FREE STATE: Susak expo 2018

FREE STATE: SUSAK EXPO 2018*

#susakexpo2018

“Susak expo 2006 began as an idea to extend platforms by exchanges of contexts and languages through dialogues between people and locations. It’s an idea on the move, an idea in translation. Translation can slip between languages to structure networks of thought. It enables simultaneous experiences to interact. It is vulnerable and open to incompletion as well as failure and misunderstanding. The project may fail or it may succeed; its outcome and even the idea of its completion is uncertain. Because of this openness, it is vulnerable, this is its character”.

— Jo Melvin, 2006.

Susak expo is a contemporary art biennale founded by Herzog Dellafiore and Daniel Devlin that has taken place on the island of Susak, Croatia since 2006. The original reason for organising the Susak expo was as a reaction to the art fairs, biennales and museums of contemporary art sprouting up everywhere. The founders wanted to highlight the absurdity of this proliferation by staging an international art biennale in the most unlikely of places where very few people other
than the Susakians and the artists themselves get to see it.

Because of the remoteness of Susak and its distance from the beaten art world track, objects created or shown during the expo stop having significance and value as objects d’art — very few people will see the objects in the flesh and almost certainly no collector will be offering money for them. By forcefully asserting what Susak expo is not, this event then becomes a ten day symposium on what the art act could be. What then becomes central to Susak expo is the experience and the interaction between the participating artists (sharing time and ideas), and those objects serve as props and when the expo is over, all that will remain will be its documentation and the anecdotes (possibly exaggerated and embellished) and those objects will remain there for a while, like traces … like strange artist droppings.

Participating artists have to accept the concept and possibility of failure, or even to embrace failure as a desirable outcome. The possibility of failure ensures the unpredictability of the expo. Susak expo is not just about isolation; it sits within a wider context. Whether politically or geographically, artists are encouraged to respond to the place and to reconsider their own practices.

Susak expo has taken place every two years, and, although it has evolved, it has remained faithful to its original philosophy where experimentation and exchanging ideas, as opposed to making art objects, are at its core.

You can see what happened in past Susak expos here:

www.susakexpo.com

SUSAK EXPO 2018 will take place from 4 to 13 May 2018.

There will also be a show of photographs documenting the expo at Palača Fritzi at the Museum of Mali Lošinj (Lošinjski muzej) opening on Friday 11 May (until 19 May).

www.muzej.losinj.hr

Although I want to be as helpful as I can to all participants, I am unable to make detailed arrangements for such things as travel or accommodation. As a participating artist you are expected to organise and pay for your travel, accommodation and living expenses. You will find practical information below that should help you to do so and, of course, I encourage you to work together to make your plans and answer questions.

You will receive no money from Susak expo, but neither will there be any fee to participate. (The only thing that you would have to pay is if you want one of your photographs to be shown in the exhibition in the Museum of Mali Lošinj, in which case you will pay for the printing. This should be relatively inexpensive and, of course, is optional. More information below.)

The way it works is that there is no real plan or schedule. It’s best if you come to the island with an open mind, even with an acceptance that you might end up not doing anything. Artists will be staying in different places and as individuals or in groups. The island is very small, so we will all be interacting, sharing ideas, conversations and thoughts very quickly. The important thing is that you will be autonomous artists.

Susak expo will run a calendar where artists can schedule events: for example, a performance on Bok beach, a symposium in Osman’s Café, an installation outside the Klub, poetry reading in a vineyard, or an exhibition of watercolours in “House 600” (if you rent a house, you can use it as a temporary gallery). You will also be able to connect with other artists to collaborate on projects.

Selected photographic documentation of these events will be printed A1 and exhibited in the Museum of Mali Lošinj. The museum has twenty-two A1 black frames, so, if there are more than 22 entries, then a selection will have to be made.

Once I have confirmation of all the artists who would like to participate, you will be able to connect with each other and perhaps share travel, accommodation or art plans.

If you like, you can send me a short text and a vague idea of what you propose to do during the expo and a couple of images. I would like to gradually announce (on website / Facebook / Instagram) the artists participating in Susak Expo 2018.

Confirmed artists:

QWERTY
In person: Jens Andersen, Indigo Richards, Camilla Gaugler, Mikkel Larris, John Krogh and Morten Tillitz. In spirit: Anders Qvist.
More info =>

Carousel Institute of Arts (C.I.A.)
Sally Anne Roberts, Jonny Roberts, Lime Green (Eddie Robert) and Ben Roberts.
More info =>

Tomislav Brajnović

Keran James

Daniel Devlin

Charlie Bonallack

~~Dominik Grdić~~

~~Andrew Keltner~~

~~Nicholas Mortimer~~

Herzog Dellafiore

George Miks

Oliver Ertl

Kristian Rok Buzeti

~~Ulrike Tisch~~

WECHSELSTRAWANZA
Herbert Kremsl
Stefan Steinlechner
Manfred Schicho

~~Hermann Fink~~

Clara S Rueprich

Peter Seewasser

Gianfranco Mirizzi

Andrea Crnković

~~Freya Tewelde~~

Daniela Urem

~~Gaella Gottwald~~

Charles Williams

~~Hedley Roberts~~

~~Sian-Kate Mooney~~

Nina Dick

Ludmilla Andrews

Helen Elder

Tine Louise Kortermand

MetzgerMensch
Günther Metzger and Kristina Mensch

Gill Ord

Clara Qvist-Richards

Theresia Fauland-Nerat

Joshua Y’Barbo

Artists thinking of coming but not confirmed:

Nataša berk

Nika Oblak

Peter Hopkins

~~Brian Dawn Chalkley~~

~~Mark Lungley~~Thanks for the invite to Susak but unfortunately I’m not going to be able to make it this year. I’m invigorating the gallery and can’t afford to employ anyone to do it if I’m away.

Kagweni Micheni

~~Lorenzo Belenguer~~

~~Hitomi Kammai~~

~~Milijana Babić~~

~~Annabel Ludovici Gray~~

Ivica Capan

~~Tom Bayer~~

Here is a bit of practical info:

Getting there:

(not useful for those living in Croatia, but then you will know how to get to Susak):

The closest airport is Rijeka (Krk). Flights during the summer are often more expensive, but if you can find cheap flights for Rijkeka, then that’s the best option.

You have to take the catamaran from Rijeka to Susak. In May it sails every day apart from Tuesdays and Thursday at 2pm and gets to Susak around 5:30pm.

I usually find the cheapest flight to Trieste, Pula, Zagreb, Ljubljana or Venice

and then travel to Rijeka. I stay the night in Rijeka and get the catamaran the following day.

From 2018, Jadrolinija is taking over (again) the Rijeka-Susak-Mali Lošinj route. It’s called DUBRAVKA and sails from the same place and the same times. (Thank you Davor for the info).

Rijeka-Susak_Mali Lošinj timetable

~~The catamaran is called Krilo Carbo. You don’t have to buy the tickets in advance, but, if you do, you can buy them here:~~

~~Krilo Carbo Timetable~~

I can’t remember exactly how much Rijeka-Susak costs but it’s around 60 kuna (£6.50) per person, so it is not expensive.

In Rijeka, there are plenty of Airbnb’s. Hotels are not expensive during this time of the year but I would recommend the Botel-Marina.

www.botel-marina.com

It’s a converted boat and is in the port next to where you take the catamaran. It used to be cheap, but I just checked and it is not as cheap as it was in the past. If you share a quadruple room or stay in the dormitory, it’s much more affordable. Marina used to link many of the islands and has an interesting history.

Marina History

Here are the airports you should check for tickets (in order of preference):

Rijeka (Krk)

As I said before, I don’t think you’ll find anything, but worth a try.

Trieste

This is what I usually go for. It usually is the cheapest and it’s quite easy to get to Rijeka from there.

You get a bus from the airport to the train station and then a bus from Trieste to Rijeka. The bus station is next door to the train station in Trieste.

If there are four of you, you might consider splashing out on a Croatian taxi to pick you up from Trieste airport and take you to Rijeka.

Here is the bus timetable from Trieste to Rijeka:

www.autotrans.hr

Pula

As with Trieste, you take a bus or taxi form the airport to town and then a bus to Rijeka. You might feel adventurous and take a catamaran to the island of Unite and then from there wait for the catamaran from Rijeka which stops in Unije on the way to Susak. But if something goes wrong, you risk being stranded in Unije. Also, a taxi can be arranged.

Zagreb

This is pretty good, as there are plenty of buses from airport to town and then from Zagreb to Rijeka. A taxi can be arranged but it’s slightly more expensive.

Ljubljana

Same as Zagreb, but buses to Rijeka are not so frequent.

Venice

This is a bit further away, but last summer we found really cheap flights to Venice. So, we took advantage of that and stayed a couple of nights in an airbnb in Venice and then took the train to Trieste. The train takes a couple of hours to Trieste and only costs around £15 per person (It’s only in the UK that trains are slow and cost a fortune). And then from Trieste you take a bus to Rijeka.

Zadar

Check it out. If you find a bargain, it might be worth it. But it’s not so straight forward.

FOOD:

Susak has a restaurant, a cafe and a place where you can have pizzas, but there is no food shop, so it’s good to stock up on food in Rijeka. Rijeka has a great fruit and veg market very close to the port where you take the catamaran. There is also a bakery on Susak which sells pizzas, Burek and pastries (and bread, of course).

NEW!!!! There is a new food shop in Susak.

In the words of Georg “new shop much cheaper and really nice Young People! you can order burek also sir meso and mexican style(very good!!)”

There is also a boat that sails from Susak to Mali Lošinj every norning (it takes about 1 hour) and comes back around lunchtime. There, there are shops, supermarkets and even a LIDL.

Here is the timetable for the boat that goes from Susak to Mali Lošinj:

Susak – Mali Lošinj timetable

ACCOMMODATION:

airbnb

For accommodation, there are plenty of houses on Airbnb. The cheapest way of staying there would be to share a house between four or six of you.

airbnb houses in Susak

You can also rent rooms, studio apartments, apartments or houses directly:

Barbara

Valković
marijan.valkovic@gmail.com

Grgac

Markovčić
mmarkovcic@yahoo.com

Matijašec