Hildegard Projekt is a group of German and Finnish artists who through a democratic artistic process of exploration define works of art as material to develop the Hildegard Project Sculpture. Hildegard Projekt is also a network producing a dialogue between artists. Hildegard Projekt operates in different countries and communities in collaboration with artists and art organizations.

An essential part of the artistic group work consists in the process of creation, extensive collaboration and the location-bound work. The basic idea of the Hildegard Projekt is to use the works of all contributing artists as material for a shared work of art that is created for a specific place and shown only once. This method means that individual works of art become part of an artistic process, a composition in space and time. Shaping the work, the group investigates the issues of individuality and commonality.

The Hildegard Projekt is a rare attempt by individual artists to produce a single work collectively. Each exhibition of the Hildegard Projekt is unique for its participating artists and location. In a democratic process of joint exploration, shared experience and common authorship, individual artworks are taken apart, recoded and assembled anew. The work that evolves is the Hildegard Projekt Sculpture. Each is authentic, sublime and unique. The Hildegard Projekt regards itself as an extraordinary event, a bold and original undertaking. Hildegard Projekt was founded in Berlin in 2008. Various international artists took part in it. Hildegard Projekt has realized altogether 15 events and exhibitions.

---

Haute Sculpture
Entitled Haute Sculpture, Hildegard Projekt will organize and execute a new event in the Match Gallery. 7 artists of the Slovenian artists association DLUL (Boris Beja, Svetlana Jakimovska - Rodić, Aleksandra Saška Gruden, Matej Stupica, Barbara Jurkovšek, Klemen Zupanc, Adrijan Praznik) and 4 artists of Hildegard Projekt (Minna Kangasmaa, Tuomo Kangasmaa, Annette Kuhl, Hildegard Skowasch) will come together to develop a corporate work. For 4 days in March (10th–14th) they will meet in the gallery space with their works and build up a common sculpture on site. They will enter in an interactive process dealing with the individual aspects of each single artwork, the different ideas, materials and dimensions. It will be the experimental research of all participants for a final result which will be presented in the end as a sculpture/installation. All participants are allowed to interfere in the process of building up and to take artistic decisions. The collective work has no defined outcome in the beginning. It is an exciting adventure for the participants, coming from different cultural backgrounds. The artistic production is open for the public in a following exhibition.

---

Participating artists

Adrijan Praznik (1988, Ljubljana, Slovenia) is finishing his Painting studies at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts and Design. He has exhibited extensively both in Slovenia and abroad. For his student achievements he has been awarded a talent grant by the City of Ljubljana, and an award for special achievements in painting by the Academy of Fine Arts and Design. His works have been shown in newspaper Tribuna, magazines Stripburger and Fotografija, and the magazine for architecture, art and the culture of living Praznine. In October 2013 he was the Artist in residence in Riga, Latvia. Praznik lives and works in Ljubljana.

Barbara Jurkovšek (1981, Ljubljana, Slovenia) graduated from Painting and Art Theory at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana in 2006. In 2007/08 she studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Lecce in Italy. In 2009 she obtained a Master's Degree in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. Up to now she has had many solo and group exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad. For her work she received several prizes and awards. She is a member of the Union of Slovene Fine Arts Associations (ZDSLU), since 2009 she has been self-employed in culture. In 2012 she was Artist in residence in London hosted by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, in 2013 Artist in residence in Cite Internationale des Arts Paris, France. In 2012 she received an award from the Union of Slovene Fine Arts Associations (ZDSLU). She works in the fields of painting, sculpture, graphics, calligraphy and illustration.

Minna Kangasmaa (1967, Oulu, Finland) received her BFA degree from the Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Finland. Her sculptures and installations have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums across Finland and in Europe. Her work is represented in both private and public collections including the Finland State Art Collection and the Oulu Art Museum Collection. She has also completed several large-scale public art works including Oulu Vocational College Haukipudas Unit Commission work in 2014. She has been the recipient of many grants, including a five-month grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation for work in residence at Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf in Germany in 2008. In 2012 the Finland State National Council for Visual Arts awarded a three-year artist grant to Minna Kangasmaa for professional artistic work.

Boris Beja (1986, Trbovlje, Slovenia) is a sculptor, critic, and curator. He graduated from Graphic Technology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, and from Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. Beja is as outspoken in his artworks as he is when he writes reviews. In his works, he combines various artistic practices into an aestheticized but straightforward statement, social criticism unmasking the symptoms of the contemporary society. Beja has exhibited his work in solo and group exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad.

Annette Kuhl (1960 Rheine, Germany) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Münster, Germany, with Reiner Ruthenbeck (Master) and Katharina Fritsch. She currently lives in Berlin, Germany. She was awarded several scholarships and awards, including a Studio Grant from Förderverein Aktuelle Kunst in Münster, Germany; a Europe Travel Scholarship from the Academy of Fine Arts in Münster, Germany; and an award from Friends of the Academy of Fine Arts in Münster, Germany.

Svetlana Jakimovska - Rodić (1965, Kumanovo, Macedonia) graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje, Macedonia, with Professor Dimitar Malidanov in 1990. The same year, she enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana to study Graphics with Professor Lojze Logar. She is a member of the Union of Slovene Fine Arts Associations (ZDSLU), and is self-employed in culture. She has taken part in several Artist-in-residence programmes, including one in Berlin. She has been awarded several prizes. She teaches in the primary school and lives in Ljubljana.

Aleksandra Saška Gruden (1970, Maribor, Slovenia) graduated from Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana in 2004. Since 2006 she has been self-employed in culture. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad. She takes part in sculpture symposia. Her main focus is on spatial installations, video, and performance art. Her work has been awarded by EMZIN and the Designers Society of Slovenia. Gruden holds workshops for youngsters and adults, and is the Art Director of the Maribor Cultural Incubator. She chaired various symposia and programmed the International Computer Art Festival.

Hildegard Skowasch (1958, Essen, Germany) studied at the Academy of Visual Arts Münster between 1978 and 1987, where she also studied Romance Languages and Literature. In the years 1982/83 she studied at École Nationale Supérieure Des Arts Plastiques in Tourcoing, France. In 1987, she did the Final State Examination. She was awarded many scholarships (for Sculpture and Installation from Kulturstiftung Sparkasse Unna in 1995/96; Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf in 2001) and was on many residence programmes (in 1999 in the Center for Metamedia, Plasy, Czech Republic; in 2002 in the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, San Angelo, USA; in 2014 in Baltic Art Gallery, Ustka, Poland). She had many solo exhibitions. Since 1998 she has lived and worked in Berlin.

Klemen Zupanc (1989, Celje, Slovenia) is finishing his Sculpture studies at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts and Design. He was awarded the Prešeren Award for Students. He participated in the group exhibition Prints and Impressions and the project PASSWORD: PRINTMAKING in the International Centre of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana with his piece Zaboji-Boxes; in the exhibition ENTRANCE in the Alkatraz Gallery; and in the exhibition (Pre)živeti s kreativnimi praksami in the Miklova Hiša Gallery. He had solo exhibitions in the Herman Pečarič Gallery, Media Nox Gallery, and Gallery P74.

Matej Stupica (1987, Ljubljana, Slovenia) lives and works in Ljubljana. In his intermedia projects he combines painting, installation, video, and sound. In his paintings, objects, installations, illustrations, and performances, he often examines the boundaries of these media, using them to respond to the given space and its contexts. He studied at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts and Design, where he is now completing his undergraduate studies, and did a student exchange at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. He has received a number of awards for his work (the Hinko Smrekar Award for illustration, an award for special achievements by the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts and Design, the Prešeren Award for Students). He has participated in various projects in Slovenia and abroad.

Between 1986 and 1987 Tuomo Kangasmaa (1965, Kemi, Finland) studied at Northern Karelia College in Joensuu, Finland. Later on he studied at The School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where he got his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992. He continued his studies as a postgraduate at the TAMK University of Applied Sciences in Tampere, Finland, where he studied video art. In 2012, he also finished his studies at the Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Design and Fine Arts in Lahti, Finland. He is a member of Artists' Association MUU and AV-arkki - the Distribution Centre for Finnish Media Art. He lives and works in Oulu, Finland.