onMAPS#3

onMAPS a project by MAPS - Mobile Archive on Public Space. concept: DZT design: uzinaliquida cover photo: Stefano Romano All the texts and images are property of the authors and are used with their permission. No part of the material in this publication may be reproduced, without the permission of the authors. Please visit us at: www.the-maps.org Or follow us on Facebook Contact: mail@the-maps.org ÂŠ DyZeroTre / MAPS - Mobile Archive on Public Space, 2016

onMAPS is collaborative project developed as a digital magazine focused on public space realized through contributions of artists, architects, urban planners, writers, thinkers. The magazine is a collection of artworks, photographs, documentation of actions, projects, frames, drawings, illustrations and texts written in the language chosen by the author. A starting point to open a discussion on what it means in general, to work / act / react / in a common space, on how to redefine what we consider public, what public space offers the community and how community access it. About MAPS - Mobile Archive on Public Space MAPS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mobile Archive on Public Space is a platform founded in 2014 by DZT collective, with the aim of promote, collect and divulges contemporary artworks, events, researches, and projects related to public spaces everywhere in the world. These materials were gathered within the activities organized by MAPS and through purchase and donations. The archive organize events of promotion of these materials; work presentations, video screenings, and talks hosted every time by a different space. The materials are available for consultation. MAPS has also a project room named microgallery and conceived as a portable gallery in miniature, a white cube of 50x50x50cm also hosted every time by a different space for its events. MAPS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mobile Archive on Public Space collaborates with organizations promoting contemporary artistic research.

We The People Eugert Hykaj

5 photographs, 2013 It started immediately after the fall of the totalitarian dictatorship. The new political spectrum, created after the dissolution of the ‘‘Party of Labor‘‘, copied the appearance of the Western Pluralism. The process of fractionalization of the political scene, started in a very short period, followed by the creation of new parties, based on the exclusive interest of their protagonists. Even though these parties had different names or orientations, they were all alike. None of them was created as the result of an ideal, will, or a beliefs of certain social group. They were all characterized by a full similarity in every dimension and all the party members, joined them for an opportunistic hope in the realization of an economic materialism. The electoral campaigns were filled with colorful promises, focused on the adaption of the electorate with the parties interests, not on the right of the people to choose the best alternatives for them. Albania doesn’t have a tradition in the free vote yet, nor in referendums or other direct forms of democratic decisions of the people, preventing them to express their power. The parties are becoming less democratic day by day, which is followed by a high disappointment of the citizens in politics. Transparent banners were installed across several main roads in Tirana. This action refers to that part of the population, who, like me, do not feel represented by any political force, taking part in the elections. ‘‘We The People‘‘ is a suffocated shriek in the propa10

gandist ocean of the political parties. It is the lost pride, the buried dignity, the lame democracy, the lost promise, the trampled right, the fictitious freedom, the absent transparency, the disgust, by being satiating with frustration after all the disappointments. The not representative willingness, A usurped sovereignty.

Dujdunmi japëllimish bi autostrada? Jok be nerde yle? Denëlli Prizende. Enëz bitmedimi bizde? Ja nasëll qallagjakllar bashka tyrli! Variqez aqsënllar jabi fabrika nigje Titonon vaktënda. Titonon zemani gjelmez atëk.

Josip Broz TITO 22

AUTOSTRADA BIENNALE / Prizren, has been established with the mission to enhance culture and revitalizing its community. AUTOSTRADA Biennale is an innovative highway between Istanbul Biennale, Venice Biennial and Prizren. The spaces will be in the alleyway’s and lumbardhi river in Prizren, Kosova. Inspired by today’s changing world and it is initiated in order to take advantage and expand upon the increased artistic exchange and practice. Through a spirit of cooperation we will seek to awaken Kosova’s, region, creative energy and beyond. Collaboration between different art fields and to question the problems and difficulties of the contemporary world is a groundbreaking of aspect of art today. It challenges and exchanges collaboration. Harald Szeemann’s own summary of the show’s content was itself lengthy, but it signaled this shift in the relationship of artist, studio and museum: “ the obvious opposition to form; the high degree of personal and emotional engagement; the pronouncement that certain objects are art, although they have not previously been defined as such; the shift of interest away from the result towards the artistic process; the use of mundane objects; the interaction of work and material; Mother Earth as medium, workplace, the desert as concept.” AUTOSTRADA BIENNALE is an utopian factory and work place in the best sense of the meaning. It plans to highlight social, political, economic and aesthetic conditions, which also influence everyday life beyond the art world: to make the city as a museum itself is a site of contemporaneity. A place in where local experiences of time subvert the unity of embracing and inventing its own time.

Qim allmish tenderi autostradanën? Inanamasën ema allmish bizëm bi jorgonllar. Sakën be! Japamazllar be! O jorgon dema yle. Bak bullam jabi tanëdëk em kujam kukumuzi!

AUTOSTRADA BIENNALE is created with the vision to recycle cultural gaps in the country, turning them into values, in experiential and tangible spaces, that call to push the limits of dialogue and independent thought - in an environment where reaction, research

and action are turned into liberating, emancipatory, dominant and aesthetic acts. Autostrada Biennale is founded by a team of young people, including artists, pedagogues and sociologists, united with the mission to expand the culture, on an idealist and paradoxical parameter, to open projecting and active “emergency doors”. Autostrada Biennale team, founded by: Barış Karamuço, Fitore Isufi / KOJA, Leutrim Fishekqiu and Vatra Abrashi, with the mission to transform the city simultaneously into museum and centre of the contemporary.

Dujdunmi o autostrada iqën gjelmish dishardan bi inzhinjerler, topllanmishlar bizëm hamamda. Asa ne ajkërimishllar? Sagllam ajërmishllar hiseleri!

Silvana Armelunić

International Conference “Contemporary Past. Historical Future.’’ was the first step in building the “Autostrada Biennale “, the first biennial of contemporary art in Kosovo, that will be held in September 2017 in Prizren. The two-day conference, through discussions in four sessions, “Art & undefined creative territories”; “A city that has no gallery, but has an art biennale”; “The common points / Art, Investors and Public”; “Biennale of contemporary art / Its impact on the country and region,” has opened discourses and has unveiled proposals from participants. But at the end, it left space for development in many directions. Panelists and moderators: Ali Akay / Ana Frangovska/ Anna Smolak / Edmond Hajrizi / Gëzim Paqarizi / Gregor Podnar / Iara Boubnova / Klod Dedja / Miran Mohar/ Nikolett Erőss/ Olson Lamaj / Osman Arayici / Petrit Halilaj / Sezgin Boynik / Sislej Xhafa/ Shkelzen Maliqi / Yehuda Safran / Zdenka Badovinac / Eliza Hoxha / Hajrulla Çeku / Rubin Beqo / Stefano Romano The conference was unique in itself, especially in the Kosovo context – due to the fact that was organized a year before the first edition of the biennale (having not selected yet the curator nor concept / theme), but also in undertaking its role within the Autostrada Biennale slogan, using its geographical position, at the crossroads between east and west. Without neglecting the history and the period of delay in many developmental processes, since post-war - being aware that is being created in a new small state, with fragile economy, chaotic education system and obstacles to free movement - it is open to cultural exchange and intellectual revival of the local and regional artistic community, activation of the city and its citizens. Therefore, the conference brought together international artists, curators, gallerists, heads of cultural institutions, in a discussion with the aim to address cultural issues through different perspectives. Autostrada Biennale’s objective was to benefit as much as possible from the knowledge, information, independent opinions, experiences and proposals of the guests regarding the type of biennial that would make

sense to take place in Prizren, Kosovo. Autostrada Biennale aims to use today’s dynamics of the country, youth vitality, local knowledge, as well as cooperative relations in region and beyond, in order to be self-organized and to be self-positioned in global cultural map. The biennial’s existing platform in Kosovo appears with a particular context, which creates space for research and the provision of creative models of organization to fulfill gaps of adequate communication platforms. But, believing that the needs of the local community will shape and determine the importance of this biennial, and its priorities. The challenges will be: How not to be overcome by provincialism while being in harmony with the interacting relations with the city and local contemporary art scene? Since the city is rich in cultural heritage, how to be used in order to protect and cultivate cultural and spiritual heritage? How would Biennale be attractive for the city and citizens, the country and beyond? Also, If our context will give shape to Biennale, that of political engagement - for the purpose of intervention in the art systems, creation of non-existing cultural institutions, cultural education and the art market. Or simply, without intent to build systems – biennial should enjoy the freedom of its development in many directions, without state or political responsibility, but artistic and civic responsibility; taking over roles that are only relevant to the context, to make its existence reasonable.

Dujdunmi morillar qimlere dyshmish bu autostradanën hiseleri?! Jabi jahudija dyshmishtër zaj sana bana dyshegjek. Brak sen oni. Gjetërmishlar dishardan bi gajtanllar, galiba struja gajtanllarilen bagllajagjakllar autostradaj qi gjitmesën struja byk volltazhada.

Iara Boubnova Sofia/Bulgaria

Sezgin Boynik Helsinki/Finland

Juan A. Gaitan Mexico City/Mexico

Miran Mohar Ljubljana/Slovenia

Yehuda E. Safran New York/USA

Sislej Xhafa New York/USA

Edi Muka Tirana/Albania

Hade bakam qim gjeqegjek ilki autostradadan! Dil ynemli qim gjeqegjek ilki po qim da hëzli voziedej. Hade onda sylema bezveze! Aqën gjeqmej jabi anasiqori da japsën tet me dy hepëmëze.

Since his intellectual work focuses on cultural conditions of globalization, the relationship between aesthetics and politics, and geopolitical situations of contemporary art, he with his experience and his interests, will contribute a lot in this new challenging journey of Autostrada Biennale. Coming from Taiwan, also an internationally underrecognized country, he seems to be the right person that will approach Kosovaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s from a unique historical and cultural perspective, and challenging in international context, especially in activist field, in the country when local political and cultural positions are very original and important in this emergent cultural situations that this new state is going through. Manray Hsu is open to deal with the intriguing context of Kosova, looking forward to exploring Kosova from political, social and cultural aspects. He shows deep enthusiasm about the issues regarding centers and peripheries of globalization, within Autostrada Biennaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative and creative highway Therefore, desiring to turn the city into an open display for all â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Autostrada Biennale team, consider that Manray Hsu as an experienced curator with willingness and commitment will build the first edition of Autostrada Biennale with the vision to bring a new spirit in the country - that could inspire different social, cultural, political, economic and aesthetic development.

Sqarim: Koncepti I shkrimit eshte pregaditur ne baze te dy gjuheve dhe dy kendveshtrimeve. • E para eshte gjuha Prizrenase (e perzier shqip, turqisht dhe serbisht) ku tregohet nje dialog mes dy personave qe diskutojne per autostraden si nje rruge e re qe do te ndertohet e qe ska lidhje me kulture *(ky dialog me shume pasqyron mentalitetin e vendasve te cilet nuk kan ide se c’eshte biennalja por vetem autostrada), dhe • E dyta eshte shkrimi ne anglisht qe eshte informata e sakte per Autostrada Biennalen dhe eshte ne anglisht. Përkthimet: Faqe 1 A keni dëgju që po ndërtohet një autostradë?! Jo bre, ku ashtu?! Po flitet që në Prizren. Po, a nuk mbaroj më heret te ne a?! Po si t’vjedhin ndryshe. Tu pas’ me e ndërtu ndonjë fabrikë, si n’kohën e Titos. Nuk do t’vijë më koha e Titos. Faqe 3 Kush e ka fitu tenderin e autostradës? Nuk do ta beson, por e kanë fituar disa tonët t’lodh(ur)t’ Mos më thuaj! S’do t’mund ta bëjnë! O i lodh(ur)t’, mos thuaj ashtu. Eja t’gjejmë ndonjë mënyrë e ta fusim edhe ne kokën tonë aty! Faqe 5 A keni dëgju që për autostradën kanë ardhur disa inxhiniera të huaj dhe janë mbledhur në Hamamin tonë?! Çka na paskan këndu? Me siguri i kanë nda hiset (pasurinë). Faqe 7 A keni dëgju ore, se kush ka përfitu nga hiset e autostradës? Ka fitu ndonjë hebre, se mos prite që do ta fitonim ne? Lëre ti ate. I kanë sjell’ disa kabllo (gajtana) nga jashtë, 32

e po m’duket që do t’a lidhin autostradën me kabllo t’rrymës jashtë, që mos t’shkojë rryma në voltazhë t’lartë. Faqe 9 Do ta shohim se kush do të kalojë i pari nga autostrada! Nuk është me rëndësi se kush do të kalojë i pari, por cili dë të ngas’ më shpejtë. Mos fol palidhje! Kur nuk po kalon dikush i samës (më I zoti) e t’na bëjë tetë me dy të gjithëve.

Selfish heard theory Barbara Boiocchi

Project for Manifesta Cabaret der Kuenstler - Zunfthaus Voltaire Zurich, August 2016

project for Manifesta Cabaret der Kuenstler - Zunfthaus Voltaire Zurich, August 2016

Project for Manifesta Cabaret der Kuenstler - Zunfthaus Voltaire Zurich, August 2016

•••

W. D. Hamilton

TRAINING FOR SELFISH HERD THEORY ••• Arrival A time to bring your awareness to your physical sensations and the present moment, breathe. Pow-wow Introduce yourselves, set parameters and suggestions particular focus on the action coordinated, on the synchronization, on the individual and collective behavior. Preambulation Meet everyone whilst exploring the space and its potential. Low form Stop and connect with the other components of the group with the idea of forming a geometric shape, by adjusting each individual trajectory in relation to the group. Grazing A series of small interchanges and improvisations. A list of possible ways of connecting with the space and the other people. Try to explore the possibility to stay close, in front, behind, at the side with people. Balance your own gregarious instinct with your own shyness. Accept your GAP moment Observe Do nothing Find an end Stop your actions with other people, return alone, breathe. •••

Following Galton (1871) and Williams (1964) gregarious behaviour is considered as a form of cover-seeking in which each animal tries to reduce its chance of being caught by a predator. Most of the herds and flocks with which one is familiar show a visible closing-in of the aggregation in the presence of their common predators. The phenomenon in fish must be familiar to anyone who has tried to catch minnows or sand eels with a net in British waters. Almost any sudden stimulus causes schooling fish to cluster more tightly (Breder, 1959), and fish have been de-

scribed as packing, in the presence of predators, into balls so tight that they cannot swim and such that some on top are thrust above the surface of the water (Springer, 1957). A shark has been described as biting mouthfuls from a school of fish â&#x20AC;&#x153;much in the manner of a person eating an appleâ&#x20AC;? (Bullis, 1960). Among mammals, similarly, the most gregarious species are inhabitants of open grassy plains rather than of forest (Hesse, Allee & Schmidt, 1937). With fish schools observers have noted the apparent uneasiness of the outside fish and their eagerness for an opportunity to bury themselves in the throng (Springer, 1957) and a parallel to this is commonly seen in the behaviour of the hindmost sheep that

a sheepdog has driven into an enclosure: such sheep try to butt or to jump their way into the close packed ranks in front. Behaviour of this kind certainly cannot be regarded as showing an unselfish concern for the welfare of the whole group.The occurrence of marginal predation has also been recorded for some of the aggregations formed by otherwise not very gregarious animals for the purpose of breeding. Individuals coming into breeding condition late or early may also have a problem in sexual selection-that of finding a mate. This point will be touched on later. There are similar influences of temporal selection for flowering plants.

When a predator habitually approaches from outside it is comparatively obvious how marginal pruning will at least maintain the centripetal instincts of the prey species. Whether predation could also initiate gregariousness in an originally non-gregarious species is another matter. As mentioned before, this will begin to seem likely if it can be shown that when predators tend to appear within a non-aggregated field of prey geometrical principles of selfprotection still orientate towards gregarious behaviour.

>> Listen to the audio click here

Performance on Manifesta - Cabaret der Kuenstler - Zunfthaus Voltaire - Zurich, August 2016 Performer: Barbara Boiocchi, Rossana Bossini, Marica Preda, Bekim Spahija, Lucrezia Travella

MNEMONIC GYMNASTICS Effi&Amir

2015 |video | 16:00 | Bosnian with English subtitles

This is a kind of OPEN-PROSE-MAP

The body is not fictional. This is not the same as saying the body is non-fictional. This is not the same as saying the body is factual. So far, I am not satisfied with any context-based working definition for â&#x20AC;&#x153;the bodyâ&#x20AC;?

I share the following basic shared definitions of “body” to get a ground: i. The physical structure, including the bones, flesh, and organs, of a person or an animal. ii. The main or central part of something, especially a building or text. iii. A large amount or collection of something. iv. An organised group of people with a common purpose or function. v. A material object. vi. Fullness or thickness of a person's hair. vii. A woman's close-fitting stretch garment for the upper body, fastening at the crotch. viii. (in pottery) clay used for making the main part of ceramic ware, as distinct from a glaze. (Oxford University Press. 2016. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/body. Accessed Oct. 18, 2016.)

I propose the following as a better definition: ix. “statement “ of Michel Foucault’s investigations1: ”We shall call discourse a group of statements in so far as they belong to the same discursive formation…”2

1The Archaeology of Knowledge as an oeuvre 2Foucault, Michel. The Archaeology of Knowledge. 1969. Tavistock Publications Ltd. pp 117.

If, body= statement group of statements=discourse discourse=group of bodies

But how to manage this “the”…. Because this “the” is really what brings the weight. In a recent letter I wrote: “There are these words which usually get capitalised like Beauty, Ethics, Power, Life, and I consider it my duty to determine whether or not they need capitalisation, and in what context, how, and why. The theatre for me functions as a forum, like the forums of classical Greece where the Socratic method of rhetorical questioning reigned fundamental. The theatre is an environment, where beside the ornamental possibilities of presentation, questions can be asked continuously and as we lack forums as central features of architecture today, they are necessary. There is no way to prevent an audience member from thinking or feeling something. There is also no way to force someone watching a dance piece to ask other questions, but from the perspective of making and performing dances I consider the highest priority that the question be asked. I use the word question because I am not interested in providing solutions, as if I made it my business to find solutions then I would be automatically acknowledging that there is a problem. And although it may sound naive or radical or selfish even, I am not convinced there is a problem. Problem with a capital P that is. “ For the purposes of this survey lets just say that “the” means both specifically and generally held.

Now lets plug some other things into our equation and broaden to re-inlcude the “the” to see if it works:

If, “the” body is not fictional therein “the” statement is not fictional, and furthermore this mass of bodies /statements which are not fictional equals a discourse which is not fictional.

Where does this resonate?

“Body” and “the body” blur but do not amount to one another totally, there exists between them a vast and unconquerable, curious and luxurious space of inquiry, contradiction, and arguably creation.

In certain cases, like the case of birth, body/statement and “the body”/“the state ment”appear together, or lets just say are indecipherable from one another, especially since no identity has been placed around that being by the being itself to fashion a certain ideology which has to be worked into understanding later what this would mean. Taking for instance the moment of being born, there occurs in the field of vision of those viewing the birth, both “the body” of the being and in such a moment “the statement” is also made, “the body” is “body” as closely as it can ever be in this moment of birth.

I would have to say now that this first birth and therein the primal closeness of “body” and “the body” cannot be reproduced. Dance, as it uses both “body” and “the body” aims to recreate through an ongoing weaving process this first almost unification of body/statement and “the body”/“the statement”. And to further unpack this idea it would then be interesting to ask the question now, is dance the vehicle for that which is not fictional, in this case body/statement and “the body”/“the statement”? Dance as an artistic medium of expression around body/statement and “the body”/“the statement”. Does fictional dance really exist? How can anyone ever argue that what the dancers are doing with their physicality on stage is not real? Therein, I would start now to propose the idea that although regularly perceived as a kind of artificial domain, dance is actually the domain of the not-fictional, the domain of the closest to real, hereby bringing us to say further that: Body/The body in dance is not fictional.

Body/The body in dance is REAL.

If, body in dance is not fictional = statement in dance is not fictional, group of real statements = real discourse real discourse=real group of bodies

Josseline Black (US) is a practicing and interdisciplinary curator, choreographer, dancer, and video-maker based in Austria. Her works have been performed in Europe and the U.S both live and for film. She has participated in and produced notable festivals, exhibitions, and publications. Interested in the animation of both physical and non-physical scenarios, she draws strongly on theatre, specific modalities in Art history and Anthropology, and the contemporary moment.

Mbahu nene mos ki frike, se ke djemte ne Amerike Çeta

May 5th 2016, street action, spray America, as it is commonly called, the United States of America, as they should be called, since it is only the central part of the American continent that has built the world’s eyes a structure such as to afford the adjective “dream” in front of its name. The American dream, the dream of a better life, where the rights, property, wealth, work, are guaranteed by the State ... This at least appears to be to those who have no chance to really live in the USA. This is the dream that every year at least 25 years now, thousands of people in Albania are trying to achieve through a real lottery, an attempt to change their lives thanks to Lady Luck. Last year in Albania 200,000 people participated in the American Lottery, of these 3,000 won. The collective of activists / street artists “CETA” made an action in some areas of the Albanian capital, spraying on the walls, the phrase “The server is unavailable, Server is too busy” an obscure phrase for those who are unfamiliar with the American lottery, but that instead becomes the anxiety of the answer to all those who have tried their luck to change lives. Indeed punctually every year occurs the block of servers from which people who have applied seek to know if luck smiled them, every year thousands of people attempt to connect with the American government sites, the same day, at the same hour, with the same result, the server is busy ... the anxiety grows, hope too and the page does not charge making this wait even more unbearable, how to get back to their own reality? In a State where even the protests for the 70

respect of basic rights seem vain, where the newly-won freedom of movement in the European Union is again put at risk by the amount of Albanians who choose to leave, the only hope is hangs to a dream, the American ones…

A permanent state of exception: la comunità creativa di “quelli che ritornano”. by Pasquale Napolitano

Spesso le città si comunicano all’esterno attraverso stereotipi, immagini sedimentate dalla ripetizione continua: visioni celebrative o denigratorie, auto-costruite o imposte dagli altri. Gli stereotipi costruiscono un’identità convenzionale, raccontano qualcosa di essenziale in maniera superficiale. Ma l’immagine di una città non è solo questo, soprattutto se si tratta di una realtà complessa e stratificata come Tirana: città in enorme trasformazione, antropica ed urbanistica, che sta letteralmente ridefinendo se stessa a partire dai propri confini*. Una realtà metropolitana scaturita da un palinsesto di fasi storiche e processi socio-politici molto eterogenei, dotati di una forza tale da segnare il tessuto urbano ed i contesti rurali circostanti in maniera marcata, raccontando l’eterotopia vivente di una colonia veneziana culturalmente e commercialmente inserita nelle reti mediterranee obbligata per decenni ad un pensiero unico di orientamento sovietico, e poi repentinamente inglobata nell’egida del soft-power occidentale. Nonostante ciò, in questo momento la città si caratterizza per un contesto che, in maniera informale ed involontaria ha prodotto quello che attualmente può essere considerato un laboratorio di socialità dell’Europa e del mediterraneo, fatto di spazi indecisi, aree residuali presenti nel tessuto urbano che si prestano a ri-funzionalizzazioni di tipo creativo, e fatto di persone che hanno prodotto una concentrazione di capitale sociale forse mai così forte nella storia albanese. L’elemento di discontinuità col passato è costituito da “quelli che ritornano”: artisti, urbanisti, operatori culturali, imprenditori, “altri”, che vanno a formarsi o a fare esperienze di lavoro, training, specializzazione all’estero (principalmente in Italia, ma anche in altri paesi dell’Europa e negli Stati Uniti) e, differentemente dal passato, decidono di re-investire le conoscenze *. E’ in corso in questi mesi la realizzazione del nuovo piano urbanistico generale di Tirana, che prevede una ridefinizione radicale della città a partire dal suo territorio e dalla rete con i territori rurali limitrofi: http://ilgiornaledellarchitettura.com/ web/2016/09/07/ritratti-di-citta-tirana-alla-prova-del-masterplan/

e le risorse materiali acquisite all’estero nel paese d’origine, scorgendovi un potenziale in passato rimasto tacito. Penso a questo potenziale inquadrandolo in un paradigma ben preciso, quello delle community informali su base creativa: quelle comunità, cioè, che si rivelano di particolare interesse nel processo di innovazione sociale, per una serie di ragioni che si possono qui sintetizzare: - la loro elasticità data dalla scarsa formalizzazione del loro operato e dalla conseguente dinamicità adattiva delle loro competenze – capabilities** - la prossimità fisica tra gli operatori dell’industria culturale e creativa della città ed il clima positivo che, in questo caso, ne scaturisce. - infine, l’importanza delle filiere culturali come vettore trainante dello sviluppo delle comunità, evidenziato dal Report europeo sul Patrimonio Culturale (2015) che sottolinea il rapporto tra sfera culturale e sfera creativa come fattore di mutuo arricchimento, in un circolo virtuoso tra patrimonio ed economia, soprattutto in quei contesti in grado di mettere a valore il patrimonio culturale - quello materiale così come quello intangibile - in chiave appunto di innovazione sociale. Le comunità creative sono quindi il fattore sensibile di questo processo: si tratta di avamposti di nuova socialità che in ottica di progettualità diffusa sperimentano nuove pratiche attraverso sistemi collaborativi (Manzini, 2015).

**. Risorse relazionali di cui una persona dispone, congiunte con le sue capacità di fruirne e quindi di impiegarle operativamente.

Si tratta in ultima analisi di un esempio diffuso della possibilità di fare manutenzione al concetto di città, in virtù dell’elevato livello di capitale sociale in una comunità che dovrebbe innescare un circuito virtuoso (Bozeman, 2007) . Si pensi a tutte quelle nuove idee che sono emerse nella società negli ultimi anni e che hanno portato a introdurre nella vita quotidiana di un numero crescente di persone modi di essere e di fare promettenti in termini di sostenibilità sociale e ambientale. Esempi possono essere: forme di mobilità alternativa, servizi sociali pensati come attività collaborative; modelli

residenziali e di vicinato più adatti alla realtà attuale delle famiglie; iniziative di ricostruzione della qualità ambientale e sociale delle città. Nella loro diversità, questi casi hanno un tratto comune: “sono soluzioni a specifici problemi che, nella loro realizzazione, producono anche socialità (e quindi contribuiscono alla ricostruzione del tessuto sociale) e nuove qualità (e quindi partecipano alla produzione di nuovi sistemi di valore)” (Manzini 2016). Tornando al caso della metropoli albanese, bisognerà sperimentare nell’immediato futuro se queste aggregazioni di socialità e sapere potranno trasformarsi in 85

entità più sistematiche, in nuovi modi di fare. In particolare credo valesse la pena, vista la centralità di questo asset in termini di sviluppo urbano, monitorare il fenomeno e cercare degli elementi per valutare se, questa dei “ritornanti” impegnati nelle nuove professioni del capitalismo cognitivo possa essere considerata una vera e propria comunità creativa e, in caso affermativo, valutare le ricadute in termini di incremento di capitale sociale. Per fare ciò, ho lavorato su un’indagine qualitativa diretta, e costruito un database di story-telling con le più interessanti esperienze di “ritornanti” presenti nella capitale albanese***. Durante il mio soggiorno, ho avuto modo di parlare, incontrare e discutere praticamente senza sosta**** con persone straordinarie - che ringrazio per la loro disponibilità e la lucida visionarietà*****. Provo a schematizzare qui le evidenze che ho riscontrato durante la ricerca sul campo: 1. Il valore aggiunto di questo fenomeno è costituito proprio dalla sua scarsa formalizzazione Pur nella carenza di servizi e reti infrastrutturali di tipo europeo - o paradossalmente proprio in virtù di ciò gli operatori che ho intervistato hanno comunque negli anni incrementato con la loro ***. Per focalizzare meglio la mia ricerca, ho usufruito del bando “One step beyond”, rivolto ad operatori culturali europei under 35, atto a consentire di estendere la propria rete di contatti per progetti ai bordi dell’europa: http://www.culturalfoundation.eu/ step-beyond/ ****. fatta eccezione per il tempo della partita Italia - Germania vista alla “Fanzone” della nazionale albanese: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-traders-cash-in-on-euro-footballmadness-06-16-2016 *****. Non ho parole adeguate per ringraziare tutti coloro che mi hanno fatto entrare nel loro mondo, ma provo qui ad elencarli: Stefano Romano, Rubin Beqo, Alban Muja, Redi “Red” Panariti, Eri Kuke e Martin Bejleri del Kube Studio, Eri Çobo, Enio Civici e Scan Tv, Arbri Malille, Andri Ibrahimi, Antonio Fantasia e Zeta Galeri, Esmeralda Dalipi, Zef Paci, Miza Galeri.

attività il connotato di città - intesa nel senso della messa in scena costate di quella scommessa “sull’altro” col quale si condivide, spesso non per scelta, lo spazio urbano, scommettendo che questa prossimità si riveli qualcosa di positivo per la propria esistenza. Come sostenuto da Richard Sennet (2006): “gli esseri umani sono tanto più favoriti nello sviluppo quanto più riescono a tesaurizzare gli stimoli che arrivano da chi è diverso: dunque, dobbiamo inventare soluzioni creative di convivenza”. Nei casi analizzati, sempre più spesso pratiche professionali non ancora codificate e forme di rivendicazione sociale entrano in sinergia, spesso mettendo al centro una dimensione operativa, più che analitica, dell’agire professionale. Come affermato poc’anzi, da tutte le testimonianze emerge con decisione che la scelta di investire il proprio capitale sociale, culturale e materiale in Albania nasce dalla constatazione di un fermento sociale, ma soprattuto dalla constatazione della dimensione “fluida” di questo fermento, come qualcosa di non ancora organizzato, un caos creativo non normato, in cui le preferenze di ciascuno potessero trovare finalmente spazio (Storper, 2013). Questo aspetto porta con sé quello che è un caso paradigmatico di effetto welfare, una dinamica sociale che vede la delega all’iniziativa privata della risoluzione di problemi sociali complessi, che normalmente necessiterebbero di una presa in carico da parte delle istituzioni: il singolo che si fa Stato, negli ambiti più disparati: nel fornire una nuova e più consapevole educazione al gusto, nel fornire un’offerta culturale da città europea, nel recuperare spazi per la fruizione comunitaria, sociale o abitativa. Questo - almeno nel breve periodo - funziona in termini di emersione delle preferenze e di responsabilizzazione dei soggetti coinvolti (Dines, 2009). 2. Il valore delle esperienze fatte all’estero Tutti gli intervistati hanno sottolineato il fatto che l’esperienza di studio e lavoro all’estero, oltre ad essere un enorme vantaggio in termini di competenze acquisite e di relazioni, funge in questo contesto come status,

come una sorta di rendita di posizione. Ciò certamente è indice di una dimensione ancora piuttosto provinciale, al contempo però ha dato a molti operatori culturali la possibilità di ritenere conveniente ed interessante il ritorno in patria. Infatti: 3. Si torna principalmente per convenienza La stragrande totalità degli intervistati, indipendentemente dal tipo di attività e background, ha preso in considerazione il ritorno in Albania in virtù del periodo di crisi strutturale vissuta dai paesi dell’unione europea dal 2008 in poi, abbinata anche ad un paragone decisamente a vantaggio dell’Albania in termini di costo della vita e costi di impresa. 4. Consapevolezza dei vantaggi (e dei limiti) di operare in un piccolo contesto Le industrie creative sono intese come volano per la rigenerazione urbana – in virtù dalla forte concentrazione delle attività nel territorio e dell’importanza delle relazioni personali che legano tra loro le attività economiche (Storper, 2013); ed effettivamente il rapporto tra gli operatori culturali “ritornanti” pare essere decisamente positivo, foriero di un buon clima. Allo stesso modo emerge anche la consapevolezza della possibilità di sviluppo relativamente limitata di una attività creativa inserita in un contesto periferico in termini geografici e linguistici, tuttavia, proprio in virtù di ciò, aspetto in parte compensato da dinamiche di matrice neo-tribale (Covà, 2006). 5. Consapevolezza che forse stiamo raccontando di un’occasione persa Credo che quest’ultimo sia l’aspetto fondamentale in questa fase: via via che il contesto si formalizza - soprattutto con l’azione del governo social-democratico (sul quale erano riposte speranze enormi, specialmente da parte degli operatori del comparto culturale e creativo) ha normato il settore con una serie di azioni fortemente top-down, come la ridefinizione delle aliquote fiscali e l’inasprimento di controlli in termini catastali e di settore - diminuisce la fiducia di molti operatori, sia legati all’iniziativa privata, che istituzionale.

Al momento è come se la forza propulsiva (per quanto caotica) di pochi anni addietro si fosse in parte rallentata, senza che però l’azione di formalizzazione abbia fornito risposte in termini di giustizia sociale, di accesso, di efficienza e di certezza dell’azione di governance. In conclusione, l’idea che ho cercato di rappresentare è proprio quella di una realtà a più livelli, ed ho cercato di farlo con gli strumenti della ricerca sociale, ma anche artistica: osservando proprio la vitalità straripante, ed a dire il vero un po’ conformista, che si respira nella “Fanzone” albanese durante gli ultimi europei francesi, questo incredibile luogo temporaneo allestito al centro di un grande parco monumentale, per sostenere le imprese della nazionale albanese, per la prima volta - e non per caso in questo momento storico - qualificatasi alla fase finale degli europei: una zona effimera in cui si intersecano la monumentalità del luogo e la stratificazione storica della città con la dinamicità dello sport più diffuso ed amato, che in questo momento diviene elemento di orgoglio identitario. Mentre la massa degli avventori guarda compatta ed assorta l’evento sportivo, si palesa sullo schermo un altro livello, quello delle nuovissime leve, che la partita ha deciso di giocarsela. https://vimeo.com/184644917

Riferimenti Bibliografici: Agamben G., (2003) Lo stato di Eccezione, Bollati Boringhieri Bozeman (2007), Public Values and Public Interest, Counterbalancing Economic Individualism, Georgetown University Press Cova B. (2006), Community and consumption: Towards 87

a definition of the “linking value” of product or services. European Journal of Marketing MCB UP Ltd Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe (Culture Programme of the European Union, CHCfE Consortium by the International Cultural Centre, Krakow June 2015 Dines N. (2012), Tuff City: Urban Change and Contested Space in Central Naples, Berghahn Books Foray D., (2015), Smart Specialization, Opportunities and challenges for regional innovation policy, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group Manzini E. (2015), Design, When Everybody Designs, MIT University Press Selloni D. (2016), Ezio Manzini: Design per l’innovazione sociale. Che Fare. Url: https://www.che-fare.com/ ezio-manzini-design-diffuso-per-linnovazione-sociale/ Sennet, R. (2008), L’uomo Artigiano, Feltrinelli Sennet, R. (2012), “Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation”. Yale University Press Storper, M. (2013), Keys to the City. How Economics, Institutions, Social Interaction, and Politics shape Development. Princeton University Press Storper, M., & Scott, A. J. (2009). Rethinking human capital, creativity and urban growth. Journal of Economic Geography, january 17 Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal Wenger, E. and McDermott, R. and Synder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice. Harvard Business School Press 88

Thinking about Trajectories, Roads and Detours I selected four interventions of mine from different years which reflect traffic and transportation in various countries. I´m interested in being confronted by specific situations created by different locations. Thus, I find myself engaging with the changing locations, resulting in works that are site-specific. The interventions are often temporary, anti-monumental and disappear like ephemeral structures. Marlene Hausegger

Brooklyn an der Mur, Styria, 2009 Bruck an der Mur is the name of a small industrial town in Styria, in the south of Austria where I grew up. In the 1970s, the city invited an engineer from California to construct a freeway system around the town. The impressive highway bridges still dominate the city landscape. The shape of a pile of woods under the bridge reminded me of a sneaker, as well as the moment where provincial structures collide with a desire for modernity. I am fascinated by spaces that lack a clearly defined function or identity; those “nonsites” that have fallen into oblivion but light up like a magic parallel universe far away from crowded and busy areas. Flower Power, Tirana, 2010 The intervention was made in Albania during my 90

residency at T.I.C.A in Tirana in 2010. Since private ownership of cars among the population was strictly forbidden until 1990, it is unsurprising that nowadays Albanian society is highly passionate about cars. The population is known for owning a large fleet of German cars, with a particular preference for Mercedes Benz vehicles. Entire streets in Tirana are covered with car rims and accessories. These scenes reminded me of flower fields which I attempted to evoke through the use of a green cardboard. The work reflects the transition from post-communist to market-based systems, as well as the ecological aspects involved. Segundo Piso, Mexico City, 2016 The Traffic Index 2016, a study on traffic congestion ranked Mexico City as the most congested city in the world. Mexico City drivers spend more time stuck in traffic than anyone else and it has the highest concentration of cars in the world. In dealing with those traffic problems, the city reacted by building a double deck freeway system, known as “segundo piso”. The touch-the-sky elevated traffic lanes that surround Mexico City are controversial because those new zones are private toll highways, which require a fee to enter. This infrastructure could be seen as a metaphor for the two-tier class society of Mexico. I am interested in this visibly invisible borders in the city. Focusing on the concepts of separation in relation to architecture and urbanism, those inter-zones have been the starting point for the following outdoor intervention: I will install an observation deck with a kaleidoscope free to use for passerby´s. Time to Reflect, Woodside, 2014 In a desolate landscape in California, I used bike reflectors to write the sentence “time to reflect” on a fence. It is an almost invisible drawing, the letters appear only in the brief moment when the reflectors catch the light of the headlamps of cars that pass by.

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ContraContraBeacon OPA (Obsessive Possessive Aggression)

2016, object placed on the roof of The Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje, part of the group exhibition Sculptural The beginning of the 21st century could be marked by the new wave of nationalistic authoritarian governments on part of the European continent, as the present stage of neoliberalism has brought about a new type of European periphery. One of them, a particular populist xenophobic authoritarian government, through well-established propaganda machinery and by corrupting its population for already a decade has succeeded in successively degrading and deviating its institutions and all aspects of human existence. The vast majority of this country’s citizens, transformed into a submissive body have nevertheless accepted their corruptive role. ContraContraBeacon is an object placed on the roof of the Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the highest points of the capital of that country. Emitting light signals at defined time intervals, the museum became a lighthouse, and the light has become a prayer, a mantra and a call for mobilization. In accordance with the rules of Morse code alphabet, it continuously transmits one particular message: “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy VMRO, start thinking”. *

* VMRO - acronym with several historical meanings, originally the name of the revolutionary national liberation movement, but currently appropriated as part of the name of the ruling right-wing party of R. Macedonia.

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Deviation, navigation, distraction Steve Piccolo

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1. Even the most apparently ivorytower personal artistic practice inevitably involves getting to know a territory, from the microcosm of the studio to the bigger cosmoi of landscapes, neighborhoods, towns, cities, countries, continents, etc. The better we get to know the territory, the better we know its routes, the quickest and/or safest ways to get from point A to point B. And we tend to stick with them. We stop seeing. Or listening.

3. Territorial awareness is fundamental to be able to manage your own relationship with your surroundings, and to have the background you need to be able to construct, to elaborate, to evolve. Especially because art is a collective organism, in spite of the individualistic convictions of most of its makers.

4. I have met many artists who say they cannot really work when they are away from their stu2. The territory is not only physical, except for very dio, their neighborhood, their context. Ideas may marginal situations. It is also and perhaps above come while traveling, but work gets made in a familiar setting. Which can also be a problem. You all human territory. The character of a territory always has an influ- can get into a rut. You can start to repeat yourself ence on the character of the work that is made in it. too much. This is not only about the socio-economic milieu, but also about topography, climate, light, sound.

5. A favorite strategy for overcoming this stasis is deviation. The encoded suggestion comes from Situationist wandering, though that encoding was 110

certainly not the moment of discovery of deviance as a way of shaking up the mind. Today the wandering impulse is often channeled into what is called “navigation,” which has all the seductive unpredictability of actual physical wandering without any of its true and (admittedly) often mostly physiological benefits.

7. Is acceptance of “chance” a way of escaping from the diligent digging required to really get to the root of a problematic issue and find its solution? Are we making the mistake of confusing deviation with distraction? Deviation means continuing to dig your hole but changing its direction, like a tunnel. Distraction means digging lots of little superficial holes.

6. The hypnotic enervation of navigation makes us all question the value of deviation, of detouring, and that questioning starts to apply to deviation from goals, to what we used to think of as a strategy to stimulate the imagination. Is deviation really such a positive tactic, or is it sometimes a way of avoiding responsibility, of cheating ourselves out of the benefits of longterm concentration on a particular goal?

8. To find the true source of the deviational impulse it is worth looking at what happens in the initial exploration of a territory, due to relocation, a residency, a site-specific project or just plain tourism.

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9. Often the most overwhelming presence or feature of a place is exactly the one most of its inhabitants no longer see at all. Of course if you are new there, it is the first thing you see and you cannot get it out of your mind. This is when the local residents (and the critics) accuse you of making “postcards.”

10. Is it so bad to make postcards? Maybe not. Actually, it is getting hard to find postcards, nowadays, in many parts of the world. For obvious reasons. The truth of the matter is that when I was writing this, I got detoured by a pile of old postcards I found in the studio on a shelf I hadn’t explored for years.

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BERGAMO

BOLOGNA SENIGALLIA

BARI

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TIRANA

Microgallery doveva tornare a casa. Per questo è nato HOMECOMING. Microgallery nasce a Tirana come project room di MAPS - Mobile Archive on Public Space. Concepita come un “white cube” di 50x50x50cm, quindi uno spazio neutro per definizione, trova la sua identità nella sua dimensione. Microgallery e MAPS sono in rapporto sintattico tra loro effettuando una continua ricerca su temi come micro / macro / protetto / pubblico / spazio / dentro / fuori. Il 22 ottobre 2016 ha inaugurato “Teatri i Gjelbërimit” (Teatro di Verzura), una grande mostra a Tirana costruita come una ricerca sulle opere sviluppate nello spazio pubblico nella capitale albanese, tra il 1998 e il 2016. MAPS - Mobile Archive on Public Space è tra gli organizzatori di questo evento. HOMECOMING è stato uno degli eventi collaterali della mostra. Microgallery si è spostata da Bergamo (dove si trovava per precedenti eventi realizzati) toccando Bologna, Ancona, Bari per poi arrivare a Tirana. Ogni tappa ha ospitato una micromostra della durata di un solo giorno. HOMECOMING si situa a metà tra un grande progetto curatoriale ed uno artistico, rompendo la soglia presente tra le due professionalità. HOMECOMING si potrebbe considerare come un’opera aperta, cioè quel tipo di produzione che l’autore lascia appositamente incompleto, destinandola ad altri. Le artiste/curatrici hanno invitato cinque artisti a collaborare con loro, creando dialoghi e connessioni, diventando automaticamente contenitori di idee, più che portatrici di un progetto compiuto; per ogni tappa il processo era ancora da farsi, insieme all’artista, all’opera e ai soggetti ospitanti.

Gli artisti si sono dovuti scontrare con un solo limite: le dimensioni. Le opere dovevano obbligatoriamente comunicare con uno spazio che è per definizione micro. Così ciò che per le artiste/curatrici era una fortuna - trasportare una galleria, lungo tutta l’Italia, dentro una Fiat Panda Young - al contempo diveniva un fattore limitante per gli artisti coinvolti, che hanno dovuto adattare il loro lavoro alla sede dal formato ridotto. HOMECOMING presenta un’architettura processuale e complessa, che va oltre l’idea di una mostra itinerante, avvicinandosi alla costruzione di una perfomance che non da nulla per scontato. I luoghi fisici che hanno ospitato gli eventi sono stati proposti dagli artisti stessi, in modo tale da essere in dialogo con l’opera, compiendo così l’obiettivo ultimo di microgallery: continuare il suo lavoro di ricerca sullo spazio pubblico. HOMECOMING ha dato alle artiste/curatrici la possibilità di mettersi alla prova, conoscersi e conoscere persone, ampliare gli orizzonti, trovarsi in situazioni in cui si doveva parlare e ascoltare lingue diverse; spunti e opinioni hanno reso ancora più ricco il concept che sta dietro questo progetto curatoriale. HOMECOMING ha permesso di credere ancora di più che grazie all’arte, relazioni, connessioni, collaborazioni sono possibili. HOMECOMING ha portato l’arte contemporanea in piccole dosi, tra le persone, tra le via delle città, negli spazi in cui mancava. Gli artisti che hanno partecipato a HOMECOMING sono stati: Daniele Maffeis con Micaela Leonardi (Bergamo) Eva Marisaldi (Bologna) Andrea Nacciarriti (Senigallia, AN) Fabrizio Bellomo + Nico Angiuli (Bari) HAVEIT Collective (Tirana)

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Stacioni i Autobusit Enisa Cenaliaj

Fotografi, 2005. Kjo punë është realizuar në vitin 2005. Pikërisht në këtë kohë në Tiranë pothuajse nuk ekzistonte sinjalistika. Ku në këtë rast asnjë stacion i mirëfilltë autobusi nuk ishte. Përveç banorëve të vetë qytetit, të tjerët do ta kishin të veshtirë të orientoheshin për të gjetur se ku nisej dhe ku ndalonte një linjë. E vetmja mënyre për të kuptuar ishte pikërisht një grumbull njerëzish të qetë, me tiparet e njerëzve që rrinë në pritje (shumica me duart në xhepa). Ky vend për t’u boshatisur e rimbushur serisht pas ardhjes në stacion të autobusit.

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