Friday, March 6, 2009

What are the "Focus on Art for Social Transformation. Art is a right" working sessions?


Focus on Art for Social Transformation, Art is a right is a four day series of working sessions, held from May 16-19, during which leading social organizations working in community arts and art for social transformation in Europe and Latin America will discuss the importance of art in social development and intercultural construction. The working sessions are organized by the Latin American Network of Art for Social Transformation, based in Latin America, and Creative Cooperations/Diskoteater Metropolis, based in Europe along with the European Centre for Arts Hellerau in Dresden, Germany. These sessions aim to promote the collective construction of an Art for Social Transformation series of actions to be adopted jointly by civil society, artists, youth organizations, research institutes, foundations, private companies and governments from both continents in processes of local development, youth empowerment and generation of educational alternatives, intercultural dialogue, human rights and social inclusion. This conference will also serve to build stronger bridges between European and Latin American organizations. The conference will be most beneficial for organizations that have organized or are planning an international project. For additional information please email info@artetransformador.net.


There are three dilemmas and discussion lines proposed for debate in this series:



  1. Sharing Points of View between Latin America and Europe- Moving from Tolerance to Respect: In this session the cultural projects developed in Europe and Latin America (LA) or in partnership with each other will be presented, with reference to the social, political and economic situation in which projects of art, youth and social tranformation are put in place.

  2. Artistic Promotion and Professional Training in Poverty Contexts: The programs of Art for Social Transformation involve young people of vulnerable contexts who receive artistic, educational and professional training at a local level, which leads to quality artistic work in well known spaces of culture at a local and international level.

  3. Financing Art for Social Transformation: Foundations supporting culture in LA and Europe as a motor of social change: Who are they? Why do they consider this sector an essential part of their work? Why should the combination of art, youth and social transformation be supported?


Schedule and Location
The conference will take place in Dresden, Germany. It will include an artistic performance by Constanza Macras, a two day working session in the European Center for the Arts Hellerau. The following schedule demonstrates the types of activities which will be held.

May 16 Opening of the Working Sessions
Performance by Constanza Marcas, the Berlin-based Argentinean Choreographer. The performance will consist of a dance piece which she has developed with immigrant children and young people in Berlin entitled ¨Dorky Park, Hell on Earth."

May 17 First day of the Workshop
Presentations by both networks.
Theme 1: Moving from Tolerance to Respect with an emphasis on immigration. What types of transformations are we facing in today´s societies? What kinds of artistic proposals are we using to address these tranformations?
Theme 2: Artistic professionalism in contexts of social crisis and vulnerability with an emphasis on equality and social inclusion.

May 18 Second day of the Workshop
Presentation of future projects.
Organizations will present projects on which they are working or supporting.

During these two days an event will be held which will be open to European and Latin American organizations as well as experts, international co-operations, government officers, etc. There will be presentations, debates with artists and practitioners.
Guest speakers and participants will come from three different groups:



  • Artists and cultural organizations presenting their experiences and visions of Art for Social Transformation

  • Foundations and private companies working towards social development

  • Researchers and social leaders coming from other disciplines who will offer a transdisciplinary and multisectorial perspective on how art influences their practices and can make an impact on their work

May 19 Share conclusions and debate.


Organizers
The Latin American Network of Art for Social Transformation (http://www.artetransformador.net/)
The Latin American Network of Art for Social Transformation (Red Latinoamericana de Arte para la Transformacion Social) was founded by 24 social organizations involved with art and culture from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Peru. These organizations develop artistic practices, using music, dance, theatre, circus and visual arts, in contexts of poverty and social exclusion. Their goal is to promote effective citizenship, consciousness of human rights, egalitarian multicultural dialogue and social equality. Recently, Uruguay and Central America joined the network, which brings the number of organizations involved to over 60. For more information you can view their video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPociZ3r7ms.


Creative Cooperations European Network/Diskoteater Metropolis (http://www.creative-cooperations.de/)
Creative Cooperations is a European network of youth art projects. A total of 14 partners from nine European countries have joined together and agreed on a program of concerted action. Their main objective is to offer an opportunity for disadvantaged teenagers and young adults to gather European experience in artistic and creative community work. Creative Cooperations was founded under a mandate from the European Commission and on the initiative of the Schlesische 27 International Culture Center in Berlin. Creative Cooperations was initially selected as a pilot network for the European Voluntary Service youth program and has since won recognition as a multilateral network.

Diskoteater Metropolis project is an intercultural theatre for Youth – it originates from the cooperation of the Internationales JugendKunst- und Kulturzentrum Schlesische 27 in Berlin-Kreuzberg and the Expedition Metropolis Berlin. Expedition Metropolis develops new material, forms and places for theatre within the context of cooperation between professional theatre directors, authors and youthful amateurs of German and non-German origins – especially with youths from outside of the cultural and educational mainstreams.

European Center for Contemporary Arts (http://www.kunstforumhellerau.de/)
The European Center for the Arts Kunstforum Hellerau, formerly Dresden Center for Contemporay Music (DZzM) was founded by composer and conductor Udo Zimmerman in 1986 and has since earned an excellent reputation, partially because of the internationally renownded Dresden Festival of Contemorary Music. At the same time it has developed into an information and research center, taking responsibility for the world´s leading collection of contemporary music from Eastern Europe, the Internationale Musikbibliothek Berlin, which comprises of approximately 45,000 works. The European Center for Contemporary Arts also acquired a large collection of contemporary composers´ autographs when the Cologne Ensemble was disbanded.

Supporters

Avina Bridges International Foundation (http://www.avina.net/)
Avina was founded in 1994 by the Swiss businessman Stephan Schmidheiny who inspired the vision and values that provide direction to the organization. AVINA is supported by the VIVA Trust which was created by Stephan Schmidheiny to promote sustainable development by creating an alliance between successful and responsible private companies and philanthropic organizations who promote leadership and innovation. One of the strategic goals of AVINA has been to facilitate European opportunities to contribute to the development of Latin America and the international positioning of AVINA and their partners in Europe.

Alta Mane Foundation (http://www.altamane.org/)
Alta Mane is an international organization with offices in Geneva, Switzerland and Rome, Italy. Alta Mane contributes its financial resources to organizations that support and educate children living in conditions of social, physical and psychological hardship. Alta Mane pays particular attention to organizations that encourage artistic creativity or perform scientific research focusing on dysfunctions of the immune system.

This blog will be continuously updated with information regarding speakers and a more detailed schedule, along with any other useful information regarding the Art for Social Transformation, Art is a Right working session. Any comments or questions will be responded to in a timely manner.

2 comments:

  1. I'm a bit hazy on how the effects pedal would improve the situation. Is it simply so you can tweak the equalizer? Or is there something else to it?artistic

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