05 May 2008

BILLBOARD TEXT ART - EMERGING WOR(L)DS, A TINA B. PROJECT

The third edition of TINA B. – The Prague Contemporary Art Festival would like to announce the continuation of one its major projects – Billboard Text Art: EMERGING WOR(L)DS. Organised by Prague’s Galerie Vernon, TINA B. strives to combine the creative energy of the cultural scene in Central and Eastern Europe with emerging talents and trends from around the world.

Billboard Text Art is a one-year international site-specific project featuring textual and word-based artworks on billboards at various locations in the Czech Republic’s capital Prague. Entitled EMERGING WOR(L)DS, the project is a platform for diverse art interventions, messages and statements, tackling a broad spectrum of issues and subjects concerned with the complex social, political, corporate and cultural structures currently emerging within the context of the post-Cold War – and post 9/11 – world.

Rather than using billboard spaces dedicated to the project for its entire duration - performing the function of a public art gallery - EMERGING WOR(L)DS’ artworks are interspersed among commercial advertising hoardings. Each month, the website www.tina-b.com (under Sections – Billboard Text Art) carries maps displaying the locations of the current billboards, as well as providing details about each artist and a translation of the key textual element of each artwork. The first phase of the project runs until October 2007 and about 100 artists are expected to participate.

EMERGING WOR(L)DS is curated by the collective Grey Zone. So far, contributors have included Kendell Geers, Kay Rosen, Vittorio Santoro, Jonathan Monk, Bethan Huws, Koki Tanaka, Adam Pendleton, Solange Fabiao, Lisa Anne Auerbach, Claire Fontaine, Kimberley Rugg, as well as internationally renowned Czech artist Jiri Kovanda and emerging Czech artists Guma Guar, Pode Bal, Jiri Skala, Jan Serych, Tomas Vanek, Adam Vackar, Zbynek Baladran and Jan Nalevka.

TINA B. 2008 – THE MAIN EVENT

The Main Event of TINA B. 2008 will take place from September 25 until October 15, 2008. TINA B.’s third edition has adopted the leitmotif FORMS OF ENGAGEMENT. By focusing on art in public space, including billboards, video screenings and light art, as well as on the new media generated by digital and mobile technologies, TINA B. 2008 places emphasis on the role of contemporary art, artists and artistic practice as socio-cultural agents that not only provide a critique of social order, but also serve a direct, positive and symbiotic social function.

Artists interested in the Billboard Text Art: EMERGING WOR(L)DS project, or TINA B. 2008 in general, should contact us via email at the address above.