AICA International Administrative Council Paris 21 March 2015
Letter from the President
Dear AICA member:
Let me begin this report by expressing my gratitude to all of you for electing me to the presidency
of AICA International for another three years during our Congress in South Korea. Once again,
I congratulate Jin-Sup Yoon for running a strong presidential campaign, which gained him many
supporters.
As mentioned in my statement for the presidency presented in Seoul, in the next three years
as President, I will focus on the following:
1. Make our website (www.aicainternational.org) a vital platform for the exchange of ideas
among our members in order to create a horizontal network of communication between
national sections of AICA, as well as between our members and the international art
community at large.
2. Strengthen our relationship with UNESCO, the Getty Foundation, and seek new
sponsors for our events.
3. Organize new international symposia with the participation of members from diverse
parts of the world.
4. Establish new sections of AICA, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
5. Recruit new members, particularly younger critics.
6. Participate in a more visible way in discussions devoted to the state of art criticism during
major international events, such as the Venice Biennale and the Documenta.
It is my strong belief that these goals are crucial for the successful future of our Association.
I wholeheartedly congratulate Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton on her election as our new
Secretary-General. I very much look forward to her leadership in running our operations with
the collaboration of our office in Paris and working with her closely. Together with the Treasurer
Efi Strousa and the Deputy Secretary-General Raphaël Cuir, we need to make sure that AICA
strengthens its presence internationally and serves our members better than ever.
AICA had another very successful Congress last year. I thank AICA Korea for running it
in a highly professional manner. I also thank AICA Taiwan for organizing a post-Congress event
in Taipei. During our Congress, we elected three new Vice-Presidents, Adriana Almada
(Paraguay), Chao-Hsin Chen (Taiwan), and David Mateo (Cuba), as well as 10 International
members. I welcome all of them warmly to our Administrative Council. While I congratulate our
newly elected officials, I would like also to thank those who are finishing their terms, particularly
1 our outgoing Secretary-General, Brane Kovič, who has served AICA with devotion for the last
four years. I wish Brane a successful career as a scholar, curator, and critic, and hope to continue
seeing him at AICA events in the future.
As we enter a new year in our activities, I would like to briefly update you with my recent
activities related to our association, as well as with our forthcoming projects. In December 2014
and January 2015 I traveled to Bangladesh and Chile on personal professional invitations, and I
used those occasions to speak on behalf of AICA. I am pleased to let you know that the art critics
in Bangladesh are already engaged in establishing a local chapter of our Association and that our
colleagues in Chile have expressed their interest in organizing our Congress in 2017. As far as our
more immediate Congresses are concerned, we will be further discussing the possibilities of
holding a smaller AICA Congress in London later this year and a regular event in Cuba in 2016.
Among other events planned for 2015 and 2016 are: an AICA panel in conjunction with
the Venice Biennial and a symposium in Dhaka, Bangladesh (we should be hearing more about
them from our colleagues, Andrzej Szczerski and Niilofur Farrukh, during our Administrative
Meeting). I am also very pleased to announce that as of this year AICA International has joined
AICA UK as associates for the International Awards for Art Criticism (IAAC) jointly organized
by the Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum and the Royal College of Art, London. I
congratulate our Honorary President Henry Meyric Hughes and our International Member Ling
Min for already turning this competition into a success. This year, we will also work on the
anthology of critical writings by the late Korean critic Lee Yil, who received our 2014 Award for
Distinguished Contribution to Art Criticism. Finally, I plan to work again with the Brooklyn Rail on
a special issue, this time devoted to the state of art criticism in Asia.
Another ambitious year is ahead of us. Ready to face challenges and hoping for rewards
for our hard work, I look forward to a successful year.
Best Regards,
Dr. Marek Bartelik
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