Videocity Visits Umakart – Utopia Today

Artists: nagl~wintersberger, Ferhat Özgür, Johanna Reich, Paulina Ruiz Carballido, James Stephen Wright & Polina Chizhova, Marko Zink.

Curators: Jana P. Francová, Karin Písaříková and the Videocity-Team.

Documentation: Jürgen Völkl.

Thanks: City of St. Pölten, Kultur Niederösterreich, Danube Trackback and zollfrei association

The curatorial selection of videos from Videocity St. Pölten city exhibition trail was curated to embrace the tradition of Umakart Gallery to focus on body positivity and bodily experiences. It will be hosted from 16 January to 13 February 2024, showcasing a thought-provoking collection of short videos. Each artist offers a different perspective on acceptance and the beauty found in individuality. 

The invitation to Brno builds a bridge to the twin city of St. Pölten. The Brno curators Karin Písaříková and Jana P. Francová discovered a kindred spirit with Videocity: both show video art in display windows and thus bring video art to the street and into the everyday lives of many. In addition to an art audience, they primarily address passers-by. As the videos are presented in public space, the city becomes the soundtrack of the videos and coincidences of everyday life intervene in the compositions. The surroundings allow the works to be seen in a new light.

The St. Pölten city exhibition trail initiated by Dr Andrea Domesle and Dr Walter Seidl took place for the third time in the capital of Lower Austria from 6 October to 17 December 2023 and was spread across nine stations.  Videos by 20 artists from Austria, the Czech Republic and other countries on the theme of "Utopia today" were on display. The curator duo Domesle/Seidl did not focus on the question: "what if?", but "what can we do now?". It is not supposed to be about a future ideal world, but about the actions that every person can do here and now to improve the world. Brno colleagues Jana P. Francová and Karin Písaříková show that these small steps in everyday life are heavily dependent on physical experience. Their compilation of six videos, lasting around 20 minutes in total, can be seen as a loop. The artists live in Istanbul, Cologne, Les Lilas near Paris, Newcastle upon Tyne, St. Pölten and Vienna.