Artists:
-Visual artist: DANIELA DANICA TEPES
– Visual artist SANJA VATIĆ
-Artist KAEKA MICHAEL BETERO
-Performance group: KAIRAKEN BETIO
-Performance group:NGAON NAREAU
DANIELA DANICA TEPES
Daniela Danica Tepes is born in Slovenia in 1963, she is a visual artist who lives and works in Ljubljana and also in Berlin.
Her artistic gift was first noticed by her art teacher Ratimir Puselj, who also taught her in the years 1978-1981 and 1987-1989. His influence on her artistic development can be seen in her earliest works of art. She continued her study in Ljubljana, graduating from the Academy of Visual Arts in Ljubljana. The academic period at the Academy of Visual Arts also left a powerful influence on her artistic expression, especially the study of the theory of radical critical analysis, since all her artistic stance arises from a radical critical analysis.
Different life events have led her to work in the art under the pseudonym since 1979, due to what kind of event she was forced to use it. She started using her real name later, for the first time at the exhibition Diversity of Views, Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana at the European Union House in Ljubljana in 2009 with her artwork entitled “Who is Brainwashing us?” She exhibits internationally, like in Europe, Oceania and Asia. She is being recognized for her activism and work of arts, through which she draws attention to crimes against humanity and the environment. Her visual expression follows a multidisciplinary approach including video, interactive video, interactive animation, film, installation, photography, computer imaging a combination of 2D and 3D, drawing/sketching, painting and modelling. The aim and focus of the method of visual expression are chiefly to involve and combine a range of artistic practices and the latest media in the context of the visual component. She is known for creating works of art that indicate duality.
Art Work
Collages: She began to make collages and drawings from magazines and political commercials in 1979. With collages, she expresses various opinions and impressions related to different historical events.
Baseco Die! So That I may Live: Is a project that she started to research in 2009. She researched today’s modern slavery. Tepes explored and researched Baseco Slum in the Philippines, the place where the local official’s estimate that about 3,000 kidneys have been sold. For that reason, the place has been nicknamed the » Kidney less Islands«.
Venice Biennale 2017: Daniela Danica Tepes represented Kiribati Pavilion with art project ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS / SINKING ISLANDS, UNSINKABLE ART at the 57th International Art Exhibition, Viva Arte Viva, La Biennale di Venezia 2017. In dialogue with two local performances Kairaken Betio Group and Ngaon Nareau Group she intertwines the traditional arts with contemporary approaches to art.
Other works: Since the mid-1980s Tepes has created a number of colleges, assemblages, mixed media, interactive installations, new media art.
Collections: collection Contemporary Artists from Slovenia; Voices of Transition, collection Kiribati National Cultural Centre and Museum Tarawa and in many private collections.
SANJA VATIC
CV
Sanja Vatić, born 1979 in Ljubljana. Graduated in 2013 at AVA – Academy of Visual Arts, Ljubljana. She works as an assistant and program coordinator at AVA. In years 2004-2008 she worked as an assistant and production designer on various commercial and artistic videos and films. Later on she started to participate in theatre productions as a production designer, light designer and director, as well as taking part in the field of fine art as an individual artist.
Artist Statement
As an interdisciplinary artist, working in the field of theatre, film and fine art I like to explore various artistic expressions, medias and techniques. Working and combining different media allows me to address each matter differently in the media I find most suitable for to bringing attention to the problematic I am dealing with. The content of my work usually takes a critical view of social, political and cultural issues in which I explore how different historical or current events impact and shape today’s society, their consciousness and reality.
KAEKA MICHAEL BETERO
Kaeka Michael Betero ( b.1989, Tarawa, Kiribati) is an artist living and working in Tarawa, Kiribati. He is working at the Museum and Culture Center in Bikenibeu, Kiribati as a Multimedia/IT. His photography and videos have been exhibited in the Museum and Culture Center in Bikenibeu. The aim of his photography is to show the daily life of the people of the Republic of Kiribati. Every year The Museum and Culture Centre have two major events, for which he is responsible to record.