March 20 – April 20, 2023
On 20 March, the Open Call for artists has been announced for participation in the “Concentration of the Will” project within the framework of the 15th Platform for Cultural Initiatives “The New Aspirations”.
The project aims to show how contemporary art reveals the Ukrainian vision of will, which contributes to the efforts of Ukrainians today to accumulate their strength to resist the Russian invasion.
“Contemporary history increasingly resembles a battle of the wits, with political will at the forefront. This conclusion is prompted by the war. From the very first days, it has been testing the will of all those who stand for Ukraine and democracy. Fortunately, Ukrainians have resisted and created a forceful field of national anger, which now involves tens of millions of people.
In this forceful field, freedom reveals its distinct meaning, which is not always realised in times of peace. It does not appear as a desire for unlimited power, but rather as the will to collectively resist any tyranny.
Back in the nineteenth century, Georg Hegel expressed the idea that the "World Spirit" directs the course of history towards overcoming despotism and humanity's recognition of the value of freedom.
Today, all signs point to the fact that the "World Spirit" has chosen Ukraine as a place where the battle of the two poles is being fought, where the fate of humanity is being decided. On the one hand, there is an archaic dictatorship based on lies and violence, and on the other, an international civil society where faith in sanity triumphs over xenophobia and barbarism. And these are not just different worldviews, they are different civilisational models, which have accumulated opposing volitional impulses for thousands of years, and which have now converged in an epic battle.”
“According to Schopenhauer, through art, a person learns transpersonal imagination, which reveals the metaphysical essence of the 'world will'. And it doesn't matter whether the plot or mood of a work of art is imaginative, the main thing is what ideas it contains, because art can form not only emotional intelligence but also socio-cultural identity.”
“Nothing like the threat of a brutal violation of personal and cultural boundaries to awaken the will. The concentration of will, therefore, requires not only the ruthless destruction of colonialism, but also a clear vision of the sublime and familiar world that free people have built throughout history.”
Learn more about the concept here: https://www.newestdirections.com.ua/post/concentration_of_the_will
Organised by the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Modern Art Research Institute, M17 Contemporary Art Center.
Project management from the institutions: Andriy Puchkov (NAAU), Igor Abramovych (MARI), Natalia Shpytkovska (M17 CAC)
Curators: Andriy Sydorenko, Iryna Yatsyk
Partners: Art Support Fund, Natalia Shpytkovska Art Advisory, ArtHuss, Front-Art, Utico, Ulma
Media partners: Антиквар, МІТЄЦ, АртКурсив
The exhibition will run simultaneously in the venues of the three organising institutions.
Deadline for applications: 20 April 2023
Application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_tGh8J8nVD1dtVrNhPmOHJzYUZ5_2O72Rac40saMC2YBSkQ/viewform
For further questions: ipsmproject@gmail.com
Please note, that the application should indicate the name, concept, technical description and visualisation of the work of contemporary art, as well as the authors' contact details and CVs (creative highlights and biography). Projects and artworks in various media are considered: photography, digital art, graphics, installation, painting, video, sculpture, etc.
