Press Release
VIDEO CINEMA MULTIMEDIA
7th International Video Week *(Biennial of the Moving Images)
The meeting place for artists and their audience
The International Video Week (IVW) is one of the most important events devotedto artists' videos and films. This biennial launched and organised by the ImagesDepartment of Saint-Gervais Geneva gathers the best of contemporary video creation.The IVW is the meeting place for Swiss as well as foreign artists and institutions.It places Switzerland and Geneva at the heart of this type of cultural events.
The 7th IVW will be held from 31 October till 8 November 1997 in Saint-Gervais,Geneva. A part from the international competition, the 7th IVW will offer eventscovering larger fields of interests: an exhibition, retrospectives, lectures by artists,«cartes blanches» (i.e. special programmes) and seminars. Non-stop projectionswill take place every day from 2:00 p.m. till midnight. Prize award ceremony: Saturday8 November.
The international competition includes a selection of video works produced in1996/1997. It provides a horizontal cross-section of current video section and revealsthe new trends. A jury of international personalities from the world of art willaward several prizes, for a total amount of CHF 20'000.-. This competition openedto the audience at large is an opportunity to show the recent works of well-knownartists and to discover new talents.
Parallelly to this programme, three retrospectives of major artists working inthe field of experimental fim and video are set up. It is an opportunity to discoveror see again the integral work of Belgian director Chantal Akerman whose work, situatedsomewhere between fiction and documentary, throws a light on the meaning of lifeby decomposing daily life. The projection of a part of Rebecca Horn's (Germany) filmsand videos is rare enough to be mentioned: it will allow the audience to approachthe fundamental work of this artist, who, with her rich and personal symbolism, emphasizesthe stakes between the individual and the world. The Swiss artist Roman Signer, whoseworks and explosive performances compose the third part of these retrospectives,has dedicated his research to the imminent nature of powers and to the energy potentialof the elements.
Around those three artists, lectures will be given by special guests and art critics.The viewers who would like to attend them are invited to register in advance. Therewill be also a seminar about Gilles Deleuze's work.
Numerous artists' performances as well as special programmes set up by personalitiesof the art world will constitute a specific part of chosen works around a theme:The Social Body.
Parallelly, an exhibition will take place in the rooms of Saint-Gervais Genevabetween 1 October and 9 November 1997. Video installations will be shown: by PeterFischli and David Weiss, Ohne Titel (Without Title) (1995) and others artistslike Chris Marker, Eric Lanz and the gathering of Huber, Pocock and Wenz.
A network of cultural partners formed around the 7th IVW: simultaneously, galleries,art centres and museums in Geneva, Lausanne and Bern propose to the audience at largeabout twenty exhibitions concerning video, art and cinematography.
André Iten, Director
with the collaboration of Simon Lamunière and Jacques Boesch
Marie-Claude Barbier and Nedim Behar (Press Service)
7th International Video Week
Saint-Gervais Geneva
5, rue du Temple CH-1201 Geneva Tel.
(+4122) 908 20 60 Fax
(+4122) 908 20 01
e-mail: sgg@sgg.ch
http://www.sgg.ch.siv
Retrospectives
Films and videos by
Chantal Akerman (B)
Rebecca Horn (D)
Roman Signer (CH)
Exhibition
Fischli / Weiss : OhneTitel, 1995
Felix S. Huber / Philip Pocock / Florian Wenz : Adescription of the Equator and Some OtherLands, 1997
Chris Marker : Immemory One,1997
Eric Lanz : 1994/97
Artists'performances
Events and others surprises
Cartes blanches
Special presentations by art and film critics
Lectures / Seminars / Round tables
Seminars on the retrospectives
Seminar paying tribute to Gilles Deleuze
Round tables about publication and distribution
International competition
40 works will be selected from among the 560 viewed
4 will be awarded a prize
Art schools' programmes
Tomorrow's artists
Catalogue
It is essential for an event like the International Video Week to producea catalogue ; for its audience, for the artists, for the professionals. A tool forwork, memory and reflection, this publication is a compilation of a whole seriesof critical reviews and information on the theme covered, the works and the artists.It is published in French and English.
Exhibitions in Geneva
linked to the Biennial