// ABOUT: Artivists for Change Artivists for Change is an initiative taken by individuals and organizations from four countries - Greece, Jordan, Germany and Cyprus- to bring forward new tools and new practices for dealing with social, environmental and political challenges in European and MENA region countries. Artivists for Change is one of the projects supported by the Cultural Innovators Network (C.I.N.). C.I.N. is a joint project of more than 20 Goethe-Institutes around the Mediterranean, coordinated by the Goethe-Institut Alexandria. It is a platform for communication, exchange and learning provided for young active civil society members from Europe and the MENA region. (http://www.goethe.de/ins/eg/prj/cin/enindex.htm).
The Artivists for Change project aims to highlight a basic question: How can we make public expression of opinion more creative, less violent and more effective? The project proposes a twofold agenda: a) The creation of an Online Database of creative public space interventions that will facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas between activists, artists and cultural workers. b) A Workshop in October 2013, in Thessaloniki, Greece, with participants from the four participating countries, selected through an open-call by the collaborating organizations. The Workshop is financially supported by the European Cultural Foundation and is organized and hosted by DYNAMO
// ABOUT: Artivists for Change Workshop The Workshop will take place from 15-24 October 2013, in Thessaloniki Greece. Thessaloniki was chosen by merit of its geography, its current economic, social and political context and its abundance in local creativity resources as the city will be the European Youth Capital for 2014. The workshop will focus on Artivism through creativity, design and social innovation. Participants will be asked to discuss their own practices and analyze their impact, and most important to plan, develop and implement a serious of public interventions in Thessaloniki that raise awareness on the social, political, environmental and other issues. The Workshop is financially supported by the European Cultural Foundation www.culturalfoundation.eu
/ Workshop Theme “Demonstrations”, or How do we creatively expose that which should be intolerable? This workshop focuses on how traditional forms of assertion and resistance, that are related to social, political, economic or environmental changes and antagonisms, can benefit by the implementation of creative tools and practices. This question becomes highly relevant in a condition where societies face major challenges concerning their role, their capacities and the tools they have at their disposal in order to respond to major structural economic, political, urban and environmental changes. Are traditional forms of assertion, protest, opposition and resistance relevant to our condition? If not, which may be the forms of collective assertion and resistance today? What do we keep from past practices? What is no longer productive? What is still effective? How one can substantiate and express difference, claim and contrast in these new conditions? How do we respond in the always important issue of political representation and social mediation? Recent events in Europe and its neighboring countries showed that societies are looking for innovative and creative means for active participation in the shaping of the future of their societies. Many argue, that the answers to the above questions may lie in a series of prominent initiatives and contemporary practices that appear lately with great intensity. These creative practices generate "spheres", "platforms", "scenes", "zones" and "networks" in physical and virtual space, where the organization and distribution of resources, images, objects and narratives, but mainly the conditions of participation and interaction are fundamentally different from the past. The richness of these initiatives and practices is argued to be found on their combining of tools and practices from areas such as political theory, social anthropology, geography, urban planning, architecture and the arts, which crack, in an unprecedented way, dominant meanings and social, economic and political givens. These practices differ from earlier forms of collaboration in that they offer their participants a variety of tools to deeply understand the stakes of the initiative, to freely connect with others and mainly to design their preferred fields of action and level of involvement according to their interests. Unlike past forms, based on political or other hegemonic relations of mediation, here, the notion and the extent of participation is argued to be direct and based on performativity. According to Negri and Hardt, it is this performative capacity of these practices that has become the main challenge for social antagonism and confrontation, i.e. the question of how exactly these new practices will be classified: as communities of resistance and freedom or as new forms of exchange that serve the market economy’s need to continually reconfigure itself? Where lies the fine line that divides to one or the other side, the spate of "alternativities", the various urban and social initiatives, the upsurge of various activisms and happenings, the rise of volunteer organizations and NGOs, the extensive discussions on “the common”, the prevalence of diy, the plethora of blogs and social networks, the various open-source communities and other relevant practices?
This workshop aims to investigate the ways that creativity can positively contribute to social dynamics by promoting social, political and economic issues, through the fostering of collaborative, mutual and equal relationships in ways that strengthen community resilience, ecological management and democratization in decision making. This workshop aims to develop and to demonstrate new tools and practices for
civil engagement that would allow social bodies to express more creatively and communicate their message in a clearer and more powerful way.
/ Presentation The public interventions of the workshop will be presented as a parallel program of the 3rd Thessaloniki Performance Festival (15-19.10.2013) of the 4th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art (general title “Old Intersections-Make it New� 18.09.2013-31.01.2014). The Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art is funded under the Operational Programme Macedonia-Thrace 2007-2013 and is co-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund).
/ Participants This open-call targets international creators, artists, social innovators, cultural activists that have prior experience and engagement in public performance and demonstration. In order to secure participants from different creative fields we have decided to allocate four different target groups of participants one for each country. The groups are also adequate with the creative fields and expertise of the four different partners. The four distinct target groups are as followed: Cyprus: Performance / Theatre / Dance / Cultural Activism Germany: Performance / Social Innovation / Cultural Activism Greece: Performance / Visual Arts / Applied Arts / Architecture Jordan: Open-Source Programming / Hactivism
/ We Offer -participation in a mutual project with a large international group of creators -discussions and presentations from renowned local and international creators -networking within the local creative scene -presentation of the produced work as a parallel program of the 3rd Thessaloniki Performance Festival of the 4th Thessaloniki Biennial of Contemporary Art -documentation of your work in a short film -creative guidance by the facilitators of the workshop -travel costs (for participants from Cyprus, Germany, Jordan) -accommodation (for participants from Cyprus, Germany, Jordan) -insurance (for all participants) -food expenses (for all participants) -visa expenses (visa is required for participants from Jordan)
/ How to Apply Your application should include a portfolio of works, a creative CV, and a motivation letter. Applicants are required to send their dossier by email (up to 5 MB max. per application). Audio and video material can be sent by regular mail. -an up-to-date CV -a portfolio containing documentation of selected works and up to date projects -a motivation letter expressing a particular interest in participating in this project (1 page max.) All documents should be sent in English and in electronic form via email (preferably in pdf-format). Additional Audio and Video material can be sent by regular mail if needed but we must receive them in time. The Deadline for Applications is August 21st, 2013. We must receive all material by August 21st. Please keep in mind that if you send additional material by regular mail we must also received it by August 21st.
/ Where to Apply According to your country of residence you apply to the specific partner: Cyprus: TheatrEtc. http://theatretc.com Germany: Spring Lessons im Aufbau Haus Berlin http://springlessons.org Greece: DYNAMO www.dynamo.org.gr Jordan: Jordan Open Source Association http://jordanopensource.org/ Check with each partner for specific information on where to send your application.
“Artivists for Change” is supported by the C.I.N.:
C.I.N. is run with the financial and organizational support of the:
The “Artivists for Change” Workshop is organized and hosted by:
The “Artivists for Change” Workshop is financially supported by the:
The “Artivists for Change” Workshop implementation will be presented as a parallel program of the 3rd Thessaloniki Performance Festival (15-19.10.2013) of the 4th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art (general title “Old Intersections-Make it New” 18.09.2013-31.01.2014), organized by the State Museum of Contemporary Art. The Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art is funded under the Operational Programme Macedonia-Thrace 2007-2013 and is cofinanced by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund).