Eric Baudelaire. The Secession Sessions NO.5

"Abkhazia is something of a paradox: a country that exists, in the physical sense of the word (a territory with borders, a government, a flag and a language), yet it has no legal existence because for almost twenty years it was not recognized by any other nation state. And so Abkhazia exists without existing, caught in a liminal space, a space in between realities. Which is why my letter to Max was something of a message in a bottle thrown at sea." –Eric Baudelaire

The Secession Sessions consists of a two-part exhibition and a seminar. For the duration of the show, the exhibition space NO.5 at Bergen Kunsthall is transformed into the Anembassy of Abkhazia, open to the public daily and, during the last week of the show, staffed by former foreign minister and temporary Ambassador of the Republic of Abkhazia to Norway: Maxim Gvinjia. In the same space, for the duration of the exhibition, a major new feature length film by Eric Baudelaire, Lost Letters to Max, will be screened. From 14 to 15 of February, the seminar The Bergen Sessions will take place at Bergen Kunsthall; complete programme information on the seminar will be announced on www.kunsthall.no.

This exhibition is a co-production of Bergen Kunsthall; Bétonsalon – Center of art and research; Argos, Center for Art and Media and UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA). In partnership with Kadist Art Foundation. Lost Letters to Max has received support from the Image/Movement grant from Centre national des arts plastiques.