Personal Cinema.
The Making of Balkan Wars: The Game
Museum of the City of Skopje
From the 27th until the 30th of May the multimedia project 'The Making of Balkan Wars: the game' will be hosted in the premises of the City Museum of Skopje. A network of computers will allow visitors to view the multiplayer video game Balkan Mall, participate actively in it and interact with each other. Parts of the project as video works and video games will also be exhibited individually within the exhibition space.
'The Making of Balkan Wars: The Game' is a Personal Cinema project primarily focused on the social and cultural issues within the Peninsula and on the creation of networks between artists, art critics, writers and curators from South-Eastern Europe. It proposes some new media works created by 51 participating artists investigating the Balkan territory and way of life.
'The Balkan Mall' video game, the central node of the project is a multi-user, 3D video game created by the Personal Cinema group which hosts videos, sounds, images and texts contributed by the participating artists. The game is formed by 20 different spaces shaping an imaginary shopping mall, which is an elevation of social, historical and cultural elements of the Balkans. It is a poetic metaphor, which has many moments of ironic stance towards the prevailing multicultural concepts, historic and religious disputes and contemporary political developments in the area.
Entering the game the player forms her/his identity/avatar by selecting three characteristics/words out of 16 available choices. These words refer to the semiology of an imaginary re-construction of the Balkan character, as perceived through time and history. The game-play is based on the variable of Balkanization. Moving within the space the players discover that their behavior define their degree of participation in this simulated Balkan reality. The stance of "balkanization" or "de balkanization" changes depending on which video the player is watching, as well as by the interaction between the avatars.
Curating/Production: Personal Cinema
Coordination: Ilias Marmaras , Nina Vagic
Participating Artists:
Robert Alias Dragot Albania; Genti Shkurti Albania; Beatrijs Albers Belgium; Yane Calovski&Hristina; Ivanoska Macedonia; Natasha Dimitrievska Macedonia; Oppressive Possessive Aggression - Macedonia;Aniceto Exposito-Lopez Spain/Belgium; Francis Schmetz Belgium; Jacques Lizene Belgium; Reggy Timmermans Belgium; Albena Mihaylova Bulgaria; Krassimir Terziev Bulgaria; Irena Paskali Macedonia; Mathias Wagner K Germany; Babis Kandilaptis Greece/Belgium; Nicolas Kozakis Greece/Belgium; Dimitris Dokatzis Greece; Floe Tudor Romania; Mona Vatamanu Romania; Milena Zevu Serbia/Hungary; Selda Ashal Turkey; Gulsen Bal Turkey; Andrej Tisma; Genco Gulan Turkey; Per Pagelow - RussiaMorgan Showalter USA; Goron Dolan USA; Chiara Passa Italy; Koen Wastijn Belgium; Angelo Skourtis Greece; Ria Pacquee Belgium; Dimitris Tzamouranis - Greece/Germany; Vuk Cosic Slovenia/Serbia; Windows 99-Hammer Creative Serbia; Cem Genser Turkey; Ruth Catlow UK
Members of Personal Cinema:
Maya Bontzou - artist; Andy Deck - media artist; Dimitris Dokatzis artist ; Vasilis Kokkas composer ; Nikola Kozakis artist ; Ilias Marmaras artist ; Panos Papadopoulos director/producer ; Alex Spyropoulos artist; Stewart Ziff artist; Stelios Giannoulakis sound designer; Giannis Scoulidas programmer
www.balkanwars.net
www.personalcinema.org
orginized by: LOKOMOTIVA - Center for New Initiatives in the Arts and Culture in co-operation with Zoran Petrovski, curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art - Skopje
The presentation of the project in Skopje is within the context of "In the Cities of the Balkans", the 2nd part of "The Balkans Trilogy", a project initiated by Kunsthalle Fridericianum.
Supported by:
Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel and Kulturstiftung des Bundes, Berlin
Swiss Cultural Programme Macedonia
Neocom, Skopje
Museum of the City of Skopje
Goethe Institut
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