About Trieste Contemporanea
The work undertaken by Trieste Contemporanea to draw East and West closer through
the dialogues of art is as much to be appreciated as it is effective: as everyone
knows, art in its multiple manifestations is universal, and is perhaps the principle
instrument for understanding and cohesion between peoples.
Harald Kreid, director general executive secretariat
Central European Initiative
"Trieste Contemporanea. Dialogues with the Art of Central Eastern Europe" is a committee of cultural institutions and associations created in June 1995 with the objective of bringing out the role of Trieste as a hinge between Western Europe, the countries of Eastern Europe and the countries of the Mediterranean area for the creation in Trieste of a permanent observatory on the contemporary situation of art and culture in Central-Eastern Europe.
Since the first edition the project received favorable consensus (as the initial support of Trieste's Chamber of Commerce, and the recognition as "cultural body of regional interest" by the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, as well as from important international institutions) which led to a conspicuous activity of promotion of art, collaborations, co-productions and exchanges on an international level. Initiatives dedicated to visual art, music, cinema, literature, multimediality, theatre, architecture and design have been held in Trieste and abroad.
Various publications and monographs document the specific topics dealt with. The focal points of the activity of the Committee can be considered to be the "Trieste Contemporanea International Design Competition" a biennial event that now attracts the interest of designers from 21 European countries, and the "CEI Venice Forum for Contemporary Art Curators", another biennial event that deals with the topics of cultural promotion and the exchange of curatorial experiences in occasion of the opening of the Venice Biennale. Both initiatives are carried out under the auspices of the CEI.
Among the other initiatives that have been created, a very important one is the promotion of young artists that also avails itself of an annual specific tool (Young European Artist Trieste Contemporanea Award"). Furthermore the Committee publishes a bilingual cultural six-monthly publication called "Trieste Contemporanea". Starting from 2003 Trieste Contemporanea proposed to a number of institutions and museums from Central-Eastern Europe the co-production of the international project "Continental Breakfast" of which the Trieste Committee is presently project-leader.
Link to: www.triestecontemporanea.it