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CALL FOR ARTISTS BY A-TEAM

admin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:33:54 +0000

As part of the three-year European project Engine Room Europe, A-Team – Artists for Change will realise four creative processes in Sweden, Bulgaria, Latvia and Slovenia, teaming up artists, cultural managers and local mediators who will deal with local community issues. For this project, A-Team searches for artists working in any medium affiliated with TEH Member centres or Friend organisations who enjoy process, research and community-based work and interactive dialogue.

The A-Team project foresees the shaping of 4 teams operating in 4 countries on 4 different tasks. Each A-Team consists of:

- 1 artist (from another country).

- 1 project manager (who represents the hosting Trans Europe Halles centre).

- 1 local mediator (local community professional or volunteer leading the community dimension, whose professional skills ideally relate to the A-Team´s task).

Each team will work with a community for approximately 1 month, addressing a specific question (see below). The work will be carried out through close partnerships between the independent cultural centres in question, the artist and the local community. Each A-Team will be responsible for documenting its process on the A-Team blog.

What are the project aims?

- Test practices for sustainable working relationships between artists and the community;

- Create opportunities led by independent cultural centres whereby local communities and European cultural workers intersect to address issues of civic concern through stimulating art processes;

- Liberate artistic potential in addressing these issues. Create possibilities for artists to use their skills on a wider platform;

- Provide the community with an outcome and a post-project plan for further collaboration on the issues in question, if necessary;

When and where will it all happen?

A-Team partners are 4 independent culture centres in 4 different countries. A-Teams are planned to be realised as follows:

- May 2012 in Pekarna, Maribor (Slovenia) and Pro Rodopi Foundation, Bostina (Bulgaria)

- June 2012 in NOASS, Riga (Latvia)

- July 2012 in Not Quite, Fengersfors (Sweden)

A gathering of all 4 A-Teams in September 2012 is planned but not yet confirmed.

What artists are we looking for?

We are looking for artists working in any discipline (e.g. visual art, music, dance, film, multimedia etc.) affiliated with Trans Europe Halles members or friends who enjoy process-based work, interactive dialogue or research-based work, community-based work and who are interested in investigating themes of social relevance to a specific community. If you feel this might be an exciting challange for you, you can apply directly to participate in the A-Team of your choice.

What do we offer?

We offer cover of travel cost, accommodation and food during your stay in the A-Team partner centre and a small artistic fee of 500 €.

How can you apply?

In order to apply contact directly the relevant A-Team manager (contacts you find below underneath each single A-Team description) sending him:

- Your artistic CV

- A portfolio of previous work

- A short motivation letter (max 1 A4 page)

You can also address this person in case you have further questions.

The partner centres will directly choose the artists who seems most prepared and motivated to confront the specific A-Teams challenge. Please remember that artists have to be from another country than the one hosting the A-Team.

The 4 A-Team themes!

Not Quite (Fengersfors, Sweden)

“community building between Not Quite and the village of Fengersfors“

Not Quite is an arts and crafts centre situated in rural Sweden. It has been active in the area since 2002 and contributed to its attractivity, raising visitor numers significantly over the past years. However, there is still a barrier perceived between the culture, arts and craft centre and the village of Fengersfors (600 inhabitants), between artists and local community. In order to support the sustainable development of the Region, making it attractive for young people to stay or move there, however it is fundamental to build a strong common spirit and understanding. The A-Teams task therefore will be to initiate artistic actions of community building, creating a common vision and image for the village and the artists of the centre.

Specific objectives are:

- to involve 1 – 3 representatives from the different local associations (football club, choir, scouts etc.) and a total of at least 40 people in the project;

- to initiate a shared process with these people aimed at the development of a positive and collaborative atmosphere;

- through the process to create a shared understanding and vision of the villages identity;

- to foster understanding for the role the arts can play in such a process of community building.

For application please contact Karl Hallberg at karl@notquite.se

Pro Rodopi Foundation (Bostina, Bulgaria)

“addressing the issue of infrastructure in the village of Bostina”

In small village of Bostina (120 inhabitants) where Pro Rodoi Art Centre is located since 2004, the street infrastructure is in an inacceptable state. This reflects the situation of many mountain villages, which are not a priority of public investments. There is currently no chance to receive financial support from either the municipality or state to improve the streets condition in the village in the near future. The A-team’s task will be to support the local community in finding creative solutions to dealing with this problem through initiating artistic actions and participation.

Specific objectives are:

- to strengthen the relationship between the Pro Rodopi Foundation and the village inhabitants;

- to foster the village inhabitants understanding of the value of art;

- to involve at least 30 village inhabitants in the project;

- to organise a final festive event which will involve media coverage;

- to faciliate a dialogue with the mayor of Smolyan (administrative centre) on the issue.

For application please contact Petar Todorov at prac@prac.biz

NOASS (Riga, Latvia)

“Facing the city“

The city of Riga is divided by river Daugava, which has a strong symbolic meaning in Latvian folklore where it is called »the river of destiny«. Daugava is a border line in between the Central part of Riga- where the main institutions and infrastructure is located and and the living area of the city.It divides 2 towns in one city, two languages, two nationalities, two social classes. The A-Teams task is to create through art a social bridge between both sides of the river, as a mirror that reflects both sides of Riga.The location of NOASS is perfect for this kind of activity, as the floating art centre is located next to a Semi island in the middle of the River.

Specific objectives are:

- to create a site specific artwork – an installation- sculpture located on the semi island in the middle of the Daugava river between two parts of the city of Riga city (made of material resistant to weather and is suitable for public space);

- to involve inhabitants of the district Pardaugava (suburb) in the creation of the artwork;

- to foster a dialog between authorities and the inhabitants of Riga city in the process of this work;

- to create the artwork through a process that is open to the public.

For application please contact Alise Vetrova at alise@noass.lv

Pekarna (Maribor, Slovenia)

“For the State”

Facing an increased challenge concerning the privatisation of different domains in the public sphere, both locally and all across Europe, particularly with regard to civic and cultural space, there is an evident and growing reaction from citizens. This reaction is resulting in grassroot revolutions, some calling for a new socialism or Utopia, others more dangerous in their anger and frustration. A less violent option is to support the struggle for The State to recover its power. Of course we are talking about the state in the sense of a public space, within which a constant struggle for interpretation and care for public services are of vital importance to its existence, which represents the strengthening of the society and social cohesion through appropriate execution of public functions. The economic capital should support social and cultural development in order to (re)build society and the A-Team project is an exploration of this theme. The A-team will be confronted with the challenge of finding local answers to the questions of the social importance of Culture.

Specific objectives are:

- to map and review what individual cultural workers and public officials in Maribor propose as solutions for improving the position that independent culture today has within public financing (also by exploring the wider national frame);

- to perceive and implement a grassroot media-campaign, which will enlighten the importance of supporting independent culture in times of economic crisis, bringing attention to the questions: Who is the culture for? What is it good for? And who should support it?;

- to cooperate with local cultural opreators inside and outside the Cultural Centre Pekarna;

- to open a dialogue with local administrations through the campaign.

For application please contact Polonca Podgorsek at polonca@pekarna.org

A-Team Criteria

The following criteria or principles are important to be aware of:

1. Relevance of the work to the local community: the process should be as close to, accessible and meaningful for locals as possible.

2. Collaborations: in order to build bridges with the local community it is useful to create partnerships with other local associations, organisations, administrations, individuals.

3. Process before product orientation: each A-Team starts with a theme/topic to address and it’s mission is to provide possible solutions through creative action.

4. Shared decision making: the A-Team process evolves as a set of equal relationships and an organic process between the three stakeholders: the artist, the centre (represented by the centres A-Team manager), the local community (represented by the mediator).

Latvian video art Screening and Meeting with a curator MaYa Mikelsone

admin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:49:38 +0000

A Latvian video art screening and a meeting with a Latvian curator Maya Mikelsone will take place on Friday, 25th of November, 2011, 7PM at the culture centre „Mains d’Œuvres”, 1 Charles Garnier Street, 93400 Saint-Ouen.

Recent tendencies of Latvian video art in a unique one hour screening will include the video works from the “Waterpieces Contemporary and Video Art Festival” as well as the other works by emerging Latvian multimedia artists. “Waterpieces” festival is organized annually by culture and arts project NOASS (www.noass.lv), Riga, which among others is promoting, holding and updating the Latvian Video Art Archive from the 1980ties until nowadays.

There are 9 videos of 9 Latvian artists included in the program:

Krišs Salmanis www.salmanis.com

Katrīna Neiburga www.neiburga.lv

Indriķis Ģelzis www.indrikisgelzis.com

Edgars Lielzeltiņs vizualafizkultura.blogspot.com

Ģirts Korps www.semema.org

Mārtiņš Ratniks

Dace Džerina

Eva Lilienfelde

and Dace Tīruma.

The video art screening will be followed by a discussion about the works and a meeting with a young Latvian curator Maya Mikelsone who is currently living and working in France.

Maya Miķelsone has finished her studies of Aesthetics at the University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne, then an international curatorial training programme at „École du Magasin” in Grenoble. She has worked in several contemporary art galleries, in the Foundation Cartier (2008-2009) and in the contemporary art museum of Bordeaux (2011). In 2010 together with the 19th course of the curatorial training program she organized a multidisciplinary program in the National Contemporary Art Centre of Grenoble “How not to make an exhibition” which was supplemented by the edition merging the text of Nelson Godman’s book “L’Art en théorie et en action” and the photographic project of a Latvian artist Ivars Gravlejs. In 2011 she collaborated with the artist Élise Leclerq in her solo exhibition „Gestures of Experience” and together with the participants of 3rd International Gwangju Biennial Curators’ Course co-curated the video art program “Global House” shown in the Gwangju Art Space, Gwangju Design Biennial, Latvian Contemporary Art Centre and „Flat Space” in Moldova.

Event is organized by Inga Lace in cooperation with the culture and arts project NOASS. Inga Lace is a culture projects’ manager currently working at “Mains d’Œuvres” in the framework of the European Voluntary Service program. She has finished a Culture Management Master’s Program in the Latvian Academy of Culture (2010), worked as the public relations coordinator in the Riga City Exhibition Hall “Riga Art Space” (2008-2010), organized a youth education program “Behind the Scenes” in the Contemporary Art Centre kim?, Riga, (2010) and a project “Creative Dreams Factory” within the contemporary art festival “Survival kit 2” (2010).

The event will happen in English.

Free entrance.

ENGINE ROOM EUROPEENGINE ROOM EUROPE

admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:57:39 +0000

Building a sustainable independent cultural sector

Engine Room Europe (ERE) is a three-year programme (May 2011 – April 2014) of activities dedicated to independent cultural workers and their creative processes. 20 projects take place in 14 European countries, including artistic productions, festivals, training workshops, conferences, research, staff exchange, volunteer projects, residencies and debates, all committed to the capacity building objectives of ERE.

Highlights of Engine Room Europe 2011 – 2014

Staff Exchange Programme: Mobility of non-artistic cultural professionals between cultural centres in Europe. TEH Leaders Lab: Cross-European Leadership Training focusing on northern and southern European relations. A-Team – Artists for Change: tackling community issues through creative action. Living (under) Ground: Creative architecture laboratory. Crossroads East West: Research and debate on intercultural dialogue. 220 Volt! and Business Volunteering: Empowering the cultural volunteer sector. Creative Strategies of Sustainability: Research and practice on green strategies for the cultural sector. EAR: European Artists in Residency. Sector 3: Conference on empowering the independent cultural sector in Spain and beyond. TEH Resource: The main legacy of Engine Room Europe will be an interactive and free resource for the independent cultural sector that will bring together models of best practice, methodologies for development learning, advocacy and archiving for future generation of cultural workers.

TEH Meetings 2011 – 2014

TEH network meetings take place twice every year, each time in a different centre and country. All TEH Meetings during 2011 – 2014 will include an Engine Room Europe Training Platform offering practical training and capacity building for all participants.

The Engine Room Europe programme is initiated by Trans Europe Halles (TEH) and coordinated by Melkweg (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), in association with TEH members Factory of Art (Lodz, Poland), Mains D’Oeuvres (St Ouen, France), Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia), ufaFabrik (Berlin, Germany), TNT (Bordeaux, France), REX (Belgrade, Serbia), NOASS (Riga, Latvia), Röda Sten Art Centre (Göteborg, Sweden), La Friche la Belle de Mai (Marseille, France) and Tobacka (Kosice, Slovakia).

For the full list of Engine Room Europe activities visit www.teh.net

For more information about NOASS in TEH visit section in our home page Trans Europe Halles

“Engine Room Europe is a three-year programme (April 2011-May 2014) of activities dedicated to independent cultural workers and their creative processes. It is initiated by Trans Europe Halles (TEH) and co-ordinated by Melkweg (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) in association with 10 co-organizing TEH members. Engine Room Europe has been funded with the support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein”.

E-MOTIONAL BODIES&CITIES OPEN HOUSE

admin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:55:00 +0000

During the “Open House” meeting we will introduce you to the mobility and artistic exchange project E-Motional Bodies & Cities. We will describe the various opportunities the project offers to the artists and art managers who wish to share their experience and ideas in the field of contemporary dance.

There are four Latvian artists who have joined the project now: Olga Zitluhina, Kaspars Lielgalvis, Katrina Albuze and Anna Dubrovska. At the open house meeting they will tell about their current artistic work and give an insight of their involvement in E- Motional Bodies & Cities project.

Besides, you will have an opportunity to meet Romanian artists – Mihaela Dancs and Madalina Dan – who have spent 28 days in artistic residence in Riga. They have lived in the Floating Arts Centre Noass in September, 2011, working on a dance piece that will be premiered in October, 2011, and performed for a wide Latvian audience in November, 2011. In the evening of September 27th Mihaela and Madalina will present an outcome of their creative process in Riga.

Meeting will end with friendly informal chat over a glass of wine.

Although the atmosphere is supposed to be warm, don’ t forget to take a) pullover for the chilly autumn evening on the Floating Art Centre!

E-Motional Bodies & Cities is a mobility and artistic exchange dance programme, gathering artists and managers from frorm five Europian countries – Cyprus, Ireland, Great Britain, Latvia, Romania. Project`s co–organizer in Latvia is Association of Professional Contemporary Dance Choreographers in Latvia.

Additional information about the project: www.e-motional.eu and www.dance.lv

Additional information about the event: Ilze Zīriņa, director at Association of Professional Contemporary Dance Choreographers in Latvia, e-mail: ilzezirina@gmail.com

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This invitation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

This project has been co financed by Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia.

WATERPIECES 2011, SEPTEMBER 8 -10

admin — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:27:38 +0000

FESTIVALS FIRST DAY

admin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:53:35 +0000

September 8 – Opening day

20:00 Opening of The Festival

20:30 – 23:00 “CologneOFF VII” programme

Inner war (50 min.)
Mysterious Entanglements (50 min)
A Matter of Identity (50 min)

23:00 – 00:30 Selection of works from 15th Japan Media Arts Festival (JMAF) Part I

Parallel to the screenings of Waterpieces 5 instalations from CologneOFF will take place on the floating art centre “Betanovuss”. Videoart from the countries around the Baltic Sea:

1. Germany curated by Agricola de Cologne / Poland curated by Antoni Karwowski
2. Russia curated by Vika Ilyushkina / Finland curated by Pekka Ruuska
3. Sweden curated by Jonas Nilsson / Eva Olsson / Norway curated by Margarida Paiva
4. Estonia curated by Raivo Kelomees / Iceland / Denmark / Latvia / Lithuania curated by Agricola de Cologne
5. The Caucasians: Solo – Irena Gabiani (Georgia), Videoart from Armenia

WATERPIECES 2011

FESTIVALS SECOND DAY

admin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:52:09 +0000

September 9 – 2nd Day of the Festival

20:30 – 22:00 “CologneOFF VII” programme Art and the City

Mirrors (45 min.)
Velvet Undergraund (45 min.)

22:00 – 23:30 Selection of Films from The Archive of The International Short Film Festival Oberhauzen

Parallel to the screenings 5 programmes in the exhibition:

1. Still Fighting – Videoart from Africa
2. Solo Larissa Sansour / Videoart from Palestine
3. Black & White – CologneOFF VII – special selection
4. Land-scaping – CologneOFF VII – special selection
5. Expression of Freedom – Ex-Soviet Union

WATERPIECES 2011

FESTIVALS THIRD DAY

admin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:51:28 +0000

September 10 – Final day of the Festival and Contemporary Culture Forum “White Night”

19:00 – 22:00 Ambient Music Evening “Skaļā daba”

22:00 – 22:30 presentation of works from Waterpieces animation workshop “Naive Animation in Naive Art Museum”

22:30 – 23:30 “CologneOFF” programme “1 minute Cologne” – 60×60 60 videos in 60 minutes

23:30 – 01:00 Selection of works from 15th Japan Media Arts Festival (JMAF) Part II

Parallel to the screenings 5 programmes in the exhibition:

1. Videoart from Chile & Argentina
2. Space, Colour & Emotions – videoart from Latin America
3. 20/20 & Home-made Videos – Hong Kong
4. Blackmail – Solo: Marianna & Daniel O’Reilly (UK)
5. Inner Ruling: Perceiving the Real – videoart from Asia

WATERPIECES 2011

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:14:14 +0000

10. septembrī festivāla "Ūdensgabali" noslēgumā bērnu rīts piedāvā tautas mūzikas vakara programmu SKAĻĀ DABA

admin — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:34:48 +0000

Uz AB dambja no 18. – 22. augustam budistu mūki veidos smilšu mandalu