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It is widely agreed upon that art functions as a bridge between different times and cultures. It is a common language reaching beyond all frontiers it encounters. Besides skillful technical realizations and knowledge of materials art conveys feelings and expresses ideas. It is a vehicle for shared experiences and relating to people with varying customs and diverse viewpoints in life.

It was a wonderful experience to take part in the Charles Robert Darwin inspired exhibition titled as “On the Origin of Humanity” in Belgium. Darwin as the jubilee of the year functioned as a great source of inspiration both for the exhibition and for the ReThink meetings. The possibilities offered for linking and discussion with people from such different cultural backgrounds made the events so fascinating.

For the exhibition I tried together with a photographer Karel (to whom I was introduced to at a ReThink meeting in Forssa) to combine photographic images with calligraphy, this done as a joint effort being something new for both of us. The collaboration formed to be achallenge solved to a great extend with intuition.

To start with we had to map out the technical possibilities, then adjust individual working methods in order to balance our contributions. Due to the distance the working process found its instructions and idea sharing squeezed into the format of emails. This again lead to a rather slow tempo and a range of diverging interpretations. The exhibition, organized by Artikel 27, was the first place where the fruits of our labor were at view in their final form. In the future we hope to continue our experiments and find different ways to approach the matter. Perhaps join other exhibitions.

Producing works for a large group show is usually a job done in solitude. One may see the final result of what has been created only when the work has been placed among others and entered a dialog with them. Until that moment you feel as if it’s the final form constantly fleets and shifts. In Belgium the moment of seeing the work in midst of its companions was a very positive feeling. "On the Origin of Humanity" was a large and high quality compilation presenting a wide range of contemporary artistic aproaches. I was proud to be to be contributing to it.

The day of visiting the exhibition was continued with workshops that functioned as a good follow-up and were a nice form of being and creating together. New experiments with colors and collaboration took place, much in the same way like we had worked together with Karel.

What makes these get-togethers so enjoyable is not only the time and place but in particular the network, that has presented them to us. Through these people that host us we become aware of different issues and values of importance together with different ways to organize, think and act. Events like this, concrete inter-cultural co-operations, are the best places to think things over again.

Vivian Majevski

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