by Bethany Shaffer

The route to the International Symposium for the Process of Interdisciplinary Art, at Pražská Tržnice, is a process of art in its own right. Zigzagging through fruit stands, slipper sellers, souvenir kiosks and public toilets, one finally spots the number 40 painted on a large brick building through a tunnel of christening gowns and winter hats. The symposium, which began November 1 and continues until January 1, attempts to showcase the process of artists at work. Fifteen countries are represented, as well as almost every discipline, including installation and performance.

The hodgepodge quality of the marketplace serves as a preview of what’s inside. Inside the five-story building, people may feel like they’ve intruded upon the loft of a wealthy but eclectic art collector who has yet to clean up after a raging party the night before. Oriental rugs scatter the floor beneath circular stacks of books, a life-sized robot and purple-wallpapered Roman columns. A bar running along an alcove and a few tables and chairs provide evidence of the previous nights festivities, though one cannot be sure if this is wreckage or another installation. It’s a chore to find bare space on the walls, and one has to be careful where to step, for it’s difficult to tell what’s art and what’s free for guests to utilize. It’s easy to find the first floor a blur until one centers oneself in a single spot, takes a breath and selects one thing at a time to focus on. After one becomes more familiar, the feeling of imposition begins to vanish, to be replaced by the sensation of walking into Prague’s coolest new café.

Since the symposium aims to include every discipline, performance and music will often be found as unifying additions to the atmosphere. On this particular day turntables are the paintbrush of a young DJ. Each floor pulsates with his beats, and he bobs his head along as he works amidst a mix of large digital prints by Adam Holy and a black and white corner installation by grrrrr. A small room to the side portrays a “Boy’s Room” by Jeremiah Palacek: a typical teenage boy’s bedroom of a teenage boy, complete with skateboard, electric guitar and amp and army-tank wallpaper. While these artist’s tags were somewhat easy to find, it’s unfortunate that the majority of the work remains unidentifiable, with tags hidden, if they are there at all.

Identifying the work is one piece of advice I, as an art appreciator, would offer to the organizers; another deals with locating the symposium’s actual theme: process. When the symposium began, the space was completely empty, the art emerging gradually over the weeks. When the project finishes January 1, each of the five floors will be as full and chaotic as the first. The idea, while well-intentioned and -executed, could benefit from a bit of illumination on the process aspect: a book of photographs logging the process of the installations each day, or outlines by artists explaining their processes. Without this insight, viewers may find themselves lost in the multiple layers of the show.

That said, the symposium is a welcome event in Prague. Other than the Biennale, no other single event in Prague represents such a range of countries and disciplines. By adding the interactive aspect, including weekend-long parties with musical performances and vernissages bridging gaps between Czech and Swiss artists, the Czech Republic is entering an era of more user-friendly, diverse and active art. Just as the European Union gradually breaks down the borders of the once-divided Europe, and as our world becomes more multicultural by the day, the art world finds itself able to work within a less constrained sphere.

Don’t miss vernissages on December 1 and December 8, as well as the Friday and Saturday night events until 2 a.m. The Symposium is free; various performances may charge small fees.

The International Syposium ( nov 1- jan 1) @ Pražská Tržnice, Bubenské nábřeží 306, Prague 7 (one stop from Vltavská)

Previously published in the December Provokator print issue.

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