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Office For Contemporary Art Norway

January 2008 Newsletter

1 January 2008


Norway in Venice

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Office for Contemporary Art Norway and The Danish Arts Council announces: Artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset to Curate The Danish Pavilion and The Nordic Pavilion in the 2009 Edition of the Venice Biennale

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The Nordic Committee and the Danish Arts Council are pleased to announce thatElmgreen & Dragset have been selected to curate both the Danish Pavilion and the Nordic Pavilion for the Venice Biennale in 2009. The cooperation between the Danish Pavilion and the Nordic Pavilion marks a first time collaboration in their respective exhibition histories. The project was launched with the intent to dismantle the stranglehold of national representation and to designate instead a transnational "neighbourhood" within the context of the upcoming Venice Biennale. The selection of Elmgreen & Dragset as curators/artists also marks an effort to construct a common space as an allegorical set through two interrelated but individual stories although fictional in context. In doing so, the project attempts to convey the particular, personal, and microcosmic against a wider landscape of the spectacle of the Venice Biennale to explore the increasingly porous sectors of private and public.

Click here for further information.




International Support

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Next Application Deadline 15 February

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OCA provides financial support on a quarterly basis for international projects including Norwegian artists and/or cultural producers. This includes extending support to group or solo exhibitions initiated by international institutions and international curators. International artists and curators who have permanent residence in Norway may also apply for support. The objective is to foster innovative artistic production, expression and the creative process by encouraging and supporting projects that support, exhibit and interpret a broad spectrum of contemporary artistic practices.



Additional International Support: Grants provided by 03–funding

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03–funding is a programme of grants supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for enhancing collaboration in the contemporary art field with professional artists in countries designated under the 03 — Cultural Exchange with Countries in the South.



Next application deadline is 15 February 2008.

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Please note that the results of the February Grants period will be announced only within the first week of April. For any questions regarding the procedures, please contact Velaug Bollingmo at OCA at vb@oca.no.
Click here for information on the application process.




International Residencies

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Next Application Deadline 15 March

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ISCP New York City — Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin — Platform Garanti Istanbul



ISCP New York City — Next Deadline for Application 15 March 2008

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In 2008/2009, OCA offers two studio grants — one for a Norwegian artist and one for a Norwegian curator at the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York City. ISCP offers artists and curators an opportunity to work independently. The recipients will be selected by the OCA Jury. Two collective exhibitions are held every year, at the beginning of May and at the beginning of December. The studios are open to the public on certain days. ISCP receives regular visits from curators and gallery-owners, wishing to make contact with the artists/curators. ISCP NYC is moving from its location in Manhattan to new premises in Brooklyn in March 2008. The NYC based residencies available for Norwegian artists and curators are being evaluated in terms of optimal location and opportunities provided. For this reason the artist residency has been designated as a six month residency.

Financial Terms: 
OCA provides a grant for the artist and the curator. In addition OCA supports the cost of the apartment for the artist. The artist will receive a grant of NOK 75 000 from OCA. The artist must meet all other travel and living expenses. Duration for the artist residency is 6 months from September 2008 onwards. The curator will receive a grant of NOK 70 000. The curator must meet all other travel and living expenses including the rent for accommodation. Duration of the curatorial residency is 3 months from September 2008 onwards.

The American Scandinavian Foundation provides support of the participation in the programmes in the ISCP.

Citizens of Norway are eligible for these residency grants alone. 
Click here for information on the application process. 
For any questions regarding the process, please contact Velaug Bollingmo at OCA at vb@oca.no.



Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin — Next Deadline for Application 15 March 2008

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In 2008/2009, OCA offers a studio grant for a Norwegian artist at the International Studio Program Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin. The artist will by selected by a jury which includes a representative from Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin, together with the jury members selected by OCA. The studio is granted for a period of 12 months to a Norwegian artist: 01 December 2008–15 November 2009. The recipient artist will receive a grant of NOK 137 500 from OCA. The artist must meet all other travel and living expenses. During the residency, the artist will be offered an exhibition at Künstlerhaus Bethanien. 
Click here for information on the application process. 
For any questions regarding the process, please contact Velaug Bollingmo at OCA at vb@oca.no.



Platform Garanti Istanbul Residency Programme — Application Re-opened and due 15 March 2008

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OCA has re-opened the application process for Platform Garanti as the residency period has moved from spring 2008 to fall 2008. In accordance with the curatorial wishes of Platform and in respect to the change in the residency period, OCA re-opens the application process with a new deadline of 15 March. A decision as to the selection will be made by April 2008. In 2008, OCA makes a three-month residency available at Platform Garanti for art critics, for artists working as writers, for curators, as well as for artists. The applicants must be residents of Norway and be available for assuming the residency in Istanbul for the full period of September through end of November 2008. The residency made available at Platform Garanti, is a premiere one at the renown non-profit arts centre directed by Vasif Kortun in Istanbul. Applicants for the residency are to be those who can respond to the diverse aspects of Istanbul and to an open engagement with other international artists and cultural producers from different disciplines. It is suggested that applicants have no other engagements during the period of their stay.

The terms: Through Platform Garanti, OCA offers one studio grant at the Platform Garanti Istanbul Residency Programme, in addition to a grant of NOK 4 000 for travel expenses and a monthly stipend of NOK 8 000 for living expenses.

The residency programme is supported by 03–funding*. 

For any questions regarding the process, please contact Velaug Bollingmo at OCA at vb@oca.no.




OCA Semesterplan - Winter 2008 Launched

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Next Week

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Speaker: Marco de Michelis
Subject: Josef Albers and László Moholy-Nagy:
The American Years
Date: Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Time: 18:00
Gyldendalhuset
Hamsunsalen
Sehesteds gate 4
Oslo

At the invitation of OCA, in its effort to further investigate the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary art and the important influences of architecture in the historic formulations of modernism, renowned architectural scholar Marco de Michelis will speak on influence of Bauhaus on post-war American art. The presentation will explore this through the practices of two pioneers of Modernism: German-born Josef Albers (1888–1976) and Hungarian-born László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946) and will take place in Oslo centre at the newly reopened house of Gyldendal Forlag, designed by Sverre Fehn. De Michelis presents how Albers and Moholy-Nagy arose as crucial protagonists to the post-war American art scene. In 1933, Edward M. M. Warburg wrote to Alfred Barr, then influential director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York: "With Albers over here, we have the nucleus of an American Bauhaus!" Starting 1933, Albers took up teaching posts at the legendary Black Mountain College, and later at Harvard and Yale to create the foundations of what would serve to be the beginnings of abstract art in the United States. Some years later, in 1937, Moholy-Nagy is appointed director of the New Bauhaus in Chicago and his book, Vision in Motion (1947) becomes the most comprehensive account of art philosophy at the time.
Click here for further information.



Week 7

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Speaker: Leire Vergara
Subject: On New Entropic Tendencies Between the Event and the Document. A Curatorial Approach
Date: Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Time: 18.00
ISP Oslo Studio 4
Wergelandsveien 17
Oslo

Leire Vergara is the curator at Sala Rekalde in Bilbao. From 2002 to 2005 she co-directed together with Peio Aguirre the independent art production structure D.A.E (Donostiako Arte Ekinbideak) with base in Donostia-San Sebastián. During this period, artists such as Phil Collins, Susan Philipsz, Asier Mendizabal, Asier Pérez, Ainara García, Iñaki Garmendia, Jakob Kolding and Lise Harlev developed new productions. She participated together with Peio Aguirre, Gorka Eizagirre and Xabier Salaberria in Manifesta 5, Donostia-San Sebastián with the research project Film Ideal Siempre. She has participated in educational workshops and projects such as Dispositive Workshop at Kunstverein München (2004) and Cork Caucus, Cork (2005) and has been involved in the coordination of two workshops in Arteleku: We rule the school, Arteleku (September–October 2005) and Enthusiasm, Arteleku (February 2006). She has contributed in art and cultural magazines and art catalogues.



Week 9

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Kunst and Kapital #5
Speaker: Polly Staple
Subject: Switzerland: Art, Commerce and the Desiring Subject
Date: Tuesday, 26 February
Time: 19:00
Fritt Ord
Uranienborgveien 2
Oslo

Polly Staple is an independent curator and writer based in London. She is Editor at Large of frieze magazine and was formerly Director of Frieze Projects, the curatorial programme realised annually at Frieze Art Fair, London. She was previously Curator at Cubitt Gallery, London and co-Editor of Untitled magazine. Over the past ten years she has contributed to numerous publications and been a regular visiting tutor at a number of London art colleges. She is currently a board member of Studio Voltaire, Voltaire and The Elephant Trust and was a member of the Arts Council Collection Acquisitions & Advisory Committee. Polly recently co-curated a major British Council produced, touring survey show of contemporary film and video from the UK which opened at MADRE, Naples in May 2007. She is currently developing a long-term research project 'Switzerland: art, commerce and the desiring subject', to be realised as a group essay-show and publication in 2008/09.



Projects in Norway

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Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo, 21 February 18:00: "The Consciousness Projection"

Referencing a title from a 1972 work by Dan Graham that approached the question of concretization more rationally and politically than empirically, Marta Kuzma builds a presentation around the understanding of an "internationalized art community" as a constructed compound based on social processes, experiences, and to a large part, on the generation of curiosity.




OCA International — In Brief Norwegian Artists and Curators Abroad Selected International Venues

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Biennials

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Gardar Eide Einarsson to be included within the upcoming Whitney Biennial 2008, NY, NY, USA
Open: 6 March–1 June 2008
Press preview: 4 March 2008
Curators: Shamim Momim and Henriette Huldisch

The curatorial team of Shamim Momim, Associate Curator at the Whitney, and Henriette Huldisch, Assistant Curator at the Whitney, have selected Gardar Eide Einarsson among 80 other artists to participate in the 2008 Whitney Biennial scheduled to open to the public in NYC 6 March 2008. The exhibition which runs through 1 June is noted as the Whitney's "signature exhibition as well as the most important survey of the state of contemporary art in the United States today." Other artists included within next year's Biennial include Rita Ackermann, Carol Bove, Coco Fusco, Gang Gang Dance, Rachael Harrison, Ellen Harvey, Mary Heilmann, Karen Kliminick, Louise Lawler, Spike Lee, Lucky Dragons, Corey McCorkle, Rodney McMillan, Seth Price, Frances Starck, Mungo Thomson, James Welling, among others. Tickets for the 2008 Biennial go on sale in February 2008 and are available on www.whitney.org.

Pushwagner to be included within the upcoming 5th berlin biennial for contemporary art, Berlin, Germany
Open: 5 April–15 June 2008
Press preview: 3 April 2008
Professional Preview: 4 April 2008
Curatorial team: Adam Szymczyk and Elena Filipovic

Starting on April 5 2008, the 5th berlin biennial for contemporary art divides its time between day and night. Venturing into different areas of Berlin and addressing the past and current history of the once-divided city, the 5th berlin biennial will bring together many recent and new artworks that have been chosen or conceived to respond to the spaces in which they are displayed.

During the day, the works of over forty artists will be on view at three main venues: the margarine-factory-turned-art-space of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art founded in 1991 in former East Berlin, the iconic glas hall of Mies van der Rohe's modernist Neue Nationalgalerie, and one outdoor location — an area of more than sixty weed-filled empty lots lining the former Berlin Wall between the districts of Mitte and Kreuzberg, and recently known under the name Skulpturenpark Berlin_Zentrum. An additional venue, the Schinkel Pavillon, will host a series of alternating, artist-curated solo exhibitions of more obscure historic figures from the world of art, architecture, and design.

During the night, and over the entire duration of the 5th berlin biennial, every sundown will initiate audiences into lectures, performances, workshops, concerts, special film screenings, field trips, and other nocturnal acts held in locations spread throughout the city. Titled Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours, this discursive and performative pendant to the artworks on display by day allows over sixty artists and other thinkers the possibility of sharing their knowledge with audiences and experimenting with conventional artistic forms.

The accreditation form for the press conference and the professional preview can be downloaded here.

The Participation of AiPotu, Lene Berg, Annie Anawana Haloba Hobøl and Pushwagner and special projects by Vibeke Tandberg and Matias Faldbakken, in the 16thBiennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Open: 18 June–7 September 2008
Curator: Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev

The 2008 Biennale of Sydney as curated by its Artistic Director, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev entitled Revolutions — Forms that Turn will include a presentation of approximately 80 artists from 1913 to today. According to Christov-Bakargiev, the "exhibition will navigate in different ways artists have revolutionized contemporary art. It will explore rotating, turning upside down, shifting points of view, revolving, mirroring and reversing as formal devices, as well as charting their broader aesthetic, psychological, psychoanalytic and indirectly radical and political perspectives." Among those artists selected —aiPotu, Lene Berg, Annie Anawana Haloba Hobol, and Pushwagner, in addition to important historical works from the collection of Erling Neby in Oslo — among them works by Jesus Rafael Soto and Victor Vasarely. Although included in the previous Sydney biennale, the artistic director has also invited artists Vibeke Tandberg and Matias Faldbakken to create special projects in conjunction with the formal exhibition. The 2008 Biennale of Sydney will be held from 18 June–7 September 2008, and has been supported with a grant from OCA's International Support Programme. A portion of this grant is provided by 03–funding. For further developing information, please refer to www.biennaleofsydney.com.au, or contactinfo@oca.no.



Solo Exhibitions

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Gardar Eide Einarsson at Centre D'Art Contemporain Genève
25 January–16 March 2008

Centre D'Art Contemporain Genève will hold the first solo exhibition of work by Gardar Eide Einarsson in Switzerland as scheduled from 25 January through 16 March, 2008. The exhibition, co-produced with the Frankfurter Kunstverein, is curated by Katya García-Antón. García-Antón writes: "The theatrical vocation of the artist's practice reveals correspondence, art historically speaking, to modernity's crisis with the social".
Preview 24 January. Please contact presse@centre.ch for further information.



Camilla Løw at Dundee Contemporary Arts
1 February–31 March 2008

Straight Letters marks the first solo exhibition by the Norwegian artist Camilla Løw which is scheduled to open at Dundee Contemporary Arts in Scotland in February 2008. The exhibition, curated by the DCA's Deputy Director Judith Winter will be accompanied by a publication with texts by Michael Archer and Sarah Lowndes. 

Noted Future Openings of Group Exhibitions in January/February: 

The Swiss Institute in New York launches its new project space STUDIO 495, to offer the opportunity of a more spontaneous approach to curating. The first show, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, scheduled to 13 February–22 March 2008, brings together an international group of artists; Fia Backström, Jonathan Horowitz, Scott King, Germaine Kruip, Malcom McLaren, David Perry, Vivienne Westwood and Norwegian artist Ida Ekblad. Selected works are hung in pairs and confront each other in a provocative way. Juxtaposition is rooted in the Art Historical practice of formal comparison, which Heinrich Wölfflin popularized in his Principles of Art History, 1915. The exhibition is curated by Gianni Jetzer.





Publication Projects

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The Spring 2008 issue of Afterall 17 is launched in late January. The issue of the upcoming journal opens with an essay by OCA Director Marta Kuzma, discussing the diverse effects of the sexual liberation movement within the cultural and political context during the late 1960s and '70s, and continues with the analysis of several artistic positions that either refer directly to the political ideals of that time or illuminate a particular aspect of that moment — for example, in terms of sexual mores and their representation, politics and its relationship to activism or history and the way it determines the present. Artist profiles within the upcoming issue include also that of Bjarne Melgaard with essays by Ina Blom and Bart De Baere. Afterall is co-published by Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London and California Institute of Arts, Los Angeles, in association with MuHKA, Antwerp. For more information, please visit: www.afterall.org. The publicaton will be distributed in Norway atTorpedo bookstore.

Frankfurter Kunstverein and Centre d'Art Contemporain Genéve will release in the beginning of February a full catalogue on Gardar Eide Einarsson, entitled South of Heaven with contributions by Chus Martinez and Ina Blom among others. The catalogue is published by Revolver.




The Edvard Munch Award for Contemporary Art

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The winner of the 2006 Munch Award Alice Creischer opens the exhibition ...for the Osmotic Compensation Of The Pressure Of Wealth. Alice Creischer: works and collaborations at Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona on 31 February. The exhibition runs through 18 May.




International Opportunities

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Call for applications — de Appel Curatorial Programme 2008/2009

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Curating in the expanded field: Application deadline: 7 March 2008

Initiated in 1994 by Saskia Bos, the Curatorial Programme of de Appel arts centre wishes to offer young curators a condensed package of experiences and skills that can be used as tools and instruments during the further development of their professional career. De Appel is an internationally oriented arts centre located in Amsterdam that functions as a site for the production of performances, research and presentation of contemporary visual arts through a series of exhibitions, publications and discursive events.
Detailed information: www.deappel.nl.


Whitney Independent Study Program

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1 April 2008 is the deadline for applications for the Whitney Independent Study Program in New York City which consists of three interrelated parts: Studio Program, Curatorial Program and Critical Studies Program. The ISP provides a setting within which students pursuing art practice, curatorial work, art historical scholarship, and critical writing engage in ongoing discussions and debates that examine the historical, social, and intellectual conditions of artistic production. The program encourages the theoretical and critical study of the practices, institutions, and discourses that constitute the field of culture. Each year twelve students are selected to participate in the Studio Program, four in the Curatorial Program and six in the Critical Studies Program. The ten students participating in the Curatorial and Critical Studies Programs each year are designated as Helena Rubinstein Fellows in recognition of the substantial support provided by the Helena Rubinstein Foundation. The program begins in early September and concludes at the end of the following May.
www.whitney.org.



Rijksakademie Research Residency — call for entries

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The Rijksakademie Research Residency in Amsterdam is an international research and production place for talented, professional artists from all over the world. The Rijksakademie is more than a residency. It has extensive technical facilities, a library, artists' documentation and art collections. In addition the Rijksakademie offers material basic facilities such as a studio, a work budget, mediation with accommodation and grants. Artists can apply for a residency from January to December 2009 by using the online application form. The deadline for application is 1 February 2008.
More information: www.rijksakademie.nl.



Apexart — Unsolicited Proposal Program

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Proposals accepted online until February 29.

Each season, apexart accepts proposals for two exhibitions. This program is designed to give people with interesting curatorial concepts an opportunity to have them considered and possibly presented in a professional, recognized venue based on the quality of idea rather than past experience. Applications are welcomed and encouraged from around the world. Visit the site for more info, guidelines and to apply: www.apexart.org.



54th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen

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The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen has changed entry requirements for the competitions of its 54th edition, which will take place from 1 to 6 May 2008. The festival is now calling for entries. There are two separate entry deadlines for international and German productions: international submissions must have reached Oberhausen by 1 February 2008, German productions by 15 February 2008.
More information: www.kurzfilmtage.de.



Helsinki International Curatorial Programme

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Helsinki International Curatorial Programme currently offers curatorial residencies in Helsinki for international visual arts curators. The programme is collaboration between HIAP — Helsinki International Artist-in-residence Programme and FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange. Applications should be received by 1 May 2008.
For further information, please see www.frame-fund.fi and www.hiap.fi.



Nordic programmes — Kulturkontakt Nord — Nordic Culture Point

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Nordic Culture Point is the new contact point for Nordic cultural co-operation. The institution has been established in 2007 at Sveaborg in Helsinki under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Nordic Culture Point will primarily take responsibility for providing information and consultancy to professionals within the field of culture, act as a service function and serve as a secretariat for the programmes of the Nordic Ministries of Culture, as well as co-ordinate the activities of the Nordic cultural forums. Nordic Culture Point will also profile Nordic cultural co-operation within and outside the Nordic region.

Next application deadline for Mobility Funding is 20 February 2008

The module aims to fund Nordic mobility for individuals in the artistic field. It is directed at all forms of art and culture in the Nordic region: artists, authors of fiction, translators, curators, artistic editors and cultural researchers.
For further information, please see www.kknord.org.




OCA Relocates to Grünerløkka in Summer 2008

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OCA relocates its offices and international studios to Nedre gate 7 in Grünerløkka in summer 2008. Reflecting upon the Board's acknowledgment of OCA's expanded programme, visitation and overall operations, a decision was made in 2007 to seek out a new location in order to provide greater accessibility and visibility for OCA as a public institution. The new location, Nedre gate 7, is a brick building designed by the architects Ove Ekman and Einar Smith, which was erected between 1896 and 1899. Situated on the river for purposes of drawing power, the building served as a natural site for the establishment of industry in Oslo. The surrounding expansion of mills gave rise to it being referred to as Ny York, in respect to New York City, which was facing industrial development at the same time. Nedre gate 7 housed the textile company Indigo AS — a complex housing workshops, boilerhouse and dye-works. The building's characteristic pipe, originally 50 meters in height, was eventually reduced. During World War II, the building contained a car repair shop used by the resistance movement to hide automobiles. OCA relocates to Nedre gate 7 in 2008 as a multidisciplinary institution with an expanded public platform, offices, and meeting areas for the International Visitor Programme (IVP). The space, renovated throughout winter 2008 under the direction of the Oslo-based architectural firm Space Group, will provide greater public accessibility to OCA and will foster a further synthesis between its discursive programme and a changing programme of public projects.



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