Seitenlayout

Karl Heinz Reck
Minister for Culture of Saxony-Anhalt

Greetings

The cultural abundance of Saxony-Anhalt not only comprehends a wide range of monuments, the net of museum institutions, the baroque music festivals, and other events for fostering the cultural heir, but also contemporary art projects.

An extraordinarily interesting project for presenting artistic works and events from the realm of the visual arts, Internet, video, film, and performance is the Werkleitz Biennale. It’s the third time that this international media art festival takes place. This year the central theme is sub fiction. More than 70 participants from 15 different countries will present their works of art which have been selected by six curators.

On the threshold of the new millennium and against the background of the change to the age of communication, artistic ways of expression have the chance to track down and indicate unusual and unexpected facets of the new media. The topic sub fiction furthermore touches on questions and allows visions which wouldn’t become the focus of attention in everyday’s discourse or in a pure functional way of looking at things. Moreover it’s a peculiar Biennale: the several contemporary works of art, events, and aesthetic arrangements will be presented in the rural area of the villages Werkleitz and Tornitz wich are situated on the river Saale. These are good conditions for offering interesting, witty, impressive or maybe provoking experiences to the audience. Anyway, the Werkleitz Biennale, which meanwhile has gained a notable international reputation, is a valuable addition for Saxony-Anhalt.

It’s exactly the combination of regional and cosmopolitan attitudes that creates an exciting communication situation which is interdisciplinary, and makes it possible to reduce clichés and to go beyond certain limits. The Biennale should be used as forum for questioning, undermining or redefining the conventional conflict of reality and fiction. A fictitious visitor could not only gain theoretical knowledge, but also vivid, sensorial impressions within the vacuum of art. Critical distance coupled with openness and curiosity could reveal new dimensions of meaning for the terms fiction - construction - virtuality - reality - identity. It might even be possible that our fictitious visitor will become aware of possible future impacts of new media on different levels of reality. It’s also likely that he/she just is amused, disturbed, irritated or even outraged and annoyed. There are many conceivable and desirable reactions on art. The varied programme of the Werkleitz Biennale provides enough explosive stuff for a good response.

With a great personal engagement the event sub fiction has been prepared by the organizers supported by the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the Stiftung Kulturfonds, the Lotto-Toto GmbH, and numerous sponsors from the world of business and culture. Furthermore, many collaborators and honorary assistants helped to realise this event on such a large scale. Many thanks to all these collaborators and sponsors, and every success, including a varied and interested audience, to the third Werkleitz Biennale sub fiction!



		Karl Heinz Reck Minister for Culture of Saxony-Anhalt

			Greetings

		The cultural abundance of Saxony-Anhalt not only comprehends a wide range of monuments, the net of museum institutions, the baroque music festivals, and other events for fostering the cultural heir, but also contemporary art projects. An extraordinarily interesting project for presenting artistic works and events from the realm of the visual arts, Internet, video, film, and performance is the Werkleitz Biennale. It’s the third time that this international media art festival takes place. This year the central theme is sub fiction. More than 70 participants from 15 different countries will present their works of art which have been selected by six curators. On the threshold of the new millennium and against the background of the change to the age of communication, artistic ways of expression have the chance to track down and indicate unusual and unexpected facets of the new media. The topic sub fiction furthermore touches on questions and allows visions which wouldn’t become the focus of attention in everyday’s discourse or in a pure functional way of looking at things. Moreover it’s a peculiar Biennale: the several contemporary works of art, events, and aesthetic arrangements will be presented in the rural area of the villages Werkleitz and Tornitz wich are situated on the river Saale. These are good conditions for offering interesting, witty, impressive or maybe provoking experiences to the audience. Anyway, the Werkleitz Biennale, which meanwhile has gained a notable international reputation, is a valuable addition for Saxony-Anhalt. It’s exactly the combination of regional and cosmopolitan attitudes that creates an exciting communication situation which is interdisciplinary, and makes it possible to reduce clichés and to go beyond certain limits. The Biennale should be used as forum for questioning, undermining or redefining the conventional conflict of reality and fiction. A fictitious visitor could not only gain theoretical knowledge, but also vivid, sensorial impressions within the vacuum of art. Critical distance coupled with openness and curiosity could reveal new dimensions of meaning for the terms fiction - construction - virtuality - reality - identity. It might even be possible that our fictitious visitor will become aware of possible future impacts of new media on different levels of reality. It’s also likely that he/she just is amused, disturbed, irritated or even outraged and annoyed. There are many conceivable and desirable reactions on art. The varied programme of the Werkleitz Biennale provides enough explosive stuff for a good response. With a great personal engagement the event sub fiction has been prepared by the organizers supported by the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the Stiftung Kulturfonds, the Lotto-Toto GmbH, and numerous sponsors from the world of business and culture. Furthermore, many collaborators and honorary assistants helped to realise this event on such a large scale. Many thanks to all these collaborators and sponsors, and every success, including a varied and interested audience, to the third Werkleitz Biennale sub fiction!