ABOUT KERSNIKOVA
Kersnikova Institute is a non-profit organisation and platform for the development, production, and presentation of contemporary investigative art projects and new models of non-formal learning. Kersnikova encapsulates an exhibition venue and three labs: Kapelica Gallery, the internationally renowned contemporary investigative art space, the hackerspace Rampa, where relations between art, technology, and society are being reconsidered, the inspirational wet-lab BioTehna, which focuses on the artistic investigation of living systems, and the Vivarium laboratory, where possible forms of coexistence among animals, fungi, plants, and robots are being explored. The artistic program of Kersnikova is a source for the investigative learning and mentorship program developed to instigate the potential within the youth.
Kersnikova’s team creates conditions and fosters valuable transdisciplinary interactions between individuals (artists, researchers, engineers, and other experts), and institutions (art organisations, research institutes, university labs…). A cluster of the in-house team, expert collaborators, and partners facilitate in-depth research needed for inspiring art projects, raise public awareness and stimulate intense debate on key and even uncomfortable themes related to technological and scientific advancement and its impact on society. Over twenty-five years of daily activities have resulted in hundreds of unforgettable artistic experiences, which have given the contemporaneity form and meaning. Kersnikova Institute is due to its strong programme focus one of the leading institutions for contemporary investigative art at the nexus of science and cutting edge technologies.
Kapelica Gallery is an art space for presenting contemporary investigative art projects. With an artistic programme that consists of spatial and immersive installations, performances, sound events, and theoretically-reflective lectures, Kapelica Gallery challenges scientific and technological applications, biopolitics, and urban phenomena, addressing both the professional and general public. The programme is developed as a response to the profound changes in society, thus it is constructed from art activities that reflect the multitudes of contemporaneity and announce the possible future scenarios. In conjunction with the lab facilities next to the exhibition space, Kapelica Gallery encourages, enables, and presents artistic projects by the boldest of artists. With well-equipped exhibition space and labs and full support in all phases of artistic production, the team of curators, producers, technicians, and biotechnologist enables artists and their collaborators to develop and implement the most demanding art projects.
Rampa is a laboratory for hacking art, technology, and society. The experimental environment of the lab is aimed at individuals and groups that are interested in the critical and creative research of new and obsolete technologies with a particular focus on the open-source hard- and software and free sharing of ideas, knowledge, and skills. Equipped with 3D printers, laser cutter as well as various tools and materials Rampa serves as a prototyping, experimenting, and testing facility.
BioTehna is a wet-lab for artistic investigation of living systems. It is a well-equipped laboratory containing high-grade clean chambers, incubators, an inverted microscope, and various lab tools needed for the artistic investigation of the fascinating world of somatic cells and tissues. With the support of biotechnologist working in the lab or external experts, we enable hands-on experimentation and further development of the art projects employing biomedia.
Vivarium laboratory was established as a spin-off of the BioTehna wet-lab to explore possible forms of coexistence among animals, fungi, plants, and robots. In Vivarium artists and collaborators can creatively merge living systems with electronic technologies and their results encourage thoughts and awareness of the (digitalised) life, which awaits us in the future.
