Take the money and run

Tranzit

Tranzit is a new activity for the support of contemporary art in central and eastern Europe. The colossus Erste Bank Group has patronage over it and so it is possible to expect that it will not get into the usual financial problems and will be able to accomplish its plan, which has no time frame. And it seems that after a long time we are not talking about a petty project, but a generously sketched out vision.
Tranzit is based on an international board of theoreticians, artists and representatives of the sponsor, which localizes the field of interest: Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria. The council drafts the basic program of Tranzit, but its advancement and content is realized by outlets in Prague and Bratislava. In this way the balance between integrating the international dimension of the project and sensitivity towards specific needs of chosen destinations should be kept.
The Tranzit program is marked out by announced theoretical publications, lecturing activity, as well as awarding developmental prizes.
And it was just this giving of words in May of this year when Tranzit introduced itself into local environment and hinted how far it would be contributing. Financial awards for two artists and one theoretician (2000 Euro to each Czech, to the Slovak, 1000 more), with no specific conditions for the spending. Finally someone has the courage to risk that the spent resources will not require anything in return. The wish of the organizer is only that the winner write a short message about the process he went though in the subsequent time period. The holder of the award is simultaneously challenged to “seek alternative artistic solutions and formats in all levels of art work.”
Tranzit also hints in what way support for contemporary Czech-Slovak art can be directed: to not get attached to gallery operation, to specific implementation, but rather to aim more towards the future than to evaluate what has already been created.
The openness of Tranzit specifies separate rules of evaluation in both countries. In the Czech Republic the executive board (Jiří Ševčík, Tomáš Pospiszyl and Vít Havránek) have taken the risks of subjective selection upon themselves, even though for a wider nomination they invite an advisory board of 25 theoreticians and artists. The Slovak board passes their nomination to an international jury that decides for them. Also the usual practice of annual announcements falls through only in the Czech Republic, because the prize here gets awarded twice a year. What is saddening, then, is only the fact that Tranzit remains a lonely soldier in the field. In our environment it raises exalted expectation and the impression that it is rather a social benefit than an incentive for more intensive artistic activity. But this is only connected with the unlucky social position of the Czech and Slovak art community.
The theoretician Jiří Zemánek, and artists Milena Dopitová and Jesper Alvaer are all holders of the Tranzit in the Czech Republic. In Slovakia it was theoretician Mária Rišková and as an exception because four artists tied in the number of votes: the duo Ivan and Juraj Dudášovi, Milan Tittel and Cyril Blažo.

Egoart

The Slovak group Egoart has chosen a different method for awarding art prizes. They have chosen to develop their own managerial effort in harmony with its art concept of “increased visibility” and to collect money in their bank account until the last moment before awarding it to the winner. The five-member jury will judge in the beginning of next year all concepts that have arrived, and will choose the lucky one in the category Project (will receive 10,000 sk) and five finalists in the category Realized Work. The holders of this prize will be selected in a lottery by the jury in a live broadcast of commercial television Joj!. Prizes of Egoart are an enterprise with uncertain result, but over the others they stand out through their support of art by active artists. Egoart understands patronage and media presentation as parts and in this case the only quality of the creative process. The chosen deadline for this year is January 15, 2004.

Jiří Ptáček
www.tranzit.org
www.egoart.sk

01.01.2003