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A project of the Center for Contemporary Art Chisinau [ksa:k], Moldova.
 
The internationally renowned artist Pavel Braila, supported by a homegrown team and relations, has developed ALTE ARTE, a TV art and culture magazine. Launched in January 2005, the magazine is broadcast fortnightly on the state-run station TV Moldova. Besides reporting on artists and current cultural events (both regional and international), original artistic works specially produced for ALTE ARTE are also shown. The goal is to stimulate discussion on contemporary art forms across a board cross-section of society.

In Moldova, there are currently 16 television channels transmitting in Russian, three in Ukrainian, and four in Romanian. The majority of the population views either the Russian station ORT (81%) or the state-owned station, TV Moldova (67%). TV Moldova mainly covers political topics and is geared towards commercialization. Cultural events, the new media, contemporary art, or new critical approaches find little attention here, as is generally the case in the mass media. The reporting of daily news, which exerts an enormous influence on the daily lives of the people, is also of extremely poor quality. This poor standard cannot be simply explained by a lack of viewer interest. Firstly, it is a result of many causes such as the absence of journalistic professionalism, an extremely restrictive media landscape, and a lack of sensibility for issues raised by art and culture. With an art and culture magazine, we want to convince the TV authorities and viewers of the value of an engagement with contemporary art, for we firmly believe that an involvement with new art forms is just as important for establishing democracy as political and civic education. The idea of putting an "Art TV program" on air comes from Pavel Braila. In October 2003, the state television authorities confirmed their official interest in an art magazine. The plan now is for a bilingual (Romanian/Russian) magazine that will be broadcast twice a month for 30 minutes of prime time, i.e. Saturday or Sunday at 11 am. We will broadcast in Romanian with Russian subtitles. Our goal is to report on every area and genre of contemporary art, to stimulate a critical discussion on individual works, and to support the artists of the region. Moreover, we want to show the influence art can have and has on society as a mediator of cultural values and norms. The cooperation with Razvan Georgescu, who has directed various seminars and workshops for over a year now with a view to forming a competent team, has given us our first opportunity to work with foreign countries and begin an exchange with German-language media. Satellite editorial offices are planned for Bucharest, Kiev, and Berlin. As "ALTE ARTE" is not subjected to any restrictions in terms of production, we will also work experimentally. Along with reports and commentaries on exhibitions and individual artists, certain artistic works produced exclusively for television will form a central segment. In this respect, "ALTE ARTE" is a combination of two different formats: "TV on ART" and "ART on TV." The supporting project agency is the only institution in Moldova that is currently involved in contemporary art, organizing festivals, exhibitions, conferences, and artist exchange programs: the Center for Contemporary Art, Moldova, KSA:K. Its collection, contact network, and databank form the basis for our work.
 

Pavel Braila, Lilia Dragneva, Lilia Braila, Veaceslav Cebotari