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Friday Session_28, Friday 16th May
19.00 - 21.00 at public works studio/London
A joint event by public works and taking place.

The idea of the session is to see, hear and discuss how feminism is practiced and thought within current cultural practice.
The participating individuals and groups have different approaches and interests towards feminism as a cultural, political and theoretical tradition. Some of the presentations will focus on a more practice related approach of addressing gender issues.
The session will be strcutured around short presentations of ideas or case studies where a feminist agenda becomes clear, to be followed by an informal discussion with all guests.

Presenters include:
Liza Fior from muf
Doina Petrescu from aaa, Paris and Sheffield
Fenke Snelting from De Geuzen and constant, Brussels
Emily Pethick, The Showroom, London
Celine Condorelli, support structure, London
Jos Boys, Julia Dwyer, Katie Lloyd Thomas, Brigid McLeer, Sue Ridge and Helen Stratford from taking place, taking place collective, London and Cambridge

A fanzine will be produced on the day.

Posted April 29, 2008 15:07 by Kathrin Böhm

Can political art travel and be understood?
Monday 23rd April starts at 19.00
at public works studio

As part of REUNION, the next Friday Session focuses on art works by Nada Prlja and Nemanja Cvijanovic that address obstacles of political, economic and cultural exchange between the UK and South East Europe. How do our interpretations of political art differ across contexts and how can we tell the
stories of these contradictory reactions and translations?

Nemanja Cvijanovic's work conceptually explores socialist histories and constantly reconsiders the relationship between economics and politics, sometimes to the extent of being censored. Past works include 'The Sweetest Dream? a manipulation of the stars of the EU flag to form a swastika and a series of works critiquing loans for capitalist lifestyles exhibited at the gallery of the Austrian Erste bank in Rijeka, Croatia.

Nada Prlja's estate agency 'Give and Take' attempts to sell properties in South East Europe to UK buyers. 3 Markov Dvor in Belgrade, for example, is 'a beautiful four bed flat that has enormous charm and typical features of the socialist period...the property has been inherited through the generations and is currently occupied by mother, son, daughter-in-law and three year old baby'. "Give and Take" is a response to the current economic inequalities that citizens in Western and Eastern European countries are experiencing and mutually taking advantage of.

REUNION is an art research project by Sophie Hope that has received support from the Austrian Cultural Forum, London, Visiting Arts and the British Council. Nemanja Cvijanovic's residency in London is funded by the Croatian Ministry of Culture and City of Rijeka.

For further information about past and current REUNION work please go to http://www.reunionprojects.org.uk/

Posted April 14, 2007 00:01 by Torange Khonsari

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Doina Petrescu and Constantin Petcou will present and discuss the work of atelier d'architecture autogeree(aaa) in Paris. She is also a lecturer in architecture at the University of Sheffield and a co editor of the recently published "Architecture&Participation" book.

" The atelier d'architecture autogeree / studio of self-managed architecture (aaa) is a collective platform which conducts actions and research concerning urban mutations and cultural, social and political emerging practices in the contemporary city. The interdisciplinary network was founded in 2001 in Paris by architects, artists, students, researchers, unemployed persons, activists and residents.
We develop urban tactics to accompany micro-processes and enable rifts within the standardised urban contexts, which are regulated by private economic interests or centralised policies. These policies are incompatible with the global, informal and multicultural mobilities that characterise the present-day metropolis. We encourage the re-appropriation of derelict spaces and the creation of new forms of urbanity by local residents through reversible designs and lived everyday practices, which make use of their skills and knowledge. These spaces conserve a potential of accessibility and experimentation by resisting the increasing control of the urban context.
Our approach involves not only critical analysis but also the process of making and acting through shared competencies and collaborations. We valorise the position of the resident/user as political condition
and develop tools cooperatively to re-territorialise their spaces of proximity and empower their decisions and actions within the city. These tools include among others trans-local networks, catalyst processes, nomad architectures, self-managed spaces and platforms for cultural production.
A “self-managed architecture” provokes assemblages and networks of individuals, desires and different manners of making. It is a relational practice, which is not always consensual but at times conflictual, and it is the role of the architect to locate confrontations and accompany subjective productions. Such an architecture does not correspond to a liberal practice but asks for new forms of association and collaboration, based on exchange and reciprocity.
Our architecture is simultaneously political and poetic as it aims above all to "create relationships between worlds".

Posted December 5, 2006 19:00 by Andreas Lang

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Freetown Christiania: Research Presentations and Debate

Individual Research Presentations followed by informal Dinner for everyone, followed by
discussion and debate

Freetown Christiania (www.christiania.org)
The Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen has been in existence for more than three decades. For just as long it has had to defend its self-governed status against the Danish government’s attempt to “normalize” it. Christiania is a unique community and place that holds its own rules, and proves a successful model for collective ownership and living.

The Christiania Researcher in Residence project (http://crir.homepage.dk)
The Christiania Researcher in Residence project was established in regards to the fact that Christiania is part of Denmark's history and poses questions of what Denmark's cultural memory is and how it should be formed. These questions are extended to an international context.

Friday Session 08
The evening will start with presentations by Christiania residents involved in the current negotiation regarding Christiania’s status and future, and members of the Christiania Researcher in Residence Project. It will be followed by artists who have been invited by CRIR to develop work in response to Christiania.

An informal dinner will allow everyone to gain energy for a more general discussion on Christiania
as a social, cultural and legal model. The profit made from selling drinks and food will go to CRIR.

Presentations and contributions by

Lise Autogena
London based artist, former Christiania resident and founding member of CRIR.
(www.autogena.org)

Emmerik Warburg
Christinania based sound engineer and video artist, founding member of CRIR and part of Christiania´s activistic society.
(http://home.christiania.org/~emmerik/)
(http://crir.homepage.dk)

Jens Brandt
Architect, activist and member of CRIR, based in Copenhagen and Croatia.
(www.supertanker.info)

Asa Sonjasdotter
Artist and member of CRIR, based in Sweden, Denmark and Berlin.
(www.potatoperspective.org)

Nicoline van Harskamp
Amsterdam based visual artist; her video project “Christiania Trias Politica” looks into the history of rules and governance in Christiania.
(www.vanharskamp.net)

Jaime Stapleton
London based historian currently working for the World Intellectual Property Organisation; his primary focus was the "sense of ownership" that Christianites have developed in relation to their homes and community and its relation to "legal" ownership of property in Christiania.
(www.jaimestapleton.info)

Neil Chapman & Martin Wooster
UK based artists and writers, whose audio interviews trace an invisible relationship between people and stories in Christiania.
(www.slashseconds.org/issues/001/003/articles/nchapmanmwooster/index.php)

Michael Baers
Berlin based artist, who is asking “What is the Mystery” in his recent comic strip about Christiania, which appeared serially in Ugspjelet, the Christiania community weekly paper
(http://crir.homepage.dk/michaelbaers/mystery_1.html)

Posted November 3, 2006 19:00 by Kathrin Böhm

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Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen, DK, is both a living community and an amazing social and cultural experiment, which keeps developing and evaluating itself. The Christiania Researchers in Residence Porgramme was set up to invite artits from outside to live in Christiania and to develop new work that explores some of the particularities of Christiania.
The evening will start with a number of presentations by artists who have worked from within Christiania, followed by an informal dinner for everyone, and a debate on the current situation of Christiania and the research outcomes in relation it.

For more information visit http://crir.homepage.dk

Posted October 16, 2006 12:00 by Kathrin Böhm

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At Stratford Circus, five creative organisations work as partners in one building to help East Londoners develop confidence and careers in the arts. There, the education programme is not an add-on to performance, but an equal: evenings of dance, urban music and theatre take place alongside a continuous programme of classes and workshops.

Stratford Circus has re-launched this June with a new identity and a book exploring the academic base underpinning its work. This Friday Session (on a Monday) will take the re-launch as its starting point, and will explore the process of branding a building occupied by a several independent groups who have separate identities but share joint aims.

Meanwhile, the socially inclusive model realised at Stratford Circus is beginning to appear in different versions in the activities of other arts organisations. So the evening is also an opportunity to consider the impact of this practice on a young, creative urban community" and its implication for the future of the arts.

www.stratford-circus.com

Speakers are:
Sarah Wedderburn, Writer and Brand Consultant
Clare Connor, Creative Industries Development Manager for NewVIc at Stratford Circus
Lolli Aboutboul, Graphic Designer and Creative Facilitator
Daniel Harris, Artist (Yeast Culture)
Debra Reay, Arts Consultant
David Rosenberg - Architect

Posted July 3, 2006 18:30 by Kathrin Böhm