PSWAR: A SHORT HISTORY Public Space With A Roof (PSWAR) was founded in 2003 in Amsterdam by the artists Tamuna Chabashvili (1978 Georgia), Adi Hollander (1976 Belgium), Alon Levin (1975 Israel), Wartan Aror Jiftian (1975 Lebanon) and Krzyzstof Wiegil (1975 Poland). It was initiated as a research project-space with the aim to enable the artists to develop and present their ideas, realize collaborative projects and engage in critical discourse. From 2006, PSWAR are Tamuna Chabashvili, Adi Hollander and Vesna Madzoski. In this period, different individuals have joined PSWAR for certain period of time, among which were: Inga Zimprich (Jan van Eyck art researcher), Eva Fotiadi (PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam), Mhairi Macfarlane and Andrew McKee (new media artists), Manu Tao (artist), Davide Manzoni (interior designer), Noa Roei (PhD candidate at Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis), Angela Serino (curator), etc. PERIOD 2003-2007 In the period December 2003 - December 2007, all PSWAR activities took place in the gallery at the former Film Academy at Overtoom 301. The main idea behind our activities was to create a transparent and permanent space in which to bring together theory and practice of art and exhibition making, as well as to include public in the process of discussing and presenting artworks. Our role in this was multifaceted - from initiating projects, to mediating projects of other people, facilitating their production and presenting them to the public. In the last four years, our theoretical curiosity was translated into practice through activities on two levels: of independent and solo shows of individual artists on the first and our own large-scale research projects on the second level. SOLO-EXHIBITIONS OF DIFFERENT ARTISTS We recognized a need as artists the importance to create a space in which it would be possible to discuss the world behind the artwork, and at the same time to gain and exchange information, new concepts and thoughts. We find it inspiring and necessary to look into the construction mechanisms of theory that can challenge our arguments (conceptual, visual) and create a ground for new ideas and forms to emerge. At the same time, we believe that sometimes art theory separates itself too much from the actual artistic creation and artworks and therefore we tend to bring them together in order to create enriching and challenging connections for both sides. Rather than presenting artworks as final products, we decided to focus on presenting them in progress and making them visible in the form of independent solo exhibitions of various artists. We believe that this way the public becomes involved in the artistic production in a particular manner: the usual spectators are invited to fully participate and react to what is being presented to them. One of the main achievements we were being given the chance to reach is the fact of staying a noncommercial and nonprofit space: without being forced to develop products for the art market, the artists were given a possibility to risk, test, experiment and develop with the necessary theoretical reflection. PSWAR PROJECTS The second level of our artistic activities is our large scale projects. After finishing Sculpture department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, we (Adi Hollander and Tamuna Chabashvili) felt the urge to find a format in which we could openly discuss the questions and ideas we had as starting artists - mainly on possible redefinitions of public art and the possibilities to share our working process with the public. In that way, PSWAR has become a specific extension of our own artistic practice, our open studio. The conceptual diagram of the phases through which our works develop could be presented like this: STARTING QUESTIONS - RESEARCH - INSTALLATION TURNED INTO EXHIBITION - LECTURES AND DISCUSSIONS - CONCLUSIONS AND NEW QUESTIONS. This way, our projects offer a specific kind of a journey that begins with the starting questions and ends with a new set of questions that we transfer and explore in the new project. Therefore, our every next project is a continuation of the previous one, dealing with new topics and new questions that will be further discussed by the broader public. The artistic form in which all this becomes physically manifested is an installation: for each project, we created specific installations in our project-space that were turned into rhetorical sculptures. We see them as rhetorical as they provide the setting in which questions are to emerge, without giving predetermined answers. Having the aim to create an art object that can be turned into a space in which different works and opinions are to be encountered, we have decided to implement the works of other artists into installations as quotes, as specific readymades, giving them new platforms from which to communicate with the public. We believe that our spatial interventions are done not as mere esthetical objects, but have transferred our starting questions onto another level on which it becomes possible to re-examine the positions of the artists today and the function of exhibitions within this. Therefore, we see our practice on the border with many disciplines (curating, critical theory, social engagement, etc.) and our position as artists using the exhibition as their main medium. PERIOD 2007- Since the summer of 2007, Public Space With A Roof entered into a new phase, mainly motivated by our need to expand and test our work in new environments. We have decided to temporary close our project-space at OT301 since we reached the aims set four years ago. Our studio and office space are now located at Orteliusstraat 15, 1057 AR Amsterdam where we are developing new projects that will be hosted by different institutions in the Netherlands and abroad. In the same time, we have decided to start our own research, visit other artists-run spaces and art institutions in order to gain new ideas and set a new plan on how to develop the next phase of PSWAR.