20.06.2013

Call For the WEAD Magazine : DIRTY WATER

Proposal Timeline : June 23, 2013

 

WEAD_print_logo

WEAD seeks proposals for the upcoming issue of the WEAD magazine from artists working with “dirty water” projects.

“Rainwater, stormwater, graywater and blackwater are being treated with increasing frequency as important resources. Designers and artists, together with engineers and agencies, are highlighting the presence of water reuse in our communities through creative expression, interpretation, and the visible additions of green infrastructure.”

The articles chosen will appear in the next WEAD Magazine Fall/Winter 2013, and authors will receive a complimentary one-year membership to WEAD and $100 honorarium.

For more information : http://weadartists.org/wead-magazine-call-out

By Marion Wolfer

19.06.2013

The 7th Triennial of Contemporary Art

LOGO-U3June 20 – 29 September 2013, Resilience,

Organised by the Moderna galerija with Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova,Ljubljana,Slovenia

In recent years the concept of resilience has grown out of the global trend of developing sustainability in the societies of the global North. In natural sciences or physics, a resilient body is described as flexible, durable, and capable of springing back to its original form and transforming the energy received into its own reconstruction (a good example of this is the sponge). Resilience encompasses exploring reciprocal codependence and finding one’s political and socio-ecological place in a world that is out of balance and creates increasingly disadvantageous living conditions. Rather than trying to find global solutions for some indefinite future or projecting a possible perfect balance, resilient thinking focuses on the diversity of practical solutions for the here and now, and on the cooperation and creativity of everyone involved in a community or society.

The 7th Triennial of Contemporary Art in Slovenia gives prominence to practices that can be seen as analogous to the concept of resilience, i.e. community-oriented, site-specific, participatory, performative, architectural, social, civic and other discursive practices exploring new (or revived) community principles, such as the “do-it-together,” urban gardening, and co-working, as well as the fundamental social question of how we coexist. Blending work and everyday life forms the basis of new economic, ethical, and production principles that the younger generation of artists uses to transform the role of the creative subject in contemporary Slovenian society. On the one hand this opens dialogues with biotechnology, critical theory, and political activism, underscoring, on the other hand, the cyclic nature of time by reviving traditional knowledge and techniques. Occurring across many platforms—the exhibition, performative projects, discussions—the triennial also gives the young generations an opportunity to express their potential through addressing urgent local and global socio-political problems and contributing to the debate in and over existing Slovenian cultural policy.

For more information about the program : http://u3trienale.mg-lj.si/en/program/

By Marion Wolfer

18.06.2013

International Conference

19 – 21 June 2013, “Transformation in a Changing Climate”, Oslo, Norway

transformationThe aim of this conference is to bring together diverse perspectives on transformation, and to generate cutting-edge discussions on deliberate, ethical and sustainable transformation in response to the complex global challenges associated with climate change. The conference will hold a wide range of activities and events. Including a combination of both conventional and unconventional conference features, where each part of the program is carefully tailored to conference objectives, particularly the need for transdisciplinary dialogue.

“The idea of transformation is utopian, allowing us to envisage radical changes for a more sustainable and peaceful world. Utopian visions are important – if we can’t at least imagine a better world then we certainly can’t make it happen. The challenge for researchers is to build theories about transformation based on knowledge and evidence of how dramatic change has happened in the past” explains Jon Barnett, professor and Australian Research Council Future Fellow in the Department of Resource Management and Geography at Melbourne University.

For more information : http://www.sv.uio.no/iss/english/research/news-and-events/events/conferences-and-seminars/transformations/index.html

By Marion Wolfer

18.06.2013

Land Arts Generator Initiative events

Arsenal GalleryJune 27- August 30, Arsenal Gallery, Central Park, New York

“Our civilization has been built on non-renewable resources and an outmoded presumption that nature is limitless. Certainly art will continue to serve many purposes; however, for artists and designers who choose to engage in what Joanna Macy terms The Great Turning, what is the role of beauty?” —Ann T. Rosenthal

This opening event kick off the summer exhibition at Arsenal Gallery (in Central Park), NYC, is also act as the book launch to their latest publication “Regenerative Infrastructures,” which features 60 submissions to the 2012 LAGI design competition for Freshkills Park as well as several essays, including “Redefining Beauty within the Context of Sustainability” by Ann Rosenthal

Formerly a symbol of immense urban waste, the Fresh Kills Landfill is being transformed into an enormous parkland destined to exemplify the values of ecological restoration and environmental sustainability. In partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the Land Art Generator Initiative held an ideas competition for a site-specific public artwork designed to operate as a source of clean energy for the city utility grid, using Freshkills Park as the design site. This volume features many of the top submissions to that open call, each with the capacity to power hundreds of homes. The Land Art Generator Initiative creates sustainable design solutions that integrate art and technology into renewable energy infrastructure around the world. Regenerative Infrastructures draws a much needed connection between the two critical issues of sustainable development—energy generation and waste management—highlighting solutions that address both problems at once, thereby creating economically beneficial hybrid utility installations.

For more information : http://landartgenerator.org/newsevents/

By Marion Wolfer

17.06.2013

Ecology and cybernetics towards network society capitalism

HKW_LogoJune 21-22nd,2013, The World Earth – Conference, in Berlin

The exhibition and the conference The Whole Earth are dedicated to the story of the image of the “blue planet”. The project takes its starting point in historical developments in California since the 1960s : using materials from cultural history and artistic works. Curated by Diedrich Diederichsen and Anselm Franke, the exhibition will critically explore the application of ecological-systemic concepts to society, politics, and aesthetics.

The conference will revolve around questions of the legacy of the California counterculture. Roundtable discussions will explore the historical sources of, and connections between, discursive and political issues such as the ecological movement, cybernetics, anti-conformist cultures, new artistic practices that dissolve boundaries, and the transformations in these areas right up to the globalist network capitalism of the 1990s.

For more information about the program : www.hkw.de/en/programm/2013/the_whole_earth/veranstaltungen_83124/veranstaltungsdetail_88180.php

By Marion Wolfer

16.06.2013

More for Less – Design in an Age of Austerity

June 21st, deadline for sending papers!

Less but better The Cumulus Dublin Conference 2013 proposes, in the deepest recession since the great depression of the1930s to turn the modernist mantra ‘less is more’ on its head as the reduced budgets of governments, business and people demand ‘more for less’, and develop a ‘New Deal’ for design.Vibrant economies are built on innovation, but with this comes an ethical responsibility that Design, the engine of the previous decades unsustainable consumerism and excess needs to address.

This international conference is intended to act as platform for sharing ideas and concepts about contemporary design research in this age of austerity. Contributors are invited to submit research that addresses contemporary approaches to design research. The conference is open to research through, for and into design.The conference will consist of keynote talks, paper presentations, poster exhibition and curated gallery exhibition.

The conference coincides with Dublin Design Week 4 – 10 November 2013, a celebration of design including walks, talks, launches, exhibitions and workshops. The festival’s audience includes the designers who design things, the business community who purchase design services and most importantly, the public who are the end users of all designers’ services.

For more information : http://www.cumulusdublin.com/call.html

By Marion Wolfer

16.06.2013

Dialogue on Peace

r_Initiative_Formaat_StudioSterk_voorstelling-8052 (1)June 22nd, in Rotterdam

As part of the Grassroots Peacebuilding project, Formaat will organize the “Panel for Peace”, an interactive dialogue on the use of Participatory Drama for conflict transformation and peace building. The Panel for Peace will initiate and stimulate the dialogue on using wide ranging forms of interactive and participatory theatre for working in and around areas of conflict. The Panel for Peace will include Chen Alon (Combatants for Peace), working with polarized communities in Israel-Palestine, Hector Aristizábal (Imaginaction), Theatre of the Oppressed with torture survivors, Teya Sepinuck (Theatre of Witness), interactive theatre in Northern Ireland and Zhara Yagana (AHRDO) and Hadi Marifat (AHRDO), legislative theatre in Afghanistan.

The panel is hosted by Luc Opdebeeck, (artistic) director of Formaat. Opdebeeck is one of the world’s leading experts on using Participatory Drama in a wide range of settings, including conflict transformation. The panel will analyze and reflect on the strengths and opportunities, and the challenges and threats to community-based work using Participatory Drama to address and transform conflict.

For more information : http://www.formaat.org/nieuws/panel-for-peace-dialogue-on-peace/?cbg_tz=-120

By Marion Wolfer

15.06.2013

The AWEinspiring Award 2013 to Platform

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The AWEinspiring (Art, Water & Environment) Award celebrates an artwork, project or artist, recognising their contribution to The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management’s (CIWEM) vision of putting creativity into the heart of environmental policy and action.Since its formation in 2007, the primary vision of CIWEM’s Art and Environment Network has been to put creativity at the heart of environmental policy and action. The Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World (CCANW) has joined CIWEM in creating the AWEinspiring (Art, Water & Environment) Award, giving it to The Harrisons in recognition of their unique contribution to public understanding of climate change through the vehicle of art and creativity, linked with science.

Formed in 1983, Platform have performed across the world, from the Tate to the Camp for Climate Action, from Glastonbury to Pittsburgh, and from Bristol to Nigeria. They hold exhibitions, write books, initiate research, and develop pioneering education programmes to promote radical new ideas that inspire change. About their work, they said : ”Platform, a London-based, innovative arts collective, was selected for its long-standing commitment to using the arts to open up spaces for transformation, inspiration and change in ecological and social justice. Platform aims to achieve long-term shifts that make alternative futures possible. They engage, support, challenge, and apply their art tirelessly to the most pressing issues of the day, notably focusing on the social, economic, environmental and cultural impacts of the global oil industry. Formed in 1983, Platform have performed across the world, from the Tate to the Camp for Climate Action, from Glastonbury to Pittsburgh, and from Bristol to Nigeria. They hold exhibitions, write books, initiate research, and develop pioneering education programmes to promote radical new ideas that inspire change.”

Platform is launching a new art work ‘Two Degrees: Oil City’, a piece of site-specific immersive theatre going deep into the underbelly of London’s oil economy, on 10 – 23 June 2013.

See also our earlier post : http://www.cultura21.net/activites/exhibitions/artsadmins-two-degrees-festival

By Marion Wolfer

14.06.2013

Dance, Touch and everything else

June 21st – 23rd 2013 in Barcelona – Natural Circus Lab

“The increasing desolation of nature, the exhaustion of resources, the uneasiness and disintegration of the human spirit, all have been brought about by humanity’s trying to accomplish something. Originally there was no reason to progress, and nothing that had to be done. They  have come to the point at which there is no other way than to bring about a ‘movement’ not to bring anything about”, said Masanobu Fukuoka – Originator of Natural Farming.

This meeting will explore what it does if there is nothing to accomplish. Nothing to accomplish in dance, nothing to accomplish in touch, nothing to accomplish in meeting another. Nothing to accomplish in life. The workshop will see what it does, if we get ‘the one that needs to accomplish’ out of the way and let life have its course.

For more information : http://www.labs.naturalcircus.org/

 

By Marion Wolfer

13.06.2013

The Ekotopfilm festival : last day for registration!

logo_ekotopfilm_green International festival of Sustainable Development, Bratislava (Slovak Republic)

June 13th = deadline for film entries

The 40th International Festival of Sustainable Development Films – ekotopfilm 2013 will be held in October 7-11th, 2013 in the capital city of Bratislava, Slovak Republic.The Ekotopfilm is a week-long festival providing the visitors with documentary films all over the world. The program structure and its content focus on all fields of economic, industrial and human activities stressing the need for sustainable development to be a continuous process. The festival consists of screenings of the accepted entries in the international Contest; the accompanying professional program (conferences, seminars, workshops); the public program (discussions on current issues) and ceremonies. The festival is not only professionally oriented, but is also focused on the general population with an emphasis on younger generations.

For more information : http://www.ekotopfilm.sk/en/festival-statute

By Marion Wolfer

13.06.2013

The resistance at Gezi Park

artists-in-resistanceJune 3th, 2013, ARTISTSINRESISTANCE, Istanbul (Turkey)

The initial protests in Istanbul at the end of May were led by environmentalists, opposing the replacement of Taksim Gezi Park with a reconstruction of the historic Taksim Military Barracks demolished in 1940.

One of their claim in the press statement released by the artists : “We are here because we have witnessed a peaceful crowd, gathered to protect Gezi Park, be suddenly and disproportionately attacked without warning.” The common aim of those who participate in these peaceful actions is to claim their right to a life of freedom, and the right to contribute to the decisions about the place they live in, their own city and natural environment. These actions symbolize an awakening of consciousness in Turkey, and worldwide, against a regime of oppression which increases its authoritarian presence every day. In the movement initiated by the Gezi Park Resistance,  artists and writers of the country, condemn acts of censorship and the disregard of the principles of neutral and objective journalism by all mainstream television channels.

For more information and to sign the support letter :http://www.artistsinresistance.com/

 

By Marion Wolfer

13.06.2013

Women’s Studio Workshop

June 15th, 2013

Living off the Land, in New York

The project Living off the Land explores wild-growing edible plants and their potential to replace cultivated food plants. Local wild plants have a significantly higher nutritious value than their cultivated counterparts – and they don’t need to travel hundreds of miles to get to the stores where we usually buy our food. Sonja Hinrichsen is working on the process of creating a piece around one specific plant – garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) – which is considered an invasive species, as it was introduced to the American continent from Europe in the 1860s.

“I have been preparing various recipes from garlic mustard, and am in the process of creating a set of pottery and cushions specifically for a communal potluck art event dedicated to foods prepared from garlic mustard. The potluck will mark the end of my residency at WSW and will take place at the CHURCH art space in Stone Ridge, in New York.”

For more information : http://www.sonja-hinrichsen.com/

 

By Marion Wolfer

12.06.2013

A Study on Contemporary Concerns around Gender

15th June 2013, Towards Gender Inclusivity, in Bangalore (India)

The Alternative Law Forum and LesBiT invite you to the release of Towards Gender Inclusivity: A Study on Contemporary Concerns around Gender. This report is authored by queer rights activist Sunil Mohan assisted by musician Sumathi Murthy. The report has been edited by Alok Vaid-Menon, and has a foreword by Kalpana Kannabiran. The report has been published by the Alternative Law Forum and LesBiT, Bangalore.

“Gender is a personal experience of a person in everyday life. It is an expression that each person can choose. Gender is fluid. Gender is performative. Genders are social, political, cultural, economic roles. Gender is a complex composition of many things around us. It is a journey of life, a journey from body to mind. It is a personal journey, a political journey”

The release of the report by writer and trans rights activist A. Revathi and Reginald Watts, an independent community person. The first report to be received by well-known counselor B.N.Sharada and feminist historian and cultural critic Lata Mani. Chennai based feminist and writer V. Geetha will respond to the report.

For more information : http://orinam.net/towards-gender-inclusivity-sunil-mohan-and-sumathi-murthy/

By Marion Wolfer

11.06.2013

ZOO 3000: OCCUPY SPECIES

kampnagel_logo_01_bigcover_338x338Fifth Live Art Festival at Kampnagel

07th – 15th of June 2013, Hamburg (Germany)

For its new edition, the  fifth  Live Art Festival proposes transversal performances on the theme of human-animal relationships. Artists and scientists explore the concept of “animal turn” in cultural studies, and the field of ‘Animal Studies, through the artistic languages of performance/dance and with a number of guest speakers.

“They try to see how human-animal relationships change our behavior. They criticize the idea of anthropomorphism in our societies and support the idea that social control prevents our animal instincts.”

For more information : http://www.kampnagel.de/en/program/#0_6

By Marion Wolfer

10.06.2013

Steep Trail Conference – Collaboration : Improving the Model

ImageProxy.mvc June 12th 2013 in Brunton Theatre,Musselburgh

The nature of collaboration, particularly cross-disciplinary, is examined with a view to asking how current models of collaboration function, and ways in which they could be improved. This day-long conference is being organised as part of Steep Trail, an international project set up by Polarcap, Fife Contemporary Art & Craft and Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, to explore the legacy of John Muir and his continuing relevance to current environmental and cultural debate in the 21st century with a keynote speech by Dr Iain Biggs of the University of the West of England and chaired by Ben Twist of Creative Carbon Scotland.

The project has developed through several strands, art/eco labs were established along the East coast of Scotland which brought together artists, scientists and environmental activists to follow John Muir’s example of physical and intellectual exploration through walking and talking. Participants met over two days to discuss their work within the contexts of climate change, public dissemination and social impact. Talks about the project have allowed other organisations within and outside of Scotland to use this model, and artist exchanges and exhibitions set up between China and Scotland in 2012 have widened the context of the discussion.

Using themes identified from these activities, the conference seeks to bring together strands of shared concerns between artists, scientists and writers including conservation, sustainability, climate change and the role of contemporary art in helping to foster effective dialogues.

For more information : http://ecoartscotland.net/2013/05/24/collaboration-improving-the-model/

Reposted from eco/art/scot/land website

By Sacha Kagan