Narratives
Articles, interviews, conversations, podcasts, critics… Exchanges on topics related to public space between artists, the civil society and cultural operators. Keeping the dialogue with European cultural policy makers and the cultural and creative sector in general, this section explores how art can have an impact on society, and vice versa.
artists
Arch
by Kaleider
Kaleider’s Arch, a behind the scenes documentary
artists
The Parcel Project
by Johannes Bellinkx and Daan Brinkmann
The Parcel Project is an art project and, at the same time, a journalistic experiment.
artists
Kaleider’s 2024 Tour of Arch In Pictures
by Kaleider
Arch is an attempt to build a freestanding arch, made two thirds of concrete and one third of ice.
citizens
Through Body, Mind and Soul – Reconnecting with the City
by Marietta Mogyorósy
Marietta Mogyorósy is a landscape and horticultural engineer, nature facilitator, environmental educator and a regular moderator of discussions within the Sensing the City project at PLACCC Festival.
artists
Working in the suburbs of Marseille
by Corps Citoyen
Following a meeting as part of an IN SITU network event, Lieux Publics, the national centre for street arts and public space and a European creative hub in Marseille, welcomed members of the Italian-Tunisian collective Corps Citoyen.
artists
INFINITE GAME_EPISTOLARY RECOUNT
by Cristina Maldonado
In these fictionalized letters, I recollect conversations with partners and events that took place over the three-year creative process of Infinite Game and its tour in HAPU, Fira Tarrega, Festival de la Mort, and Atelier 231 in September 2024.
artists
IN SITU Focus: a Conversation
with Johannes Bellinkx, Nana Francisca Schottländer, Eva Bubla and James Moore
The conversation took place in May 2023 during parallel artistic residencies in Fredrikstad, Norway, in cabin belonging to the ornithological society BirdLife Østfold by the Øra Nature Reserve
artists
Silver Boom: A Case Study in Involving Inhabitants in Art in Public Space
with Anna Anderegg, Live Skullerud, and James Moore
A podcast conversation between IN SITU artists Anna Anderegg, Live Skullerud and James Moore, reflecting upon Andereggs work Silver Boom, a chorographic intervention in public space with local women aged 60+ that was implemented in the Norwegian towns of Fredrikstad and Moss in June and August of 2022.
partners
The Walking City in Copenhaguen
by Niels Bonde Jensen
The Walking City is a four-hour performative walk created by IN SITU associate artists DOM-/Leonardo Delogu & Valerio Sirna. The Walking City was presented in Copenhagen in august and september 2024 as part of IN SITU partner Metropolis’ summer season.
artists
Fiction and reality in artistic creation
by Marc El Samrani
A conversation between Fabienne Quéméneur, Cristina Maldonado, Michael Silverstone, told by Marc El Samrani
artists
ART, PUBLIC SPACE, SPECULATION & MORE-THAN-HUMAN IMAGINATIONS
by Eva Bubla
With some members of the network, we were sitting on the benches of BASE Milano a couple of months ago, discussing stories - “narratives” - that we find crucial to be shared before our project (UN)COMMON SPACES is coming to an end in October 2024.
artists
DIARY OF THE RESIDENCY OF “THE PLACE” AT MENU SPAUSTUVE IN VILNIUS, 2024
by Alina Stockinger (Eléctrico 28)
The Place is the new performative project of the artistic collective Eléctrico 28.
artists
Tween Tree - about the dialogue between an artist and a citizen
by Cristina Maldonado
In this podcast, you will learn about the residency of artist Cristina Maldonado in Au Bout du Plongeoir, invited by the citizen Fabienne Quéméneur with the support of Atelier 231 and Ćtyri Dny.
artists
AKA: choreographic laboratory for a giant puppet
by Benoît Mousserion from the Compagnie L'Homme Debout
AKA is the name of one of our puppet. It represents a woman and measures 8 meters in height. It’s also the name of the artistic laboratory that brings this puppet into play.
artists
Death on paper
The emotional life of documents that administrate death. by Cristina Maldonado
Death on paper: The emotional life of documents that administrate death, is a project proposed by Cristina Maldonado, Associate Artist from Czech Republic, to the Urgell Regional Archive in the city of Tarrega.
artists
La Muerte en Papel
[ES] La vida emocional de los documentos que gestionan la muerte. by Cristina Maldonado
Desde el arte investigo el mundo, encuentro sentidos, sugiero otros, conecto lo que aparentemente no está conectado y visibilizo lo que se esconde en lo que nos es ordinario.
Cosmic Care : Genèse d'un projet artistique européen
[FR] A podcast to read and listen to in French. by La Zankà
artists
Relational Practice or Dreaming of Pollination
by Cristina Maldonado
In the research Invisible Bonds: Performativity of Death in the Everyday (2021-24), my usual ways of researching and production were challenged by new questions and modes of relating to partners and citizens in the IN SITU European platform for artistic creation in public space.
artists
GUDEBERGJORDET - A LAND OF COUNTLESS VOICES.
An Agency for the More-than-humans. by Eva Bubla
As one of the invited IN SITU artists to have artistic explorations related to an upcoming public art triennial of Østfold Internasjonale Teater (ØIT), I had my first visit to Fredrikstad in the beginning of 2022.
artists
Things that happen in the street. An attempt at a dictionary
by Eléctrico 28
This dictionary attempt captures the spontaneous and never-ending choreography of daily life, radically exposed to open air. And then, organizes all the material in very unique categories, following an alphabetical-rebel instinct and an artistic code rooted in Eléctrico 28’s approach to urban space. We observe through a sharp but non-judgmental eye.
citizens
Le recto et le verso de la ville
[FR] Tentative d’épuisement du corps d’une femme citoyenne de cinquante ans. by Fabienne Queméneur
Récit d'une exploration milanaise orchestrée par l'artiste DOM-Rédigé par Fabienne Quéméneur, co-pilote et méta-foreuse de l'ANPU, Agence Nationale de Psychanalyse Urbaine et cultivatrice de l'Art bâtisseur Au bout du plongeoir, Fabrique d'art et de rencontre.
citizens
The Front and the Back End of Town
[EN] An Attempt at Exhausting the Body of a Fifty-Year-Old Female Citizen. by Fabienne Queméneur
Story of a Milanese exploration orchestrated by the artist DOM-By Fabienne Quéméneur, co-pilot of the ANPU, the Agence Nationale de Psychanalyse Urbaine (National Agency for Urban Psychoanalysis) and cultivator of the Au Bout du Plongeoir association, an art and meeting place, with its ethos of “l’Art Bâtisseur” (Building Art)
artists
School of Unlived Worlds
A written retrospective from La Strada Graz Festival in 2023
The following visuals are from a printed fanzine made within (UN)COMMON SPACES project, as a result of the edition of Emke Idema's School of Unlived Worlds in Graz, in collaboration with Marie Groothof.
artists
To Plant a Person
Invisible Bonds / performativity in the everyday of death by Cristina Maldonado
Plant a Person was initiated by Cristina Maldonado as part of her research project Invisible Bonds: Performativity of Death in the Everyday, within the frame (UN) COMMON Spaces of IN SITU. It was initially researched in the Czech Republic in collaboration with Michal Salwinski and Eszter Koncz, and its first work in progress was presented in Au bout du Plongeoir in 2022.
citizens
Marc El Samrani shares his experience of 'An Assembly'
[EN] A citizen's feedback on an IN SITU Artist's performance
As part of the (UN)COMMON SPACES project, associate citizen of Lieux publics, Marc El Samrani looks back on his experience of An Assembly, a participatory work proposed by 600 HIGHWAYMEN, during the duo's visit to Rouen, France.
artists
SENSING THE CITY. Curatorial and Artist Perspectives
The city unfolds itself to us through our senses. We explore our environment, its rhythm, atmosphere, texture, as well as its current condition, the impact of our individual and social practices through sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.
artists
Sauf le Dimanche rencontre Matthias Tronqual
[FR] Un entretien à lire et écouter en français
artists
Sauf le Dimanche meets Matthias Tronqual
[EN] An interview between a collective and a programmer
artists
The Walking Man in Milano
L'Uomo Che Cammina by Leonardo Delogu / DOM-
The Walking Man is the show that DOM- has been touring Europe since 2015 and is somewhat of a poetic manifesto for the group.
artists
La Buca Journal
by Leonardo Delogu
artists
The Art of Walking the Talk
By Tora Balslev, dancer and Emerging Artist of Københavns Internationale Teater
artists
Interruptive gifts of [ The Frame ]
By Alina Stockinger (Eléctrico 28)
artists
The Octopus Exercise
by Emke Idema
To rid herself of her writer’s block, Emke decided to try out something a bit different in the forest near where her parents live.
artists
humANimals
by Veronika Tzekova
Going Visiting the Melting Glacier
by Nana Francisca Schöttlander
artists
Going Visiting the River That Dried Up
Nana Francisca Schottländer in residency in Lieux Publics
artists
What Tàrrega Has Taught Me About Death
Conversation with Anna Giribet i Argiles & Cristina Maldonado
Festival Fira Tarrega, Spain
citizens
Letters from the Associate Citizen Stijn Philippe about Johannes Bellinkx's performances in Amsterdam
A feedback on experience!
artists
Signal from Dachstein
Putting an ear to the glacier
Festival La Strada | Graz, Austria
citizens
(UN)COMMON SPACES from a "citizen" point of view
Marius Grønning, Associated Citizen, Norway
partners
Forged in hardship: How artists survived and resisted in the segregated Kosovo of the ‘90s
A conversation with Florent Mehmeti by Lura Limani
Theater director Florent Mehmeti recounts the fledgling underground arts scene in Prishtina and how it spurred his interest in public space.
IN SITU Podcast
IN SITU Podcast — Pristina Special Episode
An introduction to Kosovo cultural landscape
A conversation between Seth Honnor and Jay Wahl
Artist Seth Honnor from the UK-collective Kaleider sat with Jay Wahl, director of The Flynn in Vermont USA.
In 2022, Kaleider's performance "The Money" was presented in Vermont, USA at The Flynn Centre. For the occasion Artistic Director Seth Honnor and executive director Jay Wahl sat for a conversation around the project.
artists
C-ING — Word hybrids and deconstructing to construct again
Veronika Tzekova
Veronika Tzekova (AT), associate artist of La Strada under the (UN)COMMON SPACES project, takes us through her week-long residency and site-specific works for AUDIO IBRIDA at ZONA K in Milan, in October/December 2022.
artists
Inside Sauf le Dimanche and Eléctrico 28 Exploratory Residency
Watch and read about a longer, deeper type of residency
In the fall of 2022, the artists Eléctrico 28 and Sauf le Dimanche gathered in Tàrrega, Spain for an exploratory residency hosted by IN SITU's Partner FiraTàrrega. Responding to the associate artists' need to work more process-based, to focus on research and exchange, their research laboratory is a telling example of a growing trend within the network.
artists
Kaleider's Tour Diary 2022
Seth Honnor
Seth Honnor, artistic director of Kaleider (UK) and associate artist of Freedom Festival under the (UN)COMMON SPACES project, shares with us part of his European tour through the IN SITU network. With various projects in diffusion ('PIG', 'Robot Selfie', 'The Money', 'The Time it Takes','Fish Mobile'), production and research ('Arch') Seth Honnor offers us an intimate behind the scenes glimpse of an IN SITU artist.
artists
How to connect art and sustainability?
Thomas Lamers
While we see numerous hot-topics emerge, questioning the relationship or even the responsibility that art should have in an evolution towards an inclusive and environmental-friendly society, where do artists and organisers stand? How to foster a holistic approach that can really make a difference?
external eye
IN SITU ACT Days
Live Talk Session
How to reclaim digital and physical public space? Working in public space today
external eye
Artistic Acupunctures: a dialogue with the civil society
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
What is happening when you let nine artists explore nine European places, asking them to respond to social, cultural and urban local issues?In this podcast Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio, author of the "Acupuncture series", gives insights on the concept of this experimental artistic research project.
external eye
Artistic Acupuncture, nine European territories under the artistic microscope
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
"Let’s now open an imaginary window. What do we see? Is this how we imagine public space?"This final article written by Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio completes the entire series of nine articles about the Artistic Acupuncture missions that took place all over Europe.
external eye
Acupuncture #9: "Urban transformation in Moss. In which way, with whom and towards what direction?"
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
The city of Moss (NO) and its urban renewal landscape are at the centre of this ninth and final IN SITU "Artistic Acupuncture". The artist Sjoerd Wagenaar carried out his creative Acupuncture mission there, focusing his research on local participation in urban planning - in close collaboration with Østfold Internasjonale Teater.
external eye
Acupuncture #8: "Participatory rituals: when the local encounters the global"
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
In 2019, the choreographer Joanne Leighton was invited by IN SITU to do an Artistic Acupuncture in Terschelling (NL). In this specific island context, the artist focused her creative response on the notions of the global and the local - in close collaboration with Oerol Festival.
external eye
Acupuncture #7: The con(temporary) monument: questioning meanings, forms and symbolic expressions
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
In 2019, the artist duo zweintopf formed by Eva and Gerhard Pichler were invited to do an Artistic Acupuncture in Prague (CZ). For this mission the artists decided to work on the specific subject of the monument, the sculptures, and their meanings - in collaboration with 4+4 Days in Motion.
external eye
Acupuncture #6: "The last drive and the first dance | The shifting identity of Genk"
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
In 2019, Francesca Grilli was invited to do an "Artistic Acupuncture" in Genk (Belgium). She found creative potential in the city's background by connecting different times, eras and generations. In close collaboration with Provinciaal domein Dommelhof.
external eye
Acupuncture #5: "In the New Desert: the local and global challenges of rural depopulation"
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
In 2019, dance artist and choreographer Deirdre Griffin was invited by IN SITU to address the complex issue of rural exodus in Catalonia through the development of a creative response. Her "Artistic Acupuncture" took place in Tàrrega (Spain), in close collaboration with Fira Tàrrega.
external eye
Acupuncture #4: "A BESA policy for Kosovo | How to address visa restrictions from a traditional viewpoint of mutual responsibility"
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
Morten Traavik visited Kosovo twice in order to develop his "Artistic Acupuncture" mission focused on the visa regulations policy in the country. By exploring major issues such as cultural identity and social justice, he came up with a new way to facilitate artistic exchanges in Kosovo - in close collaboration with Teatri ODA.
external eye
Acupuncture #3: "A space to call their own | The voices of the community in the post-industrial district of Csepel, Budapest"
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
Artistic Acupuncture 3#: In 2019, Nada Gambier and Mark Etchells explored the post-industrial district of Csepel, Budapest (Hungary). Within this artistic research, both artists focused on concepts of cultural identity and urban renewal, in close collaboration with Artopolis Association / PLACCC Festival.
external eye
Acupuncture #2: "Hospitable, hostile? The place of women in public space"
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
With a background in anthropology and a practice that often involves concerns about women’s rights, Maria Sideri focused her artistic research in Marseille on the elements of dominance and accessibility that constantly define public space. In close collaboration with Lieux publics, based in Marseille (France), Maria Sideri started her "Artistic Acupuncture" by exploring different districts of the city and by encountering many people who informed her field trip.
external eye
Acupuncture #1: "Processes of Becoming - Graz Reininghaus and its future development between utopia, imagination and reality."
Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio
Danae Theodoridou – a performance maker and researcher who focuses her work on the notion of ‘social imaginaries’ and the way art can contribute to the emergence of social and political alternatives – has been invited by La Strada Festival to develop her "Artistic Acupuncture" in the area of Reininghaus in Graz, Austria.
partners
A continuous theatrical investigation into the future of democracy: Episode 3/3
Lucas de Man & James Moore
For the IN SITU pilot project In Search of Democracy 3.0, Lucas de Man and his team of Stichting Nieuwe Heldenwork work together with IN SITU partners to make an investigation of current democracy and its challenges for the future.
external eye
Bottom-up vs Upside down
Mathieu Braunstein
How do artists adapt to the contemporary world? How do they react to more limited resources and increasingly stringent policies? What new forms of collaboration are they coming up with? From Exeter to Budapest, Amsterdam to Bordeaux and Marseille, creative ecosystems, funding, and cultural references have changed.Join us on a quick tour of Europe.
external eye
Let the Sunshine in
Mathieu Braunstein
In a strained political context, Viva Cité 2019 succeeded in putting on a peaceful event in a number of city districts, and especially at the foot of residential housing blocks...
partners
A continuous theatrical investigation into the future of democracy: Episode 2/3
Emma Lesuis & Jasper van den Berg
For the IN SITU pilot project In Search of Democracy 3.0, Lucas de Man and his team of Stichting Nieuwe Helden work together with IN SITU partners to make an investigation of current democracy and its challenges for the future.In this second episode, the team explains about the research they did to nourish the performance and the media project.
external eye
The international mobility of artists: mobility of ideas and aesthetics
Marie Le Sourd
What does it mean, today, for an artist to be mobile? For some, mobility is a choice and a luxury; for others, it is an economic or political necessity. For many more it is not a realistic option, or can only be accessed at the invitation of a 'western' collaborator. Meanwhile, mobility is being reshaped by the twin pressures of environmental and political upheaval...
partners
A continuous theatrical investigation into the future of democracy: Episode 1/3
Jan van Tienen & Kees Lesuis
For the IN SITU pilot project In Search of Democracy 3.0, Lucas de Man and his team of Stichting Nieuwe Helden work together with IN SITU partners to make an investigation of current democracy and its challenges for the future.
artists
PIG tour diary
Seth Honnor
Seth Honnor, the artistic director of Kaleider (United Kingdom) followed his PIG around Europe. PIG is an original IN SITU Pilot project focusing on the concept of collective choice and responsability. Taste a bite of its 2018 tour and read its diary.
artists
How to build a fictional reality?
Ambrus Ivanyos
The Hungarian artist Ambrus Ivanyos of the collective MeetLab describes the conceptual significance and the creation process of the project How to disappear completely, a site-specific reality game in the public space that has been developped and presented at PLACCC Festival in Budapest in September 2018 and adapted in Izmir, Turkey, in February 2019.
A glimpse of the 2018 Hot House in Terschelling
Nan van Houte
Invited as an external eye of the Hot House 2018 in Terschelling, I wondered how the 17 artists I would meet would define their ‘public space’. What they would offer, how they would address the currently over-asked and over-exposed citizens which form their audiences.
external eye
Follow me young man
Mathieu Braunstein
4 + 4 dny v pohybu or 4 + 4 Days in Motion. For the past twenty three years, this festival has been combining the performing and visual arts in unusual places across the Czech capital. The themes it covers make for a truly unique event…
external eye
The Babel tricks
Mathieu Braunstein
Invited to the La Strada festival in Graz, choreographer Chris Haring recently presented an adaptation of his play, “Foreign Tongues” in a church. Don’t the juggling feats of acrobats also have their own way of evoking religious imagery? From the roots of dance and balancing acts, we’re on our way to the museum.
external eye
SYSTEM ERROR - Dance & Dare: Essay on Siri Loves Me
Ingrid de Rond
Sometimes I wish I knew for certain which steps to take and when to take them. I wish that someone would explain to me how to move and would rehearse with me for days on end so that - whenever the time came - I would be certain to get it right.
external eye
In the wind
Mathieu Braunstein
Off the coast of Leeuwarden, provincial capital and 2018 European Capital of Culture, the Oerol festival is breaking attendance records on Terschelling Island (Northern Netherlands). As in previous years, environmental installations and performances feature alongside more traditional festival events. However, this year, a whole number of artists seem to have conducted unusual studies on time.
partners
An Experiment in Collective Decision-making
James Moore - Curator-producer for Østfold Internasjonale Teater
PIG is a playful experiment in collective decision-making that was conceived by the English artist Seth Honnor, Artistic Director of Kaleider. It is being co-produced as a Pilot Project within the framework of IN SITU ACT 2017–2020.
partners
WHISPER OF THE DANCE
Fanni NÁNAY | PLACCC Festival
We count it as progress if we survive in the first place,’ replied Emilie Petit, art director and founder of the Alexandrian Nassim el-Raqs public dance festival, when I asked how the event has developed over the past seven years and what direction it would take in the future.
Publications
Biela noc (White Night) in Košice - Technology in Slovak Art Projects
Ivana Rusnáková
Upon returning to Slovakia in 2009, after finishing her studies in France, Zuzana Pacáková was playing with the idea of establishing a contemporary art festival that had been missing in her hometown of Košice. Inspired by Paris’s Nuit Blanche, she enthusiastically decided to enter a fascinating circle, introducing the now-renowned and popular festival of contemporaryart, Biela noc, to Slovak audiences.
artists
First Life - Hyper-reality according to Ici-Même [Paris]
Samantha Maurin
external eye
From a certain point of view
Mathieu Braunstein
The streets are a place of protest and sometimes of concern. In Paris, despite the small number of protesters, taking to the streets is a legitimate expression of the people’s democratic rights. In Barcelona, protests from both sides fill the streets on the question of Catalonian independence. But across the Pyrenees, Benjamin Vandewalle’s latest participatory performance in public space brings us back to art history.
external eye
Brendan Walker's feedback on Pristina's ATELIERS 2017
Brendan Walker
Sat in Pristina International Airport waiting for my flight to Vienna, and on to London, I’m wondering what this week has been all about: why do I feel so damned tired, and why do I have a photograph of a boy-mannequin, wearing a crocheted waistcoat, posed in front of a badger pelt on my phone?
external eye
Extraordinary Travels
Mathieu Braunstein
In Hull, recently voted the “least romantic city in England”, Freedom Festival celebrated the 210th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. It strikes an appropriate political tone, in the wake of recent racist incidents and discourse in Charlottesville, Virginia. Thought-provoking debates and shows combined with lighter entertainment, which were also steeped in the city’s history.
external eye
The Border
Mathieu Braunstein
In summer, the air in the border city of Graz (which takes its name from “grad” or “gradec”, meaning “town” in Slavic languages) ripples with the sounds of Croat, Slovak and Slovenian. A generation ago, the city was at the border of “the other Europe”. Today, the La Strada festival is peacefully celebrating its 20th anniversary. But other borders still need to come down in people’s minds.
external eye
Giving and Sharing
Mathieu Braunstein
Players pool their money but they cannot use it if they cannot agree how to spend it. Other sums are exhibited in full view in the public space... In a world where European policy sometimes seems to come down to questions about budgets, the British studio Kaleider offers an interesting small-scale take on money.
external eye
The New Rules to the Game
Mathieu Braunstein
With the unexpected elections of Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron, Brexit ... Political news seems more and more difficult to read. What do artists offer? More participation and a redefinition of the collective that may imply a change of scale. At the very least, a new paradigm.
external eye
After fair trade, fair art ?
Fred Kahn
In contrast to the productivity-based, consumerist model which dominated the 20th century, more contributory systems are now emerging. It is within this context that certain artistic creations are presenting another economic approach, in order to more equitably share the richness of our imaginations.
external eye
From both sides
Maddy Costa, journalist
Jay Wahl is the former artistic director of the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Vladimir Us is a curator with the Oberliht Group in Moldova. Both organisations are members of the IN SITU platform. They examine the concept of popular art and compare their approaches to working in public space.
external eye
In the name of the people
Jean-Marie Durand
In the face of increasing authoritarian trends, demagogy, discredited elites, and public indifference, public opinion and political leaders are oscillating between popular and populism. Join us as we delve into the modern challenges of democracy.
partners
Changing Metropolis : a Framework for Action and Reflexion
Metropolis - art and performance in public space
The Metropolis 2007-2017 initiative, launched by IN SITU member Københavns Internationale Teater (KIT), aims to link the world of the arts and theatre with city life and urban development. The ambition is to forge continual collaborations crossing the disciplines of art and architecture, culture and urban planning – across local, regional and national borders.
external eye
A periscopic perspective
Antoine Pickels
This article makes no pretence of being an exhaustive account of everything that happened during the Neerpelt Hot House, but offers a specific and partial perspective from a curator and artist who has recently become a network partner. It offers a periscopic perspective, much like that of a submarine – enough to identify what is on the surface, and maybe even to target what is under the surface.It breaks down into three parts: examination, diagnosis and cure. First I will endeavour to identify what struck me in the artists’ personalities and in their projects, then what bringing together these personalities and projects can tell us about the context and the broader situation in society, and finally what could, perhaps, be refined in the Hot House approach.
Time is life
Mathieu Braunstein
In one of our previous columns, we discussed the Leviathan monster, without dealing with Thomas Hobbe’s notion of “commonwealth”. The idea of a commons is coming back to the fore. Just what does it mean exactly?
external eye
Security at what cost?
Mathieu Braunstein
“Art in the face of terror”. After the terrorist attacks of last spring, this burning issue was explored by participants over four days at the International Centre for Training in the Performing Arts (CIFAS) in Brussels, through both discussion and actions.
external eye
Column #4: A series of passing
Mathieu Braunstein
The Paris, Brussels and Nice attacks remind us that public space can also be a place of mourning, an aspect covered by some artists at the Travellings festival in Marseille.
external eye
Column #3 : Cardboard Beacons
Mathieu Braunstein
Wherever you find the artist Frank Bölter, who we just read about in column #1, you’ll find his simple paper-made artistic creations in public space… and that’s no accident.
external eye
Column #2 : The Balkan Route
Mathieu Braunstein travelled in the Balkans during the 1990's and is the author of the book: François Mitterrand à Sarajevo, le rendez-vous manqué, éd. L'Harmattan, 2001
external eye
Column #1 : In praise of margins
Mathieu Braunstein
How can you write about art in public space in Europe, while keeping a critical distance and avoiding eulogistic praises? How can you analyse the performing arts, something that, by its very nature, is temporary, while keeping your ears open to what's going on in the world? As always, books are a precious aid for staying focused on what matters.
"The sense of belonging in a participative artistic creation"
Hajrulla Ceku
Emerging spaces in Prishtina, Kosovo, hosted by Teatri ODA 5-7 April 2016
external eye
Ephemeral sounds and virtual tents or what do we need to jump?
Tamás Jászay - Emerging Spaces 2016, Budapest
The European network IN SITU, an advocate for site-sensivite art, has organised yet another edition of Emerging Spaces, a series of intensive workshops. On paper, the seminar’s opening days in Budapest focused on post-industrial areas, with the ruined but beautiful Csepel Industrial Park as its central location, although the set topic would go through various changes throughout the three days of the workshop.
external eye
Freedom Fighters
Fabienne Arvers and Hervé Pons (Les Inrocks)
How can artistic creation in (post-communist) Europe continue in a context of economic crisis and democratic regression? We discuss the current climate with three festival directors from Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia, and Polish Theatre Director Krzysztof Warlikowski.
external eye
Report on the Emerging Space Marseille: Breaking Down Barriers
Mathieu Braunstein
This Emerging Space was a strange experience, with a strange title, open to many interpretations, especially in English: "breaking down barriers"…
external eye
Art and New Technologies
Maddy Costa
How do new technologies affect creation in public space: in Norwich, European artists have explored new opportunities offered by these innovative tools.
external eye
Footprint, sight, space: from site-specific creation to site-sensitive art
Giorgia Marino
A garden begins wherever a human foot touches the ground to step into a space that is both vegetable and mineral. That’s the moment when the memory of his presence is first settled in that place.”
partners
The street belongs to us
Neil Butler (UZ Arts) & Werner Schrempf (La Strada), interviewed by Hugues Le Tanneur (Les Inrockuptibles)
Neil Butler is the former head of UZ Arts, an independent organisation based in Glasgow (Scotland) that initiates a number of cultural programmes worldwide. Amongst other work, Werner Schrempf heads La Strada festival in Graz (Austria) which he founded in 1998. These two IN SITU network members’ directors provide together their account of art in public space today.
artists
Fleeting Cities in Europe
Olivier Grossetête & Anna Rispoli (Zimmerfrei), interviewed by Quentin Guisgand, Ariane Bieou (IN SITU) and Jasmine Lebert (Lieux publics)
Olivier Grossetête and Zimmerfrei collective (Massimo Carozzi, Anna de Manincor et Anna Rispoli) build “fleeting” cities. "Fleeting City" by Olivier Grossetête and "Temporary Cities" by Zimmerfrei are two IN SITU projects. As one creates common sense by building real cardboard walls, the other offers a dream version of the city.Artists' reflection about the invisible walls dividing our towns.
partners
Interview with Trevor Davies
Jean-Sebastien Steil & Ariane Bieou
Licensed city planner Trevor Davies is the director of the Metropolis biennale of art in the public space, organized by Københavns Internationale Teater in Copenhagen. He is also the head of the application committee for the city of Åarhus in the run to host the European Capital of Culture program in 2017.
external eye
Artists And The Foreign Presence In Europe: Productions That Buck The Trend
Jean-Sébastien Steil
"Arab revolutions" on one side, xenophobic withdrawal of European countries on the other, and moving from one to the other, immigrants holding on to glistening hope. On the European stage, artists are seeking to present and help us to identify with the ambivalent experiences of migration and exile.
external eye
Whose walls? - Transient art for a shared public area
JR - Photographer
Gigantic portraits of Palestinians and Israelis plying the same trade, stuck face to face in public areas, on either side of the Dividing Wall. That was Face2Face, a daring project which brought fame to its authors, JR and Marco. Since then, the two authors have pursued their work, springing surprises in daily city life to change our way of seeing things.
citizens
Spatial Consciousness
Locating Art and Artistic Performance
by Andy Merrifield
artists
HOLE(S) and HILL(S) heal
(Trou(s) et Colline(s) guérissent)
Shared rituals, practices and tools in interlocking living systems
artists
Silent Spring
A tale of urban re-pollination
Shared rituals, practices and tools in interlocking living systems
citizens
An Assembly: in conversation with 600 HIGHWAYMEN
Marc el Samrani interviews Michael Silverstone and Abigail Browde on their iconic project
artists
HEAVY KINSHIP - research residencies within the IN SITU network — Part 1
First part of the series throughout IN SITU by Nana Francisca Schottländer
Nana-Francisca Schottländer is a Copenhagen-based inter-disciplinary artist working at the intersection between dance, performance, installation, and conceptual art. Her work revolves around encounters and intra-actions with other-than-human entities and phenomena such as rocks, fungi, water, soil, and entire geographical areas with their inherent lifeforms and dynamics. Central to her work is the use of her own body as a living tool for research and creation.
artists
HEAVY KINSHIP - research residencies within the IN SITU network — Part 2
Second part of the series throughout IN SITU by Nana Francisca Schottländer
Nana-Francisca Schottländer is a Copenhagen-based inter-disciplinary artist working at the intersection between dance, performance, installation, and conceptual art. Her work revolves around encounters and intra-actions with other-than-human entities and phenomena such as rocks, fungi, water, soil, and entire geographical areas with their inherent lifeforms and dynamics. Central to her work is the use of her own body as a living tool for research and creation.
artists
HEAVY KINSHIP - research residencies within the IN SITU network — Part 3
Last part of the series throughout IN SITU by Nana Francisca Schottländer
Nana-Francisca Schottländer is a Copenhagen-based inter-disciplinary artist working at the intersection between dance, performance, installation, and conceptual art. Her work revolves around encounters and intra-actions with other-than-human entities and phenomena such as rocks, fungi, water, soil, and entire geographical areas with their inherent lifeforms and dynamics. Central to her work is the use of her own body as a living tool for research and creation.