Category: Featured Artist

country: Italy

testing field: THEATRE

Mimmo Conte, actor, trainer, and theater director founded the company Gommalacca Teatro with Carlotta Vitale, in Basilicata. With the company, and with the network partners, they have been involved in theater production, international art projects and creative processes involving communities since 2008.

Gommalacca Teatro is a company that allows itself every possible space in the languages of art and is always ready to betray the choices it has made. The company is located in a peripheral district, but having a strong core never loses its center. It is born from the artistic heritage and entrepreneurial vision of its founders and from the energy of those who work on, and those who participate in the activities.

“As artists and as a network of theater companies, we believe in the importance of involving all stakeholders in the social and economic life of a community, and we invest in opportunities for growth for ourselves and the places we live.” Mimmo Conte – director

country: Greece

testing field: THEATRE

Melachrinos Velentzas is an actor, producer and musician. He has produced the theatre play LEMON, which positions itself as a theatre experience which travels across Greece, to enhance the participation of audiences who do not normally have broad access to theatre plays. As a result of its travelling nature, LEMON is almost exclusively produced, outside traditional theatre venues, which is in tandem with the script of the play.

“I work in music and theatre as a pianist and actor. At the same time, in April 2018 I founded Experimento Productions, a research and production company. We aim to adopt a holistic approach to a cultural event, as we believe that everything has culture as a starting and an end point.”Melachrinos Velentzas – actor

country: Croatia

testing field: DANCE, VISUAL ART

Studio Contemporary Dance Company was founded in 1962/63 in Zagreb under the artistic leadership of Ana and Vera Maletić, as the first contemporary dance company in Croatia and the region. During the more than fifty years of its continuous activity on the Croatian and international scene, Studio produced a great number of dance projects and formed generations and generations of exceptional dance performers, teachers and choreographers.

New forms of cooperation on various projects and co-productions resulted in our readiness to engage in new challenges. In its collaboration with artists from the other fields of art, Studio Contemporary Dance Company is always open for the unpredictable and fresh explorations in art. Some of their most prominent awards are multiple Croatian Actor Awards and the award of Croatian Dance Association in 2012 for fifty years of existence.

“My motivation to participate in the ArtApp project stems from my interest in novel technologies and in their potential employment in the unending quest to finance artistic and cultural programs.” Dina Ekštajn – artistic director

country: Croatia

testing field: VISUAL ART

Danijel Žeželj is a Croatian comic book artist, animator, painter and illustrator and author of a number of graphic novels. He studied classical painting, sculpting and printing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Croatia. His work has been published and exhibited in Croatia, Slovenia, UK, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Sweden, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil and the USA. Since 1999, in collaboration with musician and composer Jessica Lurie, he has created a series of multimedia performances merging live music with live painting. In 2001  he founded the publishing house and graphic workshop “Petikat“. in Zagreb Most recently he worked on animated films at Zagreb Film. He lives and works both in New York and Zagreb.

“I definitely do not feel as if my learning and exploring has been completed. There are many techniques of visual storytelling and painting that I still want to dive in. It’s the necessity of communication, of connecting to others, that triggers the creativity, and I hope to keep communicating. The aim of my experimental Million4art collaboration project was to design and test new models of financing art through the use of 21st century technology.”  Danijel Žeželj – visual artist.

country: Hungary

testing field: MUSIC

Balázs Latorczai is a Budapest based musician and concert organizer. As the artistic director of Szimpla Kert and co-curator of Lemming talent program, he is developing new event formats, which can go beyond the give-and-take scheme of the service industry. Lemming Program provides concert opportunities, studio and media support, professional mentoring, nationwide festival appearance and international performance opportunities for emerging Hungarian bands since 2013. He is the  co-founder of Selfawareness Disco DJ duo.

“I believe that music wouldn’t have to only entertaine, but facilitate inner change.” Balázs Latorczai – music manager

country: Hungary

testing field: MUSIC

Vera Jonás is a multi-talented singer songwriter. She’s been running her band for more than 10 years, but apart from that is usually engaged in several projects at one time, and loves to collaborate with other people in musical and non-musical, art-related projects too, where she can add her unique point of view.

“I believe that if artists could find a platform to share their thoughts, doubts, and hardships, together they could find a good solution for them.” Vera Jónás – musician

country: Hungary

testing field: DANCE, FASHION

Willany Leó Improvisational Dance Theatre was founded in 2008 under the direction of Zoltán Grecsó, choreographer and dance teacher. One of the main characteristics of Willany Leó – due to the genre of improvisation – is experimentation and constant renewal. The artists belonging to the community regularly present improvisation performances, create online content, conduct research on improvisation, organize workshops for amateurs and professionals as well, and work with invited, external artists. The company was awarded the Rudolf Lábán Special Prize in 2019.

“ArtApp for me is a great way to create a structure for many possible solutions to help the unquestionably dying independent contemporary dance scene in Budapest to survive.” Levente Lukács – freelance contemporary dancer and art manager

country: Hungary

testing field: MUSIC

Launching Gagarin Records & Management is a small, independent management and record label established in 2014 in Budapest, Hungary. Their roster is very diverse as the two founding members believe that long-term collaboration with artists should be based on artistic and personal similarities and not on the specific genre. Currently, the management works with 5 bands, Vera Jonas Experiment being one of the flagships of the company.

“When we choose an artist to work with, we want to make sure that the cooperation is more fun than work.” Eszter Chikán_music manager