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Culture|Futures Invitation: Eco-Leadership by Cultural Institutions Venue: São Paulo Cultural Centre 30 May 2011

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Invitation: Eco-Leadership by Cultural Institutions
Venue: São Paulo Cultural Centre
30 May 2011

Download Sao Paulo Culture|Future Conference – Program

Workshops for cultural managers and practitioners
31 May 2011

Venues: Goethe Institute, British Council & Centro Cultural da Espanha em São Paulo

Organized by:

Culture|Futures and the City of São Paulo in cooperation with
C40 cities, EUNIC Brazil, Danish Cultural Institute, Spanish Culture Centre/AECID, British Council, Goethe Institute, Crie Futuros, Arup and other partners at the occasion of the World Summit of the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40)

Culture|Futures Sao Paulo 2011 and partners logos

Conference Program

Eco-Leadership by Cultural Institutions - May 30th 2011, Cultural Centre of São Paulo

Aims and objectives

The overall aim is to foster cultural actions for the transition to an Ecological Age by 2050.

The objectives are:

  1. To inspire cultural institutions in São Paulo to consider new eco-social practices and leadership.
  2. To provide international mutual inspiration and exchange on the vision of an Ecological Age and how cultural institutions in their normal own practice can provide eco-leadership.
  3. To mark the initiation of a new global network for large cultural institutions on eco-leadership.

Program

MC: Wellington

8:45 – 9:15 Arrivals and registration

9:15 – 9:30 General explanation about Culture|Futures, the conference & workshop programs and the whole process

  • •Olaf Gerlach-Hansen, Director of Culture|Futures.

9:30 – 10:00: Opening Address

  • EUNIC President Ana Paula Laborinho
  • Ministry of Culture Secretary Marta Porto
  • City of São Paulo Cultural Secretary CALIL

10:00 – 11:30: Global Key Notes on Connecting Culture and Ecology

  • Mark Watts, Arup (expected): International key note on Entering an Ecological Age.Mark Watts is managing the C40 team in Arup, advising cities around the world on sustainable urban development. His presentation is based on a research done on what the global transition to an ecological age, will require for cities around the world.
  • Lala Dehenzelin: South-South key note on the Creative Economy and sustainability.Lala Dehenzelin is UNDP Special Advisor on the Creative Economy South – South Programme, founder of Cries Futuros and has a background in arts and culture.

Questions & Answers

11:30 – 12:30: Lowering carbon and ecological footprint and benefitting from it

Moderator: Ricardo Voltolini (tbc)

  • Justine Simons, Head of Culture, Greater London Authority: The creative industries green programme in the context of the London Mayor’s Cultural Strategy. The experience of working with the creative sector to lower carbon footprint through goals, practical guides, tips etc. So far with sub-sectors of music, visual arts, film, theatre and now fashion and others coming.
  • Danilo Santos de Miranda, Director SESC São Paulo (tbc): The experience of SESC São Paulo on lowering carbon and ecological footprint in their centres

Question & Answers / dialogue with audience on greening cultural sector based on experiences of institutions in different disciplines.

LUNCH: 12:30 – 14.00

14:00 – 15:00: Re-thinking culture/nature and communication with audiences

Moderator: Paulina Chamorro (Eldorado) ou Denis Russo (Revista VEJA)(tbc)

  • •Janek Müller, fmr. theatre director, current curatorial team-member and dramatic adviser for the Über Lebenskunst festival. Über Lebenskunst is a project initiated by the German Federal Cultural Foundation in cooperation with the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin.
  • Ana Dip, Somos um Só Project

Q & A/dialogue with panel from Sao Paulo/international persons on connecting cultural content and communication with ecology

15:00 – 16:30: Culture – Ecology and Community

Moderator: Felipe Chaimovich, curator from MAM (tbc)

  • Philip Vencken, architect advising founder of Cradle to Cradle, Baumgartner.Introduction on applying cradle to cradle approach to city/community development. Dutch cities are now leading this worldwide
  • Hernani Dias, artist, founder of “re:farm the city”. Refarm the city (aka re:farm) is a collective project started and led by Hernani Dias with the purpose of developing open source software and hardware tools for urban farmers. Its now linking groups in Barcelona, Lisboa, Buenos Aires, New York and Beijing.
  • Questions & Answers/dialogue with panel from SP/int‘ on how culture can be part of community, city, regional or sector greening programs

16:30 – 17:30: Closing panel on the power of culture for green growth

  • Apresentacao dos workshops – MC
  • Olaf Gerlach-Hansen – Presenting Culture|Futures global eco-leadership network for cultural institutions and cities
  • Eduardo Jorge, Secretaria do Verde (tbc)
  • Ricardo Resende, Director of Cultural Center of São Paulo

17:30 – 19.00 Reception and social networking

Please note program is subject to change

Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.

The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.

Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open people’s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sector’s stories maintain the trust of people and society.
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Chiang Mai Now!

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Exhibition presenting Chiang Mai through visions of contemporary cultures

April 7th – June 19th, 2011 – 9th Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Thailand

Chiang Mai Now! is the exhibition presenting Chiang Mai through contemporary visions. Curated by Angkrit Ajchariyasophon, the exhibition puts forward unique perspectives of 12 artists and contemporary cultural activists.

Chiang Mai Now! – is a contemporary art and cultural exhibition, curated by Angkrit Ajchariyasophon, presenting twelve artists and cultural activists who put forward and demonstrating their vision and activism – as they search for alternative solutions and at the same time actively create networking – in their quest to confront a myriad of contemporary living problems. The exhibition as well, serves to convey the time frame in the Thai society now, full of diverse and differences in ideas. “Chiang Mai Now!” seizes a moment, one stop in our present motion, to take note and make some sense of the world around us.

More Info: www.bacc.or.th

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Chiang Mai Now!

Cultura21, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Exhibition presenting Chiang Mai through visions of contemporary cultures

April 7th – June 19th, 2011 – 9th Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Thailand

Chiang Mai Now! is the exhibition presenting Chiang Mai through contemporary visions. Curated by Angkrit Ajchariyasophon, the exhibition puts forward unique perspectives of 12 artists and contemporary cultural activists.

Chiang Mai Now! – is a contemporary art and cultural exhibition, curated by Angkrit Ajchariyasophon, presenting twelve artists and cultural activists who put forward and demonstrating their vision and activism – as they search for alternative solutions and at the same time actively create networking – in their quest to confront a myriad of contemporary living problems. The exhibition as well, serves to convey the time frame in the Thai society now, full of diverse and differences in ideas. “Chiang Mai Now!” seizes a moment, one stop in our present motion, to take note and make some sense of the world around us.

More Info: www.bacc.or.th

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

‘Marbh Chrios – DeadZones’: Softday’s Lovely Weather climate art project in Ireland

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Margaret Mc Laughlin, fine artist, has attended and written about an innovative sound work that was performed in Mooney’s boatyard, Killybegs, Co. Donegal, Ireland, on the 16th of October 2010. The work was part of the Donegal County Council’s Lovely Weather Art and Climate Change Public Art Programme (2009-10) . The project was co-curated by the Regional Culture Centre’s John Cunningham and Leonardo’s Annick Bureaud.  The sound performance pieces were based around the topic of ‘dead zones’, which are areas in the ocean in which aquatic life has been dramatically reduced. Artists Sean Taylor and Micheal Fernstrom, the Softday partnership, have extensively researched this subject.  As part of Leonardo/OLATS and Donegal Co. Council Lovely Weather Artist’s Residency, ‘Softday’ interpreted the sound of ‘dead zones’ into a tangible form for local audiences in a variety of sound forms.  Disturbingly there are 20 contested deadzones around Ireland, two of which are in Donegal bay and Killybegs harbour. The number of dead zones are increasing worldwide.

Read more at http://ecoartnotebook.com/?p=1624

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:
– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Lovely Weather in Inishowen, Ireland: what is climate art?

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“how does data feel, taste, sound, look, smell?” Roger Malina, Leonardo, keynote speaker, Lovely Weather art and climate change conference, LetterKenny RCC, Nov 2010

I was briefly in Oxford this week and I had a little time to pass so I wandered into one of the oldest Museums of the History  of Science in the world. They had a display of early Islamic scientific instruments, many were for searching and understanding the skies. They were astonishingly beautiful as well as functional and were later adopted and developed through the middle ages and renaissance in Europe. Many instruments made for understanding the heavens were made in metal, some in ivory (couldn’t help thinking they looked like antique iphones as some were a similar shape, colour and size to our recent technology). The  industry and intent to know the world by all methods has long been with us.  I was thinking about this in reference to a recent Lovely Weather Culture and Climate Change conference that I attended in north-west Donegal last November. An excellent 2 day event celebrated the Lovely Weather climate artists residency project; an innovative Per Cent for Art Irish Public Art programme across 5 electoral areas, co-led by the local Donegal County Arts Office and the Letterkenny Regional Culture Centre  and co-curated by Roger Malina and Annick Bureaud of the long established Art & Science publication, LEONARDO/Olats. This was to my knowledge the first substantial culture and climate event in Ireland and the projects were in the main very thought-provoking and detailed (a catalogue of the projects can be obtained from the Donegal Arts Office).

Roger Malina, editor of Leonardo, was the keynote speaker. Roger is also an astronomer and Director of Astronomy Centre in Marseille, France. A point he made in his talk, while referencing his own experience in astronomy which has seen an explosion in technical instrument development, data production, now further accelerating with the sharing of online data networks, is that over the centuries,  scientists no longer use their senses but their instruments  to understand the world. He argued that in reference to climate change, that artists have such an important role… ‘in making science intimate….not just translating science  or making science pretty.’ He spoke of many artists who were attempting to engage with science, from many diverse practices, who were taking scientific data  and using it in their creative practices. He now sees that we are moving from a world of ‘data scarcity to data plenty but today, while we are data rich, we are meaning poor’. He described this as an epistemological (a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge) inversion. I was particularly interested how Roger described that we are in a ‘data flood… but artists can work successfully embedded in data, where data becomes an element (material) to use.” He concluded by asking us, “how does data feel, taste, sound, look, smell?”

There was an excellent example of data embedded centrally in one of the Lovely Weather residencies. Carbon Footprint is a multi-disciplinary work by Canadian born (now settled in Ireland) artist in residence Seema Goel. The piece uses local wool, spinning and knitting as a metaphor to explore climate change, carbon capture, and micro-economies in Inishowen, County Donegal, Ireland. This project worked on many levels – making hurricane data intimate in the creation of knitted items (see the knitted hat above that relates to hurricane weather data), bringing together local people of all ages to use local materials and forgotten skills (a working example of ’social sculpture’), making visible the loss of  previous local industries to global, unsustainable supply chains (while Donegal has a rich history in wool products,  this has almost entirely disappeared and local wool items are surprisingly imported from afar – this a surprise to many Irish in the audience as Donegal is famed for its fibre heritage), and creating a legacy of community craft activities in the region. It’s delightful to think of the climate data discussions, mixing with knitting patterns discussions and cups of tea (it reminded me of the global crochet coral reef project that came to Ireland’s Science gallery that I discussed last year  – both show the huge upsurge in local materials and fibre craft and just a reminder: this is also the international year of craft, as well as forests). The success in this project are the climate conversations made tangible in the community and unlike many ‘climate  and art and science projects that I’ve encountered, the legacy of the project continues:  knitting and spinning workshops continue for every skill level, from people with an interest that want to get started to those who want to share skills. For more information please contact mccartney.ruth@gmail.com

To follow is a guest post by Margaret Mc Laughlin on another of the Lovely Weather residency projects – all about dead zones (Marbh Chrios) off the coast of Ireland – a fantastic audiovisual, data come community sound project.

 

An Arts & Ecology Notebook, by Cathy Fitzgerald, whose work exists as ongoing research and is continually inspired to create short films, photographic documentation, and writings. While she interacts with foresters, scientists, and communities, she aims to create a sense of a personal possibility, responsibility and engagement in her local environment that also connects to global environmental concerns.
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