Slovak photographer of Cannes stars passes away
Photographer Peter Leginsky died 6th June, 2023, aged 71. Born in Bratislava, he graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts. He was working for all major Slovak and Czech print media. He presented his photographs at two dozen exhibitions. Leginsky was the first and only Slovak photojournalist to photograph film stars at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France. His pictures of Nicol Kidman, Antonio Banderas or John Travolta became iconic.
International interpretation of „imagined geography“
Opening on Thursday, 8th June, in Nova Cvernovka hub in Bratislava is the exhibition entitled Between Earthly Beings and the Unknown Cosmic World: The Continent. Organised by the Julius Koller Society, it puts the work of this significant Slovak conceptual artist in yet another international context. The exhibition explores the, so called, practice of “imagined geography” both in Koller’s work as well as in projects of 11 contemporary artists all curated by London based Canan Batur. The press release to this show reads: “All artists are very aware of the ecological danger: the water will rise and destroy existing societal relations, but what are they going to look like after the flood?“ You can try to find their visions in Bratislava until 25th August.
Slovak song premiered on BBC 6 Music
Slovak singer Nina Kohout based in Brighton, UK, has premiered her new release Little Butterfly on the prestigious BBC 6 Music channel. Presenting her song on social media she claims that it “is a song about those who do not understand what ‘no’ means.” Her latest release was introduced by Tom Robinson on the show The BBC Introducing Mixtape. It will be possible to hear it live in July in the western Slovak town of Trencin as Nina Kohout will perform at Pohoda, the largest multigenre festival in our country.
Maidens to be published with Persuation
For the very first time, poetry by Olga Urminska, a Slovak born artist who was living in Hawaii, is to be released in Slovakia. Maidens, a bilingual collection of her poems, brings poetry by this late Slovak born artist who was publishing her works in Hawaii Writers Quarterly. The English poems are translated into Slovak by Samuel Vahovsky and will be released by niche publisher Horska lucerna. Also English related will be its next title Zvadzanie rozumu by Ivana Komanicka as it was inspired by Jane Austen’s novel Persuation. Linking readers of women’s fiction with those who read highbrow poetry, confronting the contemporary Austeno-mania, the book reflects on second chances in love. It also features original English lines from Jane Austen’s epigrams.
FESTIVALS:
Slovak hint at Prague Quadrennial
From 8th through 18th June, the Czech capital will host the Prague Quadrennial, the largest international festival of stage and performance design. Its competition section presents the winners with several awards including the Golden Triga credit. The Slovak pavilion will present the project Home is warmth by curators Bakajsa, Boroš, Jurčo, Machciník and Mitro which was used by the theatre company Divadlo na peróne. The production of this Kosice based ensemble aims at making audiences respond to sensitive social issues challenging the viewers to critical thinking. Another Slovak representative is the Academy of Performing Arts with its stage design students who invite visitors to become co-authors of their sandbox in the project entitled Fluid scenography.
Sensorium in Bratislava
From Friday through Sunday, the newly open building of the Slovak National Gallery will house the Sensorium festival. Two concerts will present key figures of contemporary music and contemporary art including Doon Kanda, a Japanese-Canadian artist who has collborated with stars such as Bjork, Arca, FKA Twigs. The line-up also includes Kenichi Iwasa from Japan, Lyra Valenza from Denmark, the Scotish-Czech producer Evil Medvěd and Slovak-Hungarian composer Adela Mede.
Festival in villa in Banska Bystrica
As of today, 8th June, Festival in Dominik Skutecky’s Villa opens in the Central Slovak Gallery in Banska Bystrica with a presentation of archaeological research of the Copper hammer mill. The discussion will be followed by an exhibition of Skutecky’s early 20th century series of paintings of coppersmiths being put into juxtaposition to contemporary photographs of the same spots taken by Jan Kekeli. The Copper hammer mill was the longest operating large-scale production facility in the territory of Slovakia. After 500 consecutive years, it ceased its production in 1990’s to be left abandoned up until today. On Friday, 9th June, the festival invites you to a Venice carnival in the streets of Banska Bystrica as Skutecky used to live in this Italian city while Saturday will welcome families and children to the premises of the Skutecky villa, including its garden. The festival in this villa will close Sunday with a guided tour, a concert and a theatre performance in the Copper hammer mill.
Sewer Street Fest in Kysucke Nove Mesto
On Saturday, 10th June, the Sewer Street Fest (please, read it Slovak – SEVER) starts in northern Slovak town of Kysucke Nove Mesto. Under the motto #womeninculture, it gives floor to mainly female graffiti and street artists. The key role will play 150 metres long wall where crème de la crème of these artists will present their art.
Sound-Garden in Liptovsky Mikulas
Sound-Garden will be in Liptovsky Mikulas. However, this northern Slovak town will not welcome the American band but local musicians involved with different genres of alternative music production. The sound will be held in the garden of the Liptov Gallery.
