GOING PUBLIC ’05 “Communities and Territories. From the Balkans to the Baltic”
curated by claudia zanfi/aMAZE lab


LARISSA: 21th May/ 30th June 2005
MODENA: 15th October/ 30th November 2005
Urban interventions, workshops, films, debates


Now in its third edition, the GOING PUBLIC project, born out of the
Modena Philosophy Festival, has been feeling the need to grow and
broaden beyond its own boundaries. GOING PUBLIC 2005 will examine the
pressing theme of the expanding New Europe, particularly through the
flows of people, economies and cultures from East to West and back
again, following the theories of De Certeau right up to those of
Bauman. The research project will be articulated in various sections
including: territorial workshops with local groups (young people, the
elderly, immigrants etc.); the creation of works of art (photography,
videos, urban interventions, performances), public debates, film
showings and books published on the themes in hand.

Going Public has always been a real hotbed of experimentation. Its
nature is that of dealing with research into topics of great current
interest (mobility, boundaries, new geography, the new Europe, future
economic conditions, etc…).
Going Public is a project which does not conclude with any one single
event. But which carries on throughout the year, with meetings,
presentations in various European institutions, debates, publications,
the creation of video and photographic material.

The project’s methodological key lies in its involvement of the
citizens, using public spaces, train stations, archives, libraries etc…
Thus local people may make use of these art works and urban
installations every day, providing their own active participation in
both the creation and exhibition of the works.

GOING PUBLIC ’05 aims to trace a possible line from the BALCANS to the
Balkans showing the flows and relationships they share.
There are two important events which set the scene for the 2005
projects:

1) The Balkans and the surrounding areas.
The first stage of the project will be held in Larissa, Thessaly
(Greece), as guests of the town council to mark the opening of the new
Contemporary Arts Centre. This stage will make use of artists from a
range of countries including those of ex-Yugoslavia to hold a number of
workshops on and around the boundary with Macedonia and to create a
number of urban installations on the theme. The aim is to draw
attention to the lives of the people living on the borders of the
Balkans, to the migration and the flow of peoples, to the activities of
the small communities found in Larissa yet originating from across the
Balkans (including Rom Gypsies, Vlachos, and refugees from
Turkey/Kurdistan Russia, Albania, Serbia, etc…),

The event will be held in collaboration with the City of Larissa –
Culture Department; the University of Volos – Faculty of Architecture,
Faculty of History and Anthropology, the Larissa Centre of Music and
Dance; the State Prisons; the Rom Community of Larissa; the Community
of Farkadona; the City of Trikkala; the Deste Foundation; the Ministry
of Arts, Athens; the District if Tessalia and Macedonia.

ARTISTS:
Maja Bajevic (Bosnia), Pablo Leon de la Barra (Mexico/London), Fabiana
de Barros (Brazil/Switzerland), Raimond Chaves+Gilda Mantilla
(Colombia/Spain/Peru), Nikos Charalambidis (Cyprus), Gianmaria Conti
(Italy), Hariklia Hari (Greece), Maria Loizidou (Cyprus),
Nomads&Residents (NYC/ Rotterdam/ Rome), Adian Paci (Albania), Maria
Papadimitriou (Greece), Personal Cinema (Greece), Alexandros Psychoulis
(Greece), Marietica Potrc (Slovenia), Rirkrit Tiravanija (NYC/
Bangkok), Vangelis Vlahos (Greece).


2) From the centre to the Baltic
The second event will take place in Modena (15th October/30th Novembre
2005), and will form the basis for a set of cultural and economic
exchanges between East ad West across the new European territories.
This will take place with a network of partners and artists coming
largely from ex-Soviet countries (Rumania, Moldova, Poland, Lithuania,
etc..). After tracing the lines which cross the Mediterranean from
Gibraltar to Cyprus, to the Middle East, Modena will be the stage for
the works along the vertical line (that from the Balkans to the Baltic)
which divided Europe into two halves.

The event is promoted by the Province of Modena in collaboration with:
the Delfini Civic Library, Circuito Cinema, ATCM, Centostazioni,
and with the support of PRO-HELVETIA and the Formigine Town Council.

ARTISTS: Ursula Biemann (Switzerland), Atelier Van Lieshout (Netherlands),
Aldo Runfola (Italy), Pavel Braila (Moldova), Stefan Rusu (Moldova),
SubREAL (Rumania), Dan Perjovschi (Rumania), Mircea Cantor (Rumania),
Razvan Ion (Rumania), Pavel Althamer (Poland), Gregorz Klaman (Poland),
Medusa Group (Poland), Deimantas Narkevicius (Vilnus).


With the patronage of:
– DARC
– Ministry of Culture, Rome
– Regione Emilia Romagna
Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella,
Fondazione Adriano Olivetti, Rome
Connecting Cultures, Milan,
Deste Foundation, Athens
Ministry of Arts, Athens
Contemporary Arts Centre, Larissa
Progress Foundation Wispa, Danzica
Art and Time Foundation, Warsaw

Board members:
– Claudia Zanfi, crittica d’arte e ideatrice del progetto
– Luigi Benedetti, Presidenza Provincia di Modena
– Lauretta Longagnani, Assessorato Cultura Provincia di Modena
– Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, direzione Fondazione Olivetti, Roma
– Carlos Basualdo, curatore NYC + Biennale Venezia
– Paul Domela, direttore Biennale Liverpool
– Anna Detheridge, fondatrice Connecting Cultures, Milano
– Yorgos Tzirtzilakis, critico arte + professore Univeristà di Volos
– Roula Palanta, direzione Contemporary Art Center, Larissa
– Aneta Szylak, direzione Progress Foundation Wispa, Danzica
– Jerome Sans, direttore Palais de Tokio, Parigi
– Catherine David, direzione Documenta X


INFO + IMAGES:
aMAZE lab: [email protected] – www.amaze.it