advisory board

Kateryna Botanova
Art-critic, art manager, policy analyst, translator

• Born in 1976 in Khmelnytsky, Ukraine
• Lives and works in Kyiv, Ukraine
• www.cca.kiev.ua; www.kram.in.ua
• 1999 – became cultural program director at OSI in Kyiv, managing 1 mln USD program, being on board of the international arts and culture network and launching the very first cultural policy program in the country.
• 2001 – launched the first artistic NGO association in the country – Ukrainian Art Forum, holding more than 40 members.
• 2004 – launched KUKA, an independent cultural communication consultancy that serves as a partner and a co-organizer of a wide variety of local and international cultural programs and projects (Poetry International Web, Black/North SEAS, European Cultural Parliament, EUNIC-Ukraine). KUKA provides unique services of media and communication support for non-profit artistic initiatives as well as cultural sponsorship projects.
• 2007 – worked for the biggest museum project in Ukraine – Arts Arsenal on a position of local and international communication expert, working as well on policy issues.
• 2008 – co-founder of KrAM – Criticism of Actual Art – online critical magazine.
• 2009 – program director and then as a executive director for the Foundation Center for Contemporary Art, one of the very few NGOs working in visual arts and focusing on education, young artists and audience development, and social and political issues.

Vedran Džihić
Senior researcher, lecturer; director of CEIS

• Born 1976 in Prijedor, Bosnia-Herzegowina
• Lives and works between Vienna and the Balkans
• Studied Political Sciences, Communication Sciences, History at the University of Vienna (MA and PhD).
• Since 2000 Assistant and Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Political Sciences, University of Vienna and at the MA-Postgraduate Studies “Balkan Studies” in Vienna and Bratislava;
• Lecturer at the MA-Programme “State management and humanitarian affairs” at the University in Sarajevo; Lecturer at the Institute for Slavic Studies, University of Vienna.
• Since 2005 Director of CEIS (Center for European Integration Strategies), Geneva-Sarajevo-Vienna;
• 2005-2006 Project Leader and Senior Researcher, Imaginations of Europe. Comparing Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia, NODE, (New Orientations for Democracy in Europe);
• 2006 Bruno Kreisky Prize for the Political Book (Kosovo-Bilanz – together with Helmut Kramer);
• 2008-present senior Researcher and Co-Chief of Party, Project: Transformation and Democratization of the Balkans, Coordination of the Research Platform “POTREBA” (www.univie.ac.at/potreba).
• Member of OGPW (Austrian Society for Political Sciences), Center for European Integration Strategies, CEIS (www.ceis-eu.org), Democratization Policy Council (democratizationpolicy.org), Südosteuropagesellschaft, Munich, projectXchange, Vienna (www.projectxchange.at)
• Numerous Publications (monographies/edited books and articles in German, English and Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian), lectures, conferences, workshops (in the USA, China, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Slovakia, Belgium) and electronic and print media contributions on various topics (International Relations; Former Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, EU Enlargement, EU politics, Democratization and Transformation, Civil Society, Post-War-Developments, Nation- and State-Building, United Nations, Youth Work, Nationalism, Sports, Migration, etc.)

Dimiter Dimov
Researcher

• Born in Bourgas, Bulgaria, in 1977
• Lives and works in Sofia, Bulgaria
• www.cas.bg / www.phdgate.net / www.gate.cas.bg / www.red.cas.bg
• Studied at the Faculty of Philosophy, Cultural Studies Department, Sofia University (MA). Best student of the faculty in 2001.
• 2002 implementation and organization of the 1st International NEXUS Conference at the Centre for Advanced Study (CAS), Sofia.
• since 2003, Ph.D. student at Sofia University. Development and maintenance of the PhDGate Integrated Database for Bulgarian PhD Students, CAS, Sofia. 2005-2005 »Sasakava« Scholarship, PhD research grant.
• since 2006, development and maintenance ot the Academic Gateway, CAS, Sofia and of the »Bulgarian Communism: Critical Readings Portal,« also at CAS, Sofia.
• since 2007, project administrator at the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past, Sofia.

Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu
Managing director of AMOUR FOU Filmproduktion

• Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1971
• Lives and works in Vienna
• www.amourfou.at
• Started working as an independent film critic for Austria’s Public Radio Station ORF and several newspapers and film magazines.
• In 1992 he became distributor for Polyfilm Verleih as well as film programmer for movie theatres and curator for film festivals in Germany, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Austria.
• 1994 – 2000 co-managing director of the distribution company Danube Entertainment (Munich).
• In 1995 he created the production company Minotaurus Film Luxembourg together with director Bady Minck for feature and documentary films.
• In 2001 he became co-founder and managing director of AMOUR FOU Filmproduktion, Vienna, specialized in the production of artistically outstanding films and the »cinema d’auteur«.
• AMOUR FOU had its international breakthrough in 2003, when four films co-produced by the company were selected at Cannes. AMOUR FOU has produced over 40 feature films, documentaries and short films which have been shown at international film festivals.
• In 2006 »Taxidermia« by Hungarian director Gyorgy Pain was premiered at Cannes
• In 2007 »It happened just before« by Anja Salomonowitz was awarded the »Caligan Award« at the Berlinale.

Nicoleta Esinencu
Writer

• Born in 1978
• Lives and works in Chişinău, Moldova
• Received a degree in Dramatic Composition and Scenario from the Moldova State University of Arts in 2001.
• 2002-2005 literary advisor at »Eugene Ionesco« Theatre, Chişinău.
• 2003/2005 fellowship at Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany. 2004 prize for the play »Fuck you, Eu.ro.Pa!«, Dramacum2, Romania;
• 2005 Moldova Union of Writers’s prize for »Fuck you, Eu.ro.Pa!«, Publishing House Solitude, Stuttgart. In the same year, she directed the drama workshop at the »Periferic« Biennale, Iasi, Romania.
• In 2006 she gained the Municipality’s prize in literature for the youth, Chişinău, and was artist-in-residence at the International Residence at Recollets, Paris.
• In 2007 she gained a theatre residency in Bourges, France, and took part in the literature festival »European Borderlands,« Bucharest / lasi / Chişinău. Works (selection): »Meres sans chatte« performed by Nicoleta Esinencu at »L’EUROPE EN DEVENIR,« Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris; »A(II)Rh+«, bilingual publication, Idea, Cluj/Walther Konig, Cologne; »Fuck you, Eu.ro.Pa!«, published in Germany, France, Romania, showed in Slovakia, France, USA, Japan, Moldova, Russia, read in the Romanian pavilion at Venice Biennale 2005; »Taptarap« showed at Schauspielhaus Graz, Austria, performed by Nicoleta Esinencu at »Periferic« Biennale, lasi.

Sándor Finta
Architect

• Born in 1973 in Budapest, Hungary
• Lives and works in Budapest
• www.kek.org.hu / www.sporaarchitects.hu
• From 2000 to 2005 Sandor worked with Palffy & Associates Inc. Architects & Planners, Hungary / Japan (responsibilities; architect, interior designer, member of the arch. design teams Budapest and Tokyo).
• In 2005 he became a Licensed Member of the Chamber of Hungarian Architects and, in the same year, established his own office sporaarchicccts Ltd. (in association with Tibor Dekany, Adam Hatvani, and Orsolya Vadasz) for architecture and urban planning, interior and landscape design.
• From 2004 research assistant, teaching freehand drawing as well as architectural and urban planning at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
• In 2005 he became founder and President of the Board of Trustees of the Hungarian Centre for Contemporary Architecture (KEK Foundation), Budapest, Board Member at the Association of Architectural Science.
• In 2007, member of the Central Architectural Planning Council and the 7th District Architectural Planning Council, Budapest.
• In 2006 he gained the Architectural Award of Hungarian Media – Best plan of the year 2005 (1st prize). Exhibitions (selection): YOUNG BLOOD, travelling exhibition, byCCEA, Prague (2005), Budapest (2006), Vienna (2007); EMERGING IDENTITIES EAST, by DAZ (Deutsches Architektur Zentrum), Berlin (2005).

Mira Keratová
Curator, lecturer, editor, writer

• Born 1977 in Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic
• Lives and works in Bratislava, Slovak Republic
• www.billboart.org
• From 2002 to 2006, she was curator and member of the Gallery HIT Collective, Bratislava
• From 2003, General Coordinator and Curator of Billboart Gallery Europe, Bratislava
• From 2005, tutor at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava; from 2006 lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Brno University of Technology, Brno, and Visual Art Editor of VLNA – Magazine for Contemporary Art, Bratislava. 2006 Fellowship of Goethe Institut, Berlin
• 2007, Curator in Residence, MuseumsQuartier, Vienna. Curatorial work (selection): Turner Contemporary, Margate (UK); Czech Center, Bucharest; Synagogue – Centre of Contemporary Art, Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava CSK); Spitz Gallery, London; Globe City Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (UK).

Dragomira Majhen
Molecular biologist

• Born in 1976
• Lives and works in Zagreb, Croatia
• www.irb.hr
• Studied Biology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Zagreb.
• From 2005 assistant at the Ruder Boskovic Institute, Zagreb. Fellowships (selection): 2005, granted by the European Molecular Biology Organization for the Ecole Nationale Veterinaire d’Alfort, France
• 2004, granted by the French government for the same institution
• 2006, granted by the French government for the Institute de Recherche sur le Cancer, Lille, France
• 2007, granted by the Federation of European Microbiology Society for the Institute de Recherche sur Ie Cancer, Lille, France. Member of the »Croatian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology« and of »The Biochemical Society« Several publications.

Zoran Pantelić
Artist, producer, educator, researcher

• Born in Novi Sad, Serbia, in 1966
• Lives and works in Novi Sad, Serbia
• www.apsolutnu.org / www.kuda.org / www.world-inforniation.org / www.transeuropicnic.org
• In 1993, he founded the association APSOLUTNO, Novi Sad, and in 2000 the independent organization new media center_kuda.org, Novi Sad, dedicated to the research of new cultural relations, contemporary artistic practice, and social issues.
• In 2001, he curated the new media section of the Belgrade October Exhibition;
• In 2003, he co-produced the World-Information.Org exhibition
• In 2004, he organized the TransEuropean Picnic, Novi Sad.
• From 2005, he teaches Media Communication at the Academy of Fine Arts, Novi Sad.
• In 2006, he became president of the Council of the Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina, Novi Sad. His work has been shown internationally in festivals and galleries in places such as Berlin, Paris, Budapest, Vienna. Frankfurt, Wroclaw, Hiroshima, or San Francisco.

Rarita Zbranca
Director of the AltArt Foundation, Cluj, Romania, President of Fabrica de Pensule Federation, an independent space for contemporary arts in Cluj, Romania

• Born in 1975
• Lives and works in Cluj, Romania
• www.altart.org / www.fabricadepensule.ro / www.asoulforeurope.eu
• 1997, Media and Publishing Programs Coordinator, Soros Foundation for an Open Society – Romania, Cluj; from 1998 Co-founder and Director of AltArt Foundation, Cluj
• 1998-1999, Regional Coordinator of the InfoCulture Program, Open Society Foundation Romania, Cluj
• 2001-2005, Project Coordinator, PR&Fundraising Coordinator, Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center, Cluj
• From 2009, President of Fabrica de Pensule/Paintbrush Factory Federation, independent space for contemporary art, Cluj
• She is a member of the Strategy Group of the initiative “A Soul for Europe” . She works as an arts manager, cultural researcher, coach and is involved in cultural policy development.