Dear friends,
Sorry for those who received this news already, but hereby the latest news about the Festival, such as the Mail-Art meeting and the good news that local cultural government is interested to co-operate.
Yours Sztuka Fabryka

* . - . * Contents of Newsletter * . - . *
[01] Mail-Art meeting at Festival
[02] "Independent Arts" Festival spreads over the city
[03] Update of Festival program, what is scheduled by now.
[04] Mail-Art project "Szjablony"


[01] Mail-Art meeting at Festival

Join us with several other Mail-artists and independent artists in the program of the weekend of the Festival:

Friday 9 April 2004: 1/ Mail-Art dinner; or 2/ opening of exhibition
in local cultural centre.
Saturday 10 April 2004: 1/ morning: free or extra activity; 2/
afternoon and evening: Festival
Sunday 11 April 2004: Visit to Brugge, called Venice of the North.

The Festival is a meetingplace for Mail-artists around the world.
Everybody is welcome to perform, exhibit, ... or just to meet. By now already several Mail-artists have said they are coming: John Held Jr., Buz Blurr and State of Being for who we are planning an exhibition and opening in local cultural centre. See [02] for more information. Also other Mail-artists have given us a call that they would love to be at the Festival, we are not going to give their name her as it is to early. We will take contact with them soon and work out for them a good stay here during the weekend of the Festival.
Check out our website: [www.sztuka-fabryka.be]
regularly to be kept updated, more news in later newsletters.

Do you plan to visit Europe? Why not in combination with the Festival. Are you interested to come to the Festival, please take contact with us and join us with other Mail-Artists in this weekend full of different activities. At our website you find information about the hotel. Maybe there is a possibility to stay at the local scouts camp, less comfort but for a few Euros only, yet this has to be asked.

Any other wishes or dreams, just ask us and we work it out.


[02] "Independent Arts" Festival spreads over the city

>From the local cultural government (of the city Sint-Niklaas) we
received calls of interest. It seems they noticed that after several years of international networking, we have interesting contacts with all kinds of artists over the whole world. In the beginning of November there will be a meeting with the organisers of the Festival, Sztuka Fabryka and the local cultural government to discuss a possibility to co-operate with the Festival within the several cultural centres of the city. One of the plans that may be discussed will be the possibility of an exhibition of the Mail-artists John Held Jr., Buzz Blurr and State of Being in the Foyer of the local theatre.
Also co-operations with local academy and happenings on several other spaces may be discussed. Check out our website:
[www.sztuka-fabryka.be] regularly to be kept updated, more news in later newsletters.

Hotel SubGenii: Sztuka Fabryka and some of their friends are planning to start with a vzw. A vzw is called a "society without profit", this is a legal construction for people who wants to do something within cultural, sport, social, ... We would like to start a society to do some more cultural actions locally, to give some more attention for independent arts, such as: painting on billboards, laptop music performances in a tent on the market place, multimedia performances, printing books, postcards, CD's, CD Roms ...
The society may be called "Hotel SubGenii" and if we go ahead then this will be something for the middle of next year.


[03] Update of Festival program, what is scheduled by now.

* Mail-Art project "Szjablony": Slowly contributions are coming in, current contributions can be seen at our website. See underneath how you can contribute.
* Video: Several video artists from all over the world have been
contacted. By now 15 video artists have send their contribution, if it is technically possible then we will install 2 video corners where videos can be seen.
* Comics and zines: Several comic artists and zine publishers around the world have been contacted and asked to send a sample of their work. Several have reacted and their publications can bee seen at a reading corner.
* Performances: A performance by John Held Jr.
* Guest-exhibitions: Belgium member of Russian ASCII-art group.

The following parts of the Festival will be worked out the coming
months. Already contacts have been made and contributions were
received, yet we are working it out before we put it final in our
program.

* Performances: Several other performances of visiting Mail-artists
and independent artists.
* Guest-exhibitions: Several other exhibitions of local artists and from abroad.
* Musical acts: A few musical acts for the evening.
* Stencil Graffiti: Getting in contact with street artists to show their work at the Festival.
* . and much more: Check out our website:
[www.sztuka-fabryka.be] regularly to be kept updated, more news in later newsletters.


[04] Mail-Art project "Szjablony"

For the 16th international "independent arts"-Festival

Deadline: March 2004

Definition: The central staircase hall of the Festival building will be turned into a gallery of 'stencil graffiti'.
'Stencil graffiti' is graffiti made by means of cut out pictures in cardboard or hard plastic where is sprayed upon, so that when you remove the stencil the picture is reproduced on the wall.

We want to ask you to design and cut out your own stencil and to send it to us.

Remark: We know that contributing to this project will ask some of your time. Yet, we hope that you would like to explore this medium and would like to take some of your time to make a fine contribution.
Serious contributions only please as the most creative and artistic only can be used for the permanent decoration of the staircase hall.
If you only want to participate to this project to get a catalogue, then we advice you not to participate but to contribute to Mail-Art projects which ask less time.

Size: Maximum size of the stencil is A4 or 21 by 30 cm.
Material of the stencil should give the possibility to spray your
design several times.

Exhibition: All contributions will be exhibited, the creative and
artistic stencils will be used for the permanent decoration of a
staircase hall into a graffiti gallery. Contributing artists will be added.

Catalogue to every contribution, in return for your effort the
catalogue will be transformed into an artistbook about the subject.

Send to: Sztuka Fabryka - c/o De Decker Geert - Kerkstraat 290 - 9140Tielrode - Belgium

The Festival website at [www.sztuka-fabryka.be] provides you more information and a current list of contributions while the project develops.


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SZTUKA FABRYKA Gallery: [www.sztuka-fabryka.be]
Lots of information about Mail-Art, Independent music & publications
(reviews) and all Sztuka Fabryka activities and artworks.

== ADDRESS == Sztuka Fabryka - c/o De Decker Geert - Kerkstraat 290 -
9140 Tielrode - Belgium
Tel. & Fax (24 hours a day): ++32 (0)3-770 84 64
e-mail: art@sztuka-fabryka.be

[ADDRESS OF RESIDENCE] available only in case of visits.