Kajsa

Sensory Worlds: Environment, Value and the Multi-Sensory

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7th-9th December, 2011; Edinburgh

“What contribution can sensorially-engaged Humanities make to environmental thinking and action?“

The conference “Sensory Worlds“ wants to examine the multi-sensory and will reflect upon the historical, contemporary and possible future relations between the senses (from balance to taste to the haptic and beyond). It aims to allow generously for both formal and informal discussions and dialogues. David Abram and Iain Borden will hold keynote presentations which are also open to the public.

Call for Papers: This call invites responses to the main theme, and asks that these are submitted to one of the following elements: Paper Sessions, Panel Sessions or Installations.

For more information on the conference and the call for papers, check the website:
http://www.iash.ed.ac.uk/Sawyer/Conference.html

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

Cultural Events in Bangalore

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By Benjamin Smith

The Bangalore-based collective “Maraa” invites you, as a parallel to the “Walls Between People” photo exhibition that opens on September 9th, to a series of three interesting events in Bangalore (India).

Movement and Stillness – a theatre workshop on walls, conflict and trust.

Please join us for a three hours theatre workshop on the themes of trust and conflict. During the workshop, the participants will use movement and storytelling to produce short improvisations that will be performed before an audience. The workshop is free and it is limited to a maximum of 20 participants, please confirm your participation before 5th September by mailing us on info [at] maraa [dot] in
Participants will be accepted on a first come first serve basis.

Date: Friday, 9th September
Time: 3-6 pm + sharing
Location: Dance Studio, Alliance Française de Bangalore

–

Before and After Walls: An introspective exercise through collective viewing of a film

Hiroshima Mon Amour: A film that uses love as a metaphor for war, forgetfulness as a curse on memory, and the contemporary as a repetition of history. Directed by French film director Alain Resnais, with a screenplay by Marguerite Duras, it is the documentation of an intensely personal conversation between a French-Japanese couple, making highly innovative use of miniature flashbacks to create a uniquely nonlinear storyline. The story meanders between then and now simultaneously, struggling between remembering and forgetting, wars and lovers. The screening will be followed by a discussion and interactive activities that will revolve around keywords, thematic questions and re-screening of specific scenes from the film.

Date: Wednesday 14th September
Time: 6.30 pm
Location: Auditorium, Alliance Française de Bangalore

–

Beyond Walls – An evening of poetry and storytelling

Poets and poetry lovers are welcome to take part in an evening of poetry and short story reading followed by a participatory storytelling session. Themes of conflict, division, belonging and refuge will be at the centre of the event. The participants are invited to bring their own poems and stories to share with the group. The event is open and free.

Date: Saturday 17th September
Time: 5.00 pm
Location: Dance Studio, Alliance Française de Bangalore

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

SurVivArt – Arts for the Right to a Good Life

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The Heinrich Böll Stiftung has started yet another interesting project referring to arts and sustainability. Artists from six mainly southern countries are invited to discuss the meaning of the right to a good life. Based on the fact that our daily lives and our ways of achieving a “good life” always influence the environment in a more or less negative or positive way, these artists ask themselves a simple question: Can “we find ways of living that contribute to more social equality and justice and that improve community participation and involvement?”

SurVivArt is meant to be a bridge to get to know perspectives on this question from people from the global South. On the website www.survivart.org you find an overview and detailed descriptions of these highly interesting projects, e.g. a social theater in Lagos, which is exploring the impact of climate change on daily life..

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

Balance Unbalance 2011

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Montreal, Canada; November 4th and 5th, 2011

Environmental problems are a challenge for all disciplines, this is not a remarkable statement anymore. But bringing together people from the various “little worlds” and setting up a base for transdisciplinary communication still is a difficult mission. The “Balance Unbalance Conference 2011″ is trying to manage a conference which brings together scientists, economists, philosophers, politicians, sociologists, engineers, management and policy experts with artists. The aim is an intellectual exchange by reflection, debate and the promotion of projects and actions, in addition to “develop the role of the arts and artists in dealing with environmental challenges”.

more information: balance-unbalance2011.hexagram.ca

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

The 1st Cultura21 Forum in Germany

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Cultura21 e.V. is happy to announce the first „Cultura21 Forum“ in Germany:

The Cultivation of Ecology/-ies:
gardens and complexity in rural and urban areas

September 23rd to 25th, 2011 – “Studio Kunst und Landschaft” in Hude (aprox. 13 km from Oldenburg)

Registration is required (see below) – Please notice that this event will be bilingual, but the main language will be German (and there will be no translation service)!

The “Cultura21 Forum” starts on Friday evening with a public event in the “Studio Kunst und Landschaft”. The ecological artist Insa Winkler will offer a guided tour on the terrain. Three guest speakers will give an introduction to “culture(s) of sustainability (the role of gardening culture)”. On Saturday registered participants of the “Cultura21 Forum” will get the chance to take part in specific workshops and open space sessions. The Sunday also is a public event and will contain three speeches and a panel discussion. The speakers will deal with the vision of participative and collective cultivation of ecology in rural and urban areas. The forum will end with a “guerilla gardening” intervention, which will be prepared the day before.

The concept of the “Cultura21 Forum”

By organizing an annual “Cultura21 Forum”, Cultura21 in Germany wants to concentrate all the positive energy of its members and also of like-minded organisations. The aim is to make possible a regular exchange between the participants. Furthermore, other initiatives treating the issue of a “culture of sustainability” should be given room to grow and develop. The basic idea of the forum is to have both a thematic focus and an open space part in the program. The open space part is meant to be the source for new project ideas, created in free exchange and discussions. These parts are linked with each other in the program and complement one another.

2011 edition: the cultivation of ecology/-ies

The main topic of the “Cultura21 Forum” 2011 is: “The cultivation of ecology/-ies: gardens and complexity in rural and urban areas”. Our attention will be especially turned to “guerilla gardening”: guerilla gardening is known as a creative-subversive type of civil disobedience and political protest from the 1970s in New York. Over the years a development has taken place, and nowadays guerilla gardening can be seen with the perspective of “urban agriculture” and “urban gardens”. This type of protest combines the adornment of concrete-dominated urban areas, the temporary use, the greening of idle areas and also the possibility to harvest.

Besides planting “surprise gardens”, seed bombs are the most familiar type of creative protest. They contain a mixture of seeds, soil and clay, shaped like a ball. You then normally just drop these bombs wherever you wish. Further aims are the enforcement of self-supply, protest against the agro-industry and the sowing of unusual seeds. Guerilla gardening is quite controversial and therefore will be discussed in the panel discussion. There will also be a workshop on “seed bombs”. On Sunday, they are supposed to be launched/sowed by the participants next to a piece of farmland.

Program

The complete program can be downloaded as a PDF file: Cultura21Forum_Program(ENG)

Preparatory online exchanges for the “Open Space” sessions are conducted on this website, on our online forum: Click here

About the speakers

Sacha Kagan, Lüneburg
Research Associate at the Institute of Cultural Theory, Research, and the Arts (ICRA/IKKK) at the Leuphana University Lüneburg ; member of Cultura21 e.V. since 2006 ; founding coordinator of the international platform of Cultura21 and founding director of the International Summer School of Arts and Sciences for Sustainability in Social Transformation (ASSiST). The focus of his scientific and cultural work is on the transdisciplinary field of arts an (un)sustainability.

Oleg Koefoed, Copenhagen
Oleg Koefoed, action philosopher, is the founder of the “Gravitations Center for Action Philosophy” and founding director of Cultura21 Nordic (with its headquarters in Copenhagen).

Hildegard Kurt, Berlin (Workshop “Jeder Mensch ein Künstler?” [Every human being an artist?])
Hildegard Kurt, cultural scientist, author and working on social sculpture, is one of the key figures for the intercession of arts and sustainability in Germany. She is head of the Berlin “und.Institute für Kunst, Kultur und Zukunftsfähigkeit“ (und.Institut) [und.institute for arts, culture and sustainability] which she was a co-founder of. She is also working at the “Social Sculpture Research Unit (SSRU)” at Oxford Brookes University in the UK (which is led by the artist and former Beuys-student Shelley Sacks).

Elisabeth Meyer-Renschhausen, Berlin (Community Gardens in New York)
Elisabeth Meyer-Renschhausen works as an independent journalist and sociologist in Berlin, doing research, editing, teaching and consulting. (In former days, self-help agriculture was ill-reputed as informal self-help economy of women. Today it returns to the cities and to the mind of the people: wild vegetable cultivation on fallow, guerilla gardening, “hard core vegetable cultivation”, “intercultural gardens” from New York to Berlin…)

Christa Müller, Berlin/Munich
For the “anstiftung & ertomis” foundation, Christa Müller did research on the intercultural potential of urban gardening in the international gardens of Göttingen. She co-founded the network “Interkulturelle Gärten” [intercultural gardens] and the “Interkultur” foundation.

Rana Öztürk, Berlin
Cultural scientist, Rana Öztürk did her MA Thesis on “Sustainable Fashion: New Approaches within the Fashion Industry”. Member of Cultura21 e.V. since 2007 ; Chairwoman of the German organization since 2010., Rana Öztürk is the Communication Administrator at the artist’s workshop of Anselm Reyle.

Insa Winkler, Hude/Wüsting
Insa Winkler works as a landscape architect and environmental artist. “Die Artenvielfalt-Route” [the biodiversity route] is a participative project “in my neighborhood” about art and ecology. By means of education and visualization of life-forms, a mapping exercise of biodiversity is conducted. The result is a new corridor between the agrarian landscape and the urban areas, which is perceived as an ecological and public area. People are actively motivated to protect areas or even to increase the biodiversity in their own garden.

Practical Information

The participation fee (including coffee, drinks, snacks) for 3 days is:
– participants who are not paying members of Cultura21 Germany: 30€/20€ reduced
– participants who are members of Cultura21 Germany: 10€/15€ reduced

… for 1 day:
– participants who are not members of Cultura21 Germany: 15€/ 8€ reduced
– participants who are members of Cultura21 Germany: 10€/ 5€ reduced

Reduced participation fees are only for students and unemployed persons (please provide supporting documents by email).

Please transfer the participation fee until September 10th (please write “Cultura21 Forum” in the comment field) to this bank account:

Cultura21 e.V., Kto-Nr. 40 18 97 17 00, GLS-Bank, BLZ 43060967 ; BIC: GENODEM1GLS ; IBAN: DE35 4306 0967 4018 9717 00

Registration

To make the planning easier, please register online for the event: Click here

Accommodation and travel must be organized by yourself. We recommend to book a room early enough and are happy to help you if necessary. Please find here a list with accommodations near Hude: PDF file (in German language).

The Organizers

The Forum will take place in cooperation with the “Studio Kunst und Landschaft” in Hude and is kindly supported by the city of Oldenburg.

The „Studio Kunst und Landschaft” invites you to look at various theme gardens and park elements on their 1ha territory. Furthermore can be found several sculptural works and objects created by Insa Winkler and other artists. This is also the main office of “artecology-network”, founded in 2010. The Winkler family, who runs the place, also offers space for seminars, exhibitions, concerts, readings and conferences. As well, Insa Winkler’s landscape architecture office and her studio are situated on the premises.

 

 

 

 

 

Crowfunding : Help us finance the event!

If you cannot come to the event but wish to help finance the Cultura21 Forum, please contribute to our Crowdfunding effort: Click here (the crowdfunding webpage is currently available only in German language).

This post is also available in: German

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

Festival “Über Lebenskunst”

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Perspectives for a sustainable way of living – “Haus der Kulturen der Welt” and in the city of Berlin, 17th to 21st August, 2011.

Once again, Berlin is going to be the host of a very interesting festival. “Über Lebenskunst” (German play on words: “about the art of living” or “The Art of Survival”) will attract people interested in culture, looking at things from the perspective of sustainability. Conferences, workshops, installations, performances, concerts, films, excursions, discussions and readings will make the “Haus der Kulturen der Welt” an exciting place of diversity. The idea is to experience a sustainable lifestyle not as something boring and dull, but to look at sustainability from the art & culture perspective. Berlin is not only the host place but will be integrated in the form of talks with local politicians and a tour to innovative sustainable projects. For example, a fitness club which generates electricity and feeds it into the Berlin electricity net. If that doesn’t sound innovative, what does?

Needless to say, the project is trying to use “[…] the fewest possible resources, producing the least amount of emissions and remaining as climate neutral as possible.”

More information…

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

Lofoten Whale Festival

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Henningsvaer, Norway; August 1st – 6th, 2011

We all know about the beauty of the largest animal on Earth, but still the whale lives under constant existential fear. Often, human beings do not see how important parts of the ecosystem are being threatened because the used medium for environmental communication is not attractive enough.
The “Lofoten Whale Festival” combines important educational work with “artist and fun activities” such as sailing trips, film interactions, talks and presentation, but also concerts, discussion rounds and party.

The meeting of humans and whales wants to appeal to children such as grown ups and is also aiming at boosting the local tourist economy.

For more information, such as the program, the participants and general info, click here.

This post is also available in: French

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

Review of the Cultura21 event “Can Artists Change China?”

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httpvh://youtu.be/010yAyQN2Dg

On June 16th, Cultura21 – together with partners – invited panelists with broad experience and knowledge concerning the art sector and the human rights situation in China for a discussion around the arrest of Ai Weiwei. The event was attended by more than a hundred people of all ages.

See also: Press articles on the event

One week after the event, on Wednesday June 22nd, we were very glad to hear about Ai Weiwei’s release, almost three months after the arrest at the Beijing Capital Airport.

But many questions remain unanswered – also by exceptionally quiet Ai Weiwei. The Chinese authorities’ statement that Ai Weiwei’s release is related to “his good attitude in confessing his crimes” (tax evasion) signals the ongoing threat of potential criminal prosecution.  Also, it must be kept in mind, that many human rights defenders and activists who were arrested or imprisoned for peacefully exercising their freedoms of expression, association, and assembly (rights that are guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution and international human rights law) still remain imprisoned. Read more (FIDH press release)

The topics dicussed on June 16th at Leuphana University Lüneburg remain of greatest actuality. In the following, please find a review of the debate “Can Artists Change China?”, synthesized by the FIDH in collaboration with Cultura21:

 

International Attention

The panelists debated the role of Ai Weiwei and the international media. “He may be famous in the West but within China his popularity/name-recognition is limited, which is also due to censorship”, said documenta12 director Roger Buergel. The panelists agreed that the Western media portrayal of Ai Weiwei is overly simple as it does not address the complexities of the art world in China or the human rights situation. However, it was pointed out that the media’s attention on Ai Weiwei does not alleviate the need to draw attention to the bigger picture of the current crackdown on many human rights activists.

Crossing the red lines

Ai Weiwei’s disappearance demonstrated that no one is safe from the strong arm of the government if he or she criticizes the government publicly and on issues considered ‘very sensitive’ by the authorities, such as the issue of shoddy construction in Sichuan which was deemed responsible for the deaths of thousands of students in the 2008 earthquake. The frustration and discontent of a majority of the Chinese population in the face of economic inequality and social injustice is boiling over in many ways, and in Ai Weiwei such anger finds an outlet that has tremendous reach in the international community (thus making him an increasing threat to the regime).

Spurious claims of economic growth as a human rights achievement

The Chinese government often argues that it has lifted millions out of poverty and that the Chinese people are freer now than ever before. Such propagandistic arguments mask the reality that the increasing wealth of the state strengthen the government’s ability to control domestic unrest and activism. It has been reported that for the first time spendings on public security have exceeded those of national defense/military. Even in the current context of aggregate economic growth, there are thousands of public demonstrations per year recorded.

Role of artists in social transformation

Artists take great risks to engage themselves in social activism, but they are a minority among the various groups that advocate for human rights and rule of law. Not all artists take political positions and many do not. Many artists are elitist and urban-based and their main objective is fame and profits. Some who wish to make political statements through their art also face other real-life restraints, such as finances. Foreign funding to domestic institutions, including NGOs, is heavily scrutinized, manipulated and restricted by the authorities.

Role of the international community

There is a need to better understand the complexities in China in order for external actions and advocacy be effective. There is worry that external demands may be seen as ‘colonial’ and would certainly be spinned this way by the Chinese government to generate nationalistic support among the population. On the other hand, silence is not an option. In fact, strong public outcry, including rumors that Ai has been tortured, may have forced the government to let his wife see him and prove that his physical condition was fine.

This post is also available in: German

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

“Can Artists Change China?” Lecture, film and panel debate around the arrest of Ai Weiwei

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By Ronja Röckemann

Since April 3rd 2011, world-renowned contemporary artist and activist Ai Weiwei is detained by the police in China, sparking worldwide protests from governments, human rights groups and art insti-tutions, among others, calling for his release. How far can artists contribute to social transformations towards sustainability in contemporary China? On June 16th 2011, a special evening is being organized at Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany), asking this and other questions, around the case of Ai Weiwei and addressing the contemporary human rights situation in China, as well as the roles of artists engaged in questions of social transformations and sustainability. An 18-minute segment produced by filmmaker Alison Klayman will be shown as part of the event, followed by a panel debate with the exhibition organizer Roger M. Buergel, international human rights activist David Knaute and conceptual artist Anke Haarmann.

The panel will be moderated by political scientist Ursula Scheid as well as Volker Kirchberg, who is the professor for cultural distribution and cultural organization at Leuphana University. The film will be preceded by a press conference by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and by a lecture on artistic initiatives for ecology and sustainability in contemporary China.

About the participating speakers:

Roger M. Buergel studied art, philosophy and economics. He is an exhibition organizer and author. In the years 1997 to 2004 he realized several exhibitions together with Ruth Noack, among them „The Government“ at the Kunstraum of the University of Lüneburg. He was director of documenta 12 in Kassel (2007), a show for which he had invited Ai Weiwei. In the last years he has been teaching at the art school of Karlsruhe. 2010 he curated an exhibitions with works by Ai Weiwei in the new DKM museum in Duisburg. He is known to be one of the persons with the highest familiarity with the artistic work of Ai Weiwei.

Anke Haarmann is a conceptual artist, curator, PhD in Philosophy and PostDoc at the ICRA/ IKKK, Leuphana University Lüneburg. Since 2004 she visited China and Japan many times for theoretical and artistic research. Her work focused recently on public urban space, art interventions and art in the public interest. In 2008 and 2010 she realized two exhibition platforms on Shanghai in collaboration with Chinese and German artists. The 2010 platform in Shanghai had to be canceled due to pressure by local authorities, and turned to the public space as its venue.

David Knaute is the Asia Director for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). As such, he works closely with FIDH member organization in China, Human Rights in China (HRIC), which operates in exile from New-York City. David has previous human rights work experiences in conflict-affected countries in Asia.

Moderation:

Ursula Scheid studied Political Sciences with a focus on China at the LMU Munich, attended the German School of Journalism (DJS) and worked as a free writer. In 2003, she further studied at the Munich Film School (University of Television and Film). Her first documentary is an essay about the new bourgeoisie in China. While she was living in Beijing for four years, she got to know Ai Weiwei and accompanied him in his documentation project Fairytale.

Volker Kirchberg: Director of the ICRA/ IKKK, Volker Kirchberg is University Professor for Cultural Distribution and Cultural Organization in Applied Cultural Sciences at Leuphana University Lüneburg. He is the author of numerous publications on culture and urban sociology at the interface of market, state and the non-profit sector. His current research includes studies of museum visitors (e.g. “eMotion” project), cultural consumption, and multiple relations between creativity and urban development.

About the Lecture:

At 19:45 Sacha Kagan will give an introductory lecture about the engagements of contemporary artists for sustainability in China. He is Research Associate at the ICRA/ IKKK, Leuphana University Lüneburg and founder of the International level of Cultura21 – Network for Cultures of Sustaina-bility, as well as the International Summer School of Arts and Sciences for Sustainability in Social Transformation (ASSiST). The focus of his research and cultural work lies in the trans-disciplinary field of arts and (un-)sustainability. His work in past years involved several Asian-European cultural exchanges, including a conference in Beijing in 2008 organized by the Asia Europe Foundation.

About the documentary film “Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry: Can an Artist Change China?”

The 18 minutes film we will project on June 16th at 20:30 is a preview of an upcoming feature-length documentary film About Ai Weiwei by Alison Klayman. From 2008 to 2010, Beijing-based journalist and filmmaker Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai Weiwei. Klayman documented Ai’s artistic process in preparation for major museum exhibitions, his intimate ex-changes with family members and his increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government. Klayman’s detailed portrait of the artist provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.The film’s website is: www.aiweiweifilm.org/en.

About the partnership with the FIDH: The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) will be present at the event. Apart from David Knaute (see above), the Permanent Representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), based in Bangkok, Thailand, will be attending. Shiwei Ye works closely and coordinates action with FIDH’s member or-ganizations in Southeast Asia. Shiwei has prior experience working on China-related projects for US-based human rights organizations.

About the organizers

This event is organized by Cultura21 and by several departments of the Leuphana University Lu-eneburg, i.e. the students cinema association (Unikino), the Institute of Cultural Theory, Research, and the Arts (IKKK) and the Kunstraum, in partnership with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

Cultura21 – “cultural fieldworks for sustainability,” is a transversal, translocal network gathering artists, cultural practitioners and aca-demics engaged for the promotion of ‘cultures of sustainability’ in the sense of a sustainable, social ecological change process. It is constituted of an international network and of several Cultura21 organizations around the world. In Germany, where Cultura21 first emerged in 2005, the organization ‘Cultura21 Institut eV’ supports the German-speaking Cultura21 network. Website: www.cultura21.net.

The Leuphana University Lüneburg is a German University committed to humanistic values of liberal arts and sciences as basic principles for self-determined lives, successful careers, and social responsibility in a changing global society. “A university for civil society in the 21st century,” Leuphana introduced a university model which is unique within the German academic landscape. Website: www.leuphana.de.

FIDH is an international NGO defending all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, set out in the Universal Declaration of Hu-man Rights. It is also a federalist movement that acts through and for its national member and partner organizations. By remaining in per-manent interaction with local civil societies, it can rapidly identify local obstacles to the work of defenders and take the necessary steps to mobilise support for them. Website: www.fidh.org.

Unikino is Leuphana University Lüneburg’s students association for cinema. This honorary, self-organized group of students often coop-erates with seminars, courses and other groups of interest who are in need of movies to complete their aspired informational goal. During a normal semester they regularly show movies on Mondays.

The Kunstraum of Leuphana University Lüneburg is a contemporary art institution. Its exhibition program is based on collaborations of art-ists, curators and scholars of the humanities as well as the social sci-ences, including their students. Website: www.uni-lueneburg.de/interarchiv/projekte.html.

The Institute of Cultural Theory, Research, and the Arts (ICRA – IKKK in German language) pursues theoretical and empirical research on culture and the arts, the scientific and cultural transfer from academia to praxis as well as teaching from perspectives based in the humani-ties, social and economic sciences. The Institute is organized in the following units: Philosophy, Sociology of the Arts, Cultural Marketing and Communication, Literary Studies, Cultural History. Website: www.leuphana.de/ikkk.

Contacts

Organizer: Sacha Kagan (Leuphana University Lüneburg)

E-Mail: kagan(at)uni.leuphana.de; phone: (+49)1785441789

Press inquiries (event): Ronja Röckemann (Cultura21)

E-Mail: ronja_roeckemann(at)hotmail.com; phone: (+49)1608035165

Press inquiries (FIDH press conference): David Knaute (FIDH)

E-Mail: dknaute(at)fidh.org

 

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

Symposium: “Animal Ecologies in Visual Culture”

This post comes to you from Cultura21

By Ronja Röckemann

Reposted from: www.antennae.org.uk/Symposium

The symposium on October 8th 2011 at University College London proposes an exploration of artistic practices involved with animals and environments. In the recent re-surfacing of the animal in contemporary art, emphasis has been given to mammals, mainly because of the most immediate relational opportunities that these animals offer to us. However, a number of very interesting artists has been recently trying to bridge the abyss between ‘us’ and more ‘taxonomically remote’ creatures through the use of art and science as active interfaces. This new focus reveals the interconnectedness between humans, amphibians, reptiles and insects, and the environments in which we all live. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the symposium aims at facilitating a dialogue between artists, scientists and academics interested in informing wider audiences through visual communication.

Speakers Include: Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey / Ron Broglio / Maja and Reuben Fowkes /Rikke Hansen / London Fieldworks / Joyce Salisbury / Linda Williams. See www.antennae.org.uk for registration.

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