Mediterranea: Skopje 2009

The XIV Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean was hosted in Skopje.For the second time the Biennial has been hosted in a Country of the former Yugoslavian area, after Sarajevo in 2001. BJCEM accepted to realise the Biennial in this region to offer a chance of approaching and comparison both with the European Union and with the South Shore countries.Skopje, as the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, is on the eternal crossroads between civilisations, nations and cultures, on a multiethnic territory where different ethnic groups, religions and cultures live together, in a system that guarantees dialogue and opportunities to all the citizens.

Theme: Seven Gates

Starting from the peculiarities of the territory, for the XIV edition the chosen theme was Seven Gates.

The gate is an association of a free entrance and always ongoing circulation, a spot from where the different cultural creativity from everywhere can enter and can be mixed with the cultural heritage inside, and a spot from where the authentically cultural potential can come out and be shared.

Seven Gates stands also for the seven main artistic disciplines in which creations are divided: Applied Arts, Gastronomy, Images on the Move, Literature, Music, Show and Visual Arts.

Numbers

More than 600 artists coming from 33 Euro-Mediterranean Countries (Albania, Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, FYROM, Republic of San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Austria, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Russia, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Syria) were hosted in the Biennial.

The audience was around 15.000 including general public and international cultural operators.

Among the participants, to be signaled for their works the following artists: Matija Ferlin, performer from Rijeka, Younes Baba-Ali, visual artist from Morocco, Kraftmalerei, collective of visual artists from Vienna, Nicolas Manenti, visual artist from France but living in Berlin and Yael Plat, visual artist from Israel but living in Turin.

Venues

The peculiarity of this Biennial is that it took place in different locations in the city centre, animating different venues, all of them very close and on walking distance one to another.
Dom na Armija/Creativity House and Meeting Point – Applied Arts, Music, Visual Arts, Workshops and Conferences; City Square – Music; Restaurant Pivnica – Gastronomy; National Gallery of Macedonia Mala Stanica – Visual Arts; Museum of the City of Skopje – Visual Arts, Applied Arts, Images on the move; National Gallery of Macedonia- Daut Pasin Aman – Literature; National Gallery of Macedonia- Cifte Aman – Visual Arts; Museum of Macedonia- Kursumili An – Visual Arts, Images on the move; MNT/Macedonian National Theater – Theatre; KIC/Cultural Informative Center – Applied Arts, Visual Arts; MKL/Youth Cultural Centre – Applied Arts, Theatre; Museum of Contemporary Arts – Visual Arts
Macedonian Opera and Ballet – Dance, Applied Arts, Theatre, Visual Arts; Drama Theatre – Dance, Theatre; EU info center – Workshops and Conferences; Kej Vardar – Music; Park Stage – Music.

Artists

For a full list of artists please click here.