2ndcities project by Urszula Tarasiewicz

Second Cities photo project Košice 2008

Tento projekt podporilo mesto Košice, kandidát na titul Európske hlavné mesto kultúry 2013 - ako súčasť podporných podujatí kandidatúry mesta. This project was supported by the City Kosice - a Candidate for the European Capital of Culture 2013. cover photos: Pavel Maria Smejkal, Košice

Second Cities Photo Project Košice, summer 2008 Europe This art project captures the city Kosice as we don’t know it - through the eyes of experienced, visually attentive artists who saw the city for the first time, their vision unhindered by the dullness of the everyday. All who participated in this project worked with the material to probe deeper than the surface of things that surround us. The artists searched for things hidden from hurried inattentive natives, they searched for complexity, for the beauty of unpretentious truth. And we were given a unique opportunity to see our city through the eyes of others, through the eyes of artists from cities similar to ours - Europe’s second cities. Through our book we want to offer this interesting perspective to all curious people Europe over. Our city is growing and adapting, its face is changing and only we determine its future. Our effort to win the European Capital of Culture 2013 title is one of the ways we want to make this city a better place to live. Ing. Františk KNAPÍK, The Mayor of the City Košice

Druhé mestá fotografický projekt Košice, leto 2008 Európa Tento umelecký projekt predstavuje Košice tak, ako ich zatiaľ nepoznáme, ukazuje Košice očami skúsených vizuálnych pozorovateľov, ktorí boli v tomto meste prvýkrát. Ich videnie nie je zaťažené našou každodennosťou, títo fotografi boli v meste, ktoré predtým nikdy nevideli a veľmi málo o ňom počuli. Všetci účastníci tohto projektu pracovali s obrazmi tak, aby ukázali viac, než povrch vecí, ktoré nás obklopujú. Hľadali veci skryté uponáhľanému či len nevšímavému domorodcovi, hľadali viacvýznamovosť, svojskú krásu pravdy, ktorá sa na nič nehrá. Dostali sme tak všetci výnimočnú príležitosť vidieť svoje mesto inými očami, očami fotografov z podobných miest, druhých miest Európy a toto videnie prostredníctvom aj tohto katalógu ponúknuť vnímavým ľuďom z celej Európy. Naše mesto stojí teraz na prahu významných zmien, rastie, mení svoju tvár a je len na nás akým mestom sa stanú v budúcnosti. Naša snaha o získanie titulu Európskeho hlavného mesta kultúry na rok 2013 je súčasťou celého nášho snaženia urobiť svoje mesto lepším miestom pre život. Ing. Františk KNAPÍK, primátor mesta Košice

ÂŠ Gilles Verneret, Lyon

Košice stoja teraz na prelome Minulosti a Budúcnosti, v tomto čase veľkých zmien a možností je dobré sa zastaviť a pozrieť sa na seba cudzími očami - umožní nám to často objaviť niečo nové, iný uhol pohľadu často vyjaví inú pravdu. Pozvali sme teda do Košíc vybraných účastníkov projektu Second cities z minulého roka. Všetci majú svoje životné skúsenosti z podobných druhých európskych miest a množstvo fotografickej praxe a ocenení, a výsledok ich pohľadu držíte teraz v rukách. V Košiciach žijem a intenzívne sa im venujem ako fotografickej téme už dlhé roky. Bol som teda veľmi zvedavý čo nové nájdu fotografi, ktorí tu nikdy neboli, pre ktorých je toto mesto cudzie. Francúzom Pierrovi Valletovi a Gillesovi Verneretovi sa videli Košice trošku ospalé, pomalé, akoby dvadsať rokov dozadu, v oblečení, architektúre, atmosfére. Obaja však svorne obdivovali naše ženy, ( ako Gilles správne interpretoval anjela z nášho erbu ) a v ich tvorbe sú predstavené naozaj netradične. Poľka Ula Tarasiewicz bola fascinovaná množstvom architektonických a dizajnérskych prvkov spred dvadsiatich tridsiatich rokov, ktoré sú teraz trochu trendy a čaro tejto doby je na jej fotografiách priam hmatateľné. Alnis Stakle z Lotyšska sa túlal na perifériách a prostredníctvom fotografií tohto citlivého pozorovateľa sa môžme dotknúť tej najbezprostrednejšej pravdy o nás samých. Daniel Hermes z rakúskeho Grazu sa venoval životu širšieho centra, ale na jeho záberoch sa, podobne ako u ostatných, objavuje hlavne samota. Evžen Sobek sa venoval času na rozhraní dňa a noci a jeho nádherné mestské zátišia sú extraktom priestoru a našej súčasnosti. Pre Mindaugasa Kavaliauskasa z litevského Kaunasu som zorganizoval sedenia priamo u Košičanov. Portréty v intimite vlastného priestoru sú veľkou témou fotografie od jej vzniku a je veľká škoda, že sme im teraz mohli venovať len pár strán. Tak nejako žijeme? Áno, títo fotografi nás takto vidia. Mojou snahou bolo vytvoriť kolekciu, ktorá bude čo najviac využívať možnosti a reč súčasnej fotogafie s cieľom povedať pravdu o nás samých. Aj keď je priestor tohto katalógu obmedzený, som presvedčený, že v súčasnej obrazovej správe o Košiciach má celkom výnimočné miesto. Pavel Maria Smejkal

The city of Kosice finds itself at the boundary of the past and the future and in this time of great changes and possibilities, it is good to pause and look at ourselves through someone else’s eyes. Such new perspective may allow us to discover something new, see a different truth. We invited selected participants from last year’s Second Cities project to visit Kosice. Each of these artists has an experience of living in a similar second city, in addition to extensive photography experience and awards. You now have in your hands the result of their vision. Pierre Vallet and Gilles Verneret from France found Kosice to be a little sleepy, slow, as if twenty years behind in fashion, architecture, atmosphere. But they both admired our women (as Gilles correctly interpreted the symbol of angel from our coat of arms) which, in a very interesting way, is reflected in their work. Ula Tarasiewicz from Poland was fascinated by architectural and design elements from twenty or thirty years ago, which are now becoming trendy, and the charm of that time period is very tangible in her work. Alnis Stakle from Latvia explored the peripheries, and through the photographs of this attentive viewer we are told the most direct truth about ourselves. Daniel Hermes from Graz, Austria, examined the life of the city center, but the most prominent theme in his nice photographs is solitude. Evžen Sobek worked in the twilight and his beautiful cityscapes are abstractions of space and our contemporary existence. For Mindaugas Kavaliauskas from Kaunas, Lithuania, I arranged photoshoots in the homes of some ordinary people of Kosice. Portraits in the intimacy of the subject’s own space have always been an important theme in photography, and it is unfortunate that we could not devote more than a few pages to them. So this is how we live? Yes, this is how these artists see us. My goal was to create a collection that would use the possibilities and the language of contemporary photography to tell the truth about ourselves. Despite its limited size, I am convinced that this collection provides a unique visual documetary of contemporary Kosice.

‘Canon’ for participation in ‘Joop Swart Masterclass’, Amsterdam/The Netherlands 2005 – 2006 grant by gallery ‘Modern Art Oxford’ for residency and exhibition ‘Flash Back’, Oxford, England 2006 ‘Latio Year award in Latvia Photography’, Riga/ LV Works in collections Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires Latvian Photography museum, Latvia Thessalonica Museum of photography, Greece Private collections in Russia, Germany, England

ALNIS STAKLE Daugavpils, Latvia (Lotyšsko) alnisstakle@yahoo.com www.alnisstakle.com

Next 9 pages Alnis Stakle > > Alnis with Ľubo Stacho (left), the lecturer of VŠMU in Bratislava and Pierre Vallet (right)

Represented by GALLERY.PHOTOGRAPHER.RU, Art Center ‘Winzavod’, Moscow, Russia Grants & awards Since 2002 year 9 projects supported by State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia 2004 grant by ‘World Press Photo’ foundation and

Born 1975 (Latvia) Education 2003-2007 Doctoral studies in art education program, Daugavpils University 2003 Master degree in environmental education, Daugavpils University 1998 Graduated Daugavpils University Work Lecturer of photography, and visual culture in education at Daugavpils University Visiting lecturer of photojournalism at Rigas Stradina University, Latvia Member of board of the experts in visual arts at Culture Capital foundation Latvia Member of board of the experts of Latvian Museum of Photography, Riga, Latvia Member of photo agency ‘Photographer.ru’, Moscow, Russia

2004 « La chair et Dieu » (The Body and God), Lyon 2004 « Aires d’autoroute » (Highway spaces), Biarritz Int. Festival « Terre d’images » (The Earth of Images) 2002 « Claire » et « Aires d’autoroute » L’attrape couleurs / Lyon 2001 « Villeurbanne en marche » (The City in march), Villeurbanne 2000 « Epreuves du temps » (Tests of Time) collective exhibition, URDLA, Villeurbanne 2000 : « Portraits : cap 2000, 74 of Lyons Personalities» / Lyon et Achat Ville de Lyon

Gilles Verneret Lyon, France infos@lebleuduciel.net www.lebleuduciel.net/html/verneret2.htm

Next 7 pages Gilles Verneret > > Gilles traveling with Alnis Stakle (left) and Pierre Vallet (right) to Liptovský Mikuláš ’s House of Photography (down)

Freelance photographer, curator, organizator from 1999 works in the Center of Contemporary Photography Le Bleu du ciel with the help of the city Lyon and DRAC Rhône Alpes from 2001 the chief of the photographic biennale Lyon Septembere de la photographie. This year presenting 40 cities, hundred of photographers. Cooperations with Paris galleries (A. Gaillard, Anne Barault, Camera Obscura, GB Agency, Air de Paris, Michel Chomette, Pietro Sparta) or others Wilma Tolksdorf Gallery in Berlin, Elysée Lausanne, Contyretype Bruxelles and publishers like Lieux Dits from Lyon - work on the collection 24 sights Blue de Ciel etc. From 2004 the lecturer of photography at Imus Annecy, Savoy. Solo and some collective exhibitions: 2007 « Photographie » Gallery Françoise Besson 2007 « La Mounine » light room Annecy 2007 « Second Cities » Košice 2006 « Plasma » Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon 2006 « Comment est-on arrivé là ? » Le Rectangle Centre d’art / Lyon 2005 « Ecrivains d’images » (Writers of Images) in Maison des Ecritures / Lyon 2004 « le Monde en forme de Z.A.C » C.A.UE Lyon

Born 1950 (France) Work:

Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne Swiss Foundation for Photography Reattu Museum, Arles Museum of Photography, Charleroi Rodin Museum, Paris Centre of Photography, Tenerife Museum of Fine Art, Dijon Internationale Bauaustellung, Grossrächen, DE Theater of Nürnberg Next 7 pages Pierre Vallet > >

Pierre Vallet

Pierre with a director of The House of Photography Lucia Benická (left) and a lecturer of the Faculty of Art in Košice Tomáš Agát Blonski (in the middle)

Lyon, France info@pierrevallet-photographe.com www.pierrevallet-photographe.com Born 1953 in Lyon, France

Scholarship holder award winner of the National Foundation of Photography 1980 Award winner of the Villa Medicis Prize 1990. Author of “En Vieille Europe”, text by Nicolas Bouvier “Kairouan”, text by Sapho “Le Mans, instants”, text by Jacky Ickx “Architecture XXème siècle, Annecy”, text by Sylvie Mazard. Works in collections National Library, Paris Nicéphore Nièpce Museum, Chalon sur Saône National Foundation of Photography, Lyon Château d’Eau Gallery, Toulouse National Fund of Contemporary Art, Paris Regional Fund of Contemporary Art, Rhône-Alpes Art and History Museum, Print room, Geneva

Biography and awards

individual exhibition, Karma Cafe gallery in Warsaw and Berlin, 2007 Second Cities photo exhibition in Kosice international project, 2007 first prize in photo contest Sittcomm.award in Bratislava. 2006 Photo Wallpaper, individual exhibition during the “Camerimage” in Opus gallery in Lodz; ; Budda Dharma Sanga, Koneser gallery in Warszawa; Teraz Polska, Warszawa; Manufaktura fotografii, Manufaktura, Łodź; Photo Wallpaper, exhibition during Free Form Festiwal in Fabryka Trzciny Warszawa. Publications: Magazines: Pozytyw, Arcitectura, Vox Design, Dom i Wnętrze, Notes na 6 tygodni Next 9 pages Ula Tarasiewicz > >

Ula Tarasiewicz Łodź, Poland ulatarasiewicz@gmail.com www.wallphotex.com Born 1975

Work Works as a set photographer or video assistent on movie sets. She organizes photo sesions and finds locations for film and pictures. Her large format photo prints are printed on billboard paper, banner plastic base, fabrics or self adhesive foils. The artist makes photo wallpaper custom to order. Artistic projects on www.wallphotex.com Selected photo exhibitions 2007 Photo Wallpaper, individual exhibition in YOURS gallery in Warsaw, Transphotograpia Festiwal in Sopot

Biography Urszula Tarasiewicz - photographer, curator, organizer of events and photo exhibitions. Graduate of Polish National Film School in photography. Occupies her time with large format prints, makes Photo Wallpaper with minimalistic landscapes, pictures for interior decoration and film, theater and television scenography.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2008 Contemporary Czech Photography, PDNB Burt Finger Gallery, Dallas 2007 CHARTA77, Czech Centers, Budapest, ( Budapest, Warsawa, Wien) Second Cities - Photo Project, Košice We live here, House of Arts, Opava 2006 Choice, Puffin Cultural Forum, New Jersey CHOICE - photo agency, Month of Photography, Bratislava 2005 founder and organizer (with Ondřej Žižka) of FRAME - international photographic competition www.fotoframe.net

Evžen Sobek BRNO, Czech republik sobek@choiceimages.org www.evzensobek.com Born 1967 in Brno, Czech republic Biography Education M.Sc. - CAD Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Technology Brno M.A. - Creative photography Institute of Creative Photography, Philosophical Faculty, Silesian University Selected Solo Exhibitions 2007 Life in Blue, Galerie Artistů, Brno Home Sweet Home, Galerie113, Bialystok Gypsies in Brno City, Galerie auf der Pawlatsche, Wien 2006 War?, GM Gallery, Pardubice 2004 Ecce Homo, Leica Gallery Prague, Prague 2003 Ecce Homo, French Cultural Institute, Amman Ecce Homo, Leica Gallery, Solms 2002 Ecce Homo, Fiducia Gallery, Ostrava Ecce Homo, Many Gallery, Tel Aviv 2001 Ecce Homo, MiO Gallery, Osaka Ecce Homo, Das BildForum, 6. Internationale Fototage, Herten

Next 9 pages Evžen Sobek > >

2007 script, direction, production of the animated short “the mainframe” 2007 camera on the short film “flachmänne” 2007 group show “6kkd”, orpheum graz 2007-2008 contribution to the international photo project Second Cities Next 5 pages Daniel Hermes > >

Daniel showing his pictures to Evžen Sobek ( left ) and Mindaugas Kavaliauskas ( right )

GRAZ, Austria d@wahwah.org www.dhermes.com Born 1982 in Graz Biography 2003 english/american and media studies, karlfranzens university graz 2003-2004 academy for applied photography, graz 2004-2007 fine-art photography and multimedia-art, htl ortweinschule graz since 2006 member of the film collective”diemfilm”

Daniel Hermes

2004 group shows „merkwürdig“ and a.a.f. - academy at funchal, graz 2004 slide-clip open air show, “he’s not coming back”, graz 2004 - 2006 member of the international photography group 4x6 2006 group show “photo_graz 06” 2006 camera on the short film “abseitsfalle” 2007 second prize in an exhibition of the “kolleg for fine-art photography and multimedia-art”, galerie centrum graz

Exhibitions/projects

• Residence at Ecole nationale de la photographie (Arles, France, 1997-8); • Bachelor degree in Art History and Business and Administration certificate (1996) at Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania) • Kaunas School of Photo Art (1989-1992)

Mindaugas Kavaliauskas KAUNAS, Lithuania info@light.lt www.light.lt Born 1974 Biography • curator of photography, photographer, art historian; • member of the Union of Art Photographers of Lithuania (1993-) and member of its board (2005-); • founder and director of KAUNAS PHOTO, known as Kaunas Photo Days, the first festival of photography in Lithuania, largest annual photo art event in the Baltic countries (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 editions) • founder and chief curator of F Galerija (Kaunas, Lithuania, 2004-) • teacher of photography at monthly workshops at F Galerija (both Kaunas, Lithuania, 2005-) Education/Training • Internship at the Musée de l’Elysée - Museum for Photography, (Lausanne, Switzerland, 2001) • Post-degree studies in art history, communication and art management at University of Lausanne (Switzerland, 2000-2001) • MA in History of Architecturte at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas (Lithuania, 2000) • Ecole nationale supérieure de Beaux-Arts (Paris, France, 1998)

Exhibitions/awards • Special prize of Union of Art Photographers for the documentary project „A Portrait of Kražiai“ and the organizing of KAUNAS PHOTO DAYS, the first photographic festival in Lithuania (2004) • Nordic Council of Ministers’ travel grants for connection making SLEIPNIR (2003, 2004) • Nordic Council of Ministers’ grant for internships within Nordic Photographic institutions Closer Cultural Nerighbours (2004, 2007) • Grant of the Open Society Fund Lithuania for the documentary project “A Portrait of Kražiai“ (Vilnius, Lithuania 2002) • Scholarship of young author of Ministry of Culture of Lithuania (2003, 2002, 1995) • Scholarship of Swiss Confederation for post-degree art studies at Lausanne University (1999) • LVMH Prize of Young Creation, scholarship for studies ar ENSB-A, Paris (Paris, France, 1998) Next 9 pages Mindaugas Kavaliauskas > >

A List of Second Cities ANTWERPEN, Belgium

KOŠICE, Slovakia

ÅRHUS, Danmark

MARSEILLE, France

BARCELONA, Spain

NIKŠIC, Montenegro

BERGEN, Norway

CHARKIV, Ukraine

BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom

ŁÓDŹ, Poland

BRNO, Czech republic

LYON, France

CORK, Ireland

MARIBOR, Slovenia

CLUJ-NAPOCA, Romania

MILANO, Italy

DAUGAVPILS, Latvia

NOVI SAD, Serbia

DEBRECEN, Hungary

PLOVDIV, Bulgaria

DURRES, Albania

PORTO, Portugal

ESCH-SUR-ALZETTE, Luxembourg

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands

GENEVA, Switzerland

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia

GÖTEBORG, Sweden

SPLIT, Croatia

GRAZ, Austria

TAMPERE, Finland

HAMBURG, Germany

TARTU, Estonia

HOMEL, Belarus

TIRASPOL, Moldova

KAUNAS, Lithuania

THESSALONIKI, Greece

( already participating cities in bold )

© ALNIS STAKLE Daugavpils, LV www.alnisstakle.com © GILLES VERNERET Lyon, FR www.lebleuduciel.net © PIERRE VALLET Lyon, FR www.lebleuduciel.net © ULA TARASIEWICZ Lodz, PL www.wallphotex.com © EVŽEN SOBEK Brno, CZ www.evzensobek.com

Second Cities Photo Project © All works: Copyright by their Authors All rights reserved. We would like to thank all artists for their help, trust and kind support. Thanks a lot to everyone who helped us with the project! But at the first place to my wife, for her understanding and patience, thank you Milka! As we hope, the project is not finished yet - we want to go on to get all european cities and much more photographers to our portfolio. Please help to get contacts to other authors! We are open to any idea about new contacts, visits, exhibition exchange, workshops, cooperations etc, concerning to Second Cities Photo Project. Idea, Concept, Project: Pavel Maria Smejkal Catalogue idea, design and layout Project curator Web design Pavel Maria Smejkal psmejkal@stonline.sk www.pavelmaria.com Translation help: Mgr. Lena Jakubčáková (French) Terézia Smejkalová, BA (English) Project coordinator, transport and equipment manager, supporter: Jožo Jarošík photography posielamfoto@gmail.com Project supervisor: Ing. Marek Kolarčík EHMK 2013, Hlavná 59, Košice, 04001 +421 55 6854 299 ehmk@kosice.sk www.kosice13.sk

Selected artists from various european second cities was asked to come to Košice for a week and take photos according their first impressions. The main part of this photo material will be presented on the web site www.2ndcities.net. Photographs are planned to be shown in the street presentations too, not only in Košice... We plan to invite another artists to Košice for a work on the book project later again, to exchange exhibitions, to cooperate on various photo activities. All advises, opinions, proposals are welcome.

www.2ndcities.net Printed by Vienala, s.r.o.

This project was supported by the City Kosice the Candidate for the European Capital of Culture 2013.