Apolonija Sustersic

Apolonija Sustersic (Slovenia/Holland) will temporarily convert the IBID gallery into Community Research Office as a continuation of a series of projects engaging with social research and urban development in different European cities.

Community Research Office at IBID.Projects in East London looks at the process of gentrification in the local area. The project attempts to explore the reasons, processes and consequences of change in urban development where galleries and independent art spaces play an important role.

Gentrification is a visual process in which financial investments are visible through architectural and social changes in previously run-down areas. Art galleries and project spaces are among the first gentrifiers and later they are often replaced by upgraded housing, cafes and offices. In recent years East London has experienced visible and rapid change. The gentrification process usually entails a rise in property prices as the local population is replaced by people with different lifestyles and social classes with higher income levels.

Community Research Office starts with an empty gallery. Gradually, it will be filled with a variety of collected information. Meetings with city officials, local inhabitants, artists, gallery owners, social geographers, urban planners, etc will be initiated. The gallery 'white cube' gives way to an office space for this work-in-progress. At the same time Community Research Office will also provide suggestions for the hypothetical future development of IBID.Projects, an exhibition venue that has been running for just over a year.

The results of the research will be presented in a publication.

Previous research and exhibition projects by Apolonija Sustersic, include Suggestion for the Day, Stockholm (part of What If, Moderna Museet, 2000) and City Lounge, Berlin Biennale, 2001. Other socially motivated projects by Sustersic that reconsider or extend the traditional functions of art spaces were carried out at Sputnik Lobby, Kunstverein Munich, 2001, Light Therapy, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, 1999, and Bonnevoie? Juice Bar, Manifesta 2, Luxembourg, 1998.

Pressetext

Apolonija Sustersic "Community Research Office"
Kurator: Liutauras Psibilskis
London