Modeling the public in dissonant co-spaces

Since our workshop is approaching, here are some information about it!

 

General Information

Place: Belgrade, Hotel Park (Njegoševa 2)

Date: 27.04 - 29.04.2017.

Organizers: Jelena Šantić Foundation (Beograd), Lokomotiva – Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture (Skoplje), Loose Associations /Slobodne veze/, contemporary art practices (Zagreb)

Supported by: European Cultural Foundation and The Ministry of Culture and Information of the Government of Serbia

Working languages: English, Serbian and Croatian  

Goals of the workshop

Workshop The Creation of public in new spaces/ modeling the public in dissonant co-spaces is one of the activities of The Dissonant (Co)Spaces, and its  aim is to contribute to development of the governing models of these specific spaces in collaboration with various professionals in field of cultural management, sustainable development, cultural policy, political theory, economy, cultural heritage, architecture, etc. We will offer an insight into the three concrete cases (Pionirski Grad, Belgrade; Motel Trogir, Trogir; and Kino Kultura, Skopje) and work on the potential for future development of the three specific spaces/sites, having in mind the diverse context, socio-political, economic and normative frameworks as well as preservation of the memory layers of the of cultural heritage.

Additionally, through this workshop, we would like to try to articulate the following issues: what does the term “dissonant heritage” mean today, how is it perceived by the broader public; which of the examples of the 20th century architectural and cultural heritage could be recognized as worth saving, which of the values they implicitly bear, are important in larger socio-political and cultural context today and how those spaces could be reaffirmed through cultural and artistic initiatives (among others).

AGENDA   

DAY ONE   April 27^th, 2017.

Arrival of participants, gathering in the hotel until 14.30

14.30 – 15.00 Registration of participants 

15.05– 15.10 Welcome speech, Irina Ljubić (Foundation Jelena Šantić)

15.10– 16.10 Presentation of the first results of researches

                                                              i.      Pioneer City, Belgrade (Foundation Jelena Šantić)

                                                            ii.      Motel Trogir, Trogir (Loose Associations)

                                                          iii.      Kino Kultura, Skoplje (Lokomotiva)

16.10 – 16.30 Coffee Break

16.30 – 17.15 New tendencies and conceptualization of new models of cultural spaces in actual socio-political contexts, moderator (Foundation Jelena Santic)

-         Temporary Use of Public Spaces / challenges and good practice Iva Čukić (Serbia)

-         Cultural policies and spaces of cultural production Ana Žuvela  (Croatia)

17.15 – 18.00 Discussion

18.00 Dinner

DAY TWO April 28^th, 2017.

9.00 – 11.00 Study trip to Pioneer City (Kosutnjak)

11.00-12.00 Introduction of participants, work in groups that is focused on the managing, usage and functioning of concrete spaces 

12.00 – 12.15 Coffee Break

12.00 – 18.00 Work in groups that is focused on the managing, usage and functioning of concrete spaces:

12.00 – 13.30 group work 

13.30 – 14.30 lunch

14.30 – 18.30 – group work (refreshments and breaks according to the group dynamics)

19.00 Dinner

 

DAY THREE April 29^th, 2017

10.00 – 12.30 Presentation of 3 groups and discussion

11.15 - 11.30 Coffee break   

12.30 – 13.00 Conclusions and future plans 

13.00 Lunch

Ana Zuvela / Biography

Ana Žuvela is a Researcher at the Department of Culture and Communication Institute for Development and International Relations. Originally a concert pianist, Ana holds a Master of Arts in Cultural Policy and Arts Management from the University College Dublin and is a PhD candidate at the University of Zagreb. She has experience in cultural production, arts management, cultural research and advocacy from working for local government bodies, non-governmental cultural organizations and cultural institutions. Her research interests include development of cultural policies and strategies, local cultural development and decentralization of cultural policy as well as new models of cultural governance.She has worked on cultural policy research and expert projects with a range of supra national and national governmental and non-governmental bodies like European Parliament, European Commission, UNESCO, Council of Europe, European Cultural Foundation, Croatian Ministry of Culture, Kultura nova Foundation etc.  Ana Zuvela served as the Co-Chair of the LabforCulture Steering Committee, as Advisor for Cultural Affairs in the City of Dubrovnik and was a Board member of Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra,independent organizations Cuter and Art Workshop Lazareti, Kultura nova Foundation's Committee for Evaluation of the projects, and is a member of European Cultural Parliament

Iva Cukic / Biography

Graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade where she earned her doctoral degree in urban planning. The areas of her research include public space, self-organisation, DIY philosophy and urban-cultural discourse. In 2014. she attended a summer school for doctoral students at the Technical University of Vienna - WWTF International Summer School 2014 "Designing places of emancipation" - Cultural practices creating alternative values. In 2010. she co-launched one of the first initiatives aimed at fostering citizens’ participation in urban development, initiating dialogue between citizens, social activist, urban developers, architects and city officials about development of the city, called Ministry of space. From 2012. she is programe and art director of the Street Gallery in Belgrade, first open exhibitional space for comunity and for sharing and co-creation. She works as guest lecturer and associate on the Interdisciplinary studies at the Department for urban planning at Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade.

In 2013, she was engaged in (1) research project Urban Incubator: Belgrade-Savamala, in cooperation with the University of Arts in Zurich - Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (HDK); (2) research project Mobile University Berlin-Belgrade-Barcelona, ​​in collaboration with the Technical University in Berlin and the Guggenheim Lab Berlin. Since 2014, she is head researcher of Belgrade team for The New Metropolitan Mainstream project, a research project of the international expert network INURA. During 2014. and 2015. she worked on a research project Compare: Interdisciplinary explorations of self-organization and practice, which leading partner is ETH Zurich. In 2015. she was a member of a research team Researching on Marginality: Europe, Brazil, China, in the partnership with Goethe Institut through Erasmus + Programme. From 2016. she is engaged in European Commons Assembly that advocates with MEPs for commons-based policies and institution-building. In the partnership with two NGOs from Belgrade, in 2016. she co-launched the study program “Studies of the Commons”, which seeks to explore, apply and experiment with the concept of commons in the local/regional context. Since 2006. she is engaged in professional practice, participating in numerous research projects, studies, workshops and seminars, local and international exhibitions. She is an author of the book „Map of action“ about the urban activism in Serbia, for which she got a special prize. She is a member of INURA (International Network for Urban Research and Action), Commons-watch Network (European Commons Assembly), European Network CitizensLab and Independent Cultural Scene of Serbia.

Looking forward to this exciting event!

Workshop Preparation

The first project Workshop will happen in Belgrade, in late April. We are finalizing our research and preparing study visit for the participants.

Looking forward to meeting you in Belgrade!

First Report

Three partners in the local context researched and collected relevant information related to the development of the case studies of the respected spaces. Researches considered following:

1)    Desktop analyses (analyses of the documents, policy papers, normative acts and other online resources)

2)    Interviews with selected artists, architects, cultural workers, economists and other relevant subjects for the specific local cases

3)    Focus groups involving different target groups.

 

Skopje Focus Group

Collected information was systematized and incorporated in the three case studies (drafts-as planned for this period), which will be further used for the development of the research questions and models development based on the specificities of local contexts (Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia).

Research methodology specificities vary from context to context and are related to the specific needs, problems and situational analyses.

In Croatia, the research consisted from desktop analyses, which embraced historical materials and factual findings in relation to the state of the site nowadays, and its perception in the local context. We conducted several field researches by visiting the site, interviewing citizens/users, potential owners and the local government. We visited the archives, the National archive in Zagreb and the Museum of the city of Trogir archive. We also fed and stimulated the journalists’ research in the case of the recent devastation of the site.

In Macedonia, the research consisted from desktop analyses, interviews and working group meetings. Desktop analyses hold findings about the historical development of the cultural space, mostly related to the post second World War period. Interviews were done with one of the building owners Ms Viktorija Kostova Volckova and Mr Aco Dukovski, ex-director of the public institution City Cinema - Skopje (Gradski Kina Skopje), a network of cities’ cinema theatres among which Kino Kultura, as one of the most important and visited. Third part of the research is related to the present period/state of the Kino Kultura, as reopened and new project - space for contemporary performing arts and contemporary culture. This part of the research was dedicated to formation of working group, consisting of partner organizations and individuals that we have invited to reflect on the further ideas and plans for the Open Space programme part of the Kinio Kultura. Working group costs of: Filip Jovanovski and Ivana Vaseva (Faculty of things you do not learn), Milan Zivkovic (Friedrich Ebert Foundation-office Skopje), Sofia Gosheva (economist and representative of the Association for Persons with Disabilities - Blue Bird), Oliver Musovik (artist), Bojana Nizamovska (Youth Educational Forum), Erina Filipovska, Damian Kokalevski (Creative City Network), Ivo Baru (Debate cinema - Kontra Kadar) Ivan Toromanovski (associate independent consultant) Violeta Kachakova and Biljana Tanurovska Kjulavkovski (Lokomotiva/Kino Kultura) and Pavle Ignovski (Theatre Navigator Cvetko/Kino Kultura).

In Serbia base line research started in September 2016, field and desktop researches were conducted. We collected materials (photos, documents, video materials, guidelines) from various public institutions (Museums, Media houses, libraries and Public Archive). At the same time we conducted four interviews with focus groups and stakeholders of the site. We included three students of MA Heritology studies, the Faculty of Philosophy of University of Belgrade.

Field Research, Radio Television of Serbia Archive and Museum

The main goal of the project Dissonant (Co)Spaces is to contribute to preservation of places of the common/cultural history and to champion new models of public spaces and cultural institutions defined on the principles of  civic participation, inclusion, exchange/dialogue and development of contemporary culture. 

In the first (methodology development and research) phase we have addressed the objectives that would be reached after the project implementation.

Our objectives are:

·      To re-think theoretically and develop innovative models of the cultural institutions as inclusive public spaces;

·      To critically reflect on the values of the dissonant modernist heritage

·      To enhance artistic exchange, reflection and production in public space

To create preconditions for involvement of communities, building partner network, collaboration among professionals and for influence on public policies regarding inclusive public spaces. 

Through the Social media and the blog we are investing in the audience development (reaching new audience). Through the research process we have created the network of professional collaborators (institutions, NGOs, individuals) and we have informed stakeholders about the project and its following activities.

In Croatia considering the specific circumstances of the recent spatial devastation in the close vicinity to the researched site, an initiative was launched by the local partner to raise awareness of the local community towards these negative processes. As a result, significant media echo followed and reached public on national level. (An extensive article was published on vizkultura web site, and it was one of the 10 top articles read on this important arts and culture web site. See more here: https://vizkultura.hr/author/dominko-blazevic/).

Trogir Field Research

Production of the artistic project included collaboration with two artists and two other collaborators (externally involved in the production of the performance). Performance “Save the dance” was presented as work in process on the programme PLATFORM(a) for contemporary performing arts in Kino Kultura in the end of October. This programme was international and had audience of 150 people.

As far as our partnership, we can conclude that it was fruitful and thriving, inspiring and motivated with discussions that reflected different perspectives. Leading partner has a role of a coordinator, but all activities and methodology were created with all partners. Each organization is responsible for organization of activities in their respected country. We had regular meetings on Skype, as well as e-mail communication that involved sharing of documents and information about the implementation of research phases in each country contexts. For the better coordination, as part of the activities, partner meeting was planned for end of January.

 

Also, all invited participants shown great interest and willingness for further involvement and participation in the future project activities