viewing units (computers/video monitors), each allowing viewers a menu of single screen productions, to watch, browse, play and zap through at leisure. Added to this are a lounge, reading table and an interactive goldfish bowl that will provide a subtle dreamlike soundscape.
Live events include appearances by the Light Surgeons, a London collective of filmmakers, designers and DJs with an audio-visual extravaganza; Alexei Shulgin and his cyberpunk rock band 386dx; Walter Verdin with a video and music performance; and a live video performance named after a Balkan folk song by Breda Beban.
World Wide Video Festival, Marnixstraat 411, 1017 PJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)20 420 77 29
Fax: +31 (0)20 421 38 28
Email: wwvf@wwvf.nl
Website: http://www.wwvf.nl
