Publications

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The Triennial of Central European Contemporary Art is the result of the Olomouc Museum of Art‘s long-term efforts to cover the geographically, culturally and meaningfully volatile Central European space. It is a part of the Central European Forum Olomouc (SEFO) programme and complements the spectrum of activities that, in addition to modern and contemporary progressive forms of visual art, also reflect its other forms, general socio-historical and political context. The Triennial is thematic, community-oriented and partnership-based. Local and international institutions are involved in its preparation. Its first edition, launched in the pandemic year 2021, was called Universum, the current one is called Moments. It is precisely on this ground, between the general, complex and abstract on the one hand, and the concrete, particular and real on the other, that READER also moves, bringing together essays and reflections by prominent figures in contemporary discourse. Among others, these include Octavian Esanu, Monika Mitášová, Vera Mlechevska, Noor Mertens and Julia Lerch Zajączkowska or Mechtilde Wiedrich. Also included are original projects by Ádam Albert, Nikolaus Gansterer, Ilona Nemeth and Tobias Putrih, as well as selected local architectural probes.

The Triennial focuses on learning about the world and the ways in which we relate to it. It sees art as an expression of the mind’s effort, and the artwork, project or intention as a fundamental tool of human creativity. It is interested in the problem of the system, which can generally be understood in two ways: as an ideal order that we discover, imitate and develop in an aesthetic way; or as an artificially created construct, which we often call truth only out of our own convenience. The fact is that we each project our own universe, but few of us can or want to share it. The museum does the same, only on a larger scale and with an objectifying aspiration. The triennial’s ambition is not to change the world, but to give it its attention. It doesn’t want to be committed but stimulating. It doesn’t see art as autonomous, nor as subservient, but as capable of creating the world. The Triennial is also associated with the institution’s new research projects, workshops and conferences. The current situation serves as a starting point for thinking about the possibilities of a public cultural institution in a new era, in a world that is undergoing intense reconstruction. And READER also personifies this effort.

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