Contemporary Art Magazine

The National Museum in Szczecin under the auspicies of the UBC Commission on Culture will organise two exhibitions this year. Metropolis will be opened in conjuction with the XIII Ministerial Session of the CBSS in Szczecin (9-10 June) and will run for 5 weeks. Artists participating in Metropolis will look at urbanisation and mediatisation of the societal processes. The VI Baltic Biennial of Contemporary Art under the title Habitat will run in December 2005/ January 2006.

Beyond the Baltic venue and regional connections, the Metropolis and Habitat exhibitions are linked on complimentary concepts. They address the human need to shape the urban social space and relations
both materially and in the sphere of values and convictions of those that create and populate them.

While Habitat will concentrate on the intimate, deeply personal ways that urban dwellers model and shape the social space, Metropolis explores the 'macro' perspective, showing the city and its dynamic structure how it operates within the larger framework of human existence. Working from the premise that the city defines a matrix on which social processes realise themselves, Metropolis presents works that look for relations among spatial form and social structure. The artists featured investigate a city as an organism in which various attitudes and opinions are created and in which a range of interactions - from co-operation to aggression - take place. The exhibition touches on the palpable tensions in modern cities and both the beauty and the pathologies that arise from them.

To strengthen communication among art institutions in the region, MARE ARTICUM will initiate an electronic version. The Mare Articum Online web site will be frequently updated with information, details and related content (critical reviews, discussion forums).