Chisinau Contemporary Art Centre holds cultural campaign in Transnistria

The Chisinau-based Contemporary Art Centre [ksa:k] holds a series of cultural events, contemporary art seminars and workshops in the Transnistrian region. The actions promote the idea of the complementary nature of the contemporary art and culture and are consecutively held in the cities of Tighina and Tiraspol and in Ciobruci village, Slobozia district. The project is a follow-up to the Centre’s advocacy efforts in defining the role of the artist and promoting contemporary art and culture in the society. The intention of these series of seminars, debates and artistic events builds on the complementary nature of historical vanguard practices during the inter-war Russia and post-war Soviet Union, which became canonical for the development of the 20th century’s universal culture. According to the Centre’s director, Lilia Dragneva, the first stage of the project included a series of round tables in Chisinau and the setting up of a database of artists and culture people, in order to organise cultural events in Moldova’s regions later on. For the future, the Chisinau-based Contemporary Art Centre intends to cooperate closely with artists from eastern Moldova, students from the College of Arts and Tiraspol University. It also plans to organise presentation lessons, theatre and contemporary dance shows, as a follow-up to the theoretical seminars, Lilia Dragneva said. One of the seminars held in Tighina this month brought together artists, theorists and cultural managers from booth sides of the Nistru River to discuss the artists’ role in the transition period and their commitment capacity in the transition period of the contemporary society. The painting exhibition of the Transnistrian artist Oleg Gherasimenko, held at the Republican Gallery of Art in Tighina, formed part of the event. The Chisinau-based Contemporary Art Centre [ksa:k] is an independent and non-profit institution registered in 2000. Its new strategy is centred on the promotion of cultural forms and artistic practices, reflecting the dynamic of social, political and economic changes of the society. The Centre supports advocacy activities promoting adequate cultural policies, defining and consolidating the artist’s role, and contemporary art’s practices in the society.