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This is coming up next week! very excited about being part of "Ways of Practicing Conviviality: the artist as Host". I have been following the work of UNIDEE for years and finally I will be able to visit in this unique collective space.
https://www.cittadellarte.it/unidee/activity.html?id=221 I am well excited to share this invitation for the presentation of "Floating Studio, when the River sounds like the Amazon River" this Thursday 14th of November 2024 at the Gropius Bau Museum in Berlin. It is the first time this project is presented in Germany, second time in Europe!
"Floating Studio, when the River sounds like the Amazon River" (2019–2022) is an artistic project led by Seila Fernández Arconada, inspired by the relationship between human beings and water, in the most important freshwater reserve on the planet: the Amazon River. This project followed a ‘collective artistic expedition’ as artistic method framed within the itinerary of the river’s course, from its origin in Nevado Mismi (Peru) until it reached the ocean at Belém do Pará (Brazil), however in the end it reached the Guadalquivir River (Spain). This project have a collaborative nature and therefore branching to each piece will travel to many people who collaborated in various forms in Peru, Brasil, Colombia and Spain. During this event I will tackle some glimpses from this vast artistic research project as well as share two sound pieces created, to have a dialogue with the current situation of the Amazon River as well as the collective knowledge of the audience. The sound pieces are the following: "Drop by Drop Water is Drained" is a sound creation situated in the course of the journey in the Peruvian Amazon. This composition includes documentation and sound exploration based on different collective experiences, including workshops with youth, ‘concerts to be more river-like ’ and other experiences along the way. The artist has used hydrophones and other recording strategies to collect sounds. This work presents a sound experience to ‘be more river-like’, portraying the movement through the corporal based on the experience in the Amazon River. "Amazon, Between Reality and Fiction" is a reflection situated in the context of return and the final presentation (Spain). Due to the interruption of the route by the pandemic in 2020, the project was redirected while seeking to close a narrative cycle that would be meaningful for the investigation and its ethical principles. Therefore, this sound creation uses a Western musical genre: opera as an approach for reflection. This ‘fictionalised reality’ give voice to some other silenced histories bringing important questions to Europe from a reality in real emergency... All welcome to join! Session will held in English with some Spanish language. More info here: https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/gropius-bau/programm/2024/ausstellungen/rirkrit-tiravanija/demo-station/demo-station-floating-studio #artisticresearch #estudioflotante #floatingstudio #rioAmazonas #AmazonRiver #GuadalquivirRiver #rioGuadalquivir #colonialtraces #wateryterritories #soundart #GropiusBau #Germany Dear all! I am back to be full time freelance "multidisciplinary artist-researcher", now from Germany. I am currently open to be hired in Berlin, Germany, European Union as well as UK and Ukraine.
I would appreciate your support! Thank you in advance for any connections, advice, or opportunities you can offer. hashtag#OpenToWork WHAT CAN I OFFER? - ARTISTIC COMMISSIONS: Multidisciplinary Artist practitioner. (Eco)socially engaged Arts, ecosocial crisis, climate change... More here: https://www.seilafernandezarconada.net/artistic-research.html - ARTISTIC COACH / MENTOR: Artistic practices expert, (with knowledge of diverse forms of Art practices, theory and Art history) Art healing, Art therapy, trauma informed practice. More here: https://www.seilafernandezarconada.net/individual-artistic-coachmentor.html - ACADEMIC RESEARCH, Publications, Presentations...TRANSDISCIPLINARY FACILITATOR. Creating spaces in between disciplines More here: https://www.seilafernandezarconada.net/academic-research-faci.html - TRAINER: Collaborative conviviality spaces, Intercultural, Artistic-non formal pedagogy, conflict management, decoloniality, humanitarian/cultural world... More here: https://www.seilafernandezarconada.net/trainer-facilitator.html - INTERNATIONAL PROJECT COORDINATOR, ART DIRECTOR: More here: https://www.seilafernandezarconada.net/international-project-coordinator.html - CURATOR: More here: https://www.seilafernandezarconada.net/curating.html There is much more in my website! feel free to have a look as well as ask me for more! https://www.seilafernandezarconada.net/sharing-expertise.html Contact: [email protected] In the last months, I have focused on expanding my skillset and knowledge based on my ongoing multidisciplinary artistic research. For many, saying that I am an artist means that I make “artwork” for a gallery space or museum and my life is around being at a studio space. However, being a multidisciplinary research-based artist working in collaborations regularly, it is not like this only. My practice, normally, is connected to work with people in different worlds: different disciplines in academia, but also artistic (of many kinds), humanitarian, activist, non-profit/civil society organisations… in different countries (currently mostly in Germany, Poland, Ukraine and Spain, in the recent past in Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Mauritius, UK, Italy, etc.) In this “in between time”, I attended to a number of different trainings and academic courses expanding my “multidisciplinary lenses” as I work in such permeable space where topics and methods are interconnected to other disciplines and cultures. This journey has been quite inspiring, I have acquired not only knowledge but new networks with whom I wish to collaborate further. In the times we are living, working in projects with complex challenges require of responsibility, being more prepared is essential, particularly in the context of ecosocial crisis, working with people, aiming to contribute to meaningful social change and innovative situated solutions in such societal uncertainties. I love such challenges and I highly value all of them, thanks to the organisers and all the participants I managed to meet and learn from in the way. Now, I am more skilled to face next stages of my career as full time freelance multidisciplinary artist-researcher where I will keep leading and co-creating projects being a trainer, mentor as well as facilitator in transdisciplinary/intercultural spaces, art director, project coordinator, curator and researcher as well as creator in commissions in (Eco)Socially Engaged-Art Art healing… as it is all intertwined in the skills I can offer to the world and I am very excited about it! If you would like to collaborate or have a look in detail what I can offer have a look here: https://www.seilafernandezarconada.net/sharing-expertise.html This is the of trainings, some concluded some will be concluded very soon!: - Ongoing “Evaluation for Arts, Culture, and Heritage: Principles and Practice” by University of Leeds, UK (online) - Ongoing short semester university studies in "Digital competences for Culture and Creation professionals" by the UNED, National University of Distance Education in Spain. - Ongoing "How to set up a citizens' laboratory and build collaborative networks" by Universitat Jaume I (online). - Ongoing Academic Course "Introduction to ethnography practices across its encounters with food" Centro de Investigaciones Interdisciplinarias en Ciencias y Humanidades Universidad Nacional de Mexico from May to November 2024 (online, Mexico DF, Mexico). - Ongoing Course "Humanitarian Diplomacy" by IECAH Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action. - Day Workshop "Facilitating Transdisciplinary Research Meetings" organised by IAC Berlin and Robert Bosch Stiftung (25th October 2024) - KIU Ukrainian Interdisciplinary Studies at the European University Viadrina during 15-27th of September 2024 (Frankfurt Oder, Germany) with the focus on conflict management, cultural diplomacy, migration and other perspectives in Eastern Europe, particularly in Ukraine. - Summer School "Common Water Bodies" in the frame of Tbilisi Architecture Biennial 2024. September 6–15th September 2024 (Anaklia, Georgia). - Summer school "Urban synergies: Co-creating thriving connections for humans with nature" organised by Ce3c Centre for Ecology, Evolution and environmental Change at the University of Lisbon and framed as part of the platform Shift COST Action: Social Sciences and Humanities for Transformation and Climate Resilience (SHiFT) COST Action CA21166. 15-19 July 2024 (Berlin, Germany) - Course "Trauma-Informed Art Practices" organised by Art therapy Force and Kings College London in June 2024 (Kyiv, Ukraine) - Course "Art and Politics, Decolonial Aesthetics and Social Movements" organised by Dirección General de Vinculación Cultural de la Secretaría de Cultura de México in May and June 2024 (Online, Mexico DF, Mexico) Photos by: Mirella Frangella and Jeannette Brabenetz/Severyna Yakubych, EUV and Giorgi Kolbaia We are very pleased to share “(Un)learn to Unleash: Weaving Artistic Connections for Growth and Resistance(s)” our recent internacional training project that took place from 14th to 23th of October 2024 in Königs Wusterhausen (Germany).
This immersive experimental workshop focused on contemporary ecosocial challenges, examining how Art can serve as a catalyst for change. “(Un)learn to unleash your creative potential” was the invitation to participants, encouraging them to bring their curiosity and willingness to experiment togetherness while we offered a creative space to question dominant narratives to explore other stories and creations inspired in embodied learning and radical imagination. The process travelled from led sessions about current ecosocial uncertainties such climate change, unsustainability, food sovereignty… to participatory artistic activities inspired by (eco)socially engaged art practices, trauma-informed approaches, ancestral and transdisciplinary learning, ecological literacy, outdoors non formal education... that strengthen our collective growth and resilience while challenging our perceptions about what Nature is. There are many results from all the activities, the most important the final collaborative projects which we will share with you soon! This experimental methodology led by Seila Fernández Arconada guided participants from a space of individual artistic explorations to collaborative creations as a process to unleash their creative potential. Together with the team, we encouraged a safe respectful environment while cultivating experiential growth. "As a (bio)diversed ecosystem, we weaved, becoming crops planted as a unique network of situated resistance(s)". We would like to highlight the uniqueness of this experience not only for participants but also the team. Thank you to all who made such special project possible including participants but also the hosting community Tagungshaus_Wernsdorf and Wellesley for the fantastic cooking. The project has been organised by Lernlabor and co-funded by the European Union. #unlearntounleash #erasmusplusyouth #jugendfuereuropa #jugendfüreuropa Photos by Hanga, Seila, Gizem and Geo Today I have the the privilege to talk in one of the "butterfly talks pannel" at Re-imagining Education Conference by Ecoversities network. "What does the future of education look like? What would happen if we start to co-create education with the Earth? How can we cooperate autonomously to re-imagine education? How can we listen to our territories to inform our actions, decisions, and lives? How can we nurture our soils to regenerate all the damage the education system has brought to our minds, bodies, and spirits? As the cracks in the systems widen, we must come together to reimagine what we learn, how we learn it, how to compost it, and who we regard as our teachers. Join us for an interactive, multi-day dialogue during the 4th annual Reimagining Education Conference. Your voice is needed." https://ecoversities.org/ Title: (Eco)Socially Artistic Praxis as Seeds for EcoSocial Renewal
by Seila Fernández Arconada Description: This presentation is about (eco)socially engaged art projects focusing on contemporary eco-social uncertainties influenced by climatic shifts, societal disputes and extractive actions towards Nature, particularly watery territories. Through situated collaborations, Seila will share how her practice aims to address these pressing environmental and social challenges by nurturing transdisciplinarity, “artistic resilience”, critical thinking, decolonial approaches, conflict management and trauma-informed practices. By combining artistic techniques with research-based methodologies, she offers carefully created “in between spaces” for embodied learning, collective empowerment as seeds for ecosocial renewal. This praxis lives in the interception of artistic practices, academia, formal and non formal education and ecological/humanitarian practices. I would like to share an interview done to the curators of the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial 2024 "Correct Mistakes" for koozarch. At this biennial is presented the project Delta's Dance: Merging Stories and I am happily one of the artists creators of this collaborative piece in the photo (more information about this project coming up soon), for now here is the interview:
https://koozarch.com/interviews/accidentally-on-purpose-tbilisi-architecture-biennials-paradoxical-theme? "Curators Otar Nemsadze and Tinatin Gurgenidze explain the notion of useful errors, imperative lessons and ‘Correct Mistakes’ — the latter being the title of the fourth Tbilisi Architecture Biennial. As such, the focus of the biennale is around common resources and their exploitation..." It's incredible to finally see "De las Calles un MUSEO" in printed version! I'm so grateful to be one of the authors included in this publication sharing site specific research for the collective walking experience "Navegando entre Realidades Acuosas" as an artistic attempt to perceive the city of Santander differently. Congratulations to all the talented team of artists, historians, and designers who contributed to this project and specially to DidacArt and Fundación Santander Creativa. #DidacArt #Santander #art #culture #DelasCallesunMUSEO For more information about the collective walking experience: https://www.seilafernandezarconada.net/artistic-logbook--blog/de-las-calles-un-museo "A collection of cultural voices reflect on Santander in the book 'DelasCallesunMUSEO'. This book captures the essence of the #DidacArt project, which has been developing since 2018, offering a unique perspective on the city through the contributions of artists and experts.
Funded by the Santander Creative Foundation in 2023, the book features insights from artists such as Alfredo Santos, Keko Martínez, Laura Escallada, Seila Fernández Arconada, and Jank, as well as reflections from art historians and heritage experts Miriam Callejo, Itziar Jiménez, and myself. Perspectives from architects and urban planners Pedro Fernández Lastra and Domingo de la Lastra, as well as graphic designer Federico Barrera, are also included. Designed and laid out by Carmen Quijano, the book is illustrated by artist and architect María Dilemas." Last week, I had the enormous privilege of participating in the project “Water Bodies” as part of the program Common Territories and the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial. This course has been focusing on water bodies particularly on the Enguri River, Anaklia, and Abkhazia. It was my first time in Georgia and the best entrance possible to the context as it was a fascinating program merging academic exploration, political/cultural immersion, fieldwork and collective creation. The course/creative space focus was on water as a shared resource in a border zone region, marked by political and social complexities as Anaklia has been the location of this engagement. The Enguri River, a vital lifeline for the region, also a border in itself, has been at the heart of conflicts and development projects, and experiencing and seeing the river and its delta from the various perspectives, including environmental, social, and political has been so enriching. I loved the collective field work we did in the area of the Delta, together with Mari Miriamashuili, Akaki Metreveli and Yuliia Holiuk. This embodied experience allowed us to engage directly with the Enguri River Delta, the delta in itself as well as the local community, focusing on both humans and more than humans. From this process we created a collaborative project titled “Delta’s dance: merging stories” which will be presented at the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial in the coming weeks. For now, I would like to share some images of the process's course but also from the project creation “Delta’s dance: merging stories”. More will come! Thank all the people involved in this project, including organisers, mentors, participants and all who accompanied us in this journey, thanks specially to Tinatin, Lado, Rachel, Yuliia, Mari and Akaki. #commonterritories #TbilisiArchitectureBiennial #EnguriRiver #waterbodies #collaborativecreation #Georgia #Delta #waterbodies #wateryterritories #artisticmethodologies #architecture |
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