T-Tudok's participation in the international project Eastern Sugar (Creative Europe) 2019-2021
EASTERN SUGAR is an international, interdisciplinary, contemporary visual art project with a strong emphasis on artistic research. The project reflects recent aspects of European history through the Central European sugar industry. The project examines the “purification” process of Central European sugar production through artistic research, curatorial collaboration, the creation of new artworks, five international group exhibitions, participatory installations, public and educational programs, and a comprehensive interdisciplinary publication. Thus, sugar can be understood as a metaphor for the concept of Europe and the world in constant transformation.
EASTERN SUGAR seeks to draw attention to the history of the Central European sugar industry and place it on the global map of sugar history. In doing so, it also considers the colonial impact of the past and present. The project aims to reflect on the effects of these changes on the Central European countries and Europe 30 years after 1989 – with particular reference to the economic circumstances, the aftermath of the so-called wild privatization of the early 1990s, the sudden shift towards capitalism, globalization and the adaptation to the rules of the free market, as well as the laws and regulations that came with joining the European Union. Taking the Slovak sugar industry as a starting point, case study, or metaphor, Eastern Sugar invites discussion and critical reflection on the impact of socialist and neoliberal economics in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe and beyond. The impetus for this undertaking is Ilona Németh’s research and exhibition, already underway at the Műcsarnok in Bratislava in 2018, which calls for an expansion on an international scale. Using the language of contemporary art, Eastern Sugar aims to shed light on the social consequences of past political and entrepreneurial decisions, to raise the issue of responsibility, and to diagnose the roots of the current crisis. However, the aim of this project is above all to explore the possibilities for a better understanding of such processes in the present and their future consequences. It conveys the belief that by learning and understanding our common past, we are better prepared to make informed decisions that affect our common future. T-Tudok Zrt., as the international partner of the project, designed and implemented online and offline creative student workshops in foreign and domestic partner institutions.
You can read more about the Eastern Sugar project at this link.
