“AS YOU GO… roads under your feet, towards the new future”, conceived and initiated by Biljana Ciric, unfolded from 2019 to 2022 as a long term research curatorial inquiry that found great potential in its collaborative practice and situated topics.
Originating from organic research cells[1] varying from independent art practitioners (artists, researchers, writers, curators) to small-scaled organizations or state/private museums, we learned from each other on a long term process through regular meetings, intensive workshops and seminars. We attempted to generate alternative modes of working together that debunks the hierarchy of the artistic institution, encouraging creative interplays amidst the large scope of cultural production and interdisciplinary research.
[1] . Zdenka Badovinac (curator and writer, director of the Museum of Modern Art/ Moderna galerija in Ljubljana until 2021 and currently director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb)
. Nikita Yingqian Cai (deputy director and chief curator of Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou)
. Biljana Ciric (interdependent curator and founder of What Could/Should Curating Do)
. Sinkneh Eshetu (writer and landscape architect, founder of Fruitycity Children’s World, Addis Ababa)
. Larys Frogier (founder with Alfie Chua of the duo artist studio Ocean & Wavz – OW based in Paris, art historian and artistic director, head of the Rockbund Art Museum Shanghai until 2022)
. Aigerim Kapar (curator, initiator of the Artcom Platform and Art Collider school, Almaty)
. Dragan Stojmenovic (ethnologist and librarian at Public Library, Bor)
. Robel Temesgen (artist, Addis Ababa, PhD. fellow at the Oslo National Academy of the Art, Oslo).
From 2019 to 2022,we initiated two encounters one in Addis Ababa in 2020 and one in Bor in 2022. Along with the AS YOU GO… online journal, we organized a meaningful symposium in 2021, issuing a seminal publication in 2023. We also provided substantial support to numerous artists, collectives and researchers (sociologists, scientists, philosophers…) in order to achieve research and art projects through new commissions and residency programs, artwork production funds, curated exhibitions, lectures and papers, performances and events…) [1].
[1] . Chen Liang, anthropologist, Greater China
. Sarah Bushra and Contemporary Nights, artist and curators, Addis Ababa
. Jelica Jovanovic, researcher, Belgrade
. Yabebal Tadesse Fantaye, cosmologist, data scientist and cofounder of Astrobus, Addis Ababa
. Marija Glavaš, culturology researcher, Slovenia
. Aziza Abdulfetah Busser, landscape architect, Addis Ababa
. Alexey Ulko, researcher and artist, Tashkent
. Ash Monish, artist, New York/Cairo
. Hu Yun, artist, Shanghai/Belgrade
. Robel Temesgen, artist, Addis Ababa/Oslo
. The Fault Zone curatorial collective, Greater China
. Wu Yeiji, artist, Shanghai/London
. Jasphy Zheng, artist, Shanghai
. Anastasia Albokrinova, curator and artist, Samara
. Robert Bobnic and Kaja Kraner, researchers, Ljubljana
Our transition will take sufficient time and care to implement the following guidelines:
– AS YOU GO… will connect and relate with localities on the margins with the future intention to expand its network to like-minded individuals and institutions in areas in Africa, the Arab world, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Pacific and other regions.
– AS YOU GO… will continue to use opacity and visibility as active choices.
– AS YOU GO…will nurture art and research as political and solidary practices within the organization members and beyond.
We are thrilled and honored to announce that AS YOU GO… transnational organization funding partners cells is now legally registered in Paris as a non-profit organization and its founding members are as follow:
. Biljana Ciric, What Could Should Curating Do, Belgrade
. Sinkneh Eshetu, Addis Ababa
. Larys Frogier, Ocean & Wavz – OW, Paris
. Jelica Jovanovic, Belgrade/Vienna
Partners remain opened and proactive to:
. Conceive and lead art and research programs
. Engage into art and research cooperation projects
. Develop initiatives supporting art practitioners and researchers
. Welcome fruitful exchanges with individuals, collectives, organizations,
institutions, sharing similar values and methodologies of working
. Meet the artistic, cultural, democratic and environmental challenges that are
shaking our contemporary worlds and will determine our common future.
Below is the 2019-2021 timeline recorded by the AS YOU GO… cells and sound designed by Ocean & Wavz. The sound environment is focusing on textures and atmospheres, with some short melodies popping up discreetly.
The sonic sequences were not conceived to illustrate each speaker’s 3 years timeline but, from one year to another, to echo, resonate, take distance, balance and sometimes merge with different elements. For example, we deliberately chose to keep the more or less good recording equipment used by each of them (mobile phone, online platform recording, professional microphone) instead of “polishing” them. From that, we focused more on the quality of the human voice as raw sound, the mood tied to each of them related to a specific year, or some specific content raised by the speakers. Rather than a music background, the sound environment is more like a sonic walk with the AS YOU GO… cells.
The sound environment is divided into three sections:
The year 2019, works as an introduction to each of the speakers, unfolding unique sounds for each of them, incorporating different instruments, deep sonic vibrations and melodies.
The year 2020 groups the speakers into two main sound atmospheres, engaging the central topic of the pandemic’s spread.
The year 2021 is made of more open and airy textures.
