International cooperation |
Opening outwards |
Nataša Kos, Deputy Program Director for International Cooperation "In this time of a global financial crisis, when doors are often being shut in the face of hungry neighbors, culture is constantly opening up new spaces dedicated to collaboration, exchange and integration. Through these new foundations of our time and space, prejudice is being overcome and lasting collaboration conceptualized." “If I had to do it again I would start with culture.” (Jean Monnet, 1888-1979, French pacifist, one of Europe´s “founding fathers” about unifying Europe through culture rather than economy) On a January day a few years after this statement several flights at the airport in Athens were delayed due to high winds and Monnet´s words started taking shape. It is said that the glamorous former actress Melinda Mercouri, then Greece´s Minister of Culture, and her charismatic French counterpart Jack Lang were chatting at the airport while waiting for their flights, expressing regret that there were so very few opportunities for European cultures to cross paths. Melinda Mercouri thus came up with the idea of a project which would launch a series of year round events and performances that would put the spotlight on cities around Europe. Land was thrilled about the idea and persuading other European ministers of culture that “culture, art and creativity are no less important than technology, trade and economy” did not pose much of a challenge. In honor of the idea, the first title of the European Capital of Culture in 1985 went to Melina Mercouri´s Athens, the cradle of European culture. Today, 26 years later, the European Capital of Culture is the largest cultural project in Europe, since it is the biggest promoter of integration and cooperation, mainly due to its primary goal of increasing the awareness of a common European culture and identity. In this time of a global financial crisis, when doors are often being shut in the face of hungry neighbors, culture is constantly opening up new spaces dedicated to collaboration, exchange and integration. Through these new foundations of our time and space, prejudice is being overcome and lasting collaboration conceptualized. Maribor strives to uncover the uniqueness and abundance of European cultures from the European Capital of Culture headquarters in the medieval Vetrinj manor, where every month one European country, a so called cultural embassy, will formally begin its monthly program. In addition to this foreign cultural center where the locals will be able to find a book or attend a literary or musical event, over a hundred cultural events will take place on stages and at other venues around Maribor, these events will range from exhibitions to film projections and notable European musical and theatrical productions. Artist from around Europe will be hosted within the artist-in-residence platform GuestRoom. Furthermore, the city will become increasingly more open with the acceptance of other, innovative ways of thinking about the meaning and vision of a common future. Maribor will also open its doors to new creative forms through establishing a connection between former and future Capitals of Culture. The 2003 capital Graz, only an hour´s drive away from Maribor, met all expectations and was devoted to continue hosting a wide range of cultural events which will finally cross borders and arrive at our city in 2012. A writer´s exchange with Mons has already started in 2011 and artists from Maribor are planned to visit the Belgian city, which is also in the process of preparing for its story in 2015, and to represent a portion of Maribor´s program for next year. Maribor´s closest connection in the upcoming year will be with the Portuguese city of Guimarães, located in the quite distant western part of Europe. One of the first things we noticed during our visit there was the energy of its inhabitants who recognized the unique opportunity the title of the European Capital of Culture has to offer and rediscovered their town´s hidden potential. We sat down with their creative team to develop joint projects which are based on an explicit desire to connect both partner cities through a cultural exchange of our distinctive culture-bound features. Our focal point was the inclusion of the local inhabitants, encouragement of critical thinking about our local, regional and global environment as well as about our common future and diversity. Our main objective is, above all, to build lasting and sustainable ties among young people in both cities, particularly in view of the fact that Maribor 2013 intends to be the European capital of the youth who will later on have the opportunity to continue the story of the city and deepen the partnership between Maribor and Guimarães. Within the project Feeling the future of Europe youth exchanges are set to take place. These exchanges will encourage young people who experience the difficulties of modern society in the most direct and painful manner to reflect on these issues and understand them as a part of a wider societal structure. A contest will also be organized by the project Letters of the World to encourage young people to write fictional letters expressing their critical views on the problems of modern society, the most pressing issues being cultural differences, unemployment, racism, nationalism and others. The winners from both capitals will visit the respective partner cities where they will live side by side and take part in cultural and educational workshops. The project History of the Future also aims at connecting young people from both cities who will regularly write to one another exchanging interesting information about their cities, countries, cultures and reality of their everyday life. They will share these views with prominent lecturers from the universities of Minho and Ljubljana at conferences in both cities. Portuguese and Slovenian music echoing on town squares will also act as a link between the two cities. Two bilingual anthologies with 40 accomplished 20th century Slovenian and Portuguese poets are also planned to be published. Soccer too will play a crucial role in bridging the distance between the two cities with a series of events, culminating in special international soccer gatherings between Maribor and Guimarães. The Mast of Europe project will establish a connection between former and future Capitals of Culture (Bologna, Genoa, Marseille, Madrid, Salamanca Lisbon, and Porto) with travelling artists and art workshops (music, comics, theatre, visual arts) trying to attract locals at stops they will make on the way. When two buses filled with artists reach their destinations, Maribor and Guimarães, two maypoles will be set up bringing the two cities visually closer together. There are differences in the way the chosen cities take advantage of their title of the European Capital of Culture: some wish to find a place for themselves on the world map of culture, others strive to enhance sustainable development which would attract artists and audiences from both inside and outside their borders, and then there are those which want to spend a year celebrating and having fun. Small cities usually take advantage of this title to develop a sense of local pride and self-confidence. The purpose of the title must lie at an intersection of all these approaches, but the essence is hidden under the surface, in a place where we should find answers to dilemmas and challenges of our common future existence. |
Cultural Embassies |
A gateway to cultural expression Jerneja Rebernak International Program coordinator Maribor2012 has invited foreign cultural institutes and embassies from EU and non EU countries to facilitate collaboration in the East-cohesion region of Slovenia offering diverse cultural and artistic presentations. With this, the European capital of culture international program will be enriched by a variety of activities contributing to a lively engagement with the citizens of Maribor through arts and culture. The cultural embassies program will attract artistic and cultural events showcasing and representing the diversity and richness of European and cosmopolitan cultures. Furthermore, the program has been conceptualized to enable long-lasting diversified international cultural exchanges and to foster collaboration with institutions in Maribor and its partner cities: Ptuj, Murska Sobota, Slovenj Gradec, Velenje and Novo Mesto. Vetrinj manor, one of the oldest buildings in Maribor and the headquarters of Maribor2012 will serve as the event center of the European Capital of Culture, thus becoming a window of European cultures comprehending multidisciplinary events ranging from contemporary artistic expressions to folkloric events. The 200 square meter space will become a venue for exhibitions, symposiums, lectures, classical and contemporary music concerts, a rich film program, literary and culinary events, performing arts and theatre as well as artistic expression in an urban space. The series of month-long cultural activities in Vetrinj manor presenting a rich mosaic of artistic expression from EU and non EU countries. The participation in the cultural embassies program has been endorsed by all the foreign cultural institutes of the European Union National Institute for Culture network present in Slovenia: the Institut Français Charles Nodier, British Council, Österreichisches Kulturforum, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Goethe-Institut and Instituto Cervantes. So far, the European countries that will participate in the program are: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, and Luxemburg. The collaboration has been extended to other European Capitals of Culture who will present a varied program including several artistic programs from Pecs 2010, Turku 2011, Tallin 2011, Guimaraes 2012, Marseille 2013, Umea 2014, Riga 2014 and Mons 2015. Countries such as India, Mexico, Switzerland, Turkey and Russia will give the program a truly international flavor. The cultural embassies program will offer abundant and lively interactions between artists, cultural operators and inhabitants; The program will include several urban performances by artists such as Danza Verticale from Italy and Otto Prod from Marseille, contemporary dance productions by STU from Estonia and the exhibition “Comics, Manga and Co” from Germany. It will also host several artists in residence like the visual artist Markku Haanpää from Finland and writer Carline Lamarche from Belgium. In 2011, warm-up events will already take place in Maribor, with public events such as the exhibition of a series of wooden sculptures by the group Puunkuokkijat from Finland in occasion of the International Year of Forestry at Vetrinj Manor in June and the exhibition of contemporary German photography entitled Presentation at the Art Gallery Maribor in July. Additionally, a film program will engage the audience with the screening of the Italian film Noi Credevamo by Mario Martone in occasion of 150 years of Unification at the art house cinema Kino Udarnik in Autumn. In this way, the European Capital of Culture facilitates international connections in the region aiming for a future where immersive co-production and cultural activities will continue in 2013, 2014, 2015... |
Maribor and Guimaraes together into 2012 |
Nataša Kos, Assistant Program Director for International Cooperation  Guimarães, a city on the UNESCO World Heritage List, will become the European Capital of Culture alongside Maribor next year. The city is considered to be the birthplace of the Portuguese nationality and statehood, which developed from the 12th century on. Its well-kept medieval center with historically important architecture and urban monuments, surrounded by numerous industrial buildings, is just one of the things that Guimarães and Maribor have in common. The projects that were developed together with Guimarães are based on the desire to link the two partner cities by exchanging their specific cultural features. Special focus has been put on the involvement of both cities’ townspeople and on the promotion of critical thinking about the local, regional and global environment, our future and diversity. Above all, we are very pleased that we will be able to build strong and long-lasting bonds between the young, especially in light of the fact that Maribor will also be the European Youth Capital in 2013, which will continue in the same spirit as the European Capital of Culture and will only strengthen the partnership between Maribor and Guimarães. Four projects have been designed for the young: Feeling the future of Europe Is a project of two youth exchanges between Maribor and Guimarães, which will last one week in each city and will happen in August. The two partner organizations, Pekarna – magdalenske mreže and the Association for the Development of Local Communities, participate in the project. The project is intended for an in-depth and creative learning process, which will address the young, who experience the problems of modern European societies in their own lives. The project will inspire them to start reflecting on these problems and see them as a part of a broader social structure. In 2012, the project will be upgraded by a short-term project of the European Voluntary Service as a continuing of this year’s European Year of Volunteering that will include larger groups of young people. The young will be able to work voluntarily in organizations, where they will learn how to cooperate and co-create cultural and youth projects for individual organizations. Letters od the world An eponymous competition will take place within this project that wants to encourage adolescents to write and enable the young from Guimarães and Maribor to express their critical opinion about the world situation and modern society by writing fictional letters of various content (cultural differences, unemployment, racism, and so on). The competition is already being carried out in Guimarães’ elementary and high schools. Expectably by the end of June, Maribor will host eight winners of the competition "Letters of the World" from Guimarães. In Maribor the project is being coordinated by the MARS Society (Društvo Mariborski raziskovalni studio) of the Cultural-Education Center, which will also carry out the project in schools throughout Maribor and other partner cities. In the summer of 2012, the city of Guimarães will host eight winners of the competition in Slovenia. Their socializing will be spiced up by creative and educational workshops, which will promote intercultural dialogue through the exchange of experience between the young people from Maribor and Portugal. The latter will be expressed though an exhibition of the winning literary works from the Portuguese part of the "Letters of the world" competition. History of the future This is a bilingual project for young people from Maribor and Guimarães. They will regularly write to each other to learn more about the characteristics of their city, country and culture. The project will organize two conferences on the topic "The Future of the World". The first conference will take place in Maribor featuring a lecture by professor Moisés Lemos Martins from the University of Minho. The second conference will be held in Guimarães, where Mladen Dolar, PhD., from the University of Ljubljana will hold a lecture. Young people from both countries will visit their lectures and take part in special workshops in both countries. The Slovene week in Guimarães and the Portuguese week in Maribor This project is also based on young people and the long tradition of music schools and academies in Slovenia and Portugal. Maribor and Guimarães want to bring that music to the streets and squares of their historic city centers. Musicians of the same age will perform in cafés, pubs, squares and elsewhere, to bring Maribor and its five partner cities to their feet. At the end of the project, an orchestra, consisting out of pupils from both countries, will perform a concert with a mixed Slovene-Portuguese music program. Anthology of the Slovene and Portuguese poets of the 20th century This project wants to upgrade the unfinished anthologies Thirteen Slovene Poets and Thirteen Portuguese Voices that were published in 2008 and 2009 in Slovenia and in Portugal, by publishing bilingual anthologies of 40 renowned Slovene and Portuguese poets of the 20th century. The Portuguese and the Slovene Pen Clubs one will take part in this project. In Portugal, the project will be coordinated by Mateja Rozman, who will work with the Portuguese poet and writer Casimiro de Brito, who is the co-designer of the two aforementioned published anthologies. Rozman will translate the poems in cooperation with Americo Jose Meiro, a professor of linguistics and a translator, who also worked on the translations of the two published anthologies. The poems will then also be revised by de Brito. The Slovene anthology will be coordinated and translated in cooperation with Slovene poets and also experts in 20th century literature. An editor and a renowned Slovene poet will then revise it. Soccer culture – Connecting the local and the international Because soccer plays an important role in the social life of Maribor and Guimarães, we will organize several projects connected to this popular sport. The highlight of the project will be two international soccer matches between Maribor and Guimarães: the first match will be in Maribor, the second in Guimarães. The Slovene soccer player Zlatko Zahovič started his professional career as a soccer player precisely in Guimarães and was named Guimarães’ ambassador for the European Capital of Culture programs – yet another starting point for the bonding of the two cities. |
Guest room |
New Artist in Residency Platform in Maribor .jpg) (foto: Arhiv Ottoprod/Pekarna magdalenske mreže) "Establishing a residency platform for at least one month long residencies for international artists of all art forms (performing, music, visual, multimedia, literature, film) throughout the year in close collaboration with Maribor institutions and their work. And opposed - providing systematic residency exchange for Maribor artists." Maribor is the second biggest town in Slovenia, in last 5-6 decades known for its industry and industrial culture, renowned technical faculties, textile industry and wine. And it somehow lacks on its own stabile art-expression. However, there is an active art scene in the city, multimedia, music, performing, visual, which can compare to the Europe finest and has also gained its international renome. Somehow it seems the specific industrial cultural context of the city does allow and encourage innovative art forms (Festival Magdalena, SonDa, Carmina Slovenica, Music Academy, Puppet Theatre of Maribor, Tomaž Pandur). Unfortunately, the city and its scene is very shattered, closed up, not fluctuant, therefore, artists finally do leave its home town to gain “fresh air” abroad or in Ljubljana. Therefore Pekarna Magdalenske Mreže, as the independent art institution, whose aim is to encourage creative and social forces of Maribor, in collaboration with ECoC Maribor 2012 and MKC (Maribor Youth Center), as the manager of the new building has developed Maribor residency platform – GuestRoom. .JPG) (foto: Arhiv Ottoprod/Pekarna magdalenske mreže) As mentioned, the international exchange in the city art scene is already taking place, in small scale, without wider impact on the city creative vibes. Our task was to establish a platform, which will over bridge all partial interests of the institutions, connect them in a kind of consortium, which will then form the spaces, the “room” for the foreign artist. So we are not establishing a new, rivalry institution of artist in residence, we are providing a common platform for all the players in Maribor, which have the need and potential for international exchange. The accommodation facilities are going to be placed in the new apartments of Youth hostel Pekarna, which is managed by MKC Maribor, and is going to be open in the July 2011. The hostel lays in the frame of Pekarna Cultural Centre and so has its direct connection to the variety of art scene. In collaboration with the art scene of Maribor, GuestRoom is going to provide foreign artist working space in different facilities in Maribor, according to the specific requirements of the resident artist. .JPG) (foto: Arhiv Ottoprod/Pekarna magdalenske mreže) Moreover Pekarna Magdalenske Mreže is through the new platform providing an executive and informational structure, which coordinates the residencies, informs the home audience and through common actions connects the Maribor art scene in order to gain the most for and of the resident artist. For the first two years, the topic of the residency program is Maribor, its culture and its identity. Therefore the aim of every residency is also presentation of the work – production, work in progress, installation, action, anything that would enhance the perception of the audience and connect to the artist in Maribor. In the second half of 2011 we are planning to execute few “pilot” residencies, one of them an exchange with Košice 2013, which will help us improve our system and prepare us for the coming year of the Maribor 2012 Cultural Capital. With the help of the GuestRoom and its creative scene will systematically ensure permanent contact with foreign partners, enhance the amount of fresh “a.i.r.” and so encourage the towns creativity, daring research and incubation of new ideas and forms. And Maribor will in 2020 be renowned incubator of the innovative arts. .JPG) (foto: Arhiv Ottoprod/Pekarna magdalenske mreže) |
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- about 30 minutes ago@Gegij Iz tvojih ust v adminova ušesa. :) @multikultivator
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