NOASS » ERE

75th MEETING OF TRANS EUROPE HALLES, RIGA 2013

admin — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:35:57 +0000

TEH working with art NOASS Riga 2013, May 23 – 26 Newspaper

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:47:52 +0000

This week, from May 23rd – 26th, Culture and Arts Project NOASS welcomes all TEH members on board!

Information about TEH network, members and events is available here:

TEH working with art NOASS Riga 2013, May 23 – 26 Newspaper

For more information visit http://www.teh.net/ or call +371 26611590 (Laima)

Trans Europe Halles training programme

admin — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:54:57 +0000

The deadline for registering for workshops for Latvian participants is May 20!

“When we get serious about creativity, everything changes”

Hosted by Kulturkraft Syd
This workshop embeds the fundamental principles of creative leadership and teamwork in the hearts, minds and bodies of the participants. Along with a number of highly effective innovation tools and methods, the participants will be introduced to an overall framework and mind-set for working with new ideas. This workshop is for anyone looking for new ways to unlock the creative potential of their teams – not only for creatives.  Study case: Audience Development

Participants will leave this workshop with:
Insights into creative team work and leadership ;
Models for idea generation and creative problem solving ;
Concrete tools for facilitating creativity and innovation that can be applied into your day-to-day life and work.

Workshop leader: Henrik Johansson

Henrik is a graduated KaosPilot and works internationally as a process consultant in the fields of creativity and innovation. He works with organizations that wish to come up with radically new ideas and fundamentally want to leverage their creative capacity. He´s biggest passion is to facilitate learning and creative processes and to help groups to solve tricky tasks and become smarter together. He has worked in various development projects for clients like The Singapore Ministry of Education, Innovation Lab Denmark. LEGO, Hyper Island, IKEA global vitality team, The Swedish Institute, Idea Factory Singapore, SJ (Swedish railway) and E.ON etc. He also been invited as a speaker and to conduct workshop at design & innovation seminars at http://www.gulltaggen.no/ 2011 and on http://www.designaction.se/ 2012

This workshop is hosted by Kulturkraft syd wich is a programme for empowerment in the area of performing arts, music, film and television in the south of Sweden. The aim of the project is to give professionals within this area the opportunity of professional development and means of creating new forms of cooperation within the cultural field. KulturKraft Syd is financed by the European Social Fund

“Creating Effective Teams – Integrative Model of Group Development”

Hosted by Leaders Lab

In this workshop you will learn how to work with groups, peoples’ needs and create effective teams. The methodology used will be “Experiential Learning” which means that new learning will be acquired through the following four steps: experiencing, reviewing, concluding and changing behaviour. Some aspects of leadership will be discussed such as feedback training, working in group, maturity assessment and conflict resolution. After 4 hours workshop you will get an increased understanding of how group dynamics affect results and how leadership styles should be adapted to the group’s maturity stage and specific task at hand.

Workshop leader: Matti Kortelainen

Matti Korelainen is a managing consultant mostly working with UGL – Understanding Group and Leadership which has been utilized as a basic leadership training within the Swedish Armed Forces for over 20 years. Lately, in the last decade it has also became very popular and widespread within corporations and other organizations. He has been working as CEO on cooperative business, social worker and managing director for Mejeriet for six years. He has over twenty years experience of leadership and management. Matti is Finnish but has lived in Sweden since 40 years and has spent a lot of time in Spain.

“Research your Center!”

This workshop will help you identify the important activities, outcomes, and benefits that come from the work of cultural centres. It will look at a variety of different research tools that help you track, monitor and evaluate your work and how you can use them to measure, promote and celebrate your work. The research tools will demonstrate a range of techniques and work in several media – paper, audio, video, social networks and web tools. The workshop will be very active and participatory and the results of our work will be used widely within the TEH network. By the end of this workshop you will feel confident in using a variety research tools to help you evaluate and celebrate the work of your centre. This workshop is for people who are interested in gathering and interpreting information about the work of cultural centres, and for those who want to learn more about research methods

Workshop leader: Bill Miller

Bill is a director of CSN, a community interest company based in England Bill joined in 2002 and has works nationally with public sector and third sector organisations developing leadership skills, evaluation systems, and professional qualifications for sector professionals. Bill has developed expertise in the evaluation of major publicly-funded projects, and has evaluated programmes for the Arts Council, the Qualifications and Curriculum Agency, Comic Relief, and Mentor UK. He is currently evaluating the three-year EU funded cultural programme, Engine Room Europe.

“Idea Generation – Getting the flow with Speed Thinking Game and creating unexpected solutions with Social Lateral Thinking”

The objective of this workshop is to generate web marketing ideas by trying out and learning two interesting and distinct idea generation techniques that can be used in groups from 5 to 20 people. One of them, the Speed Thinking Game, is based on the notion of “the flow” as the ultimate state of happiness and creativity developed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It works through individually combining topic keywords with association keywords to create solutions for a problem. The other is called the Social Lateral Thinking technique and is based on synthetically dividing every idea into its four components and then “exchanging” these components with other participants to create new unexpected ideas. The workshop will provide a short introduction to the theories that the methods are based on and mostly focus on hands-on trying them out. After the workshop, participants will be able to use these both techniques to make idea generation more efficient and fun in their organizations and for solving their challenges. Study case on web marketing

Workshop leader: Mārcis Rubenis

Mārcis Rubenis is a creative entrepreneur and workshop facilitator with roots in social activism. In times of uncontrollable credit-bubble growth in 2006 he organized a broad coalition of NGOs, citizens and experts to fight for a better city and stopped unsustainable skyscraper developments near historical Riga city centre. Out of the experience organizing this coalition he developed interest in unleashing action potential and creativity of large group meetings and large groups as such. He developed co-creative seminar method TALKA (idejuTALKA in Latvian) and has facilitated more than 150 workshops in companies, organizations and municipalities. He is also co-founder of first co-working space in Riga “BIROJNĪCA”

“Our Creative Resources for New Opportunities in XXI Century”

The ability of individuals to re-evaluate their internal resources and to think “outside the box” is a precondition for change management and “pioneering” (designing new concepts) in the cultural sector, strengthening personal image as well as to decrease social tension in the organization. The objectives of the training are to help individuals to transfer their internal creative resources into practical change management results by using structured thinking methods as well as significantly improve competitiveness in accordance with the requirements of XXI century and opportunities given by the society.

Expected results – at the end of the workshop each participant will be able to:

understand the sense of practical creativity
re-define internal creative resources;
use structured thinking methods to generate creative solutions;
discover new approaches for change management;
raise personal competence as basics for leadership.

Workshop leader: Vita Brakovska

Vita Brakovska has specialized in creativity and innovation issues as well as in development of knowledge economy on both national and local level with a strong interest to design and deliver trainings and creative workshops for various social groups to start or develop creative entrepreneurship. Since 2000 she has worked in public sector (university and public administration) and now continuing to realize her potential through co-founded association “Knowledge and Innovation Society” which is a non-profit organization established in June, 2009. The founders and members are professionals with remarkable experience in National Innovation System. She has delivered various knowledge-based services as international expert in Russia and Baltic countries since 2000, also designed and delivered an academic course “Innovation economy and management” in 4 HE institutions, including Riga Technical University. Life moto: “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value” (A.Einstein).

“Video Making on Mobile Devices”

Some of you have already met Mick Fuss who led the popular documentation workshop in Bordeaux. Mick Fuzz has just finished collaborating on two manuals on how to film and edit videos. One called ‘Video Making on Android’ and is focused on what you can do by cell-phone filming. In today’s world many of us carry mobile devices that can film, edit and upload videoimages, however video training often focuses on traditional video making skills involving high cost equipment. At the end of this workshop you will be able to make effective short films using the equipment you already have around you. We will share skills on how to use your own devices to film and to edit and explore the possibilities but also the limits of cell-phone filming. We will end by using free software to edit cell phone footage on laptops. The workshop aims to be technology neutral. All mobile devices and laptops are welcome. Let’s start practising and editing our films!

Workshop leader: Mick Fuzz

Mick Fuzz work centres around production of community documentation /toolkits, and community-based education. Specifically this involves software documentation, course writing and facilitation, researching, website projects, video producution and media training. He has worked with FLOSS Manuals to create toolkits, training resources and software based manuals since its start in 2007. In 2010 to 2011 he ran the Green Zone sustainability project for a city housing project. The project combined training, environmental works and creating on-going community resources. In his spare time, he is also an active member of the Hacktionlab network an informal group of technology enthusiasts working to share the advantages of free software to campaign, artist and community groups.

“Successful Campaigning on a tight Budget”

TEH members produce and facilitate all kinds of great art. But for many of you it is increasingly important to reach larger audiences, raise (more of) your own funds and get more public and political awareness of your added value to society. In this workshop, Amsterdam based campaign company BKB will train you in the basics of successful campaigning on a tight budget. They will run you through some interesting examples from the cultural as well as the corporate sector. And there will be plenty of opportunity to discuss the current or planned campaigns for your centres.
Be prepared not to sit back and listen, but to start building your campaign straight away !

Workshop leaders: Maarten van Heems & Isabelle Rade

Maarten van Heems is the director of BKB Campaign Company in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Involved in campaigns for Dutch ministries and corporate clients like KLM, Ben & Jerry’s and Shell. But also responsible for cultural and political programming at the Lowlands Festival, organiser of political multimedia events at the Melkweg and other cultural venues in the Netherlands. Isabelle Rade is a projectmanager and senior advisor at BKB. Involved in campaigns for the ministry of Foreign Affairs and corporate clients like Google and PwC. She organized political and cultural events during the Presidential elections in the United States and the Dutch general elections in music venues like Melkweg and Paradiso.

BKB develops campaigns for the government, businesses and social organizations. A campaign can be composed of various more or less self-contained components, such as a thorough research study or a focused campaign concept, an effective media strategy or a well-attended event.

“Hate Advertising, Change Advertising”

For most of us advertising is a curse word. We hate the ads, we hate the people who make them and we can’t believe that someone actually pays for the crap we see around us. But as long as you are creating anything, a day will come when you will need to find a way how to tell others about your creation – it could be an art exhibition, a drawing class or your own bio cafe. You will have to become friends with advertising. How to do that without loosing your mind and creative freedom? In this workshop Voldemars will share his experience of creating small budget advertising, how to come up with original concepts and how to collaborate with other professionals to produce ads. The workshop will be based on real projects from the group members.

Workshop leader: Voldemārs Dūdums

For the last 10 years Voldemārs Dūdums have been working in advertising agencies, studied at the best advertising school in the world and finally found himself happily working as a freelancer for small clients like printed magazines, theatre and schools. He has tried many things like managed a rockband, sold tobacco, made goat cheese (which was served to Swedish Royal family), ran a cinema and even recorded sound for a documentary in the deepest wilds of Siberia! He believes any problem can be effectively solved if you approach it from a kids point of view. This approach ensures that the idea will be simple, engaging and will make the audience smile.

Registration and more information:

http://teh.net/

Registration for guests from Latvia for 24th of May only:

laima@noass.lv

Supported by:

Trans Europe Halles meeting programme

admin — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:01:44 +0000

This time we bring artistic creation to the heart of the meeting program. We want to celebrate art both as a means of personal expression and as an energy that has the potential to change people, communities and our daily lives.

THURSDAY, 23th MAY

Registration, Introduction, Meeting, Collaborative Art

10:00 – 12:00 Registration

12:00 – 13:30 Lunch

13:00 Introduction meeting

15:20 Walk to City Hall/ Competition

16:00 Opening of European Cultural Canon and performance by Olga Žitluhina dance company. In City Hall we will discover two modern Europeans, they are European citizens but very different in their “content”. These large, robust human figures will turn out to hold drawers filled with national treasures…

19:00 Dinner

21:00 Talk show with candidate members

22:00 Performance – Orbita

23:00 DJ Selffish

FRIDAY, 24th MAY

Working the Net, TEH Tinderbox, Training Workshops, Group Photo

9:30 Registration Local participants

10:00 Warm up with Aija Novicka

10:20 Working the net 1

10:40 Working the net 2

11:00 Break 20 min (or go to Tinderbox session no 1)

11.20 Working the net 3

11.40 Working the net 4

12.00 Lunch

14:00 Speach of Minister for Culture Žaneta Jaunzeme- Grende,

introduction to the Workshops

14.30–18.30 Workshops 1–8

18:40 Group Photo

19:00 Dinner

21:00 Talk show, drinks and DJ Andris Kuprišs

22:00 Performance Elvi/Dunian

23:00 DJ Andris Kuprišs

SATURDAY, 25th MAY

The Future Day, TEH General Assembly, Art Tour & Family Party

10:00 Warm up with Aija Novicka and introduction of the day

FOR MEMBERS AND FRIENDS FOR GUESTS AND OTHERS

10:00 Future workshop 10:00 – 13:00 Artists tour in Riga

12:30 Lunch 13:00 – 14:30 Lunch at NOASS

14:00 Future Workshop session 2 14:30 – 16:00 “Follow me” Collaborative art piece workshop

15:30 Break

16:00 General Assembly

18:00 Drink & Mingle

20:00 Dinner

21:00 Family party

23:00- 02: 00 DJ Indriķis Ģelzis

SUNDAY, 26th MAY

Sunday Outings

Option A

10:00 – 14:00 Long Excursion to Spilves Airport

Option B

Boat trip at Daugava river

* There may be a small changes in timing

Sponsors:

“NOASS” will host 75th “Trans Europe Halles” meeting

admin — Sat, 11 May 2013 10:27:48 +0000

From 23^rd – 26^th May “NOASS” will host 75^th meeting of “Trans Europe Halles”- a Europe wide network of independent cultural centers.

“TEH” is currently one of internationally best known and experienced professional cultural networks in whole Europe with 52 member and 19 friend organizations in 29 European countries. All member organizations of the network are connected by three basic criteria – location in post-industrial environment, high professionalism of artistic activity and involvement in social activity.

Twice a year “TEH” holds a general meeting where more than 150 industry professionals come together to learn, share experiences, establish new contacts, and develop cultural projects and initiatives.

This year the meeting will be focused on artistic expression and creation of artworks and the role of the organization in promoting the creativity and artistic processes.

Already on the first day of the meeting participants will join their minds and ideas in collective art work; execution of which will be led by some of Latvia’s most recognized artists: Aigars Bikše, Kristaps Gulbis and Dzintars Zilgalvis.

In next day’s participants will pay all attention to the professional development by exploring and testing different methods in arts management. Workshops and discussions will be led by recognized innovation and project management experts, like “BKB” representative Maarten van Heim, “Changedesign” process consultant of creativity and innovation Henrik Johanson and others.

Even more, meeting in Riga marks two important anniversaries – 15 years of “NOASS” and 30 years of “Trans Europe Halles”.

Programme:

Thursday, May 23

This time: “TEH” brings artistic creation to the heart of the meeting program, so in introduction all participants will take part in collaborative art work, led by some of Latvia’s most recognized visual artists. These art works will stay on AB dam all Summer long.

Friday, May 24

Training workshops will be held on Friday, giving participants the chance to experiment with new methodologies for art management. In evening Latvian artist performances.

Saturday, May 25

Saturday will be dedicated to the future of “Trans Europe Halles”, the Executive Committee will invite members to discuss the objectives of the network and in Riga a new Network Plan will be up for approval by the members.

Sunday, May 26

TEH members and friends will have a chance to have a picnic on an airfield! “Spilve airport” the former main airport of the city is now functioning as an “Aviation museum” and a private airfield. For those, wishing to explore Riga from different angle, there will be a chance to rent a small airplane and together with professional pilots make a tour above Riga to see its beauty from bird’s perspective.

Registration and more information:

http://teh.net/

The deadline for registering for workshops for Latvian participants is May 20!

“When we get serious about creativity, everything changes”

Participants will leave this workshop with:
Insights into creative team work and leadership ;
Models for idea generation and creative problem solving ;
Concrete tools for facilitating creativity and innovation that can be applied into your day-to-day life and work.

Workshop leader: Henrik Johansson

“Creating Effective Teams – Integrative Model of Group Development”

Hosted by Leaders Lab

“Research your Center!”

Workshop leader: Bill Miller

“Idea Generation – Getting the flow with Speed Thinking Game and creating unexpected solutions with Social Lateral Thinking”

Workshop leader: Mārcis Rubenis

“Our Creative Resources for New Opportunities in XXI Century”

Expected results – at the end of the workshop each participant will be able to:

understand the sense of practical creativity
re-define internal creative resources;
use structured thinking methods to generate creative solutions;
discover new approaches for change management;
raise personal competence as basics for leadership.

Workshop leader: Vita Brakovska

”Video Making on Mobile Devices”

Workshop leader: Mick Fuzz

“Successful Campaigning on a tight Budget”

“Hate Advertising, Change Advertising”

Registration and more information:

http://teh.net/

Registration for guests from Latvia for 24th of May only:

laima@noass.lv

Supported by:

admin — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 11:57:33 +0000

Izstādes "Virtuālā piemiņas vieta Rīgā 2012" būs skatāma peldošajā mākslas galerijā NOASS līdz pat 30.jūnijam

“A VIRTUAL MEMORIAL RIGA 2012″ IN PICTURES

admin — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 10:02:30 +0000

Photos from the opening of exhibition June 1 / private view

Visit to the Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum / June 1:

Participants: NOASS team together with artists Doron Polak (Israel), Eitan Vitkon (Israel), Felice Hapetzeder (Sweden), Doris Neidl (Austria), Jay Needham (USA), Ben Neufeld (USA), Shelley Jordon (USA) and curator Wilfried Agricola de Cologne (Germany) and our tour was led by Rabbi Menachem Barkahan

Artists Talks / June 1 – 2

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

admin — Thu, 31 May 2012 13:22:21 +0000

Friday, 1 June 2012

Meeting at Floating Art Gallery NOASS

Exhibition “How Memory Survives” – photography by Eitan Vitkon & Drawings by Paolo Bonfiglio

19:00 artists talks and lectures with Felice Hapetzeder (Sweden), Doron Polak (Israel) & Eitan Vitkon (Israel)

21:30 screening ‐ SFC – Shoah Film Collection, afterwards discussion

Saturday, 2 June 2012

Meeting at Floating Art Gallery NOASS

Exhibition “How Memory Survives” – photography by Eitan Vitkon & Drawings by Paolo Bonfiglio

17:00 artists talks and lectures with Ben Neufeld (USA), Cristiano Berti (Italy) & Shelley Jordon (USA)

21:30 screening SFC – Shoah Film Collection, afterwards discussion

Sunday, 3 June 2012

Meeting at Floating Art Gallery NOASS

Exhibition “How Memory Survives” – photography by Eitan Vitkon & Drawings by Paolo Bonfiglio

19:00 artist talks and lectures with Doris Neidl (Austria) & Jay Needham (USA)

21:00 finalization with screening and discussion

Event features

SFC – Shoah Film Collection 1-8 June 2012

Will be screened & exhibited on 1-3 June at the Floating Art Gallery NOASS - and during the Conference of Holocaust Museums 4 & 5 June organised by Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museums at Academy of Sciences Riga

.

RIGA – performance by Doron Polak – 1 June 2012

The performance by the Israeli artist Doron Polak, whose family roots lie in Riga, is related to the memories of his father, and will take place on 1 June at Floating Art Gallery NOASS

Exhibition „How Memory Survives” – 1 – 8 June 2012

The exhibition „How Memory Survives” presenting photographs by the Israeli artist Eitan Vitkon (Israel), and drawings by Paolo Bonfiglio, forming the basis of his animated movie „Mortale”and part of SFC – Shoah Film Collection – at Floating Art Gallery NOASS – open on 1 – 3 June 19:00 – 22:00 and 4-8 June 12:00 – 19:00

For additional information read here.

A VIRTUAL MEMORIAL RIGA 2012

admin — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:05:24 +0000

On 1 June, on the first day of summer, “Noass” floating art gallery will host the opening of an unusual exhibition: “A Virtual Memorial Riga 2012”.

“Noass” will be the venue for an exhibition of films and accompanying art works created by German artist and Director of the “artvideoKOELN” festival, Wilfried Agricola de Cologne.

“Shoah film colection” is a unique global-scale initiative that was created in 2010 as a dedication to the 65th anniversary remembrance of the liberation of the prisoners from the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. The heart of the collection is comprised of video art works dedicated to the subject of “Shoah”, otherwise known as the Holocaust.

The collection’s creator has invited young art professionals from various countries around the world to depict their understanding of the theme of the Holocaust using modern means of artistic expression.

It is no coincidence that this project is being realised in Riga at the start of the summer. The holocaust in Latvia began on 4 July 1941 when Riga’s Great Choral Synagogue was burned down. This was followed by the establishment of the Riga ghetto in which not only Jewish residents from Latvia were interned, but also Jews condemned to death from other European countries.

Video films, black and white graphic works, photographic documentation of shocking associative performances, accompanied by lectures and conversations with the artists themselves, offer a vivid reminder to viewers of such subjects as tolerance and democracy, kindling society’s collective memory of the most terrible event of the 20th century – the Holocaust.

The aim of this exhibition is to reinforce the visceral understanding and conviction of viewers that these events must never occur again.

“Shoah” translated from Hebrew means catastrophe, or from Greek – Holocaust. The murder of six million people during the Second World War solely on the grounds of national belonging is a catastrophe in the history of global civilization. Every year in Europe and elsewhere in the world, exhibitions, films and museum exhibits are devoted to this horrific subject.

The organisers of the exhibition are convinced that the subject of collective memory and remembrance which will be reflected in 40 works by artists from 15 countries including Israel, Austria, Sweden, the United States and Italy will not leave Latvian viewers apathetic.

The exhibition will be on show from 1-8 June at the “Noass” floating art gallery alongside AB dambis, opposite the Radisson Blu Daugava Hotel.

Program of event:

The exhibition is being organised by Culture and Arts Project Noass (Riga).

Artist and curator Wilfried Agricola de Cologne, representing artvideoKOELN – international curatorial initiative “art & moving image” from Cologne, Germany.

Guest artists Doron Polak (Israel), Eitan Vitkon (Israel), Felice Hapetzeder (Sweden), Doris Neidl (Austria), Jay Needham (USA), Shelley Jordon (USA), Ben Neufeld (USA), Cristiano Berti (Italy).

Project supporters in Riga Latvian Ministry of Culture, U.S, Israeli, Swedish and Austrian embassies in Latvia, and SHAMIR Society, Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust museum and FG Royal Hotel.

The exhibition takes place within the parameters of the EC Culture Program’s supported multi-year collaborative project – “Engine Room Europe” implementing the activity “A-Team – artists for change“. “A-Team” is a creative process-promoting activity that takes place in Sweden, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Latvian. Its mission is in one team combining foreign artists and cultural mediators of independent cultural centers, as well as one community representative and with the help of artistic resources to deal with the public key, and a painful topical issues.

Engine Room Europe (ERE) is a three-year project (May 2011 – April 2014) with activities dedicated to independent cultural workers and their creative processes. The project is initiated by Trans Europe Halles (TEH) and co-ordinated by Melkweg (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) in association with 10 co-organizing TEH members: Factory of Art (Łódź, Poland), Mains D’Oeuvres (St Ouen, France), Stanica (Žilina, Slovakia), ufaFabrik (Berlin, Germany), TNT (Bordeaux, France), REX (Belgrade, Serbia), NOASS (Riga, Latvia), Röda Sten Art Centre (Göteborg, Sweden), La Friche Belle de Mai (Marseille, France) and Tabačka Kulturfabrik (Košice, Slovakia).

CALL FOR ARTISTS BY A-TEAM

admin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:33:54 +0000

As part of the three-year European project Engine Room Europe, A-Team – Artists for Change will realise four creative processes in Sweden, Bulgaria, Latvia and Slovenia, teaming up artists, cultural managers and local mediators who will deal with local community issues. For this project, A-Team searches for artists working in any medium affiliated with TEH Member centres or Friend organisations who enjoy process, research and community-based work and interactive dialogue.

The A-Team project foresees the shaping of 4 teams operating in 4 countries on 4 different tasks. Each A-Team consists of:

- 1 artist (from another country).

- 1 project manager (who represents the hosting Trans Europe Halles centre).

- 1 local mediator (local community professional or volunteer leading the community dimension, whose professional skills ideally relate to the A-Team´s task).

Each team will work with a community for approximately 1 month, addressing a specific question (see below). The work will be carried out through close partnerships between the independent cultural centres in question, the artist and the local community. Each A-Team will be responsible for documenting its process on the A-Team blog.

What are the project aims?

- Test practices for sustainable working relationships between artists and the community;

- Create opportunities led by independent cultural centres whereby local communities and European cultural workers intersect to address issues of civic concern through stimulating art processes;

- Liberate artistic potential in addressing these issues. Create possibilities for artists to use their skills on a wider platform;

- Provide the community with an outcome and a post-project plan for further collaboration on the issues in question, if necessary;

When and where will it all happen?

A-Team partners are 4 independent culture centres in 4 different countries. A-Teams are planned to be realised as follows:

- May 2012 in Pekarna, Maribor (Slovenia) and Pro Rodopi Foundation, Bostina (Bulgaria)

- June 2012 in NOASS, Riga (Latvia)

- July 2012 in Not Quite, Fengersfors (Sweden)

A gathering of all 4 A-Teams in September 2012 is planned but not yet confirmed.

What artists are we looking for?

We are looking for artists working in any discipline (e.g. visual art, music, dance, film, multimedia etc.) affiliated with Trans Europe Halles members or friends who enjoy process-based work, interactive dialogue or research-based work, community-based work and who are interested in investigating themes of social relevance to a specific community. If you feel this might be an exciting challenge for you, you can apply directly to participate in the A-Team of your choice.

What do we offer?

We offer cover of travel cost, accommodation and food during your stay in the A-Team partner centre and a small artistic fee of 500 €.

How can you apply?

In order to apply contact directly the relevant A-Team manager (contacts you find below underneath each single A-Team description) sending him:

- Your artistic CV

- A portfolio of previous work

- A short motivation letter (max 1 A4 page)

You can also address this person in case you have further questions.

Deadline for applications: April

The partner centres will directly choose the artists who seems most prepared and motivated to confront the specific A-Teams challenge. Please remember that artists have to be from another country than the one hosting the A-Team.

The 4 A-Team themes!

Not Quite (Fengersfors, Sweden)

“community building between Not Quite and the village of Fengersfors“

Not Quite is an arts and crafts centre situated in rural Sweden. It has been active in the area since 2002 and contributed to its attractivity, raising visitor numbers significantly over the past years. However, there is still a barrier perceived between the culture, arts and craft centre and the village of Fengersfors (600 inhabitants), between artists and local community. In order to support the sustainable development of the Region, making it attractive for young people to stay or move there, however it is fundamental to build a strong common spirit and understanding. The A-Teams task therefore will be to initiate artistic actions of community building, creating a common vision and image for the village and the artists of the centre.

Specific objectives are:

- to involve 1 – 3 representatives from the different local associations (football club, choir, scouts etc.) and a total of at least 40 people in the project;

- to initiate a shared process with these people aimed at the development of a positive and collaborative atmosphere;

- through the process to create a shared understanding and vision of the villages identity;

- to foster understanding for the role the arts can play in such a process of community building.

For application please contact Karl Hallberg at karl@notquite.se

Pro Rodopi Foundation (Bostina, Bulgaria)

“addressing the issue of infrastructure in the village of Bostina”

In small village of Bostina (120 inhabitants) where Pro Rodoi Art Centre is located since 2004, the street infrastructure is in an inacceptable state. This reflects the situation of many mountain villages, which are not a priority of public investments. There is currently no chance to receive financial support from either the municipality or state to improve the streets condition in the village in the near future. The A-team’s task will be to support the local community in finding creative solutions to dealing with this problem through initiating artistic actions and participation.

Specific objectives are:

- to strengthen the relationship between the Pro Rodopi Foundation and the village inhabitants;

- to foster the village inhabitants understanding of the value of art;

- to involve at least 30 village inhabitants in the project;

- to organize a final festive event which will involve media coverage;

- to facilitate a dialogue with the mayor of Smolyan (administrative centre) on the issue.

For application please contact Petar Todorov at prac@prac.biz

NOASS (Riga, Latvia)

“Facing the city“

The city of Riga is divided by river Daugava, which has a strong symbolic meaning in Latvian folklore where it is called “the river of destiny”. Daugava is a border-line in between the Central part of Riga- where the main institutions and infrastructure is located and the living area of the city. It divides 2 towns in one environment, two languages, two nationalities, two social classes. The A-Teams task is to create through art a social bridge between both sides of the river, as a mirror that reflects both sides. The location of NOASS is perfect for this kind of activity, as the floating art center is located next to a Semi island in the middle of the River.

Specific objectives are:

- to create a site specific artwork – an installation- sculpture located on the semi island in the middle of the Daugava river between two parts of the city of Riga city  (made of material resistant to weather and is suitable for public space);

- to involve inhabitants of the district Pardaugava (suburb) in the creation of the artwork;

- to foster a dialog between authorities and the inhabitants of Riga city in the process of this work;

- to create the artwork through a process that is open to the public.

For application please contact Alise Vetrova at alise@noass.lv

Pekarna (Maribor, Slovenia)

“For the State”

Facing an increased challenge concerning the privatization of different domains in the public sphere, both locally and all across Europe, particularly with regard to civic and cultural space, there is an evident and growing reaction from citizens. This reaction is resulting in grassroots revolutions, some calling for a new socialism or Utopia, others more dangerous in their anger and frustration. A less violent option is to support the struggle for The State to recover its power. Of course we are talking about the state in the sense of a public space, within which a constant struggle for interpretation and care for public services are of vital importance to its existence, which represents the strengthening of the society and social cohesion through appropriate execution of public functions. The economic capital should support social and cultural development in order to (re)build society and the A-Team project is an exploration of this theme. The A-team will be confronted with the challenge of finding local answers to the questions of the social importance of Culture.

Specific objectives are:

- to map and review what individual cultural workers and public officials in Maribor propose as solutions for improving the position that independent culture today has within public financing (also by exploring the wider national frame);

- to perceive and implement a grassroots media-campaign, which will enlighten the importance of supporting independent culture in times of economic crisis, bringing attention to the questions: Who is the culture for? What is it good for? And who should support it?;

- to cooperate with local cultural operators inside and outside the Cultural Centre Pekarna;

- to open a dialogue with local administrations through the campaign.

For application please contact Polonca Podgorsek at polonca@pekarna.org

A-Team Criteria

The following criteria or principles are important to be aware of:

1. Relevance of the work to the local community: the process should be as close to, accessible and meaningful for locals as possible.

2. Collaborations: in order to build bridges with the local community it is useful to create partnerships with other local associations, organizations, administrations, individuals.

3. Process before product orientation: each A-Team starts with a theme/topic to address and it’s mission is to provide possible solutions through creative action.

4. Shared decision making: the A-Team process evolves as a set of equal relationships and an organic process between the three stakeholders: the artist, the centre (represented by the centres A-Team manager), the local community (represented by the mediator).