Ongoing Projects

Cultural centres in Europe: ‘Sustainability? No more talking, let’s act!’

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Trans Europe Halles – a European network of independent cultural centres – introduces several ongoing projects within the network which tackle sustainability, such as architecture residencies, collective art pieces, and the Trans Europe Halles Think Tank.

transeuropeha_threephotos“The question of sustainability has been central for a long time within Trans Europe Halles. Some of the members of the network, such as ufaFabrik in Berlin, Germany, or Kulturfabrik in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, are leaders in the development of green strategies for the cultural sector.” wrote Anaïd Sayrin in the February newsletter for the network, which had the headline:“Sustainability? No more talking, let’s act!”

“But sustainability is not only an ecological process,” Anaïd Sayrin continued: “It is also about equality and a better distribution of resources, whether they are human, economic, energetic or cultural. Key issues which Trans Europe Halles’ members are facing every day when running an independent cultural centre and working with local communities.”

What is sustainability? The Think Tank met in Paris to work on a common definition and an action plan for the network
At the end of February, several TEH delegates and Secretary General Birgitta Persson gathered in Mains d’Oeuvres (Saint Ouen, France) to discuss sustainability strategies within the network. This first Think Tank organised outside the annual meetings was very inspiring and the team came out with a suggestion for a definition of what “sustainability” means from Trans Europe Halles’ point of view.

On The Resource: 8 Steps to a more sustainable building
Small or big steps, the most important is to get started: this slideshow gives you concrete tips on how to build a sustainable building for your centre.

“Architecture of cultural centre Stanica will never be finished”: Stanica builds a new artistic space using sustainable strategies
TEH Member Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia) is a prominent centre when it comes to leading centre in the transformation of public spaces into cultural places. In 2013, they will build a new space using sustainability strategies, in collaboration with STEALTH.unlimited, discovered during their art performance in TEH Member Röda Sten Konsthall (Gothenburg, Sweden).

In 2012, their efforts have also been rewarded with the Bauwelt Advacement Award for the renovation of a synagogue in Zilina. In 2014, a new cultural centre and international gallery space will be opened in this building. There is only one condition to make this dream come true – to find one million euro.

What if bikes were not only made for biking? A new collaboration between Not Quite and Manifatture Knos
A collaboration between TEH Members: Karl Hallberg (Not Quite, Sweden), the so-called rural centre of Trans Europe Halles, is organising a workshop in Manifatture Knos (Lecce, Italy) to build bikes with alternative functions in order to make biking more attractive. It is also for him an opportunity to learn more on how manager Michele Bee and his team run their cultural centre and develop their projects. Different contexts, different points of view: no doubt that this journey will be inspiring for both of them!

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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The Yes Men Are Revolting

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The Yes Men, Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonnano, known for their satirical interventions at business events, on the internet, television, and in the streets, and famous for their award-winning documentaries “The Yes Men”(2004) and “The Yes Men Fix the World”(2009)are in the process of directing a new movie  “The Yes Men Are Revolting” to complete the trilogy.

In an effort to mobilize viewers, they are also developing an “Action Switchboard”, a human-staffed platform that will inform the public about movement-building projects and issues.

They are currently raising funds for both projects on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter:

When our first movie came out, studios and television networks were paying pretty well—but then the the market for indie films went into freefall.

Today, we’re really in a pinch. Corporate sponsorship, of course, is right out. (Duh.) So we’re turning to you. The money we raise will go towards paying for a few more shoots and a couple more actions around the globe. We also need money to pay for editors, equipment, archival footage, legal counsel, and all the technical work it takes to get a movie finished and into the world. Finally, we’ll need funds for “outreach,” mainly the creation and staffing of the Action Switchboard, a way to plug inspired viewers into ongoing projects and help generate new ones. It’ll come out at the same time as the film.

The rewards for pledging range from the new activist handbook “Beautiful Trouble” to the uniqueHalliburton Survivaball.

For more Information on the project and the Kickstarter campaign, click here.

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

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Borders Network: Creative Environments

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This blog was created recently, with support of the Creative Arts Business Network to support an informal network for artists, designers, makers in the Scottish Borders concerned with ecology, environment and sustainability; sharing their upcoming and ongoing projects with other people interested in sustainability and eco-art.

For more information, you can visit:

http://ecoartborders.wordpress.com/

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

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Negotiating Routes: Ecologies of the Byways III February – June 2012

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Negotiating Routes: Ecologies of the Byways is a project inviting reflection by artists on the anxieties embodied by the rank infrastructural development across India and its uncomfortable coexistence with local ecologies.

Now in its third year, the project has invited artists, collectives and other professionals to develop projects that are site-specific and have an inter-disciplinary approach. Mapping various sites across the country, artists and communities have come together to discuss the regeneration of the environments they inhabit. The project encourages the archiving of local knowledge and mythologies, flora, fauna, home remedies, stories and folklore as integral to the specific artist’s intervention.

This years ongoing projects are:

NR 9: Akshay Rathore and Flora Boillot (Aulinjaa Village, Madhya Pradesh)

Abstract Reality: A Visual Perspective on the Organic Movement in Madhya Pradesh http://aulinjaamp.blogspot.in/

NR 10: Priya Ravish Mehra (Najibabad, District Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh)

Making the Invisible Visible: The Darning Tradition of India

http://rafoogari.wordpress.com/

NR 11: Uma Ray (Domahani, District Jamshedpur, Jharkhand)

Where the River Meets its People

http://wheretherivermeetsitspeople.blogspot.in/

 For more information about the event and the ongoing projects , please click here.

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