About
Public Preparation is an international platform for knowledge-production and network-based communication. First and foremost, it is a space for self-education focusing on current practices of critical thinking and production in the field of contemporary art. The practice of Public Preparation is mainly based on creating situations for experience, reflection and discussion in various formats. The project is a method for recognising, discussing and establishing intellectual and professional connections. In that sense, it is a collective exercise in order to get ready for the upcoming future – a continuous preparation process that can never be complete but is always ready to take action.
The main agenda of Public Preparation is to concentrate on the questions linked to the concept of artist as a citizen. If we think of the society as a democratic communal project, then everybody who participates in this project is responsible for it – when noticing that something is wrong, one needs to speak up immediately. Contemporary art is a crucial part of the public realm and artists have the power and responsibility to be actively engaged in the process of imagining and changing the social reality. The current phase of Public Preparation activities is dealing critically with the growing tendencies of nationalism in contemporary Europe, aiming to envision alternative ways to think about global community.
Public Preparation started in February 2007 as a sequence of informal encounters which at the same time constituted the publicly visible preparation process of the Biennale of Young Artists (Oct 2007, Tallinn) as well as the course of preparing and educating the public for the Biennale. After the Biennale of Young Artists is over, Public Preparation continues as an independent collaborative project between Rael Artel and Airi Triisberg.
Public Preparation team:
Rael Artel is an independent curator based in the forests of Estonia. She graduated from the Institute of Art History at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2003, and participated in the Curatorial Training Programme in De Appel, Amsterdam (2004/05). Since 2000, she has contributed to a number of magazines in Estonia and elsewhere, and curated shows in Estonia as well as in Lisbon, New York, Amsterdam and Warsaw. Since 2004, she has run and moderated her project space Rael Artel Gallery: Non-Profit Project Space.
Airi Triisberg is a cultural producer based in Tallinn. She graduated from the Institute of Art History at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2006 and currently continues her MA studies in cultural theory at the Estonian Institute of Humanities. Since 2003, she has contributed to a number of cultural newspapers and magazines in Estonia.
Visual identity of Public Preparation project is created by Jaan Evart.