Soros Centers for Contemporary Art

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Ole Häntzschel, SCCA Network, 2022, PDF. [1]
Group photograph taken at lunch on the roof of the Peggy Guggenheim Museum during the official opening of the SCCA network, at the 45th Venice Biennale. Venice, Italy, 1993. Upper row, left to right: Branka Stipancic (SCCA Zagreb); Jānis Borgs (SCCA Riga); Bill McAlister (former director of the London Institute of Contemporary Arts, advisor to the network); unidentified; George Soros; Jim McLain (OSF New York); Anda Rottenberg (SCCA Warsaw); Anna Rakowska (SCCA Warsaw); Călin Dan (SCCA Bucharest); Andrea Szekeres (SCCA Budapest); Liliana Stepanćić (SCCA Ljubljana); Marta Kuzma (SCCA Kyiv); Ludvik Hlaváček (SCCA Prague); Joseph Backstein (Board member SCCA Moscow); unidentified; Raminta Jurénaité (SCCA Vilnius); Katalin Néray (Chair of the Board SCCA Budapest); Sirije Helme (SCCA Tallinn). Lower row, left to right: Suzanne Mészöly (SCCA Budapest and Director of SCCA network); Karmen Basic (OSI Croatia); Amy Rudersdorf (assistant to Suzanne Mészöly); Ada Krnáčová-Gutleber (SCCA Bratislava).

The SCCA (Soros Centers for Contemporary Art) was an autonomous regional program of the Open Society Institute (OSI). The network was established in Eastern Europe during the early nineties by the American philanthropist, stock investor, and political activist George Soros. The SCCA was an institutional mechanism of the post-socialist transition, and its primary role was the modernization of the artistic discourse in the former socialist countries and the republics of the former USSR.

The Soros centers sprouted from a small programme called Soros Foundation Fine Arts Documentation Center which was established in 1985 in the Budapest Műcsarnok (Kunsthalle), as part of a cooperation between the Műcsarnok and Soros Foundation Hungary. In the early nineties, under the directorship of Suzanne Mészöly, this program was renamed “Soros Center for Contemporary Art” and gradually implemented in other Eastern European countries.

In 1992, in addition to the already existent SCCA Budapest, the OSI opened five more offices in Bratislava [2], Moscow, Prague, Tallinn and Warsaw; in 1993, there were established offices in Bucharest, Riga, Vilnius, Kyiv, Ljubljana [3] [4], Zagreb [5] and Sofia. From 1994 to 1999 more centers were opened in St. Petersburg, Belgrade (1994), Skopje, Chișinău (1996), Sarajevo (1996), Odessa (1996), Almaty (1997) increasing their number to 19. (Source) Centers were planned but never realised for Lviv, Minsk, Novosibirsk, Tirana and South Africa.(Source, [6])

"The Soros Centers for Contemporary Art (SCCA) Network supports the development and the international exposure of contemporary art in Eastern and Central Europe, the countries of the former Soviet Union, and Central Eurasia as a vital element of an open society. Each SCCA stimulates its country’s contemporary art community by providing artists, arts professionals and organizations with opportunities to develop projects, participate in contemporary art exhibitions, access information, and develop contacts locally and internationally. The SCCA network links all of the SCCA offices, facilitates communication and information exchange between them, offers educational opportunities and professional training network-wide, and promotes artistic collaboration throughout the region."
--- "SCCA Network" (brochure) published by Open Society Institute Budapest, 1998.

Documents

Publications

Budapest
  • Architektonikus gondolkodás ma / Architectonic Visions Today, eds. Katalin Néray and Suzanne Mészöly, Budapest: Soros Foundation Fine Art Documentation Center: Műcsarnok, 1990. Catalogue for exh. held 2 Aug-2 Sep 1990, 55 pp. [7] (Hungarian)/(English)
  • Interrupted Dialogue: Revisions: Contemporary Hungarian Art, eds. Suzanne Meszoly and Richard Grayson, Adelaide: Experimental Art Foundation, and Budapest: Soros Foundation: Műcsarnok, 1992, 47 pp. Catalogue for exh. held at Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide, 28 Feb-21 Mar 1992. Contributors: Richard Grayson, Lajos Németh, Suzanne Mészöly, László Beke, János Sugár. Festival guide. [12] [13] (English)
  • Soros Centers for Contemporary Arts, 1993. Newsletter printed for the SCCA launch in Venice. (English)
  • Több mint tíz / More Than Ten. 84-94, Budapest: Soros Kortárs Mûvészeti Központ, and Budapest: Ludwig Múzeum, 1994, 46 pp. Catalogue for exh. to mark the tenth anniversary of the Soros Foundation Center for Contemporary Art. Held at Ludwig Múzeum, Budapest, 30 Sep-23 Oct 1994. [19] [20] (Hungarian)/(English)
  • V = A x Ω. A Soros Alapítvány Kortárs Mûvészeti Központ éves kiállítása, Csók István Képtár, Székesfehérvár, eds. Andrea Szekeres and János Szoboszlai, Budapest: Soros Kortárs Mûvészeti Központ, 1994, 78 pp. Catalogue for the annual exhibition of the Soros Foundation Center for Contemporary Art, held at Csók István Képtár, Székesfehérvár, 3 Dec 1994-29 Jan 1995. [21] [22] (Hungarian)
Prague
  • Krajina / Landscape, Prague: Sorosovo centrum současného umění Praha, 1993, 102 pp. Catalogue for exh. held 22 Jun – 29 Aug 1993; curated by Ludvík Hlaváček and Marta Smolíková. [23] (Czech)/(English)
  • Orbis fictus: nová média v současném umění / New Media in Contemporary Arts, eds. Ludvík Hlaváček and Marta Smolíková, Prague: Sorosovo centrum současného umění, 1995, 228 pp. ISBN 8085433265. Catalogue for exh. held 30 Nov 1995 – 1 Jan 1996; curated by Ludvík Hlaváček and Marta Smolíková. [24] [25] (Czech)/(English)
  • Preobražaj. Iložba pet umjetnika iz Praga, Prague: Sorosovo centrum současného umění, 1996, 24 pp. [26] (Czech)/(English)/(Serbo-Croatian)
  • Sorosovo Centrum současného umění - Praha, 1993-1998 / Soros Center for Contemporary Arts - Prague, 1993-1998, Prague: Nadace pro současné umění, 2000, 127 pp. Catalogue. [28] (Czech)/(English)
  • Politik-um / New Engagement, Prague, 2002. Catalogue for exh. held 15 May – 10 Jun 2002; curated by Ludvík Hlaváček and Keiko Sei. [29] (Czech)/(English)
Bratislava
  • Labyrinty / Labyrinths, Bratislava: Soros Center for Contemporary Arts, and Trnava: Galéria Jána Koniarka, 1993, 79 pp. Exh. held at Kopplova vila GJK Trnava, 21 Oct – 30 Nov 1993; curated by Ada Krnáčová-Gutleber and Mária Hlavajová. [30] (Slovak)/(English)
  • Marginalia: umenie 90. rokov na Slovensku / Art of the 90' in Slovakia, Bratislava: SCCA-Slovakia, 1994, 80 pp. Exh. held at PGU Zilina, 9 Nov 1994 – 12 Dec 1994; curated by Ada Krnáčová-Gutleber and Stano Bachleda jr. (Slovak)/(English)
  • Interiér versus Exteriér, alebo, Na hranici (možných) svetov / Interior vs Exterior: On the Border of Possible Worlds, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 1996, 139 pp. Catalogue for exh. held at Cosmos Inc., Bratislava, 27 Sep-31 Oct 1996; curated by Mária Hlavajová and Mária Smolíková. [31] (Slovak)/(English)
  • 60/90: IV. Výročná výstava SCCA Slovensko / 4th Annual Exhibition of SCCA Slovakia, Bratislava: SCCA-Slovakia, 1997, 93 pp. Catalogue for exh. held 23 Oct-22 Nov 1997; curated by Alexandra Kusá and Petra Hanáková. [32] [33] (Slovak)/(English)
  • Subjekt - autor - auditórium : subjekt v priestoroch umenia, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 1997. (Slovak)
  • Almanach 98: texty o filme... filozofii... hudbe... a výtvarnom umení, eds. Monika Mitášová, Martin Kaňuch, Peter Michalovič, and Jozef Cseres, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 1999, 186 pp. (Slovak)
  • Ján Bakoš, Umelec v klietke, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 1999, 234 pp. [34] (Slovak)
  • Juraj Mojžiš, Znepokojené múzy. Sedem pristavení pri štúdiách Oskára Čepana o výtvarnom umení, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 1999, 216 pp. [35] (Slovak)
  • Peter Michalovič, Orbis terrarum est speculum ludi, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 1999, 78 pp. (Slovak)
  • What You See is What You Get (Projected: Poland), eds. Jana Oravcová and Joanna Mytkowska, Bratislava: SCCA-Slovakia, 2000, [34] pp. Catalogue for exh. held at Galéria Médium, Bratislava. (Slovak)/(English)
  • Rodové štúdiá v umení a kultúre / Gender Studies in Art and Culture, eds. Jana Oravcová and Monika Mitášová, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 2000. (Slovak)/(English)
  • Mimézis & reprezentácia. Zborník príspevkov z cyklu verejných prednášok na Vysokej škole múzických umení v Bratislave, ed. Bohdana Sprušanská, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 2000, 163 pp. (Slovak)
  • Radislav Matuštík, Terén: alternatívne akčné zoskupenie 1982-1987, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 2000, 270 pp. (Slovak)
  • 1. otvorený ateliér 1970 - Bratislava, eds. Marián Mudroch and Dezider Tóth, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 2000, 143 pp. [36] (Slovak)
  • Priestor vo filme, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 2000, 313 pp. Symposium proceedings. (Slovak)
  • Reality / Real (E)state, Bratislava: Nadácia - Centrum Súčasného Umenia, 2001, 96 pp. Catalogue for exh. held on Františkánske nám. 3, Bratislava, 5-31 Oct 2000; curated by Jana Oravcová, Vladimír Beskid, Mária Orišková, Martina Pachmanová, Karel Císař. (Slovak)/(English)
  • Hladné oko / Hungry Eye: zbornik textov ako suplement medzinárodného seminára venovaného experimentálnemu filmu, Bratislava: Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia, 2001, 98 pp. Proceedings from symposium held in Banská Štiavnica, 24-26 Nov 2000. (Slovak)/(English)
Ljubljana
  • Urbanaria, prvi del. Dokumenti/skice produkcijskega procesa / Urbanaria, Part One. Documents/sketches of the production process, ed. Lilijana Stepančič, Ljubljana: OSI-Slovenia (SCCA-Ljubljana), 1994, 124 pp. Catalogue for exh. held at Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Turjaška 1, Ljubljana, 25 Nov-24 Dec 1994. Publisher. (Slovenian)/(English)
  • Urbanaria, drugi del / Urbanaria, Part Two, ed. Lilijana Stepančič, Ljubljana: OSI-Slovenia (SCCA-Ljubljana), 1997, 104 pp. Publisher. (Slovenian)/(English)
  • Medij v Mediju, eds. Barbara Borčić, Vanesa Cvahte, and Lilijana Stepančič, Ljubljana: OSI-Slovenia (SCCA-Ljubljana), 1997, 168 pp. Catalogue. Publisher. (Slovenian)/(English)
  • Ko umetnost nabija, Ljubljana: Zavod za odprto družbo - Slovenija, Sorosov center za sodobne umetnosti, 1998, 16 pp. Catalogue for exh. held at Galerija ŠKUC, 8-29 Oct 1998. Publisher. (Slovenian)
  • Teorije razstavljanja / Theories of Display, eds. Metka Vrečar, Nataša Petrešin, and Igor Zabel, Ljubljana: Zavod za odprto družbo - Slovenija, Sorosov center za sodobne umetnosti, 1998, 87 pp. Anthology. (Slovenian)/(English)
  • Potlačena umetnost. Zbornik, OSI-Slovenia (SCCA-Ljubljana), 1999, 95 pp. Symposium proceedings. Publisher. (Slovenian)
  • Videodokument. Video umetnost v slovenskem prostoru 1969-1998, ed. Barbara Borčić, Ljubljana: OSI-Slovenia (SCCA-Ljubljana), 1999, 212 pp. Catalogue. Publisher. (Slovenian)/(English)
  • Videodokument. Video umetnost v slovenskem prostoru 1969-1998. Eseji, ed. Barbara Borčić, Ljubljana: Open Society Institute - Slovenia, 1999, 216 pp. Publisher. (Slovenian)
    • Videodokument: Video Art in Slovenia 1969-1998: Essays, Ljubljana: Open Society Institute - Slovenia, 1999, 216 pp. (English)
  • PlatformaSCCA, 4 nos., eds. Barbara Borčić, Urša Jurman, et al., Ljubljana: Zavod SCCA-Ljubljana, Jun 2000-Sep 2005, 34, 64, 60, 100 pp. Publisher. (Slovenian),(English),(Serbian),(Croatian)
Bucharest
  • Ex oriente lux, ed. Cãlin Dan, Bucharest: Soros Center for Contemporary Arts Bucuresti, 1994, 111 pp. Catalogue for exh. held 24 Nov-20 Dec 1993; curated by Călin Dan. (Romanian)/(English)
  • 01010101, Bucharest: SCCA, 1994. Catalogue for exh. held 1994; curated Călin Dan.
  • Media culpa, Bucharest: Soros Center for Contemporary Art, 1997. CD catalogue for exh. held 1995; curated by Irina Cios.
  • Experiment în arta românească după 1960 / Experiment in Romanian Art since 1960, ed. Madga Cârneci, Bucharest: Soros Center for Contemporary Art, 1997, 651 pp. Catalogue for the fourth annual exh. held at Teatrul Național, Galeriile Etaj 3/4, Bucharest, Nov 1996, and at Muzeul Național de Artă, Cluj, Feb. 1997; curated by Alexandra Titu. (Romanian)/(English)
  • Artă s̨i ecologie, Bucharest: Centrul Soros Pentru Artă Contemporană, 1997, [32] pp. (Romanian)
  • Euphoriun Review: "Civitas Solis, Civitas Artis", 1997. Special issue dedicated to annual exh. held at Castelul Cîlnic, Sibiu, Nov 1997; curated by Maria Rus Bojan. [39]
Tallinn
Zagreb
  • Checkpoint, Zagreb: SCCA, 1995, [40] pp. Catalogue for exh. held at Moderna galerije, Zagreb, 17 Oct-7 Nov 1995. (Croatian)/(English)
  • Otok / Island, Zagreb: SCCA, 1996, 68 pp. Catalogue for exh. held at Art radonica Lazareti, Dubrovnik, 24 Aug-10 Sep 1996. (Croatian)/(English)
  • Otok: Simpozij / Island: Symposium, Zagreb: SCCA, and Meandar (Visual Arts Library, 1), 1997, 161 pp. Proceedings from symposium held in Dubrovnik, 22-24 Aug 1996. (Croatian)/(English)
  • Slaven Tolj, Perceptual Art / Perceptualna umjetnost, ed. Janka Vukmir, Zagreb: SCCA, and Meander, 1997, 68 pp. Catalogue. [45] (Croatian)/(English)
  • Željko Jerman, Moja godina 1977 / My Year 1977, Zagreb: Meandar, and SCCA, 1997, 388 pp. (Croatian)/(English)
  • Grupa šestorice autora / The Group of Six Artists, ed. Janka Vukmir, Zagreb: SCCA, 1998, 327 pp. Catalogue for retrospective exh. held 19 Jun-19 Jul 1998. (Croatian)
Skopje
  • Architecture/Film, ed. Nebojša Vilic, Skopje: SCCA, 1997. Proceedings of symposium held at Architectonic Faculty, Skopje, 21-23 Dec 1995. [46]
  • Approaches to Reading: Skopje-Belgrade (Discussion), ed. Nebojša Vilic, Skopje: SCCA, 1997, 71 pp. Event held at OSI - Macedonia, Skopje, 12 Dec 1995. [47] (English)
  • Intraktivnosta: nova kategortija na likovnoto / Interactivity: A New Category of the Fine Artistic?, eds. Olivija Dimova and Melentie Pandilovski, Skopje: SCCA, 1997, 111 pp. Proceedings of symposium held at Youth Cultural Center, Skopje, 18 Mar 1996. [48] (Macedonian)/(English)
  • Čifte amam 3, Skopje: SCCA, 1997. Catalogue for exh. held 27 May-5 Jun 1997. (Macedonian)/(English)
Sarajevo
  • Meeting Point, ed. Dunja Blažević, Sarajevo: Soroš centar za savremenu umjetnost, 1998, 131 pp. Catalogue for first annual exh. of SCCA-Sarajevo, held at Art centar ljetna bašta Ćulhan, Sarajevo, 24 Jul-12 Sep 1997; curated by Dunja Blažević, with Lejla Hodžić and Enes Zlatar. (Bosnian)/(English)
  • Beyond the Mirror, ed. Dunja Blažević, Sarajevo: Soroš centar za savremenu umjetnost, 1998. Catalogue for second annual exh. of SCCA-Sarajevo, held 22 Aug-20 Sep 1998; curated by Dunja Blažević. (Bosnian)/(English)
  • Oprez! Radovi! / Under Construction, Sarajevo: Soroš centar za savremenu umjetnost, 1999. Catalogue for third annual exh. of SCCA-Sarajevo, held 23 Jul-17 Sep 1999; curated by Dunja Blažević. (Bosnian)/(English)

On SCCA

Books, catalogues

Book chapters, papers, theses, articles, interviews

  • Béla Nóvé, Tény/Soros. A magyar Soros Alapítvány első 10 éve, 1984-1994, Budapest: Balassi, 1999, 606 pp. A thoroughly documented monograph about the first ten years of the Hungarian Soros Foundation. [51] [52] (Hungarian)
  • Anne-Marie Rocco, L'incroyable histoire de George Soros: milliardaire spéculateur et mécène, Mesnil-sur-l’Estrée: Assouline, 1999. (French)
  • Anthony Gardner, "Networking with Soros", in Gardner, Politically Unbecoming: Critiques of “Democracy” and Postsocialist Art from Europe, University of New South Wales (PhD dissertation), 2008, pp 163-171; rev. in Gardner, Politically Unbecoming: Postsocialist Art against Democracy, MIT Press, 2015.
  • Jānis Borgs, "Sorosa laiks / The Soros Era", in Deviņdesmitie: laikmetīgā māksla Latvijā / Nineties: Contemporary Art in Latvia, ed. Ieva Astahovska, Riga: Laikmetīgās mākslas centrs, 2010, pp 42-59. [61] (Latvian)/(English)
  • Petra Hanáková, "Hlavajovej Sorosovo centrum súčasného umenia", in Hanáková, Ženy-inštitúcie? K dejinám umeleckej prevádzky devätdesiatych rokov, Bratislava: Slovart, and Bratislava: Vysoká škola výtvarného umenia, 2010, pp 155-185. Reviews: Koklesová (Pravda), Kukurová (Romboid), Gatialová (SME). (Slovak)
  • Pavlína Morganová, "Učili jsme se za pochodu. Někdo Něco, časopis Výtvarné umění, Sorosovo centrum. Rozhovor s Ludvíkem Hlaváčkem" / "We Learned as We Went. Někdo Něco (Someone Something), Výtvarné umění (Fine Art) magazine, Soros Center. Interview with Ludvík Hlaváček", in Mezi první a druhou moderností 1985-2012 / Between the First and Second Modernity 1985-2012, eds. Jiří Ševčík and Edith Jeřábková, Prague: VVP AVU, 2011, pp 211-230. (Czech)/(English)
  • Aleksandar Savanović, "'Soros realizam'", in Savanović, George Soros – “Otvoreno društvo” kao ideja, ideologija i politička praksa, Banja Luka: University of Banja Luka, 2014, pp 139-145. (Bosnian)
  • Lioudmila Voropai, "Soros Centers for Contemporary Art: Intentionen und Rezeptionen", in Voropai, Medienkunst als Nebenprodukt. Studien zur institutionellen Genealogie neuer künstlerischer Medien, Formen und Praktiken, transcript, 2017, pp 227-236. [62] (German)
  • Anders Härm, "On the Genealogy of 'Soros Realism': The '‘Making of' International Eastern European Art (1989–2004)", Kunstiteaduslikke Uurimusi 27:4, 2018, pp 7-30. [63] [64]

Exhibitions about SCCA

Links

  • i_CAN. In 1999 and 2000, following the restructuring of the Soros Foundations, all Soros Centers for Contemporary Arts started to become independent and have transformed into non-governmental organisations under the membership of the new association i_CAN (International Contemporary Art Network) based in Amsterdam. i_CAN top_10.