East European Performing Arts Platform (EEPAP) supports the
development of contemporary performing arts (dance and theatre)
in 18 countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Who do you work for? International symposium on artistic practices with local communities

MP

The symposium opens a platform to talk on the artistic practices that leave the gallery and theatre spaces to work with the local communities and try to redefine the notion of public art and space. Together with artists and curators from Ljubljana, Cluj, Sofia, Groningen, Manchester, Béthune, Marrakesh, Szczecin and Warsaw, as well as Lublin inhabitants we will try to answer the question whose the public space actually is nowadays. On the first day od the symposium the The Museum of Housing Estates will invite us for a walk through Osiedle Słowackiego (Juliusz Słowacki District), designed by Zofia and Oskar Hansen.

December 13th – closed session for project participants – LSM district and Museum of Housing Estates (in English only)

10:00 – 12:00 Across LSM – walk with Rafał Lis
12:15 – 13:00 Architektura Od Środka – presentation of project by Barbara Gryka
13:00 – 14:00 break
14:00 – 18:00 Re-defining Peripheries – workshop by Museum of Housing Estates, hosted by Paulina Paga

December 14th – open session (Polish-English translation)

9:30 – 11:00 Institution leaves institution – Sebastian Cichocki (Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw), Weronika Fibich (Kana Theatre Center, Szczcin), Waldemar Tatarczuk (Labirynt Gallery, Lublin) – hosted by Grzegorz Reske
11:15 – 12:45 Who do you work with? – Oana Hodade (Fabrica de Pensule, Cluj) Kathrin Hrusanowa (ACT, Sofia) Mojca Jug (Bunker, Lublana) – hosted by Marta Keil
12:45 – 14:00 break
14:00 – 16:00 What we know so far – artists experience of Meet the Neighbours” Cecile Backers (Comedie de Bethune), Niek vom Bruch (Grand Theater, Groningen), Richard Gregory (Qarantine, Manchester), Francesca Masoero (LE 18, Marakesz) – hosted by Florian Malzacher
16:15 – 17:15 Activist, curator, researcher – Cezary Hunkiewicz (Brain Damage Gallery, Lublin) Franek Sterczewski (Open Center, Poznań)
17:30 – 18:00 presentation of research project within Meet the Neighbours Ben Dunn (University of Manchester)

Meet the Neighbours addresses questions around changes in city environments, comparing 5 different yet relatable urban conditions. How are cities changing shape and what is the role of artists in the process? How can artists have a progressive and critical voice in relation to urban regeneration and development? How is access to cultural provision affected by the presence of artists in neighbourhoods? How can artists create space and relationships where conversations and action might occur?
How does mobility of artists relate to migration and mobility of people in a changing Europe? How can working with neighbouring countries develop artist mobility beyond and to Europe?

Meet the Neighbours is not another project about the artworld, nor about a particular curatorial vision. It is being conceived by and with artists, but its scope goes definitely beyond the frames of the art field. It is an inquiry on and for the main artists’ interlocutors, collaborators, addressees and partners in crime: the public. We are absolutely convinced that art is one of the main social practices and a public good that needs to be developed, protected and cherish — but is this opinion being shared by the public we constantly claim working for? We feel an urgency to ask what 'the public' actually means today: who does it consist of and what are their main concerns, interests and deceptions? Whose the public space is and who decides about it? Who forms, shapes and creates the every day context we work and live in — at the streets, in parks and public spaces, in a coffee shop and in the favourite grocery? Our main goal is to reclaim the notion of the public(s) and imagine possible (and impossible!) ways of being together — both in the art field and outside of its porous frames.

Partners: 

 

 

Meet the Neighbours is a three-year cross-artform project inviting artists into rapidly evolving neighbourhoods in five cities across Europe and North Africa. Co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme, Meet the Neighbours is taking place in Manchester and Salford, UK; Béthune, Lillers & Bruay-la-Bussiere, France; Lublin, Poland; Marrakech, Morocco; and Groningen, Netherlands. Museum of City Districts is local partner in Lublin. East European Performing Arts Platform is the symposium partner.