About B-East

B-East is a non-profit organization founded in Paris in 2017. It aims at supporting visual arts and contemporary creation. B-East is a platform for exchange and ideas on the current esthetic trends related to society’s challenges. Our goal is to welcome and to promote the work of artists with diverse backgrounds and cultures, with a focus on the next generation of Eastern European artists.

The Theme

I Like Europe and Europe likes me.
Ideas of progress: a focus on emerging visual art scene in Poland

The title of the event I like Europe and Europe likes me is a reference to Joseph Beuys’s famous performance I like America, America likes me. In 1974, the artist locked himself up with a wild coyote inside an art gallery during three days. The work addresses the cohabitation between humans and nature as well as the fracture which existed between the United States and Eastern Europe.

The two blocks have dissolved, revealing new geographical and ideological borders, especially in Europe. The tensions inherent to this new configuration contrast with general progress of the XXIth century.

Is any progress an improvement ? How does it influence our daily life, our behavior and our human interactions? Does it awaken any sort of political consciousness ? Does it optimize our living conditions, or do we undergo its negative effects ? How do these questions resonate in Poland?

The Exhibition and the Forum

The project consists of a group exhibition presenting works of ten Polish artists.
The show will be led by a series of events : talks, round tables, readings, screenings and performances. In order to deepen the topic and familiarize the audience with Polish contemporary art scene, historians, sociologists, artists and many more, from Poland and France, will be invited to take part in the forum.

The Venues

Our event will be hosted by Fondation Hippocrène created by Jean and Mona Guyot. The Hippocrene Foundation is a family-owned non-profit organization that promotes the construction of genuine European citizenship by young people building the future of Europe. The Foundation's goal is to promote projects proposed by young European citizens in all those fields such as culture, education and society allowing dialogues and interchanges in order to create a commun European identity. The Foundation welcomes the exhibitions of contemporary art. Artists’ works of an international fame as Martin Boyce, Bojan Šarčević, Pierre Huyghe or Rosemarie Trockel.

The Foundation is situated in the former agency of architect Robert Mallet-Stevens (1886-1945), an influential figure in architecture between the two World Wars. This prime example of modern architecture offers an ideal setting for the promotion of different forms of artistic expression.

Our talks and round tables will be hosted also by La Colonie, a space dedicated to art, music and critical exchanges created by Kader Attia and by the University of Paris VIII, historically known for encouraging creation and freedom of speach.

Who supports our project?

The project won the first prize of the competition Newrope, an annual
event surrounding the European question, organized by Visions d’Europe (SciencesPo Lille) and Eurofeel (Sciences Po Bordeaux). We have engaged negotiations with partners from different backgrounds : universities (Sciences Po, Paris VIII), institutions (Polish Institute, the City of Paris), cultural centres (la Colonie...). Our project is supported by Mairie de Paris.

...and we're still working on new partnerships.

The Team

Artistic Direction

Martin Pheline is part of the organization of Salon du Livre d’art in Perpignan, organized as a part of Festival International du Livre d’Art et du Film (FILAF). He also participated in the organization of exhibits of contemporary art in the gallery of the Castle of Jau (Eva & Adele, Marc Couturier, Olivier Masmonteil, Richard Fauguet) and at l’ISBA (Jacques Monory, Nicolas Daubannes, Jean Claude Ruggirello, Daniel Dezeuze) in oriental Pyrenees.

Karolina Kazmierska is a Polish artist, graduated from the MFA Fine Arts program at École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Lyon in 2009. Her works were presented in exhibitions in New York (Spring Break Art Show), Beijing (Gallery LAB 47, Independent Art Spaces Festival), Warsaw (Galeria Krytyków Pokaz), Berlin (wortwedding), and also in France - 55° Salon de Montrouge, Exposition de Noël, organized by Magasin in Grenoble. In 2010, she confounded a non-profit artist-run-space - l’Oeil de Boeuf in Lyon. It is an exchange place which aims to welcome, with an openness to dialogue and proposals from artists and musicians. Its activity hinges on the production, exhibition and distribution of art. She's currently working in Xippas Gallery in Paris.

Administration

Giulia Armanini is graduated in Politics and Cultural Management and works as Head of Projects at TorinoFilmLab, an Italian development program which aim to support young scriptwriters through training and a big international coproduction market, with more than 400 participants. Giulia collaborates also with a theatre company as responsible of press and communication.

Communication and Partnerships

Sandra Ghegeliu has a bachelor in Communication Sciences and a post-graduate in Culture Management in Paris. Since her bachelor she has produced a documentary short film and has helped organize Les Journées du Cinéma Bulgare, a festival of Bulgarian cinema that takes place in Paris. She is currently assistant general coordinator at Les Arcs European Film Festival.

The selected artists

*Jagna Ciuchta
*Róża Duda & Michał Soja
*Oktawian Jurczykowski
*Izabela Łęska
*Agnieszka Mastalerz & Michał Szaranowicz
*Liliana Piskorska
*Dominik Ritszel
*Ewa Surowiec
*Iwona Teodorczuk-Możdżyńska
*Yan & Anna Tomaszewski

Exposition d'art contemporain

The publications