"Shifting Perspectives : merging approaches to art and activism" is a project that grows from inspiring conversations in Berlin years ago and finally it is happening. Therefore, I am here in Ukraine to facilitate this process that will continue in Germany next month aiming to learn and challenge myself and the participants.
This text briefly describes what we will tackle during these days.
"During two encounters a number of experienced-based activities following multidisciplinary approaches will offer a ground for experimental collaborations to reexamine practices focusing on civil society. For the 1st meeting (6–14 September) in Ukraine, participants are invited to bring themselves into an embodied experience in the Carpathian mountains. The group will be led to a permeable “in between” ground where they will explore methods of critical thinking merged with creative perceptions learning from their shared experiences.
This process-based encounter will travel from practice to theory and vice versa, aiming to expand frames of reference in the field of socially engaged practices. The gained experience and knowledge will be applied in the second project meeting in Germany and beyond.
The 2nd meeting (6–14 October) in Germany will enable participants to apply learning gained during the initial encounter in which participants rethinking the role(s) and methods of social activism and artistic practices. This retreat will take place in the region of Wismar, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern where the group will explore and exchange with local initiatives and cooperations through excursions and study visits. Thus, participants are invited to collaborate with the local partners, creating a socially engaged intervention presented during the Grashalm Fest on October 13, 2018 in Fahren (OT Zurow), Germany."

OPEN CALL
 
We are looking for people (18–35 y.o.) residing in Ukraine and Germany active in arts, culture and/or civil society.
 
During two encounters a number of experienced-based activities following multidisciplinary approaches will offer a ground for experimental collaborations to reexamine practices focusing on civil society. This process/journey will be facilitated by the artist Seila Fernández Arconada. 
 
For the 1st meeting (6–14 September) in Ukraine, participants are invited to bring themselves into an embodied experience in the Carpathian mountains. The group will be led to a permeable “in between” ground where they will explore methods of critical thinking and creative perceptions learning from their shared experiences.
 
This process-based encounter will travel from practice to theory and vice versa, aiming to expand frames of reference in the field of socially engaged practices. The gained experience and knowledge will be applied in the second project meeting in Germany and beyond.
 
The 2nd meeting (6–14 October) in Germany will enable participants to apply learning gained during the initial encounter in which participants rethinking the role(s) and methods of social activism and artistic practices.
 
This retreat will take place in the region of Wismar, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern where the group will explore and exchange with local initiatives and cooperations through excursions and study visits.
 
Thus, participants are invited to collaborate with the local partners, creating a socially engaged intervention presented during the Grashalm Fest on October 13, 2018 in Fahren (OT Zurow), Germany.
  
This process and result aims to explore critical reflections and inform future cooperations.
 
 
DATES + LOCATIONS
 
6–14 September 2018 Dzembronya, Ukraine
6–14 October 2018 Fahren (OT Zurow), Germany
 
13 October 2018 Grashalm Fest, Fahren (OT Zurow), Germany
 
​
Deadline for the submission of applications is 24th July 2018 (23:59 CET)
 
The project is curated by Seila Fernandez Arconada, Logos NGO, Grüner Grashalm e.V. and ActiveYOUkraine.
 
 
 

For the following month I will be involved in a research project focusing on socio-ecological resilience of forest ecosystems in post-conflict areas working with the Social Sciences Department at the University of Bristol, in particular with Dr. Naomi Millner, and Instituto Humboldt.  During this month we will research from Colombia (Cundinamarca, Boyacá and Santander regions) and Mexico (Chiapas). This is the begining of a research that focuses in the local in order to explore frameworks for a transdisciplinary and transnational collaboration.

Photo by Regina Hügli

​I am currently working in the project Rising up - Flowing Down as artist and collaborator of the In Between Collective which will be presented as an open event next week in Vienna. 

"This interdisciplinary project will be held in May 2018 in the Viennese watertower. This presentation of installation art, sound art, and site-specific art will connect to the tower‘s architecture and history. There will be an exhibition, lectures, workshops, performances, and concerts.

The title, rising up, flowing down, describes a cyclical, rhythmic movement between two poles like waves of water. Suggesting transformations between different states of matter, this theme allows the event to encompass different topics related to water. For example, these may include the macro hydrological cycle of evaporation and rain around the globe, as well as the micro water circulation within organisms‘ bodies or even breath. Another important aspect is the transition between consciousness and subconscious, sleep and waking states".

Curated by Anne Glassner and Regina Hügli, concept by Regina Hügli
Opening: 24th of May 2018, 18.00 – 22.00
Events at the exhibition space: 25th of May 2018, 12.00 – 22.00

For more information: ​risingup-flowingdown.reservoir-project.org/

 
I am very pleased to announce that I have been selected to undertake the collective artistic experience Wonder, Wander as part of Spring Sessions programme in Jordan. This collective walking residency will be taking place from the beginning of April for 6 weeks where all participants will be engaging and creating from the local context and the method of "pilgrimage" to generate artistic responses. The journey will take place from Northern Jordan towards South and with the final destination in Sinaí peninsula in Egypt.

                                                 
                                                      Updates coming up soon, 
                                                 follow the process in this blog.

                                                                              ...

"The Six of Swords (journeying) – The Hermit (solitude)

1. Consider pilgrimage, an act personal and spiritual.
2. Then, consider a pilgrim as one who walks to a destination at which their soul will sing.
3. Or, consider a pilgrim as a person who by walking to a destination uncovers the song that their soul is already singing.
4. When you quiet the world, can you hear it better?
5. Do all pilgrims walk in places unknown to them, though they may know the route?
6. To walk in a place unknown to you is to truly see everything. Like a child, all is new. Even the mundane has meaning. " (Extract from Spring Sessions presentation of the project: Text by F.T. Kola.Translation by Mohammed Abdelnabi)

​

Afluents project with Seila Fernández Arconada, collectiu A + and residents of the neighborhoods adjoining the Meder river in Vic.

 Photos by Guillermo Gumie 

Sharing processes: exhibition about collaborative projects

25/01/2018 - 27/02/2018 Medialab Prado, LAB0.
Opening, Thursday 01.02, 17:30–19:00

"Sharing processes showcases 15 projects linked to the international network CAPP and Medialab Prado. The exhibition has to main objectives in mind: first, to share the processes and results of these projects that were carried out in Spain and in Europe and, secondly, to generate a place for learning and exchange between the local, national and international community.
Sharing processes avoids aestheticizing collaborative practice. It consists of ten documentation spaces in which visitors can immerse themselves in 15 projects: through videos and through texts that reflect on the residencies, but as well as other materials such as objects and photographs that have been generated through the course of the projects.

Sharing processes is composed of:

• Afluents, with Seila Fernández Arconada, collectiu A + and residents of the neighborhoods adjoining the Meder river in Vic.
• Affect 2015, with Agora Collective Berlin and several artists.
• After the future ... of work, with Glenn Loughran produced by Create Ireland.
• Baa Baa Baric with Mark Storor, produced by Heart of Glass.
• Exando una Mano, with Autofabricantes, a resident collective of Medialab Prado.
• Harrotu Ileak, with Felipe Polanía, Oihane Espuñez and the education department of Tabakalera, San Sebastian.
• Kaputt - the academy of destruction, with Sibylle Peters produced by Live Art Development Agency (LADA) and Tate Modern.
• La Manta - The Arts, Struggle and Learning with the Syndicate of Manteros and Lateros in Madrid, Alexander Ríos and Byron Maher .
• OK the Musical, with Christopher Kline produced by Tate Liverpool.
• Rethinking the container, with the collectives Enter This and Orekari Estudio. 
• Textile in open code, with Elisabeth Lorenzi, a resident artist of Medialab Prado.
• Floating home, with Bence Zsin produced by Ludwig Museum Budapest.
• You Are Splendid, with María José Arjona, produced by Kunsthalle Osnabrück.
• TxP Youth Urban Design, a workshop of Todo por la Praxis with Create Ireland.

Sharing processes also provides a reading room and a small library that invites visitors to delve into the themes of collaborative practices. It is equipped with books and relevant texts in the field of collaborative arts, among which is our recent publication Impossible Glossary.

The exhibition will have several instances of activation: areading group will meet once a week and there will be twoworkshops that dvelve on the question to which extent it might. be possible to generate a working methodology related to collaborative projects.

Work In Process is a co-production of hablarenarte and Medialab Prado and is carried out within the framework of the Collaborative Arts Partnership Programme (CAPP)
CAPP is an ambitious transnational cultural programme focusing on the dynamic area of collaborative arts. The overall goal of CAPP is to improve and open up opportunities for artists who are working collaboratively across Europe, by enhancing mobility and exchange whilst at the same time engaging new publics and audiences for collaborative practices". Source: http://www.hablarenarte.com/en/proyecto/id/sharing-processes


Further information: www.cappnetwork.com,www.vimeo.com/cappnetwork

I am very pleased I have been part of the Conversational Event Impossible Glosary in which I led the concept PLACE. It was such an intense 40 minutes conversation in which we managed to unveil a number of layers related to the concept, thanks to all the participants.

Image from Susanne Bosh's table about the concept methodology.

Impossible Glossary
Conversational event in Madrid, Spain
Auditorio Medialab Prado, 7pm - 9 pm. 2/02/2018
http://www.hablarenarte.com/en/proyecto/id/impossible-glossary-presentation

The setting:
There will be 11 hosting tables in the conference hall of Medialab with a topic being discussed on each table. There are two rounds. Each round consists of 11 simultaneous conversations at 11 tables.

Round 1:
Autonomía (Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio), Autoría (Christian Fernández Mirón), Comfort (Sheaf+Bearly), Confianza (Aida Sánchez de Serdio), Contexto (Orekari Estudio), Fracaso (Francisco Rubio), Identidades (Felipe Polanía), Institución (Centro Huarte), Methodology (Susanne Bosch), Power (Ailbhe Murphy), Return / Outcome (Andrea Simon and Lindsey Freyer)

Round 2:
Agentes (Javier Montero), Colaboración (Marcos García), Conflict (Seamus Nolan), Educación (Ana Revuelta), Malestar (Amador Fernández Savater), Place (Seila Fernández Arconada), Politics (Lois Keidan), Práctica (artística) (Jesús Carillo), Proceso (ACVic), Quality (Dr Michael Birchall), Visibilidad (Manuela Villa)

Getting ready for the opening of the exhibition Sharing Processes at Medialab Prado