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Erste Bank becomes main sponsor for VIENNAFAIR

For the third time, Erste Bank is supporting VIENNAFAIR, Austria’s only trade fair for contemporary art from Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. The bank’s involvement in the fair is part of its program “Kontakt – The Arts and Civil Society Program of Erste Bank Group”. One of the aims of this initiative is to strengthen cultural institutions and artists in Central and Eastern Europe.

Thanks to Erste Bank’s support, several Central and Eastern European galleries will be presenting themselves to an international audience at VIENNAFAIR 2007. For some of them, this will be the first time they receive international exposure. Among the fifteen galleries supported by Erste Bank are art-dealers from Belgrade, Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest, Moscow, Prague and Warsaw. Participation in VIENNAFAIR offers them a unique opportunity to present the artistic production from their countries to an international audience. In addition, VIENNAFAIR is a perfect spot for networking with the international art scene.
With 16 million customers in eight countries, Erste Bank Group is one of the leading financial service providers in Central and Eastern Europe. From this strong market position arise responsibilities for the cultural and social development of the CEE countries. In order to respond to these responsibilities in a sustainable way, Erste Bank Group created “Kontakt – The Arts and Civil Society Program of Erste Bank Group” three years ago.
The main aims of “Kontakt” are to promote a dynamic infrastructure for arts and culture in Central and Eastern Europe, and to highlight the global relevance and interest of the region’s artistic production. “Kontakt” supports local cultural bodies, focussing on art production in particular. Long-term partnerships, cross-border projects and the creation of regional networks are particularly important aspects of these efforts. “Central and Eastern Europe has been undergoing massive changes, and the artists are reacting to them with immense creativity”, explains Boris Marte, Head of Group Sponsoring of Erste Bank Group and the initiator of “Kontakt”. “However, only very few of these artists ever have the opportunity to present their work to the broad public. This is why it is so important to us to support VIENNAFAIR”, Marte continues.

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