IN SITU ACT Days

How to reclaim digital and physical public space? Working in public space today

During this webinar, several artists working in public space shared with us their practice especially in these trouble times of global pandemic and social distancing. What is art in public space today? What does it mean to create in public space and what is the future of public space? Shall we all go digital?

For the closing event of the ACT project (2016-2020), that was supposed to happen as an only on-site event in Brussels, the IN SITU network had asked 5 European artists to do an artistic intervention in public space. In the frame of the IN SITU ACT Days, IN SITU proposed the artists to do an artistic intervention online, from their own country, and to get together to share about their work.

This webinar gave an opportunity to discuss, together with a panel of artists working in public space, some hot topics of the artistic sector.

Panellists: Anna Anderegg/Asphalt Piloten (Switzerland) // Ambrus Ivanyos/MeetLab (Hungary) // Sara Leghissa/Strasse (Italy) // R.M. Sánchez-Camus (United Kingdom) // Veronika Tzekova (Bulgaria/Austria)and Kees Lesuis, Artistic Director of Oerol Festival

Facilitation: Mikey Martins, Artistic Director of Freedom Festival Hull (United Kingdom)

Q&A

During the panel discussion, some questions were adressed by the participants to the panellists such as:

- What does it mean to interact in periods of social distance?  What kind of performance is a healthy performance now?

- If governments were to allow more activities in public spaces, how could that be regulated? Ensuring security (eventually who would pay that? how can we control crowds on public spaces, closed and open air?). Is there some idea that artists and Festival Directors have thought about that could make it easier to have shows in public spaces?

- About digital performance: how can we continue to share work that should be experienced live, in a way that is still attractive to audiences and creatively rewarding?

- Was there an increase of cooperation between artists in pandemic? Or did you feel more isolated? In which way the artistic community could be a resource to face the crisis?

- What will our festivals/work look like way beyond post-covid - say 2025?

Links

Here are some links that were shared by the panellists and participants:

- Social Art Library: a collectively-built archive and resource librairy for social practice by Axis

- Social Art Network: a UK based community of artists committed to building agency for the field of art and social practice. Every 3rd Wednesday at 6pm from June to December 2020, they organize a meetup session hosted by an artist or curator dedicated to socially engaged practice with guest speakers sharing insight into the ongoing question: what does it mean to be making art through social engagement art right now? These meetups are an invitation to come together and collectively work through what we are doing, why we are doing it and how we are working and living during and after the Covid-19 emergency

- Art refuge: a charity established in 2006, using art and art therapy to support people who are displaced and offering crisis support and consultation to frontline staff, in the UK and internationally

- Arts for Change: Teaching Outside the Frame: a Facebook group of 6,000+ educators and socially engaged artists to share about art being produced and created in response to what is going on happening every day in many different ways

ACT 2016 - 2020 is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.