19:00 - Wednesday, October 25th, 2006
-Location:15 Ljuben Karavelov THE RED HOUSE CENTER FOR CULTURE & DEBATE

+ THE UPGRADE! Sofia + THE UPGRADE! Skopje will jointly host this event in collaboration with the Red House and with the touring artists of the EXPORT 2 project, a touring program of Canadian artists which is an initiative of StudioXX feminist technology art center in Montreal, Canada.

The Upgrade! is a monthly forum for those interested in new art and technology to gather with a focus on building networking and diffusion capabilities within local and international communities and allowing the youngest generation of artist a chance for professional development. As nodes of the global Upgrade ! network, Upgrade ! Skopje and Upgrade! Sofia collaborate for this event presenting women, art and technology.

Curators Kyd Campbell(HTMlles, Montreal), Elena Veljanovska(Upgrade! Skopje + Line) and Ivaylo Ivanov(Upgrade! Sofia) will present works and live performances by the following artists:

Yofka (Bulgaria) | Yofka works in digital graphics, animation and video. She takes a focus on using Free and Open Source Software in her technical work, making her a pioneer in the use and development of these sustainable technologies. Yofka will discuss her art work, use of technology and present a live visual performance.
www.yofka.info

Nina Boyanova (Bulgaria) | Nina is a local filmmaker, videographer and director. She will present a live perfomance in collaboration with Armando Constantino.

Elena Venjanovska (Macedonia) | Elena is an independent curator from Skopje working in collaboration with the Upgrade! Skopje and her own organization, LINE [initiative + movement]. Elena is visiting from the Upgrade! Skopje to present an overview of the Skopje technology art scene in regards to new trends and to women working with technology.

visiting Canadian artists: Jennifer Willet, Joey Berzowska, Caroline Martel + Chantal Dumas from the HTMlles EXPORT2 project | EXPORT2 is a touring project of the HTMlles Festival for Media art and Networked Practices. The goal of the biannual mobility program is for artists to have a chance to encounter each other, to explore new art scenes and to foster dialog and collaboration. This project is an initiative of StudioXX feminist technology art center in Montreal, Canada.

links:
www.htmlles.net
www.studioxx.org
www.yofka.info

The Upgrade! Sofia is hosted by Ivaylo Ivanov (ivo@i-space.org), Yana Kostova (yana_kostova@yahoo.com), Yovo Panchev (yovopanchev@yahoo.com) in collaboration with InterSpace Media Arts Center.

The presentation will be made in English and in Bulgarian with translation available both ways!