DEMOCRACY, EQUALITY, CULTURE BEYOND THE NATION STATE NETWORK BEYOND THENATION DEMOCRACY, EQUALITY, CULTURE

MAY 6 15 2011

DEMOCRACY, EQUALITY, CULTURE BEYOND THE NATION STATE BEYOND THENATION DEMOCRACY, EQUALITY, CULTURE NETWORK

MAY 6 15 2011 NETWORK DEMOCRACY, EQUALITY, CULTURE BEYOND THE NATION

Supported by

Printed by European Alternatives. July 2011

Graphic design LLdesign.it

This catalogue is printed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike-NonCommercial license.

You are free to republish, remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as you credit the original source and license any new creations under identical terms.

PEOPLE WHO MADE Members of Nic Greaves Alexander Mirchev TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL TRANSEUROPA Adrien Gros Adam Mizeracki POSSIBLE Network Noel Hatch Grégory Moricet Michal Havran Alina Muller European Alternatives Staff Angela Anton Katarzyna Holda Pablo Navazo Luigi Cascone Ramya Arnold Joanna Holda Eleonora Nestola Claudia Cassano Margaux Baleriaux Anna Ignasiak Hana Novotna Elena Dalibot Nishi Begum Mariya Ivancheva Stanimir Panayotov Federico Guerrieri Jakub Biernat Paulina Kempisty Simona Patrizi Emanuele Guidi Mélanie Boulland Tomek Kitlinski Annamaria Pazsint Tilman Hartley Friedrich Brandi Diana Kolczewska Diletta Pignedoli Lia Hernández Pérez Eva Brugnettini Kostyuchenko Szymon Pietrasiewicz Maeva Kokodoko Silvia Bruzzi Magdalena Kowalczyk Zdravka Primova Séverine Lenglet Daphne Buellesbach Stefan Krastev Wojcieh Pytkowski Giulio Marseglia Georgiana But Francesca Lacaita Eugenio Quintieri Lorenzo Marsili Sanziana Craciun Marcin Lachowski Kamil Raczynski Niccolo Milanese Rafal Czekaj Radoslaw Lasisz Carsten Radke Daniel Peslari Rachel Danna Sophie Lavigne Sonia Rolley Diana Prisacariu Sonila Dardha Mattieu Le Charpentier Marta Ryczkowska Ségolène Pruvot Andrei Deac Pavel Leszkowicz Hrishabh Sandilya Damiano Razzoli Guilhem Delteil Magda Linkowska Luisa Maria Schweizer Sara Saleri Adrian Dohotaru Mauro Longo Lucy Shackleton Alexandra Solom Louisa Douma Michaela Lukovicova Bianca Stern Monica Tinelli Lubomir Draganov Magdalena Luczyn Cristian Suciu Alessandro Valera Florina Iulia Dudas Lulu Luzynski Silvana Summa Olga Vukovic Linda Erades Anca Magyar Waldemir Tatarczuk Gian Paolo Faella Lenka Mareckova Lea Vajsova Oriane Favier Petra Netryova Jonmar Van Vlijmen Eli Filipova Simona Bohunska Emma Walker Matteo Fornaciari Gabriela Virostkova Catherine Wurth Alayna Garvin Monika Martiskova Thamar Zijlstra Rado Geist Louise Metrich Lijn de Goede Alice Militello TABLE OF CONTENTS

6 ABOUT THE FESTIVAL 88 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME 9 Festival themes 90 A Festival as platform as tool as 12 Interview with Festival coordinators space for futures encounters... 16 Interview with Micheal Thoss 92 The ground was divided, we jumped... 94 Conversation between Can Altay 18 CITY REPORTS and Stephen Wright 20 96 24 Bologna 98 Cluj-Napoca 28 , , 100 London 34 Cluj-Napoca 102 Paris 38 Lublin 106 Visualizing Transnationalism 42 108 Imagining Commoniversity 46 112 Cluj-Napoca 50 114 N. U. T. 54 116 Love is love: LGBTQ rights in Lublin 58 Sofia and Cluj-Napoca 118 Lublin 120 Cluj-Napoca 62 DOSSIER: EUROPE BEYOND THE CRISIS 122 On-board programme for the modern 64 Uncouple the welfare of Europe from traveller the totem of national sovereignty 124 Trans-political narratives 68 Economics alternatives for solidarity 126 Kino Beleske after the crisis 128 Clashing Tales. The local aspect 72 The general intellect is looking of the struggle for a body 130 The body as grammar in the language of Transnationality 132 Ceux de Primo Levi 78 KEYNOTE LECTURES 134 Wilkommen zuhause 80 An adieu to Europe: the impossible necessity of Balkans politics 4 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 Edinburgh

Cardiff

London

Amsterdam Berlin

Paris Lublin

Prague

Bratislava Cluj-Napoca

Sofia Bologna TRANSEUROPA ABOUT FESTIVAL THE 2011 FESTIVAL

6 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 ABOUT THE FESTIVAL Jonmar van Vlijmen EU flag 1,00 x 1,50 m 2011 from throughoutthecontinent. TRANSEUROPA Network:atransnationalteamofactivists,writers,thinkers,artistsand curators The FestivaliscoordinatedbyEuropeanAlternativesandorganised by The resultofitisanarticulatedartprogrammethatechoesthroughout theFestivalcities. filmmakers, whoengagedinaproductivedialoguetodeliver shared outcomes. involvement ofmorethantwenty-fiveculturaloperators,includingartists,curators,and The collaborativeandparticipatoryapproachthatsuchascenariodemandedleadtothe tools aswelltolaunchnewcalls. all overEurope.TheFestivalhasbeenofferedaspotentialplatformtoexperimentnewformatsand The Festival’s ArtProgrammeistheresultofaseriescollaborationsamongpractitionersfrom to cityuntiltheclosingweekend,whentransnationalforumstookplaceoneachtheme. discussed andexploredinalltwelveFestivalcities,conclusionsexperiencespassedfromcity These mainthemeswerechosenbyTRANSEUROPA Networkfortheirimportanceandwere Roma andtravellerrights,mediafreedom,amorejusteconomyforafterthecrisis. European societyandtherestofworld.In2011mainthemesFestivalweremigration, TRANSEUROPA Festivaldoesnotshyawayfromthemostpressinganddifficulttopicsconfronting inalienable componentofbuildinganewsociety. in itsculturalproduction,andseesthevisualisingofanewcommunitythroughartsasan projections, andmusic,-thefestivalpromotesinnovation,experimentationbothinitspolitics Using apluralityofmediums-fromdebates,lecturesandcongressestoartinstallations, and action. the nationstate.Transeuropa createsacommonpoliticalandculturalspaceforexchange,debate same time,butonefestivalthroughoutEuropepromotingdemocracy, equalityandculturebeyond transnational Festivalhappeningin12citiessimultaneously:nottwelvedifferentfestivalsatthe TRANSEUROPA Festivalisatonceaculturalfestivalandpoliticalevent.Itthefirst

8 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 ABOUT THE FESTIVAL FESTIVAL themes The Festival touched on a plurality of themes and its implications for the way ‘Europe’ is ranging from sustainability to gender understood was artistically and conceptually equality. Four key themes, however, where explored, both in ‘capital’ and ‘peripheric’ selected and discussed in all festival cities, cities of the EU. with closing forums bringing representatives of all the cities to exchange their view and The question of going beyond experiences. These were: multiculturalism was posed by the Festival: after the failure of national multicultural and national integrationist policies, can a trans- Migration and human rights: european perspective open new possibilities the new borders inside and outside for thinking of a cosmopolitan form of the EU political belonging? This thematic was dealt As Europe becomes ever more afraid of with in all festival cities and the conclusions a large influx of migrants approaching brought to the closing forum in Paris. from foreign shores, as ‘multiculturalism’ is declared ‘dead’ by some of our most influential politicians, and as the boundaries Roma and Traveller Rights of free movement change within the The rights and welfare of Roma and European Union, the condition of the Traveller communities has become a pan- migrant in and on the borders of Europe European issue. Ongoing expulsions of must be challenged and investigated. Roma communities from Italy and France Detention camps in bordering countries since 2008, attacks against Roma in many of the European Union as well as within European countries, and widespread Europe have been condemned by many discrimination throughout the continent international organisations for their have made the Roma a symbol of Europe’s conditions. Throughout the festival intolerance and often of its hypocrisy. the way in which migrants are treated Through this theme of the Festival we aim to at, behind and beyond the borders of present a different image of Roma culture the EU, was discussed and exposed in than the stereotypes allow for, underline several ways, including through film, the unacceptability of discrimination, and lectures and workshops. Moreover, the investigate alternative policies for improving ‘deterritorialisation’ of Europe’s borders the situation and rights of Roma and Transnational Forumtheclosingweekend. Conclusions andexperiencesfromallFestivalcitieswerebroughttoCluj-Napocafora theme byTRANSEUROPA NetworkwhichwasshowninallFestivalcities. Bologna, andurbanwalkswiththeRomainCluj-Napoca.InadditionaFestivalfilmmadeon a simultaneousandconnectedeventinBolognaParis,travellingreadingwiththeRoma Activities onthisthemeincludeddebatesanddiscussionsinBerlin,London,Prague,Sofia European citizenship. Traveller communities.TheRomaquestionhasbecometiedupwiththeofmeaning transnational platform. congress onthefutureofEuropeanEconomyMay14,attempting tobuildacommon, These conclusionscametoLondononthefinalweekendof Festivalforacitizens’ In BolognatherightsofinternsinEuropewasinvestigated. London theimpactofcrisisonmostexcludedwasexplored. of thecrisisondifferentgenderswasthemedebate,and inParis,Bologna,Bratislavaand Western Europeanexperiencesandeconomies.InSofiaCluj-Napocatheunequalimpact In Prague,BratislavaandCluj-Napoca,thediscussionfocusedoncomparingEastern discussed, andthebasesforaneweconomywereexplored. contexts throughoutEurope.ThroughalltheFestivalcitieseffectsofeconomiccrisiswere into accounttheinterlinkingofEuropeansocietieswithrestworld,anddiffering In thisthematic,theFestivallookedforamorejustfutureEuropeaneconomy, taking austerity measurestheyhaveadopted,andthelackofactionregulatingbanks. between nationalbudgets.ThishasbeenaccompaniedbyhugeproteststhroughoutEuropeatthe The economiccrisishasseenEuropeanleaderstakeunprecedentedstepsofcoordination Europe AftertheCrisis:aneweconomyformorejustworld

10 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 ABOUT THE FESTIVAL Media Freedom and New Media TRANSEUROPA Festival investigated Media freedom and pluralism seems to be the theme of media freedom with this coming under attack in a growing number double focal point. On the one hand, the of European countries. The press in Italy, necessity to guarantee free, pluralistic, Romania, and is considered only and independent media in all European “partly free” by leading international NGOs. countries, and the role of European Recent media legislation in Hungary led to institutions to guarantee this. unprecedented protests in the European On the other, the capacity of new media to Parliament and worries of democratic trigger the emergence of new, transnational regression. The growing influence of Rupert forms of mobilisation. Murdoch in countries such as the UK is a source of preoccupation for many. Events in most festival cities led to a transnational Forum in Bologna where At the same time, triggered by events in NGOs, media, and civil society organisations North Africa, the role of new media in from all festival cities developed a common shaping original forms of collective action action-platform to launch a European seems to be in the spotlight as never before. Initiative on Media Pluralism.

European Alternatives is a civil society organisation With offices in four European countries and a devoted to exploring and promoting transnational network of activists and local groups stretching to politics and culture by means of campaigns, over ten, the organisation is unique in being at once conferences, publications, aristic projects, and a breeding ground for new ideas and proposals TRANSEUROPA Festival. We believe that today for politics and culture at a European level and in democratic participation, social equality, and cultural being a political and cultural actor with a truly innovation are undermined by the nation-states in transeuropean activity, staff and support base. Europe, and that transnational forms of collectivity must be fostered to promote these values. www.euroalter.com Guido vanHengelinterviewsNiccolòMilanese,SégolènePruvotandLorenzoMarsili festival coordinators Interview with the AtlanticseaandAmericas. that Europeisnotdefinedbyits borders,butasthespaceofoverlappinginfluencesAfrica, Asia, outside, aroundandrunningthrough it.ThisisthemeaningofEuropeanAlternativessymbol: will bepromoted;thatEuropemust nourishitselffromthedialoguewithculturesandsocieties political form for organizing our collective life, nor a political form in which innovation is possible or alone, butmustbesoughtacrosscountries;thatthenationstate isneitherthemostadequate cultural illsonefindsinallEuropeancountrieswillnotbesolved byactinginanyonecountry Transnationalism forus meantatleastthreethings:thattheanswerstocommonpoliticaland components: transnationalismandculture. So wedecidedoughttodosomethingaboutit,andthatthe answerwouldinvolveatleasttwo undermining thepossibilitiesforauto-determinationinour‘democratic’societies. two phenomenawefoundtobestultifyingthepossibilitiesofcollectiveinnovationandultimately may fetishizethemostoutwardmarksofdistinction,butwhichcravesaboveallconformity. These political courageforopeningnewpossibilitieslivingtogether, aculturalconservatismwhich experiencing inallcountriesofEurope–thelackpoliticalalternativestopresentand Above allitwasbornoutoffrustrationwiththepoliticalandculturalimpassethatwewere conversation abouttheillsofEuropeandworld. European AlternativeswasbornoveraplateofpastainRomeSummer2006–andlong Transeuropa Festival? When andwhydidyoudecidetosupporttransnationalismcreateEuropeanAlternatives

12 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 ABOUT THE FESTIVAL Culture for us was fundamental because it whereas before wars between European is the space in which new forms of living countries were explicit acts of aggression, together and organizing our collective now European countries are ‘punished’ life are incubated, and the practices and or ‘rewarded’ by the most economically common imaginaries which either hold us powerful nation states in Europe, and this back (in our current conservative society) or punishment or reward tends to get inflicted are constantly enriched through a process on the most vulnerable people in those of exchange and experimentation. societies.

For this reason we started with a Festival Nationalism is becoming increasingly as our first action – the London Festival of attractive as the only solution to political and Europe in 2007. In order to better reflect our social ills which people are experiencing, transnational outlook, this festival has now because it seems like the only available way become Transeuropa Festival from 2010 to restore some sense of control over the onwards. The Festival isn’t all European decisions which affect their lives. One way Alternatives does or stands for, but it is the of addressing this tendency is to construct most all encompassing public expression the possibilities for transnational democracy, and presentation of our work throughout and that also involves persuading enough the year and a call for more people to people in its possibility to make it true. participate. How do you find creative minds in order On the site I read “democracy, culture and to enlarge the network of European equality – beyond the nation state”. Alternatives and Transeuropa Festival? To what extent do you think Europe is We are an open organization which wants suffering mostly from nationalism? to facilitate its members in taking initiatives Growing nationalism is apparent in many to promote democracy, equality and culture parts of Europe, both in the growing support beyond the nation state, and all our activities for explicitly nationalist parties, and in the are directed towards persuading more normalization of nationalist discourse in people to do so, whether as part of our mainstream political parties. Nationalism organization or on their own/with their own is the symptom of the underlying structural organisations. nationalism of Europe, which is in many ways actually being exacerbated by the European Union in its current form: citizens theyrepresent,andthisdemandsengagementactive citizenship. something purelyformal,butthatiftheinstitutionsaretolivethey mustbelivedeverydaybythe of representativedemocracy;wealsoneedtounderstandthat thebuildingofinstitutionsisnot of transnationaldemocraticinstitutionswhichinnovatebothin directdemocracyandinforms forms of democratic institutions which may have worked well in the past, but to work on new forms People stillneedtobepersuadedthattheanswerstheseproblems arenottoreturnprevious which hasallowednotablythefinancialspheretobecometoo independentofpoliticalcontrol. institutions becomedetachedandunrepresentative,aswellbeingafailureofpoliticalpower This isbothafailureofourdemocraticinstitutions,andcitizenshipwhichhaslet them andthattherearefewpoliticalleaderswhorepresentthem. out fortheirwelfare,thattheyhavelittlechancetoinfluencethepoliticaldecisionswhichaffect peoplefeelthatthecurrentdemocraticsystemisnotreflectingtheiropinionsnorlooking This themeisaspowerfulnowithasbeenbefore:fromLondontoMadridBucharest the Berlinwallandeventsof68canbothbeunderstoodinthisway. The ongoingnarrativeofEuropeisonetheprogressdemocracyanditssetbacks–fall to inspireEuropeans,whatwouldyouthinkof? have inspiredmanytostandupforequalityandfreedom.Ifyouwouldchoosea‘new’narrative The bignarrativesofEurope,suchas‘TheFalltheBerlinWall’ orthe‘Generationof1968’ More informationonwww.transeuropanetwork.com everyone fromanywheretoparticipatewhileremaininggoal-orientedandeffective. The Networkhasjustopeneditsmembership,andcreatednewdemocraticstructuresthatenable Europe forabetterworld. issues theycareabout,buildingcommonprojects,concepts,andcampaignstocreateabetter are aimingtobuildastructurethatallowsindividualsfromEdinburghSofiaengagearound Transeuropa Networkisagambleintransnationalformsofbottom-updemocraticorganisation:we contributing, asmuchthroughpsysicallabourideas,tothemakingofFestival. thinkers, artists,students,researchers,andyoungworkers-stretchingalloverthecontinent TRANSEUROPA Festivalwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutawidenetworkofactivists-

14 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 ABOUT THE FESTIVAL One of the main themes of 2011 is Roma and In order to treat the theme we explored the traveller rights. Can you please tell me how situation of the Roma in different European you deepen this particular focal point and countries, we welcomed Roma scholars, practically implement it. activists and artists to talk with and work Our interest in Roma and traveller rights with other people working on fundamental came from indignation at the treatment of rights and social issues. the Roma and traveller populations by the At the end of the Festival we had a forum governments of France and Italy over the in Cluj-Napoca on the topic in which last couple of years. the experiences and conclusions from We wanted to approach the topic above throughout the continent were brought all from the angle of European citizenship together, and platforms for common actions and fundamental rights: firstly that it is and initiatives were established. unacceptable for us that anyone in Europe be treated in the way the Roma population is being treated, and secondly that the rights of European citizens must be protected and enforced by the European Commission and by European citizens themselves, where European citizenship is ignored or scorned, all of our rights are affected, not just those of the Roma. will beinvitedtojoin. politicians andscientistsbutalso Roma-artistsandwritersfromdifferentEuropeancommunities In November, ourfoundationis,thus,organizingaEuropean Roma-summitinBerlin,towhich allowing discriminationagainst Europe’s largest minoritygroupandleavingittofrequentmisery. ”gypsies” inEuropearesedentarytoday. Itis,therefore,especiallyunacceptabletocontinue this, forthestillexistingclanstructuresarebynomeansmodern andapproximately90%ofthe thus, appearinmanywaysverymoderntous.Itwouldbeamistake, however, to‘romanticize’ to themajorityofpopulation.Theirnomadictraditionandtheir non-territorialsenseofidentity, The Romacanbeseenasthe“firstEuropeans”:nationalborders arenotasimportanttothem Do youthinkthereisscopeforrevalorisingRomaculturesincontemporary Europe? seems tohavebeenlargelyforgotten. 19 The RomapeopleshavebeenanintegralpartofEuropeformillennia.Itisnoticeableinthe18 participating inacommonknowledgeproduction. by providinguswithanaestheticexperienceandopportunitytogainnewinsights,thereby offer newandunusualwaysofaccesstotheirrealities(whichisalwaysalsopartourown) inspiration andcontributestotheseriousnessoftheirwork.Artistsaretakenseriously, onlyifthey Nonetheless, formostoftheseartiststhelocalcontextcontinuestobeanimportantsource museums, exhibitionhouses,artbiennales,andfairsgrowingintheirinternationalperspective. The (successful)contemporaryartisthasbecomeanatural‘globalplayer’intheprocessof Does contemporaryartrespectnationalborders?Orhasitbecomeentirelyde-territorialised? What istheroleofartistsandculturalactorsinpromotingpoliticalreflection/experimentation? cultures butconsistofadifferentmixtureineachmembercountry. Europe mustadmittoitsculturaldiversity, whichisnotsimplythesum ofEuropeannational national, andreligiousminoritiesisfrequentlyignored.Thisanalarmingdevelopment.Today’s population generallydefineswhatisregardedasnationalculture.Thus,thecultureofethnic, towards theirownnationalcultures.EspeciallyinEasternEurope,thecultureofmajority In recentyears,therehasunfortunatelybeenagrowingretreatinmanyEuropeancountriesback Is Europetodayculturallyconservative? Michael ThossistheManagingDirectorofAllianzCulturalFoundation Michael Thoss Interview with th centuriestherewasaRomanticidealisationofRomatraditions, bohemianismandnowthat th and

16 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 ABOUT THE FESTIVAL JANUSZ ADAM BIEDRZYCKI (Chorea Theater, Factory of Art), Lublin Transeuropa TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL CITY 2011 REPORTS

18 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS JANUSZ ADAM BIEDRZYCKI (Chorea Theater, Factory of Art), Lublin Transeuropa Transnational communityofdifferences Paris economic developmentandhowthey actonthephysicalshapeofdistricts. Vasoodeven Vuddamalay rantheitinerarythattaughtattendees...howmigrantsdynamizeand contributeto Pakistani, IndianandTamil areasofParis, betweenlaChapelleandLaGoutted’Or. Thesociologistandurbanist to discoverandlearnmoreaboutwheretheylive:thefirstdayofFestival, about50peoplewalkedthroughthe part ofthecommunity?Anamazingwayunderstandinginputsmigrants inthecountryofarrivalhasbeen When wethinkaboutcommunity, thefirstissuethatcomesinmindisquestionofmigrants:howcantheybe Otherness anddifference. the Parisregion.ThefamousandamazingRomanianartistRonaHartnerwithDJTagada alsosangtocelebratethe for solidarityfamilyandfightagainstexclusion,callingsustainablesolutions for Tunisian andAfghanimigrantsin against discrimination:The“Playingtheidentities!”mottogaveoccasion tohearOlgaTrostiansky, deputee mayor This isexactlytheframeworkofTranseuropa FestivalinParis.Theopeningpartyaimedatcelebratingdiversity difference andtheOther. and communityisshrinking,intolerancegrowing:thereaneedtodaytofightagainstthenon-acceptanceof national bordersandgeographical/ethnicorigins.Communitygoesalongwithdiversity:whilethefeelingofcohesion community ofinterestsforanycitizenlivinginEurope;butitalsomeansstrengtheninga transnational levelisattheheartofEuropeanAlternatives’andFestival’s approach;itmeansreinforcinga Nowadays thefeelingofcommunityisthreatenedbyindividualimandintolerance.Reinforcingat Touteleurope for buildinganewsociety. community isanessentialelement theconceptof exploring artistically The Festivalconsidersthat politics andculture. innovation andexperimentationin Transeuropa Festivalpromotes projections, andconcerts, installations,film artistic Through debates,conferences, community ofpeoplebeyond

20 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS

are humanrights. and whytheycametoFrance.Alltheseeventshavebeenledremindasimplelegitimateclaim:Romarights cardboard beggingformoney, thepersonalstoryofeachthemiswrittenoncardboard,totellusabout how standing withacardboardsomewordswrittenonit.To breakthetraditionalstereotypeofRomaholdinga field, HorslarueexhibitedsomepiecesoftheirphotoprojectwithRomapeople.Oneachphoto,apersonis talked abouttherealsituationofRomabehindpervasivepoliticaldiscourseandmediacoverage.Onartistic association thatworkswithisolatedchildrenandteenagersmostlyofRomaorigin.TheDirectorDamienNantes heart ofTranseuropa Festivalin2011.AsBologna,Transeuropa PariscollaboratedcloselywithHorslarue,an where thegovernmentdecidedtoleadmassiveexpulsionsin2010.Theawarenessabouttheirsituationisat citizens, theyarediscriminatedeverywherewithlittlerespectoftheirfundamentalrights,particularlyinFrance European citizens,andtheyconstituethefirstminorityinEurope.Despitebeingpartofcommunity Another burningissueatthetopofTranseuropa agendawastheRomasituation inEurope.Romapeopleare inflexibilities. are comingsandgoings.Afluiderlegislationwillenabletoinhibitthemigratoryconflictsembracedbylegislative that todaymigrationsarefluid,forinstancemostofthemigratoryflowsbetweenEuropeandMediterranean would meanseeingre-admissiondenied,andthisisthereasonwhytheyendsettingupincountry. Sheclaimed migratory legislationsinEurope:migrantsareobligedtostayalongtimetheircoutryofarrivalfearingthatleaving Wihtol deWenden totalkaboutthenewmigratoryroadsinEurope.MrsWihtoldeWenden blamedtherigidityof North AfricanrevolutionshighlightedtheEuropeanuneasinessaboutit.ThereforeTranseuropa invitedCatherine A greatexampleofempiricalculturalexploration!Theissuemigrants’setupinEuropeisstillaburningissue;

22 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS PARIS accepting diversity. This projectisapleatofightdiscriminationfor how tolearnmoreabouttheRomacommunity. Eastern Europecountries,what“LGBT”means,and is amigrant,whataretheculturesandfolkloresof stories, theaimwastotalkwithchildrenaboutwhat games, foodandculturalinitiations,drawings, created ludicactivitiesforchildren:throughrole uses tolivein.Duringthesetwodays,EAactivists Montreuil, whereanimportantRomacommunity Days organisedinParisandacityclosetoParis, Transueropa Festival,withtwoAnt-Discrimination first partoftheprojectstartedinFranceduring Alternatives leadsbothinFranceandRomania.The leitmotiv of the “Unity in Diversity?” project European diversity, andfightagainstdiscrimnationisthe Exploring cultureandarts,talkingaboutcommunity, tolerance, freedom,andrespect. reinforced bymorediversity, whichimpliesequality, belief ofTranseuropa Paris:Communityisbeing artistic performancesreinforcdthefundamental These andmanymoredebates,screenings, in autocraticregimesanddemocracies. relief politicalattemptstolimitthe2.0freedomboth community. Inthemeantime,someexamplesputin has agreatpotentialtostrengthenthepolitical ability toovertakepoliticalcensorship.Socialmedia transnational characterofnewmediaandtheir European politicsspecialists.Theypointedoutthe media hasbeendiscussedwithInternetand and pluralisminEurope.InParis,theroleofsocial the numeroussignalsofalackmediafreedom Diversity notonlyconcernssocialcohesion;facing in Europe. present risksofhomophobiaandsexualstereotypes staged akiss-intosensibilisethepublicstill Transeuropa teaminParisaswellthepublic with Transeuropa inAmsterdam,membersofthe “transnational” Kiss-InforEquality. Simultaneously Diversity wasalsoatthecoreofafun Looking forsustainablealternatives Bologna meet andsharecommonmomentsof debateandconviviality. the squareandstreetswerereappropriated, regainingtheirlifeasproperpublicspace,wheredifferentpeople brought backtothestreet,sharingknowledge inaprocesswhereeveryonecouldtakepart.Withalltheseactivities, starting fromtheugliestgarbage.Local andinternationalbestpracticeswerepresentedinlessonswhich people passingby. Aworkshopby theassociationLaPillolaallowedpeopletodiscoverthatartcanbecreatedeven square, intheurbangardenmadeupbyorganizationofBiodiverCity, withthehelpofchildrenanddifferent citizens couldexperienceinrealfactswhatsustainabilityisabout:flowers, strawberriesandplantscolouredthe touched bythepersonalyetstilluniversalfeelinggivenactors.The squarethenbecomealaboratorywhere Piazza ReEnzo,whereamovingperformancerecreatingtheexperienceofmigrationinvolvedanevenwiderpublic, actors toldtheirstoriesconnectingthemwiththespaceswetraversed.The tourendedinthecentralpublicsquare the streetsofBologna,joininganenvironment-friendlytourtodiscover hiddencornersofthecity, wheremigrant possible. OnthefirstSundaymorningonehundredpeoplewokeupearly, tooktheirbicyclesandpeacefullyinvaded cultural dimensions.We spentafulldayinthepublicspacetotryandreworkthisideawithbroadest revolving aroundtheconceptofsustainability,asatermencompassingbothenvironmental,socialand The firstweekendwascompletelydedicatedtoimaginingadifferentsociety, withthepackedprogramme of events sustainable, inclusiveandjustEuropeansociety. be involvedinanenriching,multivocalandtransnationaldebate,tryingtofindpossiblealternativesforamore politicians, frommigrantstoscholars,studentshomelesspeople–couldintersecttheirperspectivesand In BolognatheTranseuropa Festivalbecamearealplatformwheredifferent actorsofthecity–fromartiststo festival andapoliticalevent. soul asabridgebetweencultural defining perfectly Transeuropa’s screening andtheatreshows, tables, debates,workshops, ofround very goodarticulation Transeuropa aredevelopedina The fourmainthemesof SERGIO ROTINO,LaStampa Partner ofTranseuropa FestivalinBologna SARA MONTIPÒ,AssociazioneNaufragi, transnational dimension. catapulted usinaEuropeanand go beyondalocalmentalityand initiative whichallowedusto Festival isaveryimportant We believethatTranseuropa

24 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS

European pluralanddiversesociety. Sorlin, professoratSorbonneUniversity, whodrewattentiontotheimportance ofadifferentiatedmediascapefor panel, wheredifferentviewsonmedia pluralismwereinterconnected,withthepresence,amongothers,ofPierre which interactedthroughsocialmediasuchasTwitter andFacebook.Alargeaudienceattendedtheconclusive The congresswascompletelylive-streamedonwww.altratv.tv Charter onHumanRights. institutions shouldsafeguardtherighttoindependentandpluralisticinformation assanctionedbytheEuropean (Hungarian EuropeSociety),NiccolòRinaldi(MEP)gavetheircontribution topromotetheideathatEuropean Greens), RobertoNatale(FNSI),IoanaAvadani (CentreforIndependentJournalism),IstvanHegedus political andprofessionalactors,activistsexpertssuchasMonicaFrassoni (Co-PresidentoftheEuropean European countriestobuildacommonactionandadvocacyplatformindefence ofmediapluralism.Prominent May, wasanotherkey-momentof thefestival,bringingtogetherNGOs,media,citizensandactivistsfromseven The Transnational CongressonMediafreedom,whichtookplaceinthebeautifulAuditoriumEnzoBiagi13 intellectual”. theatre companyTeatrino ClandestinogaveadifferentstanceonRomaculture, drawingontheconceptof“Roma subjective pointofview, whilethetheatreshowComuneSpazioProblematicobyrecognizedcontemporary a readingofSintilifehistoriesandthephotoexhibitionPancartabyOlivierPeyrouxapproachedissuefrom The sameideaswerefurtherdevelopedthroughouttheFestival,alsousingdifferentmediaanddiverselanguages: goes through12cities. festival andpoliticalevent,which Alternatives, throughacultural activist networkEuropean connection iscreatedbythe cities. Today anewtransnational network connectingEuropean celebrating themythicaltrain connection’ sungtheKraftwerk, ‘From stationto/straight citizenship entailsandtodebateonthedifferentwaysbuildacommonsharedmemory. Federation NazzarenoGuarnieri.Talking aboutRomabecameawaytotalkcitizenshipandwhatEuropean anthropologist LeonardoPiasere,theFrenchsociologistOlivierPeyrouxandrepresentativeofRomanì real protagonistsofTranseuropa. ThefestivalwasopenedbyadebateonRomarights,withtheprominentItalian A morejustsocietycannotignoretherightsofmostexcluded:Roma,migrantsandhomelesspeoplewere GIULIA TONUCCI,ZeroEdizioniBologna , thusenjoyingtheparticipationofanonlinepublic, MASSIMO MARINO,IlCorrieredellaSera emargination andculturalspaces. and documentariesinplacesof Shows, debates,installations Transeuropa FestivalinBologna: th

26 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS BOLOGNA large attendingpublic. living inthedorm,sharingtheirexperienceswith co-director ofthefilmandsomemigrants followed byadiscussionwiththephotography of IlSangueverde,documentaryaboutmigration, become a cinema for one night hosting the screening more unusualspaces,likeadormitory, which Museum ofModernArt,whereaccompaniedby spaces astheuniversityandMAMbo, reinvented fortheFestival:more“classical”cultural but manyotherplaceswere“transeuropised”and installation, wasthemainvenueoffestival, re-structured andre-imaginedbyCanAltay’s The UrbanCenterintheSalaBorsa, catalogue inthesection“ArtProgramme”). and EmanueleGuidi(moreinformationinthis with thecuratorsElviraVannini, MartinaAngelotti the scholarandartistMarceloExposito,dialoguing activism andartisticwork,featuringthepresenceof and alivelydiscussionontheconnectionsbetween Nicolas MaleveandMariaPtqkofGenderArtNet, on theGenderdimensionoftransnationalism,with variegated debateofTranseuropa, withaworkshop The artisticworldwasalsoinvolvedintherichand European society. exercise ofimaginingamoresustainablefuture and engagingaverydiversepublicincollective through aEuropeanandinterculturaldimension, successful edition,re-imagininglocalspaces All inall,Transeuropa Bolognawasavery on theverypopularonlineportalundo.net. dossier onthemagazineArteeCriticaandaspecial attention onthespecialisedmedia,featuringawhole social networks.Theartprogrammearoseaspecial also byaveryeffectiveviralcommunicationthrough space totheFestival,whichwasactivelypromoted (such asCorrieredellaSeraandLaStampa)gave festival coordinators.Importantnationalnewspapers space throughinterviewswiththeprotagonistsand event was featured in the news and some got special the localradioRadioCittàdelCapo,everyfestival Radio3Mondo; thankstothemediapartnershipswith cultural programmeRadio3Suiteandthepolitical the Festivalintwoimportantprogrammes, national broadcastingservice)gavespaceto coverage: RadioRai3(nationalradiopartofthe participative public.Ithadaverygoodmedia and wasverywellattendedbyadiverse organization, fromtheUniversitytoArtworld) local contexts(fromtheinstitutiontograssroot The festivalinvolvedpartnersfromvarious a rainbowofcolours London, Cardiff,Edinburgh today anditspotentialpoliticalvalue broadly. The concludingdiscussionposedserious questionsastotheprospectofautonomous,collaboratoryorganisation expressing frustrationatart’s marketised natureandtheirimperativetore-politiciseit. Centre’ byaMarxiancollectivewho then ruthlesslycritiquedthesubservientartindustryviajarringmonologues reflecting onthe1975film‘KinoBeleške/Filmnotes’,detailingits1970s creationinBelgrade’s ‘StudentCultural Kino BelezhkeandTobias Heringinitiallycontextualisedtheintensefilmscreening sessionoftheLondonedition have manycolors?” post-national democracy. Whenspeaking ofEuropeanidentitysheasked,“Whyspintherainbowwhitewhenwe member oftheReflectionGrouponFutureEurope,KalypsoNicolaidis speakonEurope,Transnationalism and sound installations.To closethefirstfulldayoffestivities,alarge crowd gatheredtohearOxfordProfessorand Arts4HumanRights atthehomeoffestival,includingpoetryreadings, theatrical performances,andparticipative and scavengerhuntsatBrixtonwhileanother60peoplewitnessednumerous artisticperformancesorganisedby most fundamentalhumanrightisbeingallowedtotellyourownstory’ The festivalstarteditsjourneyontheBigRedBustoBrixtonmarketwithastorytellerwhoreflectedhow an articulatedprogrammeofartisticperformances,screenings,andexhibitions. attracted hundredsofguestswhocametogethertodebateanddiscussissuescentralEuropeparticipatein The Rochelleschoolwashometonineexcitingaction-packeddaysofTranseuropa London.Thestimulatingevents London THE EVENINGSTANDARD on themove! of aLondondoubledeckerbus and thechallengingenvironment Shoreditch’s RochelleSchool, themes withintheuniquespaceof audiences toconsidertopical TransEuropa 2011encourages . Around50peopleenjoyedthebiketours ‘the

28 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS

NICCOLO DURAZZI,European to shapingtomorrow’s Europe. that Iwarmlyhopewillcontribute practice intovibrantdiscussions they broughttogethertheoryand the eventsthatIattended,as experience. Iverymuchenjoyed The festivalhasbeenafantastic

30 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS Will Hutton’s Europe Day Speech, in the context Roma and looked forward to a time when the Roma of widespread economic crisis, stressed the need could educate the rest of the world about their for ‘a more just economy’ which would curtail the needs and desires, Eniko Vincze concentrated widespread growth of Euro-scepticism and far-right on how European nation states have legitimised xenophobic politics which threaten to undermine the institutionalised discrimination and the European tradition of European unity and multi-cultural gains. Union has failed to react against it. Providing an artistic and aesthetic counterpoint to the talk, A large audience attended a passionately chaired Fiorenza Menni discussed her two year experience debate covering a range of issues around migration living with the Roma in Macedonia in order to and the EU which featured four contributors with ‘occidentalise’ herself and rid herself of the racism diverse areas of expertise and activism. that, according to her, we are all born into. Although a debate, key points of agreement were the contradiction of ‘free market liberalism’ The final day of the Festival in London attracted which refers to the free circulation trade and finance almost one hundred participants to discuss Labour but not labour; and how the gross geopolitical and Social rights in Europe. This transnational inequities highlighted by the experience of migration congress for generating propositions for a more must be confronted by developed countries to just and sustainable economy for Europe and the LONDON, CARDIFF, EDIMBURGH LONDON, CARDIFF,

eradicate the causes of forced economic of world was the closing event of over a week of migration at their roots. well attended inspirational events (see dedicated information in this catalogue), and brought together Pablo de Soto provided a fascinating and morale over 40 participants from all other Festival cities to boosting overview of the Hackitectura.net draw a common, trans-European programme. cooperative of transnational online activists who formed in 2003 in Seville. Participants witnessed In a city like London where it is difficult to take their highly creative new forms of sociopolitical a moment away form a hectic life, the Festival action which included counter-hegemonic mapping reminded Londoners and Europeans that uniting enabling the visualisation of an alternative and to discuss issues which are of vital importance to enhanced sociability. As a case in point, Pablo our everyday lives is a duty in today’s world, a duty presented “Commonuniversity”, a creative mapping which can prove to be fun. The Festival’s participants of the state of higher education in Europe and the of all ages and backgrounds greatly contributed to recent students’ protest movements, produced as the discussion and atmosphere of the events. part of the Visualising Transnationalism project A rainbow of ideas and opinions were brought forth, (see information in this catalogue). new friendships were made, and for many, feelings of hope were kindled and strengthened; hope for a Academics Thomas Acton and Eniko Vincze, bright future for Europe. Amnesty EU country coordinator Richard Kotter, and artist, playwright and ‘extreme citizen’ Fiorenza Menni united to discuss ‘How can Europe prevent discrimination against the Roma from recurring?’ While Thomas Acton stressed the importance of understanding the history of racism against the unique interactivepoetryeventrunby GlennDavidsonofArtstation.AtrulyEuropefinale! exchange journeybetweenCardiffandAmsterdam,performedinover 20languages.Theeveningendedwitha based poetTsead Bruinjaandateamoftranslatorscontributedespeciallycommissionedpoetry, written onan in schoolsandcollegesacrossWales especiallyforthefestival.ThenT. S.EliotwinnerPhilipGross,Amsterdam The eveningeventsbeganwithreadingsofthewinnersCILTCymru’s EuropeanLanguage Poetrycompetition,run us act,now.” “Where thereisEUregulationalsofunding,andareinitiatives whichhavebeenputinplacetohelp groups. “ThemembershipoftheEUisahugelybeneficialthing,”saidone audiencememberafterthediscussion. important arelinkswithEuropeinsettinghighstandardsofsustainability, andinsupportinglocalenvironmental themes thatwerethendiscussedbykeyfiguresfromtheenvironmentalmovementinCardiffwhoexploredhow A minioperafromTheOperaGroupentitled‘SavingtheDiva’exploredthemesofconsumptionanclimatechange, the EuropeanCommissioninCardiffAndyKlom. and EuropeanAlternatives,followedbyanopeningaddressfromCardiffCouncilLeaderRodneyBermanHeadof The daybeganwithstallsfromtheEuropeanCommissionRepresentationinWales, theBritishCouncil,CILTCymru Cardiff European UniversityInstitute LUISA PASSERINI, ColumbiaUniversityand and migration. the challengesofclimatechange rest onhowwecometoaddress Any futureEuropeanidentitywill

32 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME LONDON, CARDIFF, EDIMBURGH LONDON, CARDIFF,

In the evening, Professor Luisa Passerini Edinburgh delivered her keynote lecture, ‘European identity The day in Edinburgh began with a discussion in postcolonial perspective’, concluding that “any ‘Is there a Scottish way to Europe?’ between future European identity will rest on how we come Head of the European Commission in Scotland Neil to address the challenges of climate change Mitchison, John Brand of the European Movement and migration. ”The day ended with singer Paolo in Scotland, and Scottish National Party researcher Barilleri, supported by the Italian Institute Toni Giuliani, a debate made especially interesting in Edinburgh, with a performance telling as it came in the wake of the SNP’s electoral the story of European integration through popular success three days previously. This was followed European songs. by a discussion and performance of violin music from across Europe by award winning fiddle player All partners would be keen to collaborate again in Jani Lang, and the afternoon ended with storyteller similar events, and a wider range of both participant Kati Waitzmann exploring the connections between and performers could be reached, particularly young European storytelling traditions, a particularly people and students, through increased contact with apt event as the festival was held at the Scottish schools and universities. Whether or not there is a Storytelling Centre. Scottish way to Europe, there is definitely Scottish interest in Europe! (and expanding)one’s identities Or abouttheimportanceofaccepting Cluj-Napoca Central andEasternEuropetofunding ofcriticalartprojectsinthesamegeographicalspace. celebrated artistJoanneRichardson . Discussionsweremorethanvivid,ranging fromthelegacyofcommunismin postcommunism, tourismandself-commodification, partof Transitland Europaarchivesthatwerepresentedby It isatCasaTranzit thattheFestivalopened withTrans-political narratives,aseriesofdocumentaryfilmson Art Programmeofthiscatalogueformoreinformation). intimate, delicateand,atthesametime,extremelypowerfulapproachto sexual identityandLGBTrights(seesection the NationalGalleryinWarsaw lastautumn,includingartworksbyRomanianandinternationalartistsofferingan Ground wasdivided…wejumpedandPulse,withintheVeil , aprojectinspiredbyArsHomoEroticapresentedat place wheretwoexhibitionscohabitedandevencomplementedeachother: CanAltay’s “HomeofFestival”The contemporary artspace:anoriginalvenuethatimpressedtheinternational guestsaswelltheaudience.Itis The majorityoftheeventshappenedatCasaTranzit, aformerorthodoxsynagoguerecentlyturnedinto bears onminorities,urbanpublicspaceandpostcommunistsociety. Festival Clujapproachedthespecificissueofmigration,internalandexternal,togetherwiththoseimpactit questions itdoesnotevendaretoask.TheframeofthoughtthatledtheeventstakingplaceinTranseuropa With EuropeanintegrationreachingCentralandEasternEurope,thecentury-oldmulticulturalmodelneedstoanswer signified. Clujstandsforalmostasmanygeographiespeopleinthecity, differentinspaceastime. in themiddleofHungarianhistoriccentrethisRomaniancityisaglimpsewhatTranseuropa FestivalCluj A homeoftheFestivalcreatedbyaTurkish artistinaformersynagogue situatedinasmallRomaneighbourhoodjust BOGDAN BRETOIU,FlipFlop.ro hopefully, effective! Courageous andsubtle,

34 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS

the visibilityprovidedbyvenueandtooriginalityofitsconcept.As PaulaBoar and CanadianfriendsAliceTeodora, respectively. Thiseventwasverywellreceivedbythemedia,dueto The excerptswereread,andalsoperformed,bytheTranseuropa Clujvolunteersteam,togetherwithourAustralian Roma, aimedatdebatingtheexistingclichésonastheyhavedevelopedinliterature. literature andcontemporaryart.Here,Transeuropa FestivalorganizedareadingsessionentitledAboutandasidethe On May10 view ofaccessiontotheSchengenarea. borders ofEuropeandthepartthatCentralEasternplayinframeworkglobalization,particular Europe DayMay9,whentheprojectionoffilmMorgenwasfollowedbyintensedebatesonnature The samevenuewitnessedoneofthekeytalksonmigrationthathavetakenplaceinRomaniaevening notably, theimportanceofangleandcontextfromwhichRoma areperceived.” a closerviewanddifferentperception oncertainstereotypesthatareassociatedwiththisminority, andshowed, FlipFlop.ro remarked,“ThisreflectionoftheimagethatRomaandtheirculturehaveborne across timeallowed Another veryspecialeventtookplaceattheC and photographyprojectdevelopedduringhervisittoLondonaspartoftheTranseuropa Network. European Alternativesvolunteer)SânzianaCr th , Transeuropa ClujmovedforafewhourstotheverypopularL’Atelier Café,whereyoungartist(and ă ă ciun openedherexhibitiononUrbanSpaces:OldandNew,agraphic rture ș ti Bookstore,averyimportantmeetingpointforallloversof ță from popularnewsportal

36 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS CLUJ-NAPOCA re-frame theirfamiliarpublicspaceinsuchaway. stop andaskthemselveswhatkindofeventcould of cartonsandchalkwritings,whichmadecitizens the sameday, towardsdusk,thesquarebecamefull and drawingmindmapsofEurope.Intheevening English comicstoface-painting,playingtheviolin joined thespiritoffree-sharing,thatrangedfrom of youngandold,Romaniannon-Romanian, social marketforoneday. There,ajoyfulcrowd in themiddleofmediaevaltown,turnedintoa Muzeului, averypleasantpedestriansquaresituated On May13 On May14 welfare state. in providingamodelforthedismantlingWestern bearing apostcommunistheritageofactingtogether on thepossibilityofCentralandEastEuropeanstates of EuropeanStudies,Cluj).Thediscussionfocused pentru Ac (Faculty ofSociology,ClujandmemberGrupul American University,Prague),NorbertPetrovici remarks) amongtheacademicsJurajDraxler(Anglo- followed byaroundtable(withplentyofstudent organising IsEuropetooSocial?,akeyspeech its collaborationwiththeUniversityofClujby ț iune Social th th , Transeuropa FestivalmovedtoPia Transeuropa FestivalClujinaugurated ă ) andSergiuMi ș coiu (Faculty ț a It canonlydoitwellandforthebetter. should performtheexerciseofself-assessment. multicultural characterofitspopulationcanand city ofgeographiesasvariedtheeverexpanding In brief,Transeuropa FestivalClujshowedthata by BurghesiniaCollective. Burghesinia playsONtheNewMinority,performed immediately enjoytheclosingevent,aDJsetentitled to last,sothatthesameaudiencecouldalmost audience formorethandoublethetimeitwasmeant Sparkingly vividandstrong,theForumcaptivated Transeuropa London. culture intheworld,whopreviouslyparticipated Thomas Acton,oneofthetwoprofessorsRomani several panelsandonekeynotespeechbyProfessor Transnational ForumonRomaRights,including Transeuropa FestClujendedonMay15 about theonetheycurrentlyshare. improving publicspace,basedonpeople’s feelings Prague andaimedatdiscoveringpossibilitiesfor had previouslytakenplaceinTranseuropa Festival It wastheSpace,motion,emotion,aworkshopthat th witha Festival foraEuropewithoutprejudices Lublin Adrien Grosreadhispoetryonlooking forhisownJewishrootsinthiscity. book GoldenHarvest,co-authoredwithJanTomasz Gross. AtTektura alternativecollective,Grenoble-Lublinpoet conversation withProfessorIrenaGrudzinska-Gross ofPrincetonwhodemonstratedPoland’s anti-Semitisminher from theLublinarea(RosaLuxemburg,BelaShapira,NanGoldin),Goncourt-winning writerAnnaLangfus,anda culture; thatiswhyweorganizedanumberoftalksonJewishlife:about the rebelliouswomencomingoriginally interculturality ofthiscityattheEasternborderPoland.BeforeHolocaust, LublinwasamajorcentreofJewish community, feminismandtransnational cultures.TheFestivaltriedtorememberandrevivethemurdered refugees. Throughexhibitions,performances,debatesandworkshops,it fostered theacceptanceofLGBTQ Held inLublinbetween5–15May2011,Transeuropa celebratedhospitality, therightsofwomen,minoritiesand ALESSANDRO VALERA, contrasted withshockingimagesofviolenceduringtheGayPrideparades ofZagrebandBelgrade.” the exhibitionLoveIsongayvisibilityinEurope,featuringcampaignsLGBTissuesfromaround Europe, EU. NotbeingabletounderstandPolish,Ididappreciatemostlythevisualartselementsoffestival,inparticular did notshyawayfromtopicsthatcanbethornyeverywhereinEuropeandparticularlysoattheEasternborderof rights toabortion,fromrecyclingandcompostingexploringtheJewishheritageofcity, Transeuropa Festival about orvisuallyexperiencingthemesandissuesthatarestillquitemarginalinPolishpublicdiscourse.Fromgay not havemademefeelwarmer. TheFestivalmanagedtoattractalargegroupofdiversecitizensinterestedinhearing “I leftRomeonasunnyspringdayandarrivedinfreezingPoland.However, takingpartinTranseuropa Lublincould the Other”,GazetaWyborcza daily GRZEGORZ JOZEFCZUK,“GettingtoKnow discussion aboutminorities... in thecanonofart’s initiatinga should betheexampletofollow Activism: fromBritaintoBelarus asLGBTQ Lublin, LoveisLove,Art The mainexhibitionofTranseuropa MARTA RYCZKOWSKA, Zoommonthly democracy refreshesitsmeaning. access toeducation.Theword of womenandsexualminorities, margin: socialinequality, therights problems whicharepushedtothe and dustingtheuncomfortable me oflookingunderthecarpet Transeuropa Lublinreminds

38 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS

inspirers, thinkerJuliaKristevaandtheatre-makerEwaWojciak, spokeattheFestival. Amsterdam andCluj.Via Transeuropa, wecouldconnectagainwiththesecitiesaswellPariswhereour and anti-serfdom)Unitarians/Socinianshadbeenexiledfromseventeenth-century Poland,theyfoundrefugein in thepast:sixteenthcenturythiscityconstitutedacentreofReformation. Whensociallyradical(anti-war mentality wereinvited”totheFestival.Transeuropa thusservedasdissidencejustLublinwasahubofdissenters sodomites”; itsdailyNaszDziennikclaimedthat“swarmsofreformersthetraditionalsocialorderandPolish the “boldnudes”ofTheCityLove.fundamentalistRadioMaryjatooktocallingTranseuropa a“festivalof Taboo”; itschiefartcriticDorotaJareckawroteonLabirynt’s LoveIs , Tektura alternativecollectiveand biggest newspaperGazetaWyborcza definedtheFestivalas“GettingtoKnowOther”and“ArtBreaks The FestivalmadenewsinthenationwideeditionsofbroadsheetsGazetaWyborcza andRzeczpospolita.Poland’s university auxiliarypersonnelin2009,wasalsoheld. debate forthedemocratizationofhighereducation,rootedinouracademicprotestsagainstthreatfiring400 Homophobia. We alsoorganizedalectureabouttheproblemofsexuallytransmitteddiseasesinLublinarea.A An eveningofhomoeroticpoetryandaworkshopontransgenderwerecoordinatedbytheCampaignAgainst femininity andmasculinitythroughtheworkofchoreographers/dancersPawelKorbusJanuszAdamBiedrzycki. Europe. Salataprotestedinfrontofa“Catholiccentreforcuringhomosexuality”.Theatreproductionsanalyzed The performancesbySzymonPietrasiewiczandPiotrSalataproblematisedthepoliticalissuesofthisregion problem ofhomelessnessinLublin. conventions”. InhisexhibitionTheBodyatZacheta,PawelKorbusexploredthesocialbody, commentingonthe presented feministpaintingsbyKatarzynaHolda;criticIzaKowalczykcalledthem“courageousworkswhichbreak sparked adiscussionoverartisticfreedom.CuratedbyMagdaLinkowskaatLabiryntGallery, TheMadonnas Human RightsandArtasGenderLGBTQActivism.AsexualpanoramaofLublinTheCityLovebyPiotrNazaruk the contextofthisexhibition,togetherwithinvitedpanelists,weparticipatedinlivelydebatesover instrumental inmountingPoland’s lesbianandgayvisibilitycampaign LetUsBeSeenpresentedatLoveIs.In discussion onIzabelaJaruga-Nowacka,feministandLGBTrightsadvocate,killedintheSmolenskaircrash.Shewas showed theburningissuesofanti-gayviolenceinBelgrade,ZagrebandMinsk.Theexhibitionwasaccompaniedbya lesbian andgayvisibilityacrossEurope;throughthevideoartofIgorGrubic(Croatia)Bergamot(Belarus),it Labirynt Gallery, LoveIsLove.ArtasLGBTQActivism:fromBritaintoBelarus for Transeuropa: LoveIsLove,TheBody, TheCityofLoveandMadonnas.CuratedbyPawelLeszkowiczat turned religionintoanideology. Feminismandhomosexualitywereexaminedintheexhibitionsmountedespecially Gender andqueerculturewasanotheraspectdevelopedintheFestival,vitaltothiscitywherepoliticalclasshas with educationandresidence;Chechensfeelneglectedbythemunicipalinstitutions. We alsometwithChechenrefugeeswhopresentedtheirprecarioussituation:exclusion,unemployment,problems The transnationalcharacterofLublinwasfurtherexploredinthepresentationsbyRomaandUkrainiancommunities. surveyedperformativecampaignsfor Art asPerforming

40 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS Transeuropa is not only a festival of Transeuropa is a rich programme knowledge and art. It is also a test of debates, workshops and of openness in society. performances. RAFAL CZEKAJ, Krytyka Polityczna MALGORZATA SZLACHETKA, Gazeta Wyborcza daily LUBLIN

Transeuropa Lublin was well-attended: we had over 150 guests for the openings of Love Is Love, The City of Love and The Madonnas. The Festival integrated a variety of milieux ranging from Labirynt Gallery, known for its postconceptual exhibitions, to countercultural Tektura, and including Grodzka Gate-NN Theatre, Campaign Against Homophobia, Amnesty International, Krytyka Polityczna, UN Social Programme Spoldzielnia, Zieloni, Homo Faber, Lublin 9-L’Étrangère and a number of individual scholars/ artists/activists. The Festival cherished hospitality in the sense of philosopher Hélène Cixous; Lublin is becoming again a city of a variety of cultures, identities and loves. We have decided not to conclude Transeuropa, but continue it in a postsituationist way of a non-stop action for social and cultural change: a Festival of Every Day to create a Lublin and a Europe without anti-Semitism, misogyny and homophobia. TOMASZ KITLINSKI The artofpolitics Amsterdam (MEP D66),LeonWillems(FreePress Unlimited),ThomasBruning(NederlandseVereniging vanJournalisten)and the situationisindifferentEuropean countries. Thespeakers-JudithSargentini(MEPGreens),MarietjeSchaake but theNetherlandsareinamorefortunate situation.We askedourspeakerswhat press freedomisandwhat European media freedom in the Netherlands as a pressing issue. Clearly this is a pressing issue in some EU countries, A secondimportanteventwasadebateonmediafreedominEurope.Withthiswewantedtointroduce It iseasyandcheaptomakedistribute. their own“zines”.Azineisahome-mademagazineinwhichpeoplecanexpress theircreativityandideas. by EefjeBlankevoortonhowimagesareusedforpoliticalcommunication inIran,participantswereinvitedtomake workshop withwhichtheytrytousethetoolsofxenophobepartiesforsomething morepositive.Afterapresentation May 8.We kickedofthedaywithaworkshop“PositivePopulism”.TheDanubeFoundationwasinvitedtogivethis Most oftheeventsforfestivalinAmsterdamwerelocatedonevenue andwerepresentedononeday, Sunday people acrossEurope,aneventwhichalsohappenedsimultaneouslyinParis. ‘flashmob’ ofpeopleexchangingkissestopromotetherightsLGBTQ(lesbian, gay, bi,transgenderandqueer) promoting mediafreedom–togetthetransnationaldebatestarted!Thefestivalendedonapositivenote,with themes whicharesharedacrossTranseuropa FestivalalloverEurope,such ascombatingpopulistxenophobiaand to breakdownbarriersbetweenpeopleandtheirpotentialforpositivecollectiveaction.We alsotackledseveral collecting personallettersaddresseddirectlytoEuropeanCouncilPresidentHermanvanRompuy. Theproject aimed artist JonmarvanVlijmenaddressedourperceptionoftheunapproachabilityanddistanceEuropeanpoliticiansby Several oftheeventsandtopicsinAmsterdampresentedacross-overbetweenartpolitics.Aprojectledby

42 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS

44 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS AMSTERDAM to HermanvanRompuy. level of“Europeanness”checkedand writealetter enter theofficeofanEUcivilservant tohavetheir project werealsoondisplay. Lastly, peoplecould produced aspartoftheVisualising Transnationalism Europe. Severalofthepostersandvisualmaterial produced byyoungFestivalactivistsfromthroughout for LGBTinEuropeandoneonRomarights,both headphones showedtwofilms,oneon“comingout” entertained withseveralsideactivities.ATV During themaineventsparticipantswere Spanish, Arabic,Welsh, PersianandYoruba. Translations inGreek,Polish,French,German, members usingphonesandtweets.Theresult? were translatedlivebythemulticulturalaudience Cardiff andAmsterdam.Duringtheeventspoems were performedduringTranseuropa Festivalinboth train journeysbetweenCardiffandAmsterdam, the poemswerewrittenbyPhilipandTsead during displacement. Appropriatelyforthethemesexplored, the connectionsbetweentranslation,movement,and Gross andAmsterdampoetTsead Bruinja,exploring Transeuropa FestivalbyT. S.EliotPrizewinnerPhilip poetry andtranslationsespeciallycomposedfor Cardiff wasSoundsofEurope,aperformance Connecting theAmsterdameditionwithTranseuropa conducted collaborativelyfortheFestival. mapping ofhighereducationandstudentsprotests the fabricofEuropeansocieties,andpresentinghis how transnationalismisalreadywellembeddedin Pablo deSotofromHackitectura.net,explaining Vizualising Transnationalism waspresentedby The exhibitionoftheTranseuropa Festivalartproject people shouldcare.We guesstheyalreadydo. we didnoteventouchuponthequestionwhyDutch audience weresoengagedinthisconversationthat Eric Karstens(EuropeanJournalismCentre)-and even moresuccessful. network inAmsterdamtomakethefestival2012 together. We willmostdefinitelycontinuetobuilda different nationalitiesthatliveinAmsterdam attracting aninternationalaudienceandbringing of theeventswashighandweweresuccessfulin All inallwewerepleasedtofindthatthequality for LGBTrightsinEurope. Amsterdam atthesametimetoaskmediaattention participants kissedonthestreetsofParisand Kiss meforEqualitywasaflashmobduringwhich Amsterdam. Attractingsignificantmediaattention, On EuropeDayMay9wehadonelasteventin city tolivein! Bratislava We startedour“beyondtheborders”festivalon6 in 12citiesthesametime. indoor andoutdooractivitiesduringthesecondweekofMay2011asapart ofthehugeTranseuropa festivalholding there arenotminorandmajorproblemswhenisawillingnesstotalk aboutit.Ouractivityresultedinseven wanted toorganizeitwithoutanyconstraintsthetopicsandformsoftheir presentationbecausewebelievedthat What connectedalloftheseeventswasmainlyourwillingnesstoputtogetheraprogram“withoutborders“.We austerity measuresinSlovakia. program withvarietyofissuesstartinghomelesstheaterandendingdiscussionsaboutsecularism studying andworkinginformanyyears.Theenthusiasticgroupofyoungorganisersmanagedtocreateinteresting opportunity toputcooperationmanyinterestinggroups,projectsandplacesinthecitywewerebornorhavebeen When welearntaboutthepossibilitytoorganizeTranseuropa festivalin Bratislava, wefounditasagreat Slovak folkmusicwithcartoonpictures connectedwithsimilardrawingsinallpictures. Šateková presentedherexhibitionNobodyputthebabyincorner whereshewasconnectingtheelements of The secondeventwasheldinBAtalier, anexciting newartspaceinBratislava.TheyoungSlovakartistIvana of thevisitorsremarkedafterspectacle. than ourtimeandownspace.We shouldvaluewhatwehave,notrunningfordoneedtohave“,one with manydeadlinesandlittlespaceforthinking.Thisspectacleshowed me thatthereisnomoreimportantthing play KucaPacawherehomeless,disabledandsociallyexcludedpeopleweretheactors. “We liveinverybusytimes, th ofMaybyspectacleTheaterwithouthome,whoperformedthe ADELA AUGIAS,participant local problems! there areEuropeansolutionsto Transeuropa mademeunderstand

46 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS

Thanks totheniceweather8 city intheworld. creating thespaceforcyclingisprosperousany to persuadethelocalpoliticiansandcitizensthat ideas howtorevealthecyclingproblemand event inBratislava,andwegotsomenewinteresting The sameorganizationwasthecoordinatorofthis cyclo movementCriticalmassinUSAandCanada. to watchmovie“You neverbikealone”aboutthe After theridewewenttoculturalcenterDunaj cyclists withtherepresentativesofcityhall. on Wednesday wherewediscusseddifficultiesfor for thecyclists.Thecontinuationofthiseventwas cycle routsandfoundalotofproblematicplaces city districtPetržalka.We passedthroughmain great dayinBratislavatoorganizebikeridethrough th ofMaywasthe

48 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS From Monday to Thursday we had the four Last but not least, it was a great experience for us, discussions in Bratislava multi-art space A4 Nulty organizers, to hold such a meaningful but exhausting priestor. The topics were quite broad, from social programme of events in several days in May. rights on Monday to Secularism on Tuesday, Bratislava as the city to live in on Wednesday We hope that we will maintain those good elements and austerity measures on Thursday. We tried to of the first year of the Festival in Bratislava improvig make those discussions as much transeuropean as we work towards 2012. as it was possible. For example Czech economist We are very pleased we had a possibility to Ilona Švihlíková came to Bratislava to search for contribute to the idea of a festival “without borders“, similarities and differences in austerity measures an idea which should be a value for all of us. and their impacts in such close countries as Slovakia and the Czech Republic are.

Thanks to two press releases announcing the upcomming Transeuropa festival we were published in two major Slovak press agencies (TASR and SITA) and in biggest news portal www.sme.sk. BRATISLAVA

Even if it was a challenge to bring together such a wide variety of themes and activities, it was exciting to be a part of the Transeuropa spirit with a lot of powerful ideas and demanding tasks. collectivity innetworks building /searchingenabling... Berlin legislative proposalsdirectlyattheCommission. for transnationaldemocracyinthenew European-wideCitizens’Initiative,allowingEuropeancitizenstobring a event hostedattheHausderDemokratie undMenschenrechteBerlin.We singledout aconcretestartingpoint through theideaofglobalreferendaoraworldparliamentaryassembly. Thesewerethethemesatheartofan activists’ groupEgalityispromotingglobaltransparencyorevenparticipation indecisionmakingprocesses What cansuchformsofactionlooklikeandhowweassuremoretransparency indecisionmaking?The promote experimentalformsofsocialandpoliticalactionwithinsuchnetworks. network-building andthegeneralintellect.Bifoseesstrongpotentialincritical formsofcommunicationandsoughtto crises, consumptionandacceleration.Inastimulatingdebatetheaudienceengagedphilosopheronhistheory of “the GeneralIntellectislookingforaBody”onnetworkbuildingandcriticalawarenessintimescharacterizedby The Italianphilosopher, politicalactivistandwriterFranco‘bifo’Berardispoketoapackedaudienceunderthetitle The openingnightofthefestivalwashostedbyrehearsingcollectivity,anartsprojectatUferstudiosWedding. Roma andSintithechallengesoftransnationalorglobaldemocracy. For Berlinwesingledoutimmigration,ormorepreciselyEUmigrationpolicy, aswellthediscriminationagainst on transnationalismitselfbutwhatwefeelaretransnationalissuesthatoughttobetackledbyusatthismoment. inhabitants andpasser-bys. Surely, wewantedmorethanthat: wantedtoengagecitizensintoadebatenotonly As inLondonorParisBerlinthetranseuropeanexperienceislivedonadailybasisthroughitsmulticultural MICHAEL VOGTMANN,bln.fm Transeuropa Festivalishere! of Europealittle.That’s why It’s hightimetodustofftheissue a sexytopic. responsibility isnotexactly It mayseemthatEuropean

50 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS ph © Roberto Beani welcoming andcollaborativemigrationpolicy. Africa. ShecalledformoreEuropeansolidarityandspreadedoptimismtoprogressivelygaingrounda that EuropedoesnotwitherunderafewthousandmigrantsnowenteringtheEUasresultofupheavalsinNorth to migrantsintheMediterranean”,summariedGregorDömlinghisblogon “Today onceagainwemustspeakoffortressEuroperatherthanlighthousewhenlookattheEUresponse reactions totheNorthAfricanrefugeecrisis. with OktayDurukan,fromIstanbul-basedHelsinkiCitizensAssembly,currentEUasylumandrefugeepolicies migration, transitandtransnationalism.OnFridaynightatSüdblocktheGermanGreenMEPSkaKellerdiscussed club/café SüdblockandcinemaArsenalatPotsdamerPlatzweremarkedbytherecurrenceofthemes The finaldaysofBerlin Transeuropa festivalwitheventsonFriday, SaturdayandSundaynightattheeclecticbar/ GREGOR DÖMLING,blogFreitag.de the Transeuropa FestivalinBerlin. bodies –transnationalityinfocusat Bodyless borders,borderless Der Frietag.SkaKellerMEPunderlined

52 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS BERLIN Germany backtoKosovo. impressively thefateofRomafamiliesdeportedfrom “Welcome home“byElizaPetkova,whichdescribed cleansing waspickeduponSunday’s filmnight, The painfulexperienceofdisplacementandethnic depicting thebodyasalanguageandallegory. Space Savvyfivevideoworkshavebeenshown for FilmandVideo ArtandtheContemporary political scene.IncollaborationwiththeInstitute that attractedastrongcrowdacrosstheartsand hosted afilm-screeninganddebatesprogram artists andcuratorsinBerlin.TheArsenalcinema again theresultofacollaborationwithestablished The lasttwoeventsoftheFestivalinBerlinwere Festival’s mediapartner. It’s justthebeginning! Der Freitag,awellknownweeklywhobecamethe e.V., organisersoftheRomafestivalHerdelezi,to links withorganisationsrangingfromAmaroDrom - networkingserious,andestablishedimportant future. We tookthemessageofopeninglecture experience onwhichwecanstronglybuildforthe The festivalinBerlinwasasuccessfulfirst-time ph ©RobertoBeani beyond Czechborders Prague seminar whichpromptedparticipants tocreatetheirownUtopiancity. in debates,paneldiscussionsandhands-on activities,whetheritbeinapublicworkshopaboutspace, ora citizenship, migrationandmulticulturalism, andRomarightsthematics.Theseconceptsweredefinedredefined solutions fortheseissues,inPragueandacrossEuropeanborders.Transeuropa PraguefocusedonEuropean It isclearthatthefestivalwillleadtofurtherworktowardsaplatformfor people todevelopnewanddynamic Klaus’ prevailingEuro-skepticism). ideas, bringinganewunderstandingofthecooperationbetweenEUstates (tocontrastCzechpresidentVáclav light thesetransitionsandchanges–helpCzechsbecomemoreaccepting ofthesemovementspeopleand In thepast20years,countryhassustainedawhirlwindoftransition.The festivalinPraguewantedtobring The festivalaimedtoevokeanew, outward-lookingkindofengagedcivilsocietyinPrague. festival broughtwithitagustoffresh(spring)airtothecity! with thepanelistsandorganizers.After10daysofculturalpoliticalevents andactivities,itwasclearthatthe were made,asmanyaudiencemembersandparticipantsreturnedformultipleeventsengagedinconversation opening ofthefestivalatclubandculturalcenter2.patro.Itwasclearthroughoutweekthatmanyconnections The festivalwaswellattended,withhundredsofCzechsandexpatslivinginPraguegatheringtocelebratethe outside theCzechRepublic,lookinginsideandofborders,toworktowardspositivechange. positive energyandofferedsomethinguniquetoCzechcivilsociety:a The energyassociatedwithPraguespringisverywellknown.Transeuropa Festival, held6–15May, embracedthis STEPHEN DELBOS,ThePraguePost issues ofinternationalconcern. vibrant, youth-orientedspinon cultural contextandputtinga of puttingurgenteventsintoa Transeuropa isuniqueinitsstyle gap betweencultureandpolitics, As afestivalthattriestospanthe network ofengagedpeoplebothinsideand

54 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS

of ParliamentinPoland.Mr. GodsonemigratedfromNigeriatoPolandin1993and2007tookhisseatatparliament. the CzechRepublic,ZhivkaDelevafromComeniusUniversityinBratislavaandJohnGodson,firstblackMember migration arightorprivilegeboth?OtherpanelistsincludeAndreaBaršováfromtheOfficeofGovernment are strugglingwithinthesystemandcannotevenattainbasicrights.Thepanelconcludedwithquestion:Is the MulticulturalCenterinPraguebroughtupanimportantpointwhichisthatintegrationcannothappenifpeople a migrantwasdiscussedfrompolitical,academicandanNGOperspectiveduringthisevent.MarieJelínková institutional structurestointegratethosewhomigrateEurope?Theconstantlyevolvingideaofwhatitmeansbe What doesitmeantobeanimmigrantinEurope?Isintegrationidealisticexpectationorispossiblewiththeright citizenship, thoughtprovokingquestionswereposedtoboththepanelmembersandaudience. in CentralEurope.ModeratedbypoliticalandsocialcommentatorHrishabhSandilya,whoalsoledthepanelon This discussionwasinmanywayscontinuedthenexteveningatevent people’s differences,aswelltheimportancetoembraceidea ofamulticulturalcitizenship. “multiculturalism fan”,broughtuptheimportanceofmulticulturalismanditspotentialtointegratebyacknowledging citizenship andidentity. Finallypoliticaltheoristandphilosopher, panelistPavelBaršawhodescribedhimselfasa Institut (CivicInstitute),RomanJoch,broughtupamorecontroversialperspectiveontheimportanceofnational migrants, whileCzechPrimeMinister’s AdvisoronForeignPolicyandHumanRightsdirectorofOb youth foundationCitizensforEurope,discussedthecitizenryprocessthroughoutEU,especiallythird-country discussion arrivedattheessentialquestion:Whatdowemeanbycitizenship?MartinWilhelm,directorof an engagingtwohourdiscussionamongthepanelistswiththought-provokinginvolvementfromaudience European citizen,beawareofone’s nationalidentityandbeathirdcountrylivinginEurope’s borders.After The activepaneldiscussionCitizenshipandMulticulturalism/‘Lite’examinedwhatitmeanstobea Deconstructing theMigrationExperience č anský

56 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS Godson discussed his experience both The Festival featured many more events, including as a migrant and lawmaker, which provided an discussions of social welfare in Europe, an important interesting perspective. exhibition on sustainability, public transport, and Roma rights were another theme explored during the environmentally-friendly cities in public space in Transeuropa festival in Prague. More than 200,000 Prague, a participative workshop on concepts of the Roma live in the Czech Republic alone, but many utopian city in Europe, a bike-ride through the city, are afraid to say that they are Romani. Several short and much more. films profiling the Roma community in Central and Eastern Europe entitled “Colorful but Colorblind: Further events are taking root as festival volunteers Beyond Roma Stereotypes” were screened, and participants are eager to continue working on followed by a discussion with Robert Rustem from the concerns and issues that were illuminated during the European Roma and Travellers Forum, a division the Transeuropa week. As stated in an article by The of Council of Europe. The films showed glimpses of Prague Post, “The festival is just the beginning.” Roma life, aspirations and challenges that still face this ethnic minority in most European countries, as well as how important it is for the future integration for everyone to break from the prevailing PRAGUE

generalizations which impede the progress of the community. This screening was followed by a panel discussion, also featuring Rustem who spoke about the importance of seeing Roma as whole people with multiple identities, not only by their Roma identity. questioning borders Sofia downtown tobothhuntthebitsofwords andgettoknowanoldforgottenSofiabyusinga1920smap. people to“compose”poemscommissioned especiallybyBulgarianpoets,andparticipantsspreadalloverSofia On thedaynextmostinteractiveandattendedeventtookplace:called “scavengerHunt”,theeventengaged Hungary) andMartonRovid(politicalscientistanalystoftheEUpolicies towardsRoma). the participantswasBulgarianRomaactivistandintellectualVassil Chaprazov, GergoPulay(anthropologistfrom an activistvisualprojectbyEmanueleGuidi-strategiesofemancipationinsteadadministeredinclusion.Among On Wednesday wefocusedaroundtheobstaclesRomainclusionandtriedtoidentify-throughadebate Bulgaria’s bordercontrolanditsgrimpresentastohowrefugeesareinfactcriminalised. Karlsruhe) andZvezdaVankova (expert inrefugees’rightsandlegislation)wewentthroughtheworrisomefutureof Mauro Longo(researcherofthereadmissionagreementsbetweenItalyand Libya),MarinaLyakova (University of of theexhibitionwasrelayforalivelydebatecalled“TheelusivefrontiersEurope”.Withspeakerssuchas was theofficialopeningatRedHouseCenterforCultureandDebate,ourmainfestivallocation.The We beganonMondaywithaneventfulday:Lyubomir Draganov’s videoinstallationinspiredonmigrationexperiences a conceptthatweusedtopointatthedividinglinesinBulgariansocietynowadays. grossly omittedcriesofthedayinBulgariansociety. Theseissueswerewrappedinourmainthematicaxis – A veryintenseweekfullofevents,theTranseuropa FestivalSofiamadethe way forsomeofthemarginalizedand Border,

58 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS

of theprovincialandthusreflectingmutualprovincialisms.” discourses inBalkancountriesontheirroadtoEU,aswelltheEUitself,aremanycasesreinforcingspirit provincialism butalsomadeusthinkaboutthepriceandreverseeffectsofeuro-integration.Asshesaid“public a mind-blowinglectureonEuropeand“Europeanprovincialism”.Prof.Blagojevicnotonlygaveexamplesofsuch Our finaldaywasreservedforthefestival’s guestlecturer, Prof.Jelisaveta Blagojevic fromBelgradewhodelivered conditions andrights. outsourcing andprivatizationinBulgariatorevealhowevenmenbecomesubjectsof“feminization”termslabor possible afeminizationoflabor, whileDimitraKofti(UniversityCollegeofLondon)madeapresentationabout Dr. ElenaStoykova,asociologistfromSofiaUniversityhighlightedthepolicystructuresandlegislationthatmake similar logicsprevailineconomicmigrationfromtheSouthtoNorththanksRose-MyrlieJoseph(Haiti/France). economic migrationfromEasterntoWestern Europeaffectsmaleidentity, onlytodiscoverlaterinthedebatehow poverty”: wefirstwatchedthedocumentary“Cityof Women Badante”bydirectorStefanKomandarevtoseehow A similarlytransgressiveblendofactivismandresearchprevailedinthedebateon“Feminizationlabor crossroads ofart,activismandpolitics. (Russia/Bulgaria) allgatheredtodiscusswithguestsoftheHaspelSocialCenterintersectionsandsuccessful such asBoryanaRossaandKrassimirTerziev fromBulgaria,NikaDubrovski(Russia/Germany)andOlegMavromati An engagingandrichdebatetookplaceonThursday:amixofcontemporaryartistswithhybridnationalbelonging

60 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 CITY REPORTS SOFIA and anewstartoftheintegrationpoliciestowards festival, spokeabouttheneedofromaemancipation an anthropologistfromBudapestandguestofthe Sofia andtheotherfestivalcities.GergoPulay, presenting theartisticprogramoffestivalin TV7 EmanueleGuidiandMariyaIvanchevawere migration themeinparticular. Thesamemorningat Television, tospeakaboutthefestivaland day isstartingofChannel1BulgarianNational one ofthemostviewedmorningprograms, Lorenzo MarsiliandStefanKrastevappearedon migrant andmulticulturalneighborhoodofSofia. game ScavengerHunt,whichtookplaceinanold migration andromaintegration,thecityspace with festivalhighlights,focusedonthethemesof festival week:Capitalweeklypublishedareview There wasastrongmediainterestthroughoutthe continue. and discriminationeveryday. We havetowork issues suchasxenophobia,homophobia,misogyny, always getworseifwedon’t continuouslyaddress it getsbetter, wedon’t havetoforgetthatitcan and visitors,-wecouldnothelpbutthink:while everyone wasgoinghome-guests,organizers, questions throughoutthesesevendays.While the plentitudeofunaddressedandremaining who cametogethertobothdanceanddiscuss gathered youngandsociallyengagedpeople Both theopeningandclosingpartiesoffestival Bulgarian NationalRadio’s primechannel. the roma,onmorningprogramofHorizont, DOSSIER: TRANSEUROPA EUROPE FESTIVAL BEYOND 2011 THE CRISIS

62 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 DOSSIER: EUROPE BEYOND THE CRISIS APPROVED! , Puerta del Sol NICCOLO MILANESE of nationalsovereignty of Europefromthetotem Uncouple thewelfare are notunderstood.In2009and 2010ithasbecomeclearnotonlythatthenation-stateisalive in chance ofdealingwiththemeffectively foraslongtheessentialactorsofpoliticalsituation and someareultimatelymoreimportant thantherelativewelfareofEuropeans.Butthereis no change, ordevelopment,global conflictmediation.Thesereasonsremainhighlyimportant, transnational horizonasthebasisforprogressivepoliticalaction inEuropewasrelatedtoclimate Before theselastyears,onemighthavethoughtthatthemost pertinentreasonfortakingthe ratings, whichhasbeenmadethemeasureofanation’s virtue. own sovereigndebttherulefortheiractions.Thefutureofanationstate islockedintotheirdebt depends onthefinancialmarkets.ThenationsofEuropehave madethemarketratingsoftheir the Stateforsupport.In2010andearly2011,ithasbecomeclear thatthenationstateinEurope In 2009,itwasmadecleartoanyonewhodoubtedthattheworldfinancialsystemdependson a needlesslysevererecessionanditsaftermath. must beceaselesslymadeexplicitasthepopulationsofEuropeexperienceworsteffects totem ofnationalsovereignty. Thisisthefactwhichmustberigorously understood,andwhich We havereachedthepointwhereevenwelfareofpeopleEuropeissacrificedto decision making. democracy withineconomic is forgreaterunionand The onlyprogressivechoice

64 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 DOSSIER: EUROPE BEYOND THE CRISIS Europe, but that the European Union in its current form, far from being a challenge to the nation state, is actually accelerating the most deleterious effects of the national form also within Europe, and is inflicting them on its own people. The only solution to these problems is a We must think not only reform of the European Union itself such that of transnational solutions to our it overcomes the nation state and becomes economic problems, a new kind of political entity, one which is but of transnational institutions not prey to the shortcomings of the national which can make democratic and state forms. politics work.

The European economic area is the largest single market in the world. Large parts of it, including the most economically powerful parts, share a single currency. Yet no economic government exists and each The debt crisis in Europe, both inside attempt to establish such a government is and outside the Eurozone, has shown undermined by member states which wish the hollowness of national sovereignty in to retain either a competitive advantage contemporary Europe. In countries with debt against other member states or the idea crises, whether inside the Eurozone like of national sovereignty over their own and Ireland, or outside like Hungary, economy, or both. decisions over the economy including over social spending have been largely Germany, for example, wants to protect its surrendered to the IMF and the EU. Even the own competitiveness and not be treated as paymaster Germany cannot pretend to have the deep-pockets of Europe, even though sovereign control over its economy, both it has become competitive and rich thanks because its banks and the state are now to the growing deficits of other countries: massively exposed to bad debt, and because where there is a trade surplus in one its economy is strongly linked to those of country there must be a trade deficit in debt crisis countries. another. That is simple bookkeeping and is not a moral issue. making navigableforcitizensandpoliticiansalike. institutions whichcanmakedemocraticpoliticsworkatatransnationallevel,anddecision We mustthinknotonlyoftransnationalsolutionstotheseeconomicproblems,but competing orconflictinglevelsofdecision. and willremaindeterminedbysituationsofoverlappingcompetences,spheresinfluence army etc)arereunitedinit.Itcannotbeeitherofthesethings.ContemporarypoliticsEuropeis become asovereignstateoncealltraditionalformsofsovereignty(controlovercurrency, overthe polities whichcanmakedecisionsindependently, norasinglesovereignunitwhichwould characterise decisionmakingincontemporaryEurope.Europeisneitherafederationofinsulated ‘Contagion’ asaconceptisnotlimitedtodebtortheeconomicdomain,butcouldaccurately outside theEurozoneisnotdecisive. of crisisGreeceisexperiencing,whichshowsthatfromapoliticalpointview, beinginsideor The UnitedKingdomhasjustifiedamassiveausterityprogrambyreferencetoavoidingthekind ph ©CamilTuncan

66 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 DOSSIER: EUROPE BEYOND THE CRISIS Seven theses for a more just and democratic Europe

Seven theses on the basis of these reflections may be of use to get us thinking: 1. The economy must become thoroughly a political domain once again, and that means not only the concern of technocrats or administrators, but a political concern in which alternatives are possible. With the exception of far right and nationalist parties, very few political parties currently advocate any real alternatives to the current model, and deal only in degrees. 2. Even if Greece defaults out of the Eurozone and returns to the drachma, most likely followed by other countries in the Mediterranean, there will still be a question of the direction the remaining Eurozone economies will take: towards greater fiscal and political union, or towards a gradual and more or less orderly return to national currencies: for the risk of a repeat of the Greek experience will be too great also for the market, unless fiscal and political union is put in place. Of these the only progressive choice is for greater union and greater democracy within economic decision making: only by working together will European economies have the possibility to influence world-decisions, a return to purely national economies will be highly inequitable for some nation states, and only at a transnational horizon can transformational policies for the European economy be realised. 3. Instead of punishing the people of Europe for their past ‘bad’ governments, the leaders of Europe should be concentrating on building a better democracy for the future, and investing in the people of Europe. Both would be possible by building a European democracy which is able to politically control financial markets and the economy, and by the creation of joint Euro-bonds which would allow transeuropean investment in education, infrastructure and sustainable energy from which the whole economy of Europe would benefit. The creation of Euro-bonds would be a forward-looking acknowledgement of the interdependence of European economies. 4. The effects of the economic crisis fall disproportionately on young people, but this is above all a structural issue within European economies which predates the crisis, and one that will only get worse with the aging population of Europe. The phenomenon of the growth of unpaid or exploitative internships as the only access to paid employment (for the lucky) and persistent and growing youth unemployment must be dealt with as a matter of urgency, and requires a structural change in the European economy, making it an economy in which education and training are valued and remunerated but not a prerequisite for paid jobs, in which all jobs are conceived as valuable contributions to the good of people, and none are conceived as exploitation for the purpose of profit or the exclusive benefit of a minority of others. 5. What counts as valuable work must be reconsidered. The good education of children by parents, for example, ultimately adds much more value to the economy than any one regular person’s day-job, but is unrewarded under our current system. On basis of a renewed understanding of what is valuable, public support for a reformed welfare state, and perhaps even a citizens’ wage, would be assured. 6. Precarity is transnational. It is transnational both empirically in its omnipresence throughout Europe, and also in its essence, since precarity is determined not only by labour standards and regulations in the home country of the worker, but by the comparative advantages open to Capital in other countries. Trade unions cannot hope to fight precariousness and protect precarious workers without becoming transnational themselves. 7. The programs of most political parties and governments remain trapped in the thinking of either an industry based economy, a financially based economy, or a service economy of small for-profit businesses. In an age of innovation, our business models also need to be innovative, and promote coproduction and cooperative models, which do not serve only the end of profits for the shareholders. ECONOMISTES ATTERRÉS for solidarityafterthecrisis Economic alternatives public deficitstogrowinorder tolimittherecession.Reducingthesedeficitscannotbeachieved countries. Thebankruptcyofthese twostrategieshasobligedthenationstatestoallowtheir bubbles andgrowingindebtedness ofhomeownersintheAnglo-SaxonandsouthernEuropean by gainsincompetitivityneomercantilist countriessuchasGermany, orbyfinancialandhousing based onpressuresalariesandpublicexpenditure,thelowering ofdemandbeingcompensated Why isitthatthelessonsofcrisishavenotbeenlearnt?It isduetotheeconomicstrategies stagnation andunemploymentwhichwillultimatelypreventanyrealreductionoftheirdeficits. reduce theirsalariestore-establishcompetitivity. Thiscondemnsthemtoalongperiodof countries underattackmustdealwithhigherinterestrates,adopt budgetaryinterestrates,and on theassumptionofabreak-upEurozone.Inordertocontinue payingtheirdebts,the that thesecountrieswillstoppayingtheirdebtsatsomepoint,andspeculatorsareworking for Spain,7.45%Portugal,9.1%Ireland,11.7%Greece.Thefinancialmarketsanticipate the marketsfor10yearbondswas3,2%Germanyand3.55%France,but4.8%Italy, 5.35% structural problemsoftheEuropeaneconomicmodel.Inmid-February2011,tariffsimposedby past monthshavenotevenreassuredfinancialmarkets,letalonedoneanythingtochallengethe The decisionsandprojectsoftheEuropeanCounciltodealwitheconomiccrisisover of thecrisishavenotbeenlearnt? Why isitthatthelessons

68 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 DOSSIER: EUROPE BEYOND THE CRISIS until another economic model has been To resuscitate Europe will require a total defined, which must on the one side be change of paradigm. Europe must not look based on an augmentation of salaries and towards a future of infinite austerity, but social income, in the neomerchantilist look to bring to life a specific model of countries like Germany as in the Anglo- society which must be profoundly renewed. Saxon countries, and on the other side Of course, not all critical economists are based on a new industrial politics, which in agreement when it comes to what this looks to organise and finance the change- renewal should look like. Some of us would over to a sustainable economy. like to see Europe direct itself towards sustainable development, a “green new The difficulties of public finances before the deal”. Others say that we should move to crisis came from the strategy of organised an alternative model where “living well” fiscal competition. The restoring of public would no longer be measured by GDP. We finances will be achieved by the fight are not unanimous either when it comes against fiscal evasion and fiscal paradises. to which measures should be privileged in In order to reduce public deficits, taxation order to get out of the current dead-end must be increased on financial revenue, on which threatens the future of the European capital gains, and on high revenues which Union. Some of us think that the European were amongst the causes of the crisis due Union should guarantee all of the public to their growth. At the European level, that debts of member states, which would will be achieved by a strategy of fiscal mean that financial speculators could no harmonisation, fixing the rates of minimal longer demand prohibitive rates based on taxation for businesses, for high salaries and the risk of default. Others think that public for inheritance ensuring for each country debts which are largely illegitimate in the the possibility of taxing its businesses and first place (arising from lowering taxes on residents. the rich, the financial crisis and saving the banks) should first of all be restructured and even largely renounced. This is the democratic debate which must develop and ultimately allow for the people to decide. strongly theirunwillingnesstocontinueinthisdirection.Thedirectionmustbechanged. referendum topayforthefolliesoftheirbanks.TheGreeksandIrishhaveexpressedloudly of thebanksin2010areindecent.Icelandiccitizenshaveindicatedwayrefusingthrough lowering ofsalariesinordertopreservethedomainfinance.Therecordprofitsandbonuses shareholders anddirectors.Itisunacceptabletoimposeunemployment,precaritythe A secondnecessityistoredirectthecostsofrecessionandbanklossesontotheir while theythemselvesarefinancedataveryweakratebytheECB. It isnotpermissiblethatprivatebanksaremakingrecordprofitsinlendingtoStatesathighrates be abletofinancethemselvesdirectlythroughtheEuropeanCentralBankatalowrateofinterest. guarantee therepurchasingofpublicbondsbyECBifnecessary. Thememberstatesshould A firstdemandtobreakthenationstatesawayfromgripoffinancialmarketswouldbe harmonisation inprogress. people andconstructarealsolidaritybetweencountries,whichisbasedoncooperation to reducetheimportanceoffinancialmarkets,undostrangle-holdtheyhaveon Nonetheless, weareunanimousinthinkingthattheEuropeantreatiesmustbereformedorder ph ©ChrisDevers

70 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 DOSSIER: EUROPE BEYOND THE CRISIS The third urgency is to disarm speculation which is continuing to work against Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain… Taxing financial transactions, starting with transactions involving the euro; strict regulation of the markets dealing in derived products, notably those based on primary To resuscitate Europe will require materials and agriculture as well as the a total change of paradigm. Credit Derivative Swaps; limit drastically Europe must not look towards the activity of speculative funds and in a future of infinite austerity, particular the “leverage effects” which but look to bring to life a specific multiply the opportunities and risks of model of society which must be speculation; prohibit speculation by banks profoundly renewed. for their own accounts and deconstruct those which are “too big to fail”… these urgent decisions can no longer be delayed.

The fourth imperative is to bring about Believing that the reforms of the European cooperative European economic policies. treaty that are currently planned will Instead of privileging competition always re-enforce European solidarity would be and everywhere and the race to the bottom, a grave error. On the contrary, what is pressure must be put on Germany to currently planned will tighten the strangle- increase salaries and social expenditure hold of finance on the European Union. The in order to reduce its commercial surplus planned reforms would validate the austerity which destabilises the whole of Europe. plans already imposed and prepare for their The fiscal competition which undermines generalisation. They carry the Union further public budgets must be stopped, by on its course towards implosion. This course harmonising towards the top the taxation must be changed. of businesses. Public finances must be re-established by undoing the neoliberal (this is a translated extract from the paper counter reforms to the taxation system and «Réforme du traité: une Europe plus restoring a progressive fiscal system. solidaire… avec les marches?» A real European budgetary solidarity must Full text in French available on the website be created by a united taxation on financial www.atterres.org) transactions and on fossil fuels. FRANCO BERARDIBIFO is lookingforabody The generalintellect The followingisanextractfromalecturegivenattheTanz Fabrik,UferstudiosBerlin onthe6 and dogmaticideologyofthefinancial class,arethecoreofthisprocess. that thecontradictionbetween thepotenciesofcollectiveintelligenceandnarrowinterests What willbeformsofdeployment ofthisinsurrectionishardtopredictnowadays,butIbelieve harbingers ofageneralinsurrectionknowledgeagainstfinancial capitalism. and Egyptiandictators,areunravelingtheoppressiveorder ofmanyArabregimes,arethe to LondonAthensRome,andtheupheavalsofArabyouth thathaveoverthrowntheTunisian The studentmovementsthathaveshakenEuropeancitiesinthe lastmonthsof2010,fromParis exploded, opposingthedominantfinancialclassandsocial forcesofcognitivelabor. During thelastyears,andparticularlyinaftermathoffinancialcollapse,aconflicthas für BewegungsforschungattheFreieUniversitätBerlin. project RehearsingCollectivity–ChoreographyBeyondDanceandwiththesupportofZentrum May, 2011asopeninglectureoftheTranseuropa FestivalBerlinorganizedincollaborationwiththe insurrection ofthegeneralintellect. cities arethefirstglimpseof the schoolsofmanyEuropean spread intheuniversitiesand The movementswhichhave th of

72 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 DOSSIER: EUROPE BEYOND THE CRISIS Notwithstanding the cultural differences conditions of social solidarity, and has of Arab and European countries, jeopardized the very possibility of a process notwithstanding the different contexts in of recomposition of labor. which are acting the Arab and the European movements, the social landscape is quite In this sense we may say that Thatcher has similar. Those who are revolting in the Arab succeeded: there is no more such a thing as countries are students or highly educated society and the new Thatcherism of Osborne precarious workers, or unemployed – like in and Cameron is aimed to dismantle not only London, in Athens and in Rome. the welfare state, which has already been destroyed by the Thatcher government Let us look at what has happened in the and by the Blair government, but the very European Union during the year 2010-2011. conditions of social civilization itself, which In the aftermath of the Greek crisis of Spring is the legacy of five centuries of humanism, 2010, a sphere of unified political decision of enlightenment, and of socialism. has been created, but unfortunately, the political unification of European decision We are dealing here with a downturn which overlaps with the instauration of a financial is going to change deeply the prospects, dictatorship. The Merkel, Sarkozy, Triché expectations, possibilities of life, education, directorate has started to unify the and of survival of the next generation. parliamentary processes of every country The movements which have spread in the under the flag of the prevailing interest of universities and in the schools of many the financial class. One after the other the European cities are the first glimpse of the European countries have had a reduction insurrection of the general intellect. in social spending enforced upon them. Education has been especially hit by the The offensive of the neoliberal governments cuts, and the effects are becoming more of Europe, and the dogmatic obsession of evident every day. the monetarist European Central Bank have Thatcher declared 30 years ago: “there is no not receded after the student’s rebellion and such thing as society”. researcher’s protests. Far from it. That was not a description of reality, it was They have opened a new, possibly decisive, a self fulfilling prophecy. The Neoliberal field of struggle: the struggle for the politics, that Thatcher has started and autonomy of knowledge, the struggle for the enforced in the ‘80s in the UK, and then reconstruction of the social body and the has gone global, has destroyed the very affective body of the general intellect. autonomy ofknowledge. consciousness thatcomesout from theexplosionoflastmonths2010,reclaim of reconstitute itssocialanderotic body, thecapitalistrulewillbecomeobsolete.Thisisnew the nextdecade,acognitarian insurrection ofsorts.Whenthegeneralintellectwillbeableto a suddenoutburstofrage,butasthebeginninglonglasting processthatwillencompass By thispointofviewthestudent’s strugglesthatexplodedintheFall2010are nottobeseenas social communication. condition andwhoarelivinginaofpsychopathogenic de-realizationasfarconcerns body. I callcognitariansthosecognitiveworkerswhoareworkinginaproletarianprecarious The cognitariansofthisgenerationaregoingtothestreets recomposetheirsocialandaffective machine thanfromtheirmother. tide featuringthebehavioroffirstgenerationpeoplewhohavelearnedmorewordsfroma relations. Thenewalienationtakestheformofpsychicsuffering,panic,depressionandasuicidal of net-producers.Thenewalienationisbasedonthisseparation,thevirtualizationsocial The socialandaffectivebodyofthecognitiveworkershasbeenseparatedfromtheirdailyactivity form ofprecarization. During thefirstdecadeofnewcenturycognitivelaborhasdisempoweredandsubjectedto dismantling ofthegeneralintellect,thatstartedafterdotcomcrashSpring2000. Since 2001theSwisseconomistandwriterChristianMarazzihasbeenwarningofaprocess Reactivation ofthesocialbodyasfulldeploymentGeneralIntellect ph ©RobertoBeani

74 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 DOSSIER: EUROPE BEYOND THE CRISIS In the same period of the student’s revolt, the event Wikileaks has exposed the other face of cognitarian subjectivation. Wikileaks has shown the infinite potency of the collective networked intelligence. The unleashing of the creative force of the general intellect is the great event that Fulfilling the intents of late Assange has been able to orchestrate. I modern Avant-garde, art activism don’t think that we really needed to know has overcome the traditional limits the contents of all those cables and emails of art, but its effectiveness that Wikileaks disclosed. What is more has been evident only in the fields important in that event is the activation of the market. of solidarity, complicity and independent collaboration between cognitarians: programmers, hardware technicians, journalists, and artists who take part in a process of information. The activation of the potency of connected intelligence in autonomy from the capitalist use, is the lesson of Wikileaks. And the new generation of rebels will find in this lesson a way to autonomy and self-organization of the general intellect.

ph © Roberto Beani be fulfilled.Ithinkofethicsas self respectandlove. an ethicofvalues.Values areonlythe idealistictranslationoftheworld:expectationsthatwantto There isalsoastrongethicalmotivation atthecoreofcognitarianinsurrection.Idon’t thinkto sphere ofsensibility. direction. Theyaretryingtorecomposetheempathyofbodies, arerediscoveringacommon intelligence. ThisiswhyIthinkthatrebelsoftodayareacting firstofallinaself-therapeutic reactivation willcomethefulldeploymentofpotencies social bodyandofthecollective reactivation ofthesocialanderoticbodygeneralintellect, becauseonlyfromthis What isatstakeinthepresentphaseofrevoltnotseizing ofpoliticalpower, butthe digitalization andinfo-accelerationhaveinducedinthePsychosphere. the sensiblemind,beyondtechno-alienationandeffectsofde-sensibilizationthatprecarity, as atherapeuticact.Poeticalartisthetechniqueforreactivationofsensitivebody, andof Poetical art,Imeanartaspoetry, ascreationofimaginaryworlds possibility, canbeconceived subjection tothefinancialdomination. they seeartasapossibilityofescapingthedepressivecycleproductionandconsumption in theirlife.Whatdotheymean?exactlyexpectbythefactofbeingartists?Ithink by lonelinessandtechno-alienation.Itseemsthat30%ofGermanyoungpeoplewanttobeartists in theprecariousage,portrayingemotionalpalsyofbodiesandviolentobsessionsinduced During thelastdecadeArthasalsobeenadiagnosticactonphenomenologyofdailysuffering important. Butthesocialandpoliticaleffectshavebeenmarginal. activism ever. Byalinguisticandartisticpointofviewtheresulthasbeenexhilarating Think oftheAdbustersexperience,onemostinterestingadventuresinfieldart- of advertising. of art,butitseffectivenesshasbeenevidentonlyinthefieldsmarket,andmainlyfield Fulfilling theintentsoflatemodern Avant-garde, art activismhasovercomethetraditionallimits linked inmanyways,buttheeffectofthismarriageisambiguous. What istheplaceofartinthislandscape?Duringlastfewyearsandactivismhavebeen andre-sensibilizationofthecognitarianbody Poetical Art

76 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 DOSSIER: EUROPE BEYOND THE CRISIS The conceptual sphere of Aesthetics is redefining the very sphere of Ethics. Mass Cynicism, which Sloterdjik labeled as the prevailing sentiment of the post-68 age, now is over. It’s not paying anymore. The cynical class of finance and of military power has lost its glamour. We ph © Roberto Beani need a materialistic (hedonistic, sensitive, sensuous) refoundation of ethics, based on self-love, of the pleasure of being yourself.

Ethics and aesthetics are meeting, not in the space of universal values, but in the research of the pleasure of singularity. Kids are seeing the cynical class which is keeping hold on financial and political power nowadays as its is: ugly, disgusting, repugnant.

It’s an aesthetic judgment, before a political or moral judgment.

And they also see Europe as a zombie. Dead ideas, dogmatic rules, failed ideologies overpowering living society, and living culture. The movement of students who are raging in the European cities aims to revive Europe, to invent a new Europe, emancipated from the dogmas of competition, of accumulation and of capitalism. Thanks to this movement Europe will be reborn, and will become a place of solidarity and of beauty. TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL KEYNOTE 2011 LECTURE

78 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 KEYNOTE LECTURE Performance in front of a “Catholic centre for curing homosexuality”, Lublin Transeuropa Although predominantlytargetingSerbiannationalism,Konstantinovi and samequestion–theofdoubleambiguousnatureprovincialmind. procedures ofhomogenization of communityandthusbytheexclusionwhatisdifferent. Provincial mindisconstitutedbyitsuniformed andunifiedwayofthinking,bythevarious relation, notthepositionassuch. towards thedifferenceandotherness.Therefore,whatisand/orcanbeprovincialvery not constitutedwithinanyparticularpositionassuch,butrather throughdenyingthe(ex)position idea ofacommunity. Onecansaythatwhatisprovincialintheconceptofmind identitarian logicofthinkingandpoliticsthatcontinuestohaunt, likeaghost,specter, every “east” provincialismaswell“west”–inother words,theprovincialismofevery provincialisms, localandglobal,Balkansprovincialismaswell asEuropeanprovincialism, Every readingofKonstantinovi thinking typicalofthesmall-townmentality. fate,” hecontinuesbyusingthemetaphorofprovincialinordertodescribewaylifeand Philosophy oftheProvincial,publishedinBelgrade1969.“Provinceisourdestiny, it’s ourevil by BLAGOJEVI of balkanspolitics the impossiblenecessity An adieutoeurope: “Our experienceis By invokingKonstantinovi everywhere initsdemandtoideallybebarricaded–closedoff.” much as“thereisnocountrywheretheprovincialmindimpossible,sinceitequallyimpossible primarily refertoanyparticularterritorialorgeo-politicallocation,buttheprovincialmindinas Ć JELISAVETA provincial,” writesRadomirKonstantinovi ć ’s work,Iwouldliketoposeaquestionaboutnew, contemporary ć ’s bookisactually are-readingandre-openingoftheone ć at theverybeginningofhisbook ć ’s criticismdoes not

80 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 KEYNOTE LECTURE However, in some cases these strategies of excluding the differences and otherness operate precisely through the processes of inclusion, as in the domain of contemporary EU integration discourses that eventually result in annihilation, assimilation and absorption of every difference and every otherness. As Rodolphe Gasché claims in his recently published book Europe, or the infinite task “[not] only has Europe lost much of its economic and political clout, but the history of its relations to non-European world, as well as its relation to the others within its own borders, has cast a seemingly final verdict on the superiority and integrity of European ‘values’”.

It seems that both discourses of exclusion and inclusion - as it is with the example of applying politics of human rights as a “European value” in Serbian political context - mark the other, re- mark the marginalization of those that are already marginal, point to the ‘other’ as to the possible danger for the infantile world of the provincial. In return, the provincial mind has to protect its own uniformity through denying any possibility of change and through rejecting any kind of uncertainty and risk that unavoidably goes together with the kind of thinking that is always already the other thinking, different way of thinking. Within a province, within a small town (where it is important to underline that its smallness is constituted by the very fact that it is closed off), thinking always becomes one thinking, the same thinking, certain thinking. Provincial mind is the mind of ready-made solutions, the mind of life patterns and life routines, “values“ if you want, with ready answers to all possible questions; it is about the constant re- establishing of tradition, perpetual renewal of inner and outer walls that serve as safeguard, and does nothing but repeating the provincial past. Thus, it is the provincial mind’s refusal to look into the future that appears to be the origin of every aspiration to turn the world into a provincial place.

One of the arguments in this paper is that public discourses in Balkan countries “on their road to EU”, as well as in the EU itself - are in many cases reinforcing the spirit of the provincial and thus reflecting mutual provincialisms. In order to support this thesis, I will use examples from contemporary Serbian society “on its road to EU”, although I suppose that some other countries in the Balkans share or had shared similar experiences concerning public discourses on EU integration in their communities. In Serbia, the idea of EU integration has the logic of a normative discourse; unquestionable nature of this “we must be part of EU” attitude has its performative effects and serves as an argument which is to be repeated and cited whenever decision-makers in Serbia become unwilling to actually confront the majority and the so-called traditional values. Let me give an example: In March, 2009 the Serbian Parliament debated over an anti-discrimination law which bans any kind of discrimination, whether day-to- dayexistence,theywould vote“yes”foreverythingthatpromisesmoneyandinvestments. fill holesinthegovernment’s budget.Furthermore, giventhatmostofthepeoplestruggleintheir will alsohavetovote“yes”for thelawthatintroducesextrataxesforSerbiancitizensinorder to since thevastmajorityofSerbian citizenscannotaffordtotravelduetheeconomiccrisis, they the anti-discriminatorylawvoted,infact,fortravelingaround Europewithoutvisas.However, Let usgobacktotheothereffectsoflawitself.Itappears thatthosewhovoted“yes”for Serbian womenand50,000notverybeautifulwomen). if theylosethepossibilitytodiscriminateagainsthomosexuals (aswellas3,650,000verybeautiful capable, heterosexualmeninSerbiawillbecomelessmanlyand powerful(readashomosexuals) is absolutelyhomophobicandextremelymacho,whatitalsoshows isthefearthatfinancially beautiful womenwholiveinSerbia-andwillcollapse. Besidesthefactthatthisargument men willbecomehomosexuals,andthusfinanciallylesscapableofsupportingthe3,650,000very and finally, iftheanti-discriminationlawispassed,thereobvious dangerthatheterosexual can certainlycountonfinanciallysuccessfulheterosexualmen(isitpossibleanyotherway?); you areaverybeautifulwomanwholivesinSerbiathemidstofworldfinancialcrisis, is whatkindoffinancialstatusarefacingthose50,000notverybeautifulwomen?).Further, if second, mostoftheseverybeautifulwomenareinfinancialcrisis(still,aremainingquestion first, thevastmajorityofSerbianwomenareverybeautiful(out3,700,000only50,000not); Now, wewilltrytounderstandwhattheMayorofthissmalltownin Serbia actuallywantedtosay: are toproceedtowardsEuropeinthecompanyofhomosexualsitwouldbebetternotgoatall”. crisis, if we vote for this law then, these women will surely have a problem.” He also claimed “If we known that a large number of women are already finding it hard to cope with the global financial say that3,650,000areverybeautifulwomen.Ifthis[anti-discrimination]lawpasses,andit’s been rather hardtofollow:“InSerbia,thereareover3,700,000women.Outofwomen,wecan Parliament astheleaderofUnitedSerbiaPartyofferedthisargumentlogicwhichis Dragan Markovic-Palma, the Mayor of the small town Jagodina and a member of the Serbian Serbian tradition. the lawmightbeliabletomisinterpretationandmisuse.Othercriticshavesaiditrunscounter to thearticlesconcerninggayrightsandreligiousfreedom.Churchrepresentativesarguedthat The SerbianOrthodoxChurch,supportedbymanyotherreligiouscommunities,requestedchanges the righttotravelwithoutvisas-solawwaspassed. the nationwithEuropeanUnionpoliciesandwasaquid-pro-quoifSerbiancitizensweretogain Serbian OrthodoxChurchandotherconservatives;butthelegislationwaspartofreformstoalign based onrace,religion,sexualorientation,genderorotherfactors.Itwasstronglyopposedbythe

82 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 KEYNOTE LECTURE Hosting in , for example. But then, in order to have Universiade in Belgrade, we will have to vote “yes” for the re-allocation of Roma citizens from the locations necessary for Belgrade’s city government to present Belgrade as a city of 21st century to their EU business partners as “Roma free”: namely, the future capital of the Balkans and, of course, the great opportunity for foreign investments. In this ideological vicious circle, the line of argumentation and political decisions does not really go along with any kind of thinking that advocates human lives and quality of life in certain communities; this line of argument has the same trajectory as the neoliberal logic of money and ideology circulation. Consequently, it is neither about our lives nor about the lives of others; it’s neither about the others’ right to have rights nor about our right to have rights. It is all about the re-establishment of the dominant ideological patterns, that is to say, it is all about the keeping the status quo and its provincial conservative effects.

At the end of the day, those who criticized the anti-discriminatory law and were worried that the law “runs counter to Serbian tradition” could be at peace. Serbian provincialism and its tradition remained intact since the real debate on human rights politics and anti-discriminatory policy has been almost completely silenced. In any case, it didn’t even touch upon those most important issues that such a public debate could bring to a particular community – an effort to create the space for the citizens to live together - to live together with the unbearable weight of their differences. Only such an effort could present the real search for the alternatives to the politics of exclusion as well as to the political culture and ideology based on war, violence and discrimination.

One of the best possible examples of how the anti-discriminatory law has explicitly unrevealed this logic of status quo as a political formation per se would be everything that happened around the organization of the Pride Parade in 2009 and in 2010 in Belgrade. In 2009 - it was the first attempt to organize such a gathering after the devastating Pride Parade organized in 2001. One of the circulating explanations for such a decision after eight years was that the anti-discrimination law gave hope and motivation for the LGBTIQ community in Serbia that this time, it would make a difference. On September 20th 2009, after months of media attention, strong arguments were laid both on political and social levels. The end result of this socio-political action resulted in the following: for the Government representatives, the Parade was cancelled for security reasons. At the same time, the organizational committee of the Pride Parade officially announced that Parade of Pride was de universal butmaybequiterelative toacertainsituation.Whatwecallhumanismhasbeenused of manhasbecomenormative, self-evident,andapparentlyuniversal.“Humanismmaynotbe developed throughdifferentpractices -juridicaldiscoursebeingoneofthemandhowthis idea I wouldliketorecallFoucaultand hiswritingonhowacertainideaormodelofhumanitywas also intermsofsearchingforalternativesandpoliticalpossibilities . “strategy ofinclusion”-exclusivenotonlyinrespecttomarginalised individualsandgroupsbut fact, donothingelsebutreinforcetheinfantileprovincialmind, whichisagain–throughthevery discrimination policies-withoutconsiderablechangesinSerbian societyandpoliticalculture–in Even iftheyarebasedonthebestpossibleEUpracticesandvalues, humanrightsandanti- subject thatneedsprotection. since thehumanrightsdiscourseandanti-discriminatorypolicies areproducingacertainkindof Thus, themostvulnerableoneswillbeonemoretimemarkedandreproducedintheirotherness political possibilitiesandalternativesleft. and presentedinSerbiadoesnothingelsebutproducesubjectsneedofprotectionwithoutany I wouldsuggestthatthewayinwhichanti-discriminatorylawandpoliciesareargued,motivated controlled andinstitutionalizedfromnowon. discrimination, humansuffering,miseryandviolenceagainstthecitizensofSerbiawillbebetter law inSerbiaandthe“successful”organizationofPrideparadeBelgradewillbethat Unfortunately, itseemsthatthemostserious“benefit”ofpassing anti-discriminatory representatives wasclaimingthatthistimePrideparadeinBelgradeasuccess. participants and5000policemen.Almosteveryone–fromtheorganizerscommitteetoState - thesameeventonlyayearlaterwasorganizedinBelgrade,butthistimewithapproximately1000 State representatives)orbannedforpoliticalreasons(interpretationoftheorganizerscommittee) Contrary tothePrideparadein2009thatwascanceledforsecurityreasons(interpretationof are invisible,distanced,silenced,barricadedandfinallycontrolled–behindthewalls. unnoticed. Thismetaphorsuggeststhatdifferentsexualorientationsareacceptableonlyifthey In suchacontext,MayorDjilas’s wordsbearadangerousdimensionthatcannotbesilencedand party inthegovernment,whichhasadominantrolepublicpoliticaldiscoursesSerbia. be infavourofEurope,EUintegration,andanti-discriminationhumanrights.Itisalsoaruling Interestingly enough,MayorDjilasisarepresentativeofDemocraticParty, whichdeclaresitselfto walls“. Accordingly, therearenoreasonstodemonstrateanyone’s sexualpreferences inpublic. he suggestedthatsexualorientation,asaprivatematter, “shouldbekeptbehindthe[four] On thatoccasion,DraganDjilas,themayorofBelgrade,madeanofficialstatementinwhich facto bannedbythepoliticalforefront,yetnotdejure.

84 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 KEYNOTE LECTURE by Marxists, liberals, Nazis, Catholics. This does not mean that we have to get rid of what we call human rights or freedom, but that we can’t say that freedom or human rights has to be limited at certain frontiers... What I am afraid of about humanism is that it presents a certain form of our ethics as a universal model for any kind of freedom. I think that there are more secrets, more possible freedoms, and more inventions in our future than we can imagine in humanism as it is dogmatically represented on every side of the political rainbow: the Left, the Center, the Right.”

Through its conventions, the EU has already established procedures which for the first time in history make it possible for the interest of the individuals, of the citizens, to come out onto the international stage, into the field of international law, which were reserved solely for sovereign states. The tendency of internationalisation of human rights indicates the global community’s willingness to increasingly take into account the sovereignty of the individual, or of minority groups and not of states. On the other hand, the process of increasingly visible globalisation of human rights testifies how the “western” insistence on the universality of human rights can function virtually as a diplomatic and political alibi for post- colonial interventionism.

If supposedly depoliticized humanitarian politics of human rights was really depoliticized, it would not create any normative or subject-producing dimensions; it would not carry any cultural assumptions or aims; it would not prescribe or proscribe anything; it would simply expand possibilities, alternatives, possible freedoms, and more inventions in our future.

Every other way of presenting and understanding the politics of human rights will remain a diplomatic and a political alibi for post-colonial interventionism. It will remain nothing else but the repetition of the earlier mentioned inclusive exclusion which operates through annihilation, assimilation and integration - and which embraces cultural, political, sexual, national, gender and all other differences only through erasing them. Thus, it repeats and reinforces the provincial mind.

Furthermore, another question that has to be asked is whether human rights politics protect innocent, suffering and discriminated individuals on the basis of universal (pre-political) human rights or on the basis of the specific political rights of citizens, members of the particular political community? This line of argumentation allows us to invoke Agamben’s notion of homo sacer as a human being reduced to “bare life.” It is precisely this zone of indistinction between biological and political when a human being becomes an ideal bearer of universal human rights since s/he is excluded from the political community, deprived of its particular socio-political identity which accounts for of thosewhodoesnothaveanyrights. excluded andremovedfrompoliticalcommunity, ofthosereducedtoinhumanityandconsequently Thus, theparadoxofpoliticshumanrightsisthattheyappeartobe“rights”those effectively becomestheidealbearerofuniversalhumanrights. is effectivelyreducedtoahumanbeingassuch(homosacer),thatsay, preciselywhenone The paradoxofhumanrightspoliticsisthatonedeprivedpreciselywhen her/his determinatecitizenshipandnolongerrecognizedortreatedashuman. the basisofkeepingpossibilities oftakingtheotherroads-orforother. that ifthereisanyroadforBalkancountriestotheprocesses oftheEuropeanintegration,itison In thissense,thephrase“impossible necessity”ofBalkanpolitics“onitsroadtotheEU”suggests new, possiblefreedoms. about expandingpoliticalpossibilities,apassionatesearch forthealternativesandabout to thepoliticsofacceptingpositionvictimizedpopulations, Balkanpoliticstodayshouldbe What couldbeanewformofpoliticalagencywhichwoulddisrupt thepresentsituation?Contrary often theyhavebeenconsequentlysubjectedtoothernations’ righttohumanitarianinterference. people oftheBalkanscommonlyperceivethemselvesaspermanent victimsofhistoryandvery Here “humanrights”turnsouttobenothingbuttheideologyof modernliberalcapitalism.The benefit ofvictimizedpopulations…(...) the “righttohumanitarianinterference”-arightthatsomenationsassumebesupposed somebody elsehastoinherittheirrightsinorderenactthemplace.Thisiswhatcalled who sufferinhumanrepressionareunabletoenactHumanRightsthattheirlastrecourse,then places neverbecomemerelyvoid.Thevoidisfilledbysomebodyorsomethingelse.[...]ifthose victims oftheabsolutedenialright.Forallthis,theyarenotvoid.Politicalnamesandpolitical of existence.Theybecomehumanitarianrights,therightsthosewhocannotenactthem, rights, therightsofbarehumanbeingssubjectedtoinhumanrepressionandconditions way, astheresultofthisprocess,thatRightsManbecome rightsofthosewhohaveno along withmedicineandclothes,topeopledeprivedofmedicine,rights.Itisinthis You givethemtothepoor. Thoserightsthatappearto beuselessintheirplacearesentabroad, (...) whentheyareofnouse,youdothesameascharitablepersonswiththeiroldclothes. Ranciere proposesthefollowing: become therightsofthosewhohavenorights? What happenstohumanrightswhentheybecomeofnouseor

86 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 KEYNOTE LECTURE These roads are without any determined directions or destinations, or even more radically - there must be possibilities of not taking and not choosing any particular road - even if it is the road to the EU. Otherwise we are literally obliged to follow the so-called “road map.”

What can one think and do in order to disrupt this logic of permanent exclusion? What could be the future of the politics that will change the dominant inhuman principles and values which are at the very core of human rights politics and policies?

One of the most significant tasks in today’s thinking is the one of redefining, reconstructing, rereading and rewriting of the very concept of politics and of the political.

The concept of political that I am speaking about is (in) plural; It’s about life in all of its complexities; It’s about some hard decisions to be made; it’s about the absence of certainty; it’s at stake whenever and wherever the “I” and “the other” are (ex)posed to each other; it contains in itself, paradoxically, inclusion and exclusion, transcendence and belonging, absolute external appearance of somebody and something unknown and strange as well as intimacy of the familiar and close, in other words, distance and intimacy at the same time.

Who is then this other that is constitutive for the political, the other who is both a stranger/ foreigner and someone close, both “I” and “the other”? In the spirit of Heidegger’s terminology, Derrida offers the following answer: “(it) has no shape. No sex. No name. It is neither a man nor a woman. It is not selfhood, not “I,” not a subject, nor a particular person. It is another Dasein that every Dasein has, through the voice, a voice it hears… At a distance which is neither absolute – absolutely infinite – nor worthless in the absolute closeness of one’s ownership... This range of voice, to-be-in-the-range-of-voice … makes the other someone of a different kind.”

Politics requires ear for the other, listening of the other; thus, politics is always the others politics, it requires the other, demands the other and is responsible to the other. Every relation to the other would be, said Derrida, before and after anything else, an adieu. In this sense, an adieu to Europe invokes the gesture of hospitality towards the moment of separation, of departure, sometimes forever (this can never, in fact be excluded), without any return; in this sense, and precisely in this sense, it is a gesture of welcoming the unknown, foreign and strange, of what is new and different; adieu to Europe must be a response to the others’ responsibility. TRANSEUROPA TRANSNATIONAL FESTIVAL ART 2011 PROGRAMME

88 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PREOGRAMME CAN ALTAY The ground was divided, we jumped... Installation Detail Georgiana But). Linkowska; TheCityofLovebyPiotrNazaruk)andClujNapoca( Pulse, withintheVeilcurated by to Belarus,curatedbyPawelLeszkowicz;TheMadonnas Katarzyna HoldacuratedbyMagda projects suchastheonesincityofLublin(LoveIsLove.ArtLGBTQActivism:fromBritain Furthermore theNetworkhasbeenabletoarticulatereciprocal discoursesthatemergedin European AlternativesStaffandtheTRANSEUROPA Network . curator LorenzoSandoval(forVisualizing Transnationalism ) andwiththegreatsupportof with filmcuratorTobias Hering (fortheOn-boardprogrammeformoderntraveller),artistand These threeprojectshavebeencoordinatedandco-curatedbyEmanueleGuidiincollaboration the manyprojectsthatformartprogrammeofFestival. stimuli andcriticalpositionsofthosewhohavebeenmetalongtheway. to asuccessionofcorrelatedeventsbut,asanongoingexercise,openedthecontributions, This multi-authoredfestivalmadeclearthepotentialofsuchanopenplatform.Itdidnotlimititself territory definedbythediversityofsomanycitiesandcommonthemes. Network asresponsetothesamecommonurgencymoveandtakeactionincomplex At thesametime,manyotherartprojectshavebeenproducedbymembersofTRANSEUROPA ‘consequences’ ofsuchaprocess. Visualizing Transnationalism, threemainprojectshavebeendevelopedasdirectorindirect After aseriesofmeetingsanddiscussionstakingplacewithinthecontext A briefintroductiontotheartisticactivitiesofTRANSEUROPA Festival2011 encounters… as toolspaceforfuture A festivalasplatform Transnationalism the groundwasdivided,wejumped(HomeofFestival),Visualizing and On-board programmeforthemoderntraveller arethreeof

90 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME

“the groundwasdivided,wejumped” A projectbyCANALTAY (Home oftheTranseuropa Festival) we jumped... The groundwasdivided, Ozgur Atlagan,ErdoğanOnurCerito lu, MerveKılıçerandNihanSomay. The installationthegroundwasdivided,wejumped wasrealizedthankstothecontribution of “the groundwasdivided,wejumped” “the groundwasdivided,wejumped” Formally, as wellprovidedthegroundsforfurtherreflection. venues infourEuropeancities,andalsoreflectedcommentedontheframeworkoffestival performed. to takeplaceandwhereacertainproduction(whethermaterialorimmaterialboth)is According toAltay, a“setting”actsasspaceorsituationofgatheringforideasanddiscussions creative ornot,totheaudience,participantsandcitizens. is notnecessarilyperfectlyoperatingandfunctioning.Thesettinghandsoverresponsibilities, reflected theintentiontocriticallytranslateimageofaworld(ormorepreciselyEurope)that of introducingsomeopen-endedsituationsandaslightlydysfunctionalnaturewithinthiscontext through itsvenuesbringstogetherthedifferentlocalaudiencesandconnectcities.Theplan chance togobeyondtheideaofproducingjustaperfectlyfunctional‘hub’forfestivalthat Can AltaywelcomedtheinvitationtodesignHomeofTRANSEUROPA Festivalasthe Urban Center),London(RochelleSchool)andParis(EspaceJemmapes). Home oftheTRANSEUROPA Festival2011inClujNapoca(Tranzit House),Bologna(SalaBorsa/ inhabitation oftheFestival. showing, viewing,connecting, expanding, andtransgressingthroughtheaction screens thatcanbeconfiguredandre-configuredthroughout thefestival’s varyingactivities. In eachsite,therewerealsofurtherelements,suchasforum-pillars, framestructures,and by-passing andtransgressing. of possibilitieswithinthesite,butalsoactedasboundary-lines invitingapossibilityofshifting, of possibleinhabitations.Thesecolouredlinesindicatecertain guidelines,makevisibletheamount “the groundwasdivided,wejumped” hostedanarrayofactivitiesineachthefour isthetitleforsettingwhichactedas incorporatedgathering,discussing,speaking, utilizedlinearelementstodrawarange

92 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME HOME OF THE FESTIVAL Maquette ‘the groundwasdivided,wejumped...’ CAN ALTAY www.arcadefinearts.com of Ahali:AJournalForSettingaSetting. collective “DiplomacyinReflex”andEditor co-founder ofart,designandpublishing (USA) andPlatformGaranti(Turkey). Heis (Netherlands), ZKM(Germany),P.S.1 MOMA Art Center(USA),Van AbbeMuseum museums andgalleriessuchastheWalker (2008), HavanaandIstanbul(2003);in in BiennialssuchasTaipei (2010),Gwangju Bristol (2007).Hisworkhasbeenincluded Bethanien, Berlin(2008),SpikeIsland, Showroom, London(2010),Kunstlerhaus Altay hadsoloexhibitionsat,a.o.:The is anartistlivinginIstanbul,Turkey. Can Altay (1975,Turkey) (the venuesineachcity). between thefestival(withitsactivities andparticipants)eachofthefourdistinctspaces more sovaryingactivities.Sothe productionofthesettinginvolvesalsocreatingalayer, aground where therearenotonlyactors (commissionersandusers)butalsodistinctphysicalspaces, and When itcomesto‘thegroundwasdivided,wejumped’isasimilar caseofsharedresponsibility, more orlessoneofthemainpremises‘settingasetting’. whether itsanaudienceorausership–theyaremoredefinitive thenyoucaneverimagine.That’s shared, as you are never the sole author of something in “the open”, when your work comes to life, compose acontingentpublicaroundoronitself”.Ifthathappens, thentheresponsibilityisalso take action,responsibilityofitsconsequencesbutletitbe testedbypublics,orevenbetter me istotalitarian);Itrytochoosesay‘eveniflimitedcertain contextordiscourse,oneshould nor sayingthat“therearecorrectwaysofdoingthings,andthesecanberegulated”(whichto observe andlearn”(whichtomeisthepost-modernimpasseIhavebeentryingridmyselffrom); faith…” (whichtomesoundslessanarchisticandmoreliberalcapitalist)that“…allwecandois acknowledge itslimits).Neithersaying“controlisnotpossible,andthemasseswilldecideontheir both representingaswellmakingstatementsviadoingthings:takingaction(notforgettingto as well,inmyopinion.SoIthinkit’s fairtosaywithmyworkIamtryingtackletheseissues,by and designersinthiscontext,butalsoreachingouttocommercialgovernmentalanalogies CA: I have always been critical of the ‘will to control’ and the illusions it brings, chiefly to architects expert designculture. mildly disorientingeffect--andindeedyourworkonlyreallymakessenseasakindofcritique insist onacertaindisjointednessbetweenyoursettingsandthebroadercontext,thatcreates ground divided,youdidn’t juststandtherebewildered--youjumped!Butontheotherhand, you devices toprovokeandinciteinparticularways.Astheproject’s nameacknowledges,whenthe that minefield!Becauseasaninterventionistyoudon’t juststandbackandobserve--you putforth domesticate usershipintoaformofdocilityandobedience.Iaminterestedinhowyounegotiate notoriously unrulyandwaywardcategoryofsubjectivity, whereasexpertdesigncultureseeksto expert cultureheadon.Fromtheperspectiveofexpertise,useisalwaysmisuse.Usershipa SW: WhatIderivefromyourearlierworks,whatlearnedthem,isthattheychallenged and StephenWright Can Altay Conversation between

94 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME As the title suggests, it is an urge to jump, make that necessary leap, of what I believe the festival itself is also set for, because the ground is divided.

And so, the setting offers certain elements and certain “uses”, yet it also offers a visual/spatial composition of these elements, which acts on a representative layer, meaning that there is something to see and grasp, or reflect on. All of these take place on a territory that is already quite crowded with all the events that the festival brings, and the physical as well as activity attributes that each venue brings. How the setting places itself between these two is partly delicate and partly assertive. And I believe that’s where we can start discussing the absence of autonomy and start addressing how things work in the bigger picture. What I also appreciate about the outcome of “the ground was divided, we jumped” was that it was really subjected to so many actors (both living and non-living) that at the same time made visible the complexities of public space. Perhaps this applies only if you were still there to see the setting or join the activities; and its highly possible that the interventions were neglected or ‘unseen’ by some, which was a risk taken when I decided HOME OF THE FESTIVAL

to propose the setting as this flat layer, of a playing field, with few but loud elements standing up. This layer as I said was squeezed between the festival and the venue, but its assertion did not exceed or force any of those two sides to abide by its directions, it happened only if and when there were people willing to take the setting into consideration.

Hopefully this willingness does not coincide with the current conquest of “usership” as we know it (i.e. the mis-use) especially in the web context, afterall the user’s potential has come to be fully exploitated with the rise of the commercialization of the web. The money made from users actually brings us to a topic that certainly needs addressing, but perhaps not here. (continues... ) Bologna

96 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME Coloured Lines defining spaces and activities. At the same time acting as guidelines, references, but also territorial marks. Red lines mark a screening/viewing situation; blue lines form a debate and facing of ideas; green lines indicate central positions; and yellow to direct movement into the home of the festival. HOME OF THE FESTIVAL

Cluj-Napoca

98 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME HOME OF THE FESTIVAL comment onthesedailyevents. the audiencedecidedtoreactor a trackofactivitiesandhow remarks. Thiswaythepillarskeep free commentary, responses,and as anoticeboard,butalsofor immediatepostings, serve these easytomovestructures Forum Pillars London

100 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME HOME OF THE FESTIVAL into thestreetforprotest! placards canberemovedtogoout home. Attheendoffestival opinions andslogansbacktothe key positions,eachprismradiates and statementholders.Placedin proposed moreasplace-markers these woodenstructuresare Placard Prisms Paris

102 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME HOME OF THE FESTIVAL sit onthegroundandgather. These provideawarmerplateauto the venue. on topofeachother, ordispersein pieces ofcarpet,thatcango each venueisfittedwithcircular Hangout Topography the counter-spatialization itgenerates. Meanwhile keepingthesearch forwaystocriticallyreflectonorganizationofpublicspace, and can bechallenged,reflectedupon, andperformedinwaysthatarebeyondmypre-conceptions. decided it’s importanttoalsoproposespaces, conditions,situations,withthehopethattheytoo decided role.Thatshiftinpositionhasachronologicalaspect tootherecameatimewhenI about theclashesandoverlapsbetween‘function’‘meaning’; butmoreinmypositionand The productiveparadoxyourefertoisthereforenotintheways ofthinkingabout‘design’,and which alwaysformeincludedacritiquetoorganizationofpublic space. reconfiguration’ throughitsinvitationtobeperformed(orused) aswellitsphysicalpresence act asatool,sohavesomepre-decidedformofuse,butalso open itselfto‘unpredictable The settingsontheotherhandstartedoffasameanstogenerate spatialconstructsthatcould your ownmeansandsettingrules.Perhapsthiscanbecalleda‘counter-spatialization’. political agency, anassertionof‘presence’againstthedictatedmeans ofinhabitationbyfinding challenged andeventransgressedthroughthepracticesofinhabitation.Italsoinvolvedacertain they wereabouttheinherentexcesswithinsystems,howstructureswecometoinhabitcanbe documentation, texts,aswellspatialelements)intheartcontext.Asyourightfullyobserve, on reflectingthesescenesandpracticesbymakingfurtherinstallations(thatincluded my roleintheseprojectswerenotinstigatingbutmoreofbeingpartof,observing,andlater a departurefromthemoreobservationalpiecessuchas‘minibar’and‘papermen’.Afterall, that wouldtakeformof,orreflectonorganizationofpublicspace.Inthissensetheypropose action andresponsibilitytowardsproposingphysicalsurroundingsaswellactivityprograms as “settingasetting”.Forme,setting”coincideswithmoment,decisiontotake CA: “Thegroundwasdivided,wejumped”isacontinuationofbodyworkIhadlabeled sought toavoid? An attempttochannelusershipinaparticularway--whichispreciselywhatyourearlierwork to beusedindemonstrations,etc.Isn’t thereariskhereofrathercontrived“spontaneity”? designed tobeusedinparticularways:placardprismspulledapartsuchandaway rationale, literallyproducingnewspacethroughuse--inthiscaseyouhaveconstructedobjects I amalsothinkingofthePapermanproject,disruptingofficialgarbagecollectionbynegatingits the streetsofAnkara,whichyoudescribeas“gapsandnichesappropriatedbysimpleuse”,but what theywillwithyoursettings--I’mobviouslythinkingprimarilyofresearchonminibarsin happenstance, theunforeseen,byleavingituptoanindeterminateusershipinstreetdo in Paris.Whereasallyourearlyworkdeliberatelysetsouttomakeroomforcontingency, SW: Aparadox,nodoubtaproductiveseemstounderlieyourcurrentsettinghere

104 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME SW: Talking as we are about your work rather than just experiencing it, one cannot but notice another salient component of your practice: the rather singular conceptual vocabulary you have developed to name the different components and functions of your practice. Statement holders; hangout topographies; you seem to consistently repurpose divergent registers of language to reproduce that sense of dysfunction in the terminology you use to describe the ambitions and workings of your practice. I was most struck by your usage of the Saxon cognate “settings” rather than the more learned Latinate cognate “context”. This of course raises the bigger question of a conceptual crisis in the very language we use to name the features of our world -- the inadequacy and obsolescence of a lexicon inherited from modernity. But more specifically, whereas a “context” can appear (and feel) overdetermining, insurmountable, ontologically stable, a “setting” speaks more of the theatrical side of your work -- a theatre decor with a low coefficient of visibility set in the everyday, apt but far from certain to trigger an event. CA: The thinking process for me, is most of the time very verbal. At times the vocabulary can even precede the actuality, or let me say it is always very much embedded in the practice. The vocabulary is therefore an integral part of the practice, far beyond being a descriptive aspect. “Setting a setting” emerged as such an attempt to underline a proactive position. I invented it while thinking about a practice that could generate spaces of reflection, relation and function, while questioning given contexts, advocating a certain letting go of control and provoking a collective production (of meaning and activity). The best reflection came later on from Kathrin Bohm and Andreas Lang of Public Works, who wrote: “The combination of the verb setting and the noun setting describes the conceptual and formal process behind those projects, which bring together a programmatic intention (verb) and a physical form (noun) to facilitate a public development”. I would add the mechanical and the theatrical connotations within the word “setting” that you are also accurately referring to, into this equation as well. I have to say there’s also something very important about nomenclature, the naming of things. I usually remind myself something Vito Acconci said, about the moment when the words “conceptual art” were put in written form, how a whole area of activity has generated for many artists and the possibilities that emerged from there onwards.

Excerpt from the public conversation between Can Altay and Stephen Wright (04.05.2011, Espace Jemmapes, Paris) Transnationalism Visualizing 2011 designed byLorenzoSandoval VISUALIZING TRANSNATIONALISM DIAGRAM

106 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME The polis properly speaking is a series of meetings and public workshops not the city-state in its physical in Berlin, London, and Cluj Napoca. The location; It is the organization of project saw the participation of artists, the people as it arises out of acting architects, graphic designers, activists together and speaking together, and curators who gathered to tackle and and its true space lies between “visualize” the idea of Transnationalism the people living together for this through different mapping strategies. purpose, no matter where they Part of the ongoing research has been happen to be.1 presented in the framework of the HANNAH ARENDT TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL in form of

1 Arendt, Hannah, the Human Condition, p. 198 posters and postcards: traditionally used to communicate messages through words The term “transnationalism” is becoming and images. The series of posters and other a constitutive part of the European printed items have been distributed in all VISUALIZING TRANSNATIONALISM

social and cultural fabric. Far from being the cities and document the collective and interpreted only as a political and economic individual processes that took place in the entity, Europe should be reconsidered in months prior to the Festival. accordance with its phenomenal aspects, online networking and media spaces, and its several groups of migrants that VISUALIZING TRANSNATIONALISM phases and outcomes: every day move according to unexpected Preparatory workshop with the dynamics. Transnational fluxes, practices contributions by Luchezar Boyadjiev, Jacopo Gallico (Osservatorio Nomade and movements ‘from below’ constitute a Berlin), Anna de Manincor (Zimmerfrei), cultural stage that needs to be explored and Bouchra Khalili, Maria Ptqk and Nicolas Maleve (GenderArtNet), Pablo de Soto re - interpreted. The potential of common (Hackitectura.net). Altes Finanzamt Berlin, January 2011 actions and networks has become the “compass” to orient oneself in this wide Imagining Commoniversity workshop lead by Hackitectura.net (Pablo de Soto and territory. Gender, education, migration, are Alejandro González) at Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, March 2011 few of the many issues through which to look at such multifaceted terrain. Clu’ na’ poka workshop lead by GenderArtNet (Maria Ptqk and Nicolas How can we map such a complex territory? Maleve) at Cluj Community Centre, Cluj Napoca, April 2011 How make it visible? VISUALIZING N.U.T. project by Jacopo Gallico TRANSNATIONALISM is a collaborative (Osservatorio Nomade Berlin) in research-based process articulated through collaboration with Roberto dell’Orco, 2011 Imagining Commoniversity

108 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME VISUALIZING TRANSNATIONALISM 2011 Workshop byHackitectura.net Poster BackSide, IMAGINING COMMONIVERSITY collective thinking,memoryandaction. social networkingplatformusedtoorganize n-1. cc,anautonomousanddistributed remixed andimproved.You canfinditon transparent anddocumented,canbe parts thatcomposethedesignprojectare free software,thismeansthatalldifferent as anopensourcedesignproject.Likein We releaseImaginingCommoniversity Universidad LibredeLaRimaiainBarcelona. to Commoniversitynetworkthatmetat activist campaignsandactions,connecting and collaboratewithexistingeuropean laboratory, theworkshopaimstojoin Bologna processissue.Asatemporary emerged inthelastyearstotackle the Europeanmovementsexperiencethat university protestsintheUKaswell as aCommontoengagewiththerecent starting pointtheassumptionofUniversity Imagining Commoniversitytakesas Imagining Commoniversity University Experience:neoliberalismAgainsttheCommons JASON READ different formationsofsubjectivity. of livingandthinking;thatis, ultimately producedifferentmodes different practices,practicesthat future employees,butbetween knowledge versusthetrainingof different principles,thepursuitof not justthetensionsbetween be viewedmostproductivelyas we thinkthatthesetensionscan neoliberal restructuring.Secondly, circulation ofknowledge,and both asiteofthecommons, way inwhichtheuniversityis broadly categorizedthroughthe These contradictionscanbe its tensionsandcontradictions. question oftheuniversitythrough hypothesis, thatweviewthe We suggest,assomething ofa

110 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME VISUALIZING TRANSNATIONALISM collaboration withLorenzoSandoval. Visualizing Transnationalism iscuratedandcoordinatedbyEmanueleGuidiin collective actionsemergingincontemporaryEuropeandbeyondit. gathered totackleand“visualize”theideaoftransnationalismbymapping designers, activistsandcuratorsfromdifferentEuropeancountries,who architects,graphic ofartists, Napoca. Theprojectsawtheparticipation throughaseriesofpublicworkshopsinBerlin,LondonandCluj articulated Visualizing Transnationalism isacollaborativeresearch-basedprocess andDesign. withtheChelseaCollegeofArts partnership Foundation), ACE(AcciónCulturalEspañola)andAllianzKulturstiftungin Alternatives/Transeuropa ofECF(EuropeanCultural Networkwiththesupport the contextofprojectVisualizing Transnationalism, producedbyEuropean The workshopImaginingCommoniversitybyhackitectura.nettookplacein UNESCO, 2010 GLOBAL EDUCATION DIGEST Imagining Commoniversity Excerpt fromthetextpublishedonposter and AlejandroGonzález hackitectura.net representedbyPablodeSoto Jonmar VanVlijmen Eleana Louka,MartaRodríguezEllyTaylor, Goldenberg, SallyHogarthStefanKrastev Patrick Best,FlorînaCraciunDavid Workshop participants(alphabeticalorder): disease hospitalandcancer, cemeteryare world?” oraforceofobliteration “Mental mall isatthebeginningor endofthe as avectorforspatialextremities “The elastic geometries.Consumerismwasseen surprising shortcuts,temporaldiversions, city andthenationbegantoopenup displacements, thediscoursesabout Using thepolysemyoficonsandfictional Napoca andTransylvania tookplace. Different conversationsaboutCluj- outer space. displaces itsclassificationinafictional attract constellationsofkeywordsand GenderArtNet usespolysemicimagesthat than assigninglabelstotopcategories, feminism intherealmofart.Rather sometimes antagonistic,practicesof different, sometimescomplementary, how tocreaterelationshipsbetweenthe A centralquestionofGenderArtNetis assign places,origins? the worldintocategories.Howandwhyto around how, why, onewould,couldput of departure,theconversationcircled Taking theGenderArtNetprojectasapoint Cluj, orlivingabroad. other bybus,walkingorhitchhiking,livingin Napoca, Romania.Somecamebyplane, discussed andworkedtogetherinCluj- in cartography, classificationandtagging For aweek,groupofpeopleinterested Cluj-Napoca where anuniscrucified. The cityofErasmusstudentsand theregion ancestral practices. seen sidebywiththerevivalof resurrected asEuropeanprogramswere looking attheairport”.Historicalfigures seen ashorizons“Everyyoungpersonis “are thesebonescatholic?”Borderswere of nationalidentitytogetbackreligion: ground wherearcheologymeetsquestions through theMiddleAge,then through time:thecommunistperiod, to escapethe“fearoftomorrow”spiraled gathering communitiesofpeopleseeking The omnipresenceofreligiousbuildings ignored becauseofMalloneandtwo”. 2011 Workshop byGenderArtNet Poster FrontSide, CLUJ NAPOCA

112 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME VISUALIZING TRANSNATIONALISM The texthasbeenpublishedontheposter‘Klu’na’poka subjective elements. On theverso.Thepolysemyoficonslookingforanechoinkeywords.Aperiodictableunstable fragments arelookingforaffinities,attractandrepulseeachother. In thetensionbetweengridlabelsanddeconstructedstreetnetworks,iconstext “Exobotanical”, “Theendoftheworld”. “Geolyrical”, “Taxonomical”, “Afraidoftomorrow”,“Fermentational”,“Miraculous”, Eight regionswereidentifiedandlabeledinspiredbyavisittotheBotanicalGarden.“Ornamental”, borrowed anddisplacedatrandom.Differenttastesofrandomness,adifficultselection.Agrid. On therecto.Abackground.FromOpenstreetmap,wikipediaformaps,streetshapeswere many languageswiththosewhospeakthemorrefusetolearnthem.Amap,then. the exchangeofknowledge,andbarsflows.Andflowsencountersinso university, wherethecityisplannedanddesigned.Andbarsmusic, at theperipheries.The“triangleofauthorship”thatconnectscityhall,administrationand presence ofRomas,citycenterasaspaceculturaltranslationfortheconfessiontakingplace Cluj commuterstotheirnextstation.Thecitycenterasanexpellingforce,leavingnoroomforthe Time andspacecompression,theRoissybusthatusedtodrivetouristsEiffelTower brings 2011 Workshop byGenderArtNet Poster BackSide, CLUJ NAPOCA N. U.T. 2011 Jacopo GallicowithRobertodell’Orco Postcard FrontSide, N.U.T. territories unedited news from tensions urban negotiating transnationalism upcoming networking terrains uncertain navigation in

114 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME VISUALIZING TRANSNATIONALISM Bare Life,(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress)1998,18 1 suspension oftherule? consists innothingotherthanthe what isitsstructure,suchthatit But whatisthis“situation,” law needsforitsownvalidity. guarantees thesituation”that the sovereign“createsand Through thestateofexception, Agamben, Giorgio,HomoSacer:SovereignPowerand Transnationalism. dell’Orco, inthecontextofVisualizing Nomade Berlin)incollaborationwithRoberto N.U.T. projectbyJacopoGallico(Osservatorio new norm.Thanksforyourcontribution. ‘suspension oftherule’isturning intothe spot andconnectthosesituations wherethe mapping exercisethroughanopencall,to became ordinaryeverydayconditions;a perceive as‘zones’wheredeniedrights this postcardtotellanddenouncewhatyou We asktheTranseuropa audiencetouse urgencies thatemergelocally. Europe toexploreandsharepotentialsimilar for coordinateswithinthewideterritoryof to actastheStalker’s nut;atooltolook to orientoneself.Thispostcardisintended nut islaunchedinthe‘Zone’ascompass In thefilmStalkerbyAndrei Tarkowski a altered bynewexceptions. language ofthestatelawisconstantly in apoliswheretheonceestablished invention ofnewmeanstoorientourselves into anenduringstatusthatdemandsthe This circumstanceofemergencyisturning event. perceived anymoreasanextra-ordinary a scenariowheredeniedrightisnot been establishedafteryearsofstruggles; for there-negotiationofrulesthathave A permanentconditionofcrisisallows from thefulfilmentofastatelaw. normal equilibriumsandsubtractingspace emerge andproliferate,modifyingthe archipelago where‘statesofexceptions’ Europe isbecomingmoreaan What isthissituation? Text publishedonthebackofpostcard. and unsettledone. (Romania), wheretheissueofLGBTQrightsisstillacontroversial focusinLublin(Poland)andCluj-Napoca This themewasaparticular Gender and queer culture was an important aspectdevelopedin Gender andqueerculturewasanimportant and Cluj-Napoca LGBTQ rightsinLublin Love islove: TRANSEUROPA through exhibitions, performances, andtheatricalpieces. throughexhibitions,performances,

116 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME LOVE IS LOVE Art asGenderandLGBTQActivism. over ArtasPerformingHumanRightsand panelists, weparticipatedinlivelydebates of thisexhibition,togetherwithinvited Belgrade, ZagrebandMinsk.Inthecontext burning issuesofanti-gayviolencein and Bergamot(Belarus),itshowedthe through thevideoartofIgorGrubic(Croatia) for lesbianandgayvisibilityacrossEurope; to Belarus surveyed performative campaigns Is Love.ArtasLGBTQActivism:fromBritain Pawel LeszkowiczatLabiryntGallery, Love City ofLoveandTheMadonnas.Curatedby Transeuropa: LoveIsLove,TheBody, The the exhibitionsmountedespeciallyfor and homosexualitywereexaminedin turned religionintoanideology. Feminism this citywherethepoliticalclasshas The themeofLGBTQrightsisvitalto homosexuality”. in frontofa“Catholiccentreforcuring this regionofEurope.Salataprotested problematised thepoliticalissuesof by SzymonPietrasiewiczandPiotrSalata conventions”. Finally, theperformances called them“courageousworkswhichbreak by KatarzynaHolda;criticIzaKowalczyk The Madonnaspresentedfeministpaintings by MagdaLinkowskaatLabiryntGallery, discussion overartisticfreedom.Curated of LovebyPiotrNazaruk-sparkeda A sexualpanoramaofLublin-TheCity Lublin

118 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME LOVE IS LOVE Napoca Cluj-

120 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME LOVE IS LOVE famous paintings,capturedinthe structure muse, inaneruditeparadeofimages from eroticism portrayingthewoman asuniversal installation Love(Rose)summariseslesbian and woman.IzabellaGustowska’s video- between manandwoman of pure,humanemotionsthatcanexist social intoleranceandthediscrimination trenchant, thevideoisamanifestoagainst (eye) towardsvalley(cheek).Poignantand the journeyofonetearfromfountain is asinglescreenshortmoviethatcatches Alex Mirutziu’s work, Tears areprecious, proposed wasimpressive. pro gaymanifestos.Thesubtletyoftheideas works that,atfirstsight,don’t appeartobe Butz andAnastasiiaMikhno-presented Izabella Gustowska,CristinaChirilDoru personal option.Theartists-AlexMirutziu, (as somanystillbelieve),butanunarguable are natural,intriguing;thatitisnotadisease nascent homosexualityorbisexualcuriosity as warmtheheterosexualone;that sex couplescanbeasbeautiful,intense, to informthepublicthatlovebetweensame sex couples.Itisnotanewidea,it’s more the exhibitionistolerancetowardssame But. Theconceptstandingatthebasisof Gallery, ) andcuratedbyGeorgiana Leszcowicz’s ArsHomoErotica(National Pulse, withintheVeil wasinspiredbyPawel Cluj Napoca(Tranzit House),theexhibition Organised intheHomeofFestival FlipFlop.ro BOGDAN BRETOIU subtle, andhopefully, effective! Pulse withintheveilwascourageousand option ofbeingpresentwithinyourself. strange tasteofalovejustlived,aboutthe about thememoryofarecollection, suggested, dimmed,uncanny. Theyspeak The imagesarefulgurate,implied, a satinveilthatcoversoursexuality.” “I feelthatintimacyinacoupleissimilarto shadows andtonesoflayeredsexuality. photography anddigitalart,enhancing Doru Butzcreatedaseriesthatcombines sensual, natural,angelicalpeople. There isnocabaret-liketrans-sexual,just transgender couple. beauty andwarmth,throughportraitsofa The photographstellthestoryofcorporality, an Analysisofbeautytheandrogyny. sexual orientation.AnastasiiaMikhomade in thedevelopmentofachildwithdifferent concentrating onexploringthediversesteps - andoneinstallation,PlaygroundLove, series -Ms&SmithandGrowingup, Cristina Chirila brought us two photographic intimacy, ofsexualpulse. of aredcrystal.Redasaesthetics A filmandvideoprogrammeforTRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 for themoderntraveller On-board programme Joanne Richardson Bonaventure SohBejengNdikung Tobias Hering Brad Butler&KarenMirza Angelotti&ElviraVanniniMartina Curator’s notesby TABLE OFCONTENTS

122 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME “TRANSEUROPA” is an embracing evocation, implying the freedom to roam, visit and stay. “Transnationality” adds another image: crossing borders and defying obstacles. Embracing and crossing qualify forms of mobility fuelled by desire, curiosity, often want and despair, sometimes empathy or solidarity.

There are many films to prove this, if proof is what we need. As digital commodities, films and videos are on the privileged side of mobility: they travel more easily than the people we see in them, and faster than those who made them. Films and videos lend themselves to be stand-ins and representatives for those who are not there. An embedded risk in this representation is that it easily becomes a form of substitution: by substituting the absentee, films and videos sometimes delude us about the politics of absence/presence.

Invited by Emanuele Guidi to co-curate this programme, my initial impulse was to stay put; to forward and share the invitation rather than a ready selection. In Transeuropa’s 2010 edition, the FILM PROGRAMME

site-specific application of Oliver Ressler’s multi-voiced What is Democracy? was apparently following a similar impulse: to disseminate questions rather than distribute answers. The invitation to the co-curators was meant to let the critical interests of Transeuropa inform work and research already in progress. It was an attempt to blend curating with curiosity, to endure and reflect on distance, and to exercise hospitality for those whom we haven’t met yet.

On-board programme for the modern traveller was co-curated by Elvira Vannini & Martina Angelotti, Brad Butler & Karen Mirza, Bonaventure Ndikung, Joanne Richardson, and myself, and all of us also contributed to this reader. The entire process was initiated and supported by Emanuele Guidi who is the curator and coordinator of Transeuropa’s diverse artistic programme.

The film and video selection was prone to be eclectic. It will be spread across the festival venues, with parts of it occasionally travelling with the curators. There will not be any one occasion on which the whole programme can be seen in its entirety. This reader is therefore meant to embrace what happens apart, and to eventually cross the distances which reason, budget, and physics forced us to keep; it shall communicate our reflections between the local segments and debates of the programme, and make our choice of videos available for a critical cross-reading.

TOBIAS HERING www.no-w-here.org.uk Brad Butler, KarenMirzaandTobias Hering. In LondonJoanneRichardsonpresentsanddiscussesRedTours atno.w.here, togetherwith “Counter-documentary andmakingartpolitically”: www.hartagroup.ro In attendanceTheartistgrouph.arta. Letter fromMoldova(2009),andRedTours (2010,withDavidRych). Renata Poljak(2005),MonolithbyChristinaNorman(2007)andtwoofRichardson’s ownworks, The programmepresentedinClujNapocafeaturesthevideosGreatExpectationsby curated byJOANNERICHARDSON Trans-political narratives Cluj Napoca(May4–5)andLondon9) 2010 by J.RichardsonandD.Rych RED TOURS

124 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME “From age to age, as its shape slowly unraveled, Eastern Europe was already the land of enigmas. Red was already the color of hell, of sinful passions, and the blood of sacrifice. Frightened by their dark instincts and unspeakable desires, the West continues to project their own demons onto the East, as a way to exorcise them.” (Red Tours, Joanne Richardson & David Rych)

In 1953, Alain Resnais and Chris Marker’s film, Les Statues Meurent Aussi (Statues also die), condemned the transformation of African statues and cult objects into museum artifacts as a result of French colonialism. By citing the earlier film, Red Tours (2010) suggests a hidden link between the logic of colonization and what happened in Eastern Europe after 1989.

For the artistic program of the Transeuropa Festival in Cluj, I have chosen four videos as a frame for questioning the dominant narratives about “1989” - as the marker of an inevitable transition towards democracy and the free market, as the withering away of physical and ideological borders, and as the birth of a new Transeuropean territory and subjectivity. What are the political implications of these narratives of the “trans”? And what is left out from this happy ending of history?

Red Tours is a trip through the amusement park of history, with passengers guided from one location to another, plunged into FILM PROGRAMME

prefabricated roles and scripts, without the possibility of stepping outside. The travel serves as an allegory for how history has been transformed into a trinket or souvenir that is consumed without analysis or reflection. In this story, the natives have become willing collaborators in their own colonization. The immediate past they have lived is no longer decipherable. It remains a shadow, a ghost that The common thread of the video program is the image of travel as haunts the present from a horizon that is constantly receding. a stand-in for the process of transition. However, the fourth video in the series, Letter from Moldova, also points to the possibility of “I went to revisit the site of the Lenin statue that we once saw another meaning. As a metaphor of transformation, becoming and the together in Berlin. Do you remember the postcard of the 20 meter encounter with the other, travel still holds out a promise of hope, like monstrosity that you bought for me? A few months after our journey, fragments of a forgotten world buried beneath the sands of time. Lenin was cut into 125 pieces and buried in Köpenick forest. It now strikes me as a powerful allegory not only of the burial of the body of “I am writing you this letter from a distant land. She lies somewhere communism, which had to be dismembered so that it could never be between the Middle Ages and the 21st century, between nostalgia for resurrected again, but also of the death of an idea. The meaning of a failed revolution and an imaginary hope called Europe ... Was it our communism and of the concepts it once invoked has been completely compulsion for traveling that first brought us together? Why have we emptied; hidden in a forest beneath several tons of sand, today it always chosen strange destinations that no sane tourist would ever becomes impossible even to think it.” (Red Tours, Joanne Richardson visit, places at the crossroads of turmoil and transformation? Perhaps & David Rych) it was the threshold of the indeterminate that attracted us, the promise of a different becoming, even though its moment has now been lost. The videos in the program highlight the conflicting status of collective But in its failure, we can still imagine remembering a future that never memory, tourism and commodification. Christina Norman’s Monolith was.” (Letter from Moldova, Joanne Richardson) shows that history is sometimes indecipherable precisely because it’s still too close - the presence of the statue of a Russian soldier in Estonia divides society into nationalist wars. The resurrection of nationalist ideologies alongside the commodification of the Croatian seaside into a tourist paradise are the two sides of transition in Renata Poljak’s Great Expectations. In these seemingly incompatible worlds, we see a swing between two ideologies of the right - a promise of future prosperity and consumption without restraints, and a return to the tradition of blood and soil. In attendance:LutzBecker. Presented byKARENMIRZAandBRADBUTLER. direction/production: LutzBecker, SKZBelgrade,1975,45’ Kino Beleške/FilmNotes Kino Beleške London (May8) 1975 direction/production: LutzBecker, SKZBelgrade KINO BELEŠKE/FILMNOTES

126 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME We first encountered Kino Beleške whilst participating in the Chto circumstances are not accidental either; therefore, there is certainly Delat? 48 hour communal life seminar, What struggles do we have in something that connects us, some common thread, some idea or common, at ICA, London. For two days around forty of us exchanged some ideal on account of which we’re here, it is not just due to a set of ideas on art and politics as a deadline loomed for us to turn this circumstances. However our considerable individual differences will discourse into a performance for an audience. This was in September also be visible which is very good also, therefore, we don’t function as 2010 predating the current UK student mobilisation that we hoped a group, an exclusive group, with a programme, and so on, there are was around the corner, but at that time this performance was useful other things behind all this work of ours”. as two important events occurred. One was the prolonged discussion with Chto Delat? over their proposal to split our performed groups So it is that a work can find you at the right time. Kino Beleške was not into a didactic “Artist vs. Activist” debate. Chto Delat? argued that only an example of a genre we were already researching for our own this split was a provocation within the performance to exaggerate our new work “Direct Speech Acts” but it also spoke to the issues being roles and relations. But we could not see ourselves in this, and our raised in the reading group we had set up within The Museum of non rebellion over this form was because we were being asked to perform Participation of the book by Peter Weiss, called ‘The Aesthetics of something other than ourselves. Resistance’. In this book students seek ways to express their hatred for the Nazi regime. They meet in museums and galleries, and in their As it happened, on reflection, we were also in the process of forming discussions they explore the affinity between political resistance and new critical lines and boundaries as the Precarious Workers Brigade art. Weiss suggests that meaning lies in embracing resistance, no would later also write: “The political art collective Chto Delat? came to matter how intense the oppression, and that we must look to art for London as part of the ICA’s ‘Season of Dissent.’ They invited artists and new models of political action and social understanding. activists to spend forty-eight hours in residence, working on a learning play about the very subject of how to intervene in the landscape of These issues also resonate through Kino Beleške. As Lutz Becker instrumentalized political art. Some members of London’s critical arts sets out in his press release for the film: “The film includes verbal community refused to attend in protest against the ICA’s mass layoffs, statements and performative gestures of the numerous protagonists mismanagement, and interpellation of critical artists into seemingly of the New artistic practice in former Yugoslavia, referring to the role FILM PROGRAMME

disingenuous (and uncompensated) attempts at institutional rebuilding of art in society and re-thinking the concepts of ‘form’, ‘autonomy’, in recent years. For those who did take part, the play and process ‘economy’, ‘politicality’ and ‘institutionalization’ of contemporary art. asked us to perform this division, to place ourselves on the side of Its making was a collective collaboration of all participants. I was ‘Art’ or ‘Activism.’ Though many felt this to be a reductive polarity, it assisted by the artist-filmmaker, Zoran Popovic. The form of the film was prescient in retrospect, as it demanded that we choose which was determined by specific ideas and demands of the participants. political subject we imagined ourselves to be, what we were willing For most of them it was important at this moment in the political to risk, and what we desired. This made it a dress rehearsal for what evolution of Yugoslavia to verbalise ideas and ideological positions was about to come: moments in which we would have to choose concerned with ‘art in society‘. Dunja Blazevic, the director of the SKC, between going to work or going to the demonstration, between getting spoke about contemporary art praxis and related it to the principle of good grades or learning to collaborate, between supporting student Socialist self-management, which in the opinion of many contained demonstrators in the face of police attack or succumbing to vilifying the potential to fundamentally change the cultural value of art and media campaigns and university administrators who threatened the artist’s role in society. - The art critic Jesa Denegri, promoter of punitive actions. However, this rehearsal was small in comparison to ‘New Art’ in Belgrade, gave a sceptical view of the notion of art as the wave of art school and gallery occupations that took place in the social action. He was critical of those who thought that changes in weeks that followed”. art could be made through changes of the internal structure of art (www.e-flux.com/journal/view/225) language, or worse, a return to the artistic values of the past. - Goran Djordjevic standing silently in front of the camera presented some The second significant event for us was the unexpected encounter of his subversive aphorisms as voice over. Aware of the anomalies with Kino Beleške. Unprogrammed and unsolicited a member of of Modernism and the fragility of artistic freedom he asked: Was the group - Jelena Vesic of the Prelom Collective, which has been intellectual peace only a truce? - The predominant view of the artists fostering the re-discovery of that film - had brought a dvd copy with appearing in the film was that self-regarding art criticism had to move her; during our overnight stay in the gallery space, the group agreed on to a more engaged criticism on art as cultural institution. Over shots that the film be screened in the early hours. From the first frames we of snow-covered Belgrade Marina Abramovich read the programme were struck by the prescience of the work. Its first announcement listing of TV Belgrade for 29 November ‘75, the Day of the Yugoslav was spoken straight down the lens setting out its co-operative Republic. The drabness of this programme reflected the ideological construction: A proclamation that “I dedicate my cinema time to ....” stagnation and poverty of the official cultural effort. Its inclusion was followed by images and a list of the participants who made this illustrated eloquently the cultural alienation and parallel existence in collaborative film. And then another statement to camera: “I would say which the SKZ group of artists lived and worked.” that we are in Yugoslavia, that we are at the Students’ Cultural Centre in Belgrade, that we live under self-management or are trying to build This film, lost for many years, has now reappeared at this time, it with others somehow. We’ve been together here, at the Students’ perhaps as no accident either. Cultural Centre for about five years. There are people with us who by Brad Butler & Karen Mirza don’t belong to our inner circle, such as Lutz Becker and several other people from various parts of the world which is not accidental. The In attendanceinBologna:MarceloExposito. Isabelle FremeauxandJohnJordan,TheLanguageofThingsbyAngelaMelitopoulos. The videoprogrammefeaturesLexicoFamiliarbyMarceloExpósito,Lessentiersdel’utopie Curated byMARTINAANGELOTTIandELVIRA VANNINI of thestruggle The localaspect Clashing tales. Sofia (May10)andBologna12) produce discontinuity, ruptureandactivatenewinterpretivetoolsforsociety? these authors,revolutioncan’t beanythingbutthiscontinuallyopenprocess of experimentation.Consideringthis,cancontemporaryartisticpractices theory, practice andlanguageremainsanopenconundrum,alaboratoryfortestingtheeffectsofnewideas, strategiesandorganisations.Accordingto Althusser lovedtorememberLenininhisconviction thatwithoutrevolutionarytheorytherecouldn’t berevolutionarypractice.Therelationshipbetween the particularItalianpoliticalexperienceofSeventies, LaboratoryItaly;amodelforexperimentingwithnewformsofthoughtandrevolutionary practice. This ishowMichaelHardtbeganhisintroduction to“RadicalThoughtinItaly:APotentialPolitics”collaborationwithPaoloV thinking thathelpusconceivearevolutionarypracticeinourtimes.” I takeItalianrevolutionarypoliticsasmodel,rather, becauseithasconstitutedakindoflaboratoryforexperimentationinnewformspolitical in recentdecades;fact,theirdefeatshavebeenalmostasspectacularthosesuffered bytheFrenchproletariatinnineteenthcentury on Frenchphilosophy, U.S.economics,andItalianpolitics.Thisisnottosaythatrevolutionarymovementshavemetonlywithgreatsuccesses “In ourtimetheaxeshaveshiftedsothat,ifweremainwithinsameEuro-Americanframework, revolutionarythinkingmightbesaidtodraw 2011 by JohnJordanandIsabelleFremeaux PATHS THROUGHUTOPIA irno in1996.Theydescribed .

128 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME The crux of the matter is in finding organizational models and political to utopia in a road movie that explore a post-capitalist Europe. Filmed action that can be adequate to the current changes. What are the over seven months of travel in 2008 in which they visited ten different methods for subjectification and the dominant and deep-rooted realities of utopian experimentation, the film “Les Sentiers de l’utopie” cultural and artistic forms of our time? Probably, as the phenomena of is part of a project that also involves a book to be published in France re-enactment teach us, the cyclic morphology of change acts as such under the publisher Zones. Beginning with the action of an illegally- that, in certain epochs, forms and ideas that are new and emerging organised Climate Camp at the airport of Heathrow, the voyage takes tend to impose themselves over others. Our contemporary times are us to a little French village that has been squatted by punks, then to characterized by a weakening of ties between practice and theory, Serbia and a number of occupied or union-run farms and further to a intellectuals and workers, social life and work life, art and society. commune that lives by the tenets free love in an old Stasi base. This Instead we sustain that Italian political philosophy and its theoretical journey brings us in a sort of parallel universe where money no longer diaspora (which, in recent years is reawakening great interest from has any value and private property has been abolished. These are the Anglo-American academics), derived from the movements of the fractures and cracks, perceived or real, that autonomously oppose Sixties and Seventies and referred to under the umbrella “the Italian the traditional narrative flow of contemporary society. The concept anomaly”, is far more paradigmatic. This helps even in understanding of Utopia belongs to our memory. Utopia constantly presupposes an the transformations that occur in contemporary society, for instance, “outside”, a space in which to reform every aspect, thing and tension the tensions between conflicts and insubordination, desires, needs towards an ideal organisational model. But what are our feasible and underground resistance. alternatives to Utopia? Paolo Virno recently wrote: “It is no longer the ideal that makes Utopia unattainable per se; we now live in a time Post-operaismo, far more than certain curatorial and artistic practices, in which we might come face-to-face with the absolute reality and today constitutes an intellectual experience that is more promising tangibility of this ideal.” than the phenomenologies of art and has managed to create techniques and savoir-faire in the field of research and transnational Post-workerism has assumed and considered the language of “means action. According to Christian Marazzi, radical Italian thought has had of production” at the centre of contemporary labour. The form of the the ability to imagine a political dimension beyond the nation-state, it language, in its essence, is the subject on which “The Language of FILM PROGRAMME

knew how to change productive models and Fordist culture with its Things” by Angela Melitopoulos concentrates. It took life from the 1916 complete critique, moving ever closer to “movements” on the grounds essay On language in general and on the language of man by Walter of social unrest. Benjamin. The video represents an attempt to translate his theory on language into a montage that uses pictures of a high-tech playground But the trust in the generations born in the Eighties and the Nineties in Tokyo and its artificial environment: merry-go-rounds, sophisticated and in their ability to bring a wind of change isn’t entirely groundless, simulations of anomalous waves, looks and eyes of Japanese people, although the political system can often be indifferent, or repressive addicted to the hyper-technological tension of entertainment. What and play an active role in the media criminalization. At the same time comes to the eye is the convulsive composition of images, at times the current situation in Italian artistic institutions has fuelled, by means dream-like, on which run fragments of reconnectable thoughts which of alternative types of cultural production, a reopening of the debate Benjamin himself defines as “the magic of language”, alluding to on artistic processes. Today more than ever the need for antagonism its infinity that is conditioned only by immediacy. It is its linguistic manifests itself in a reflexive modality, diagnostic of many contexts. essence, not its verbal content, that draws the limits of language. Art, as free and rebellious as ever, develops a revolt that is difficult to digest and still doesn’t manage to fully reach certain theoretic It is for this reason that language becomes inescapable in the paradigms. Only openness to discussion and intellectual engagement elaboration of content that gives the form its fulfilment. Marcelo can upset the illusion of autonomy in the artistic sphere and transform Exposito’s film, “Lexico Familiar”, is an attempt at completing artistic and curatorial practices into forces acting within the wider several pieces of the “family lexicon”, to form the language of new social context of political communication. So it’s necessary to start movements. The thought takes shape directly from experience, from from forms of self-organisation to a speculative yet profound analysis, concrete expressions of the struggles that occurred in various ways to developing different processes of cultural production that render and societies, starting with the Zapatista movement of EZLN. The effective the various vestiges of dissent which produce counter- definitions that John Holloway expresses, with extreme eloquence, in information. It is precisely for this reason, looking at Europe and its his interview are the attempt at translating philosophical aesthetics uncontrollable processes of transformation and development, we can and political theory into a dimension that is far from abstraction, but try to trace the route of art and criticism that takes political, social and concentrates on participation, in full conscience of the meaning and civil vision, with its many connotations, as its point of departure. terminology tied to the concept of struggle, making sense of it through struggle itself. The scream as Holloway suggests, is the reaction In recent years in Europe, the concept of migration has undergone against that which we are living, the discord is the plurality of screams different developments tied to the idea of self-organisation, the re- and the us presupposes the necessity of re-thinking the individual in appropriation of public spaces, how people imagine the relationship terms of social community. between institution and society, the struggle for civil rights, eventually becoming the inspiration for generating new models of integration Translated by Nausikaa Angelotti and Jonathan King and subversion, amongst which cultural processes or criticism of the opposition. John Jordan and Isabell Fremeaux follow the paths n attendanceinBerlin:AntjeEngelmann,Verena KyselkaandSergio Roger. Pandore (2010)byVirgil Vernier. Arcadia, downtown(2009)byYaron Lapid, L’Esprit deMadjidbyInesJohnson-Spain(2009)and by SergioRoger, Territory ofIntimacy–Tanscaucasian Identification(2009)byVerena Kyselka, The programmefeaturesthevideosRenate(2005)byAntjeEngelmann,PhantomDesire(2009) Curated byBONAVENTURE NDIKUNG language oftransnationality The bodyasgrammarinthe Paris (May11)andBerlin14) BN: ConcerningtheissueofGermany’s history, youarequiteright.Buttheproblemistoconsiderabodybehomogenous.This isinnowaymyconceptof cleansing. Assoonasthenotionofnation body istakenontologicallyanyheterogeneouselementconsideredadysfunction. tradition ofsuchideas.Itisaquickstepfromthe ideaofthenationasonebodytonotionshygieneandbody-shaping,fromtherepolitics of TH: We shouldhoweverbewarywiththisnotionofthe“nationbody”.Itcomprisesandhomogenizes alot.InGermanywehaveparticularlydisastrous prostitute whoapproacheshimandisconcerned abouthim…Idon’t want toimposeinterpretations,buttheallegoricalisvirulenthere. an allegoryfornation.Iknowthisisabitcrudeand hyperbolic,butatbottomnationsarebodies.Germanyasabody. ThenakedmaninArcadia,orthe BN: We couldponderonthepoliticalimplicationsofthesegestures.ButchallengeIseeprecedesthem.Itliesinideatotakebody as political contextoftheseissues:concealment,indiscretion,betrayal? TH: Thisisinteresting,thenotionof“indiscretion”body, ofthebodygivingawaywhatwearetryinghardtoconceal.Wheredoyousee betrayed byhisbodycanbeunderstoodirrespectiveofone’s nationalityorlanguage. Lapid’s Arcadiais another, drasticexample.Nomatterhowhardhestruggles,cannotstandupright.Hisbodytellsit.Thispain andthishelplessness feelings through words. This is something that is communicated and understood anywhere. The despair you see in this man coiling up on the ground in Yaron be concealed.Equallywhenyoulovesomeoneorareafraid,itisyourbodythatgives awaynomatterhowmuchyouavoidadmittingyour words, asbodylanguagedoesn’t lie.Hate,forexample,issomethingyouseeinfacesmoredirectlythangetfromwords. It issomethingthatcannot BN: Itispossibletoidentifywithsomeonethroughtheexpressionofhisbody. Imightevenunderstandhimbetterbyhisbodylanguage,thanfrom TH: Howcloseareforyouthelinksbetweenbodylanguageandidentification? bodies. Thisissomethingthatgoesthroughandbeyondnations,whichlargerthantheconcept ofnations.Itislocal,andatthesametimeglobal. titled thisprogramme.TheseareArmenians,butIamsurethataRwandan,forexample,wouldimmediately recognizesomethingintheexpressionoftheir the loss,andIcanseetheirlifeinexile.Thisiswhyformeitalsoafilmwhichshows“thebody asgrammarinthelanguageoftransnationality”,Ihave understand awordofwhatisbeingsaid,youcanreadandlotfrompeople’s gesturesandfacialexpressions. Icanidentifywithit.see body tell,howcantheexpressthesestories?Peopletalkaboutdisplacement,lossoftheirhomes,ordealsbecomingarefugee.Evenifyoudon’ BN: Thebody. Myinterestliesintheexpressionsofbody and thegesticulations,aswellfeelingstheseexpressionsinciteinme.Whatdoes TH: Whatistheepicentrethen? video arenottheexilestoriesordeliberationsonwherewhathomeis. in Azerbaijanandwereforcedtogo„home“Armenia.Anyonewhohashadsuchanexperiencecanrelatethis.Formehowever, theepicentreof BN: InTerritory ofintimacywecanseewhatitmeanstobeArmenian,elsewhere.Verena KyselkainterviewsArmenianswhofacedethnicdiscrimination Transnationality”. A conversationbetweenBONAVENTURE NDIKUNGandTOBIASHERING aboutthevideoprogramme“TheBodyasGrammarinLanguageof Many threads 2009 by Yaron Lapid ARCADIA, DOWNTOWN t

130 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME the body, nor of the nation. The body is clearly an entity or structure desire to find and see the red thread. That’s not how I see it. I believe that comprises many heterogeneous parts – seen both from a there are many red threads, or that there is a blue thread next to the physical and a metaphysical perspective. And I dare to say that red thread, which is just as legitimate. What’s the use of saying, ‘I appalling concepts like “ethnic cleansing” and the like will cease to haven’t recognized the red thread, so this is not convincing’? You might reoccur only when the concept of the body as plurality in singularity even be colour-blind, or red-blind! What I am interested in as a curator is understood. The allegorical is meant as a tacit suggestion for a is to find these different colours, the green thread, the yellow thread, second look. the red thread. In Verena Kyselka’s film the people talk about exile, TH: When we first talked about this approach to the topic, I had just about displacement, how they cope with their loss. This is one level, recently seen Virgil Vernier’s Pandore and I immediately recalled the one thread; but why not go a bit deeper into it and discover another joy it gave me to watch this film as an allegory, constantly on two thread? For me, one thread is the expressiveness of their bodies. levels: as a documentation of the entrance policies of an up-class TH: I even think that these threads coincide or get entangled when the club, and as an allegory for “something else”. I think this joy has body becomes a subject of the verbal discourse. For example here, something to do with “sharing a secret”. Is that something the in many of these people’s stories there is a point when they realized “second look” does for you, to reveal a secret behind the visible that they had become recognizable as Armenians; or they were performance of the bodies? made to believe that they were recognizable. Up to a certain point in BN: To reveal the hidden, non-evident and non-obvious. What is their lives, it hadn’t been an issue whether they were recognizable special about Pandore is for me how this video also stands as an or not. Suddenly however they were discriminated against, and emblematic illustration of power. Who has power, how and in what they started to feel the racist gaze of the others which singled them way is it exercised? From a socio-political perspective the video out as “Armenians”. Yes, but the way they talk about it makes this fits quite aptly to the situation of the thousands of Tunisian refugees change of perception visible again. One can see that when they talk trying to get through Italy into France. Who is allowed to come in and about this discrimination they talk from a body which reflects on its for what reasons? They both seem to carry the same arbitrariness. own recognizability. Or should we put it the other way around and Let me say however that it would be a pity, if people came with the say: when they talk about discrimination it again stirs the gaze of the straightforward idea that these videos are all “about transnationality”. observer, the spectator who might find himself checking whether they FILM PROGRAMME

Of course, they might have this in mind, as they have read or heard are actually recognizable or not? about the festival. What I find problematic however is the idea of BN: In L’Esprit de Madjid we are challenged in a similar way. What “representation” which people might connect to a film programme. do we see in Madjid’s body language and how do we contextualize I don’t want to represent. I don’t want to represent or explain it? Obviously he is talking about being a homosexual, having a hybrid “transnationality”. sexual identity in a society that does not approve of these concepts TH: No, that’s not what we want. at all. The body tells it in so many ways, even though none of these BN: In a way it is what the programme is about, but it’s about a lot of terms (homosexual, transgender etc.) are ever used. But I wouldn’t other things, too. show this video in a context of “gender” or “homosexuality”. Being TH: At bottom, I think we don’t even need this term, “transnationality”. homosexual he talks about something absolutely universal: to have We both had initial hesitations about the term, and you made them your daily life like everybody else, to make your living cutting people’s explicit in your curatorial proposal by asking back: What does hair, and to also have this something “special” which you have to “transnationality” mean in the first place? I think we should try to accommodate and find your way with, because society doesn’t accept “forget” the term, forget what we have thought it meant. After all, it it and suppresses it with violence. By coding his specialty as a spiritual is now used for anything from big companies flagging their economic peculiarity Madjid reintegrates it; this even gives him a possibility claims, to describing subversive networks. Expanding the term this far to live his “specialty” in public. What he is doing, we can find in any reduces it to a mere technical meaning. society and it is not restricted to homosexuality. Homosexuality is the BN: I think we should simply start discussing from what the videos put most obvious part here, but again I am more interested in that which is in front of us. How did you see Territory of intimacy according to our not so obvious, but nevertheless there. suggestion of the body as grammar? TH: So you are saying: being homosexual, or being “different” in so TH: Well, I watched it with this notion already in my head. I wish I many ways, is a universal experience. To show this film in a specific could actively forget, but that is not so easy. I have seen how the “gender” context would merely state this and not say much more. bodies express different emotions towards what is being told; at But if I get you right, you are proposing to look at how this universal times the body language seems to contradict what the words are experience bends back into the personal story and how it gathers expressing. But it will be interesting to discuss these questions with additional meaning. And then we see additional facets that might not Verena Kyselka, because on an obvious level it is a very textual film. have anything to do with questions of gender. She groups the statements in chapters and through her editing relates BN: One way or the other we are touching on gender. But there are people’s accounts to a more or less chronological narrative. things that go without saying. If you keep repeating them you’re BN: We must assume that the level we are looking at was not on running the risk to produce nothing but tautologies. I have a feeling her mind when she filmed and edited. But isn’t this the challenge that too many things are being said too many times. Of course we are of curating, to discover that which was not intended but is there addressing gender, even if we are putting another focus; it is there, we nevertheless? In each work, each film, there is supposed to be a won’t lose it. But we don’t stick a label on it, “Gender”, because in this leitmotif, or a “red thread”. In reality I think that in each work there story, as in most stories there is not only one thread but many. are many threads. People read a book or go to an exhibition with the www.xenion.org www.primolevi.org Dorothee BruchfromXenion,supportforpoliticalrefugees(inBerlin). In attendance:SibelAgrali,directorofthecarecentrePrimoLeviassociation(inParis), direction: ANNEBARBÉ,France2010,62’ Ceux dePrimoLevi Paris (May13)andBerlin15) 2010 by AnneBarbé CEAUX DEPRIMOLEVI

132 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME The Pain of Others Notes on the film Ceux de Primo Levi by Anne Barbé by TOBIAS HERING

I first saw Ceux de Primo Levi in a cinema in Marseille, at the FID 2010; in a city which in the 1940’s had been a last refuge for hundreds of thousands running from Nazi terror, attempting to escape the horrors that millions of others were suffering, Primo Levi among them. At that period Marseille had been a dead-end-street for the majority of those refugees. Many were betrayed, many were seized, some travelled on to Lisbon, many were snatched on the way, committed suicide, disappeared, few embarked from Marseille, many left without trace, many disappeared or vanished. And the rest, all the others, what happened to them? Where is Marseille?

About half-way through Ceux de Primo Levi, Beatrice Patsalide, psychologist, says that even after 15 years of working with victims of torture, each new account of the horrors afflicted on someone by somebody else comes as a shock. There is no routine in being a listener, in becoming a witness. “There is no limit to the imagination of horror. What men and women invent to torture the other has no limits. This touches on the notion of the unimaginable: it hasn’t been imagined before, it’s a new invention. It exists.” Some of their colleagues speak about routines, the enormous difficulty “to not be FILM PROGRAMME

crude” vis-à-vis those incessant tales of extreme violence; not every witnessing has the same effects. Here, too, it seems there are no limits to imagination, or despair.

Listening to Beatrice Patsalide it occurred to me that Ceux de Primo Levi is also a film about cinema and about watching films. A certain cinema, a certain type of films; the kind of films that we cannot shrug off because they touch on the notion of the unimaginable. Films that make us witnesses to the pain of others. Films that touch on something that wasn’t imagined before, that now exists, that shouldn’t exist. But how does it exist for us, and what do we do with it? These are the questions that those working at “Association Primo Levi” are reflecting on in this film. I cannot help but feel that they are questions that concern all of us, confidants to each other’s stories, and witnesses to some people’s unimaginable pain. Contemporaries currently of regimes tumbling and dictators resigning, and at the same time more than ever “alerted to the insidious signs, increasing daily, of an authority that in a ‘subtler’ way makes use of the same mechanisms as these dictatorships”, as psychologist Eric Sandlarz puts it in the film. Meanwhile, authority has lost some of its subtlety along the way. For some of us then, the question is: how not to be crude vis-à-vis a cynical and uncaring authority that rejects the life of others in the name of our own comfort or safety.

The title for the evening, The Pain of Others, was given with respect to Susan Sontag’s essay, Regarding the pain of others, on the common predicament of looking at depictions, from raw to artistic, of other people’s pain and misery. Sontag offers neither final, nor easy answers how to deal with the complexities of this predicament, let alone the economical and political circumstances preceding it. So there is nothing to quote or copy-paste from her, but it I think it is good to remember that seeing starts from where one opens one’s own eyes. www.amarodrom.de www.willkommenzuhause.blogsport.de In attendance:ElizaPetkovaandmembersoftheBerlin-basedRomainitiativeAmaroDrom. direction/production: ELIZAPETKOVA andHANNESMARGET,Germany/Kosovo2011,69’ (Welcome home) Willkommen zuhause Berlin (May15) 2011 by ElizaPetkova WILLKOMMEN ZUHAUSE

134 TRANSEUROPA FESTIVAL 2011 TRANSNATIONAL ART PROGRAMME No secrets Notes on Willkommen zuhause (Welcome home) by Eliza Petkova and Hannes Marget by TOBIAS HERING

Willkommen zuhause (Welcome home) is the sarcastic title to a film with little sarcasm and no trace of cynicism. “Home” here is not a direction of travel, but a directive from German state authorities. And a “welcome” is nowhere to be heard or found. In April 2010 Germany signed a “retransfer” treaty with the recently founded state of Kosovo in which both countries agree to collaborate on forcefully deporting people of Kosovar nationality from Germany back to Kosovo. In practice (and by intention) the largest group affected are Roma, thousands of whom have since then (and already before) been “repatriated” against their will. During the Balkan wars they had fled to Germany and other EU countries. That’s almost twenty years ago, depending on how long it took the war to destroy their homes. Since then most of them have settled, have had children, went to school, have worked, paid taxes, some married, some died, some have moved elsewhere. That they haven’t become German citizens is not their fault, but due to the definitions of the German laws of citizenship. The same laws that define “home” for them.

Without much ado Eliza Petkova and Hannes Marget decided to FILM PROGRAMME

travel to Kosovo and visit Roma families who had been deported from Germany. To see what home was like and how welcoming it was. The film’s language is German, not because it is the common language between those behind and those in front of the camera, but because it is the family language, the home language. There is little ornament in this film, there is little subtleties; everything speaks for itself, even the silences; things are plain for those who care to look; there are no secrets, and no need to be secretive.

The filmmakers have worked on this film for one and a half years. They made it with minimal means, petty money. They made it out of a concern and a need to act and connect. Had they waited for the issue to reach the mainstream media, somebody might have invested in them. But they didn’t want to wait, it didn’t occur to them. What occurred to them was that while waiting for a film budget to materialize, Roma families are being deported to a phantom home on a weekly basis.

The film has had a growing number of screenings and audiences. It had a small cinema release in Berlin in late April and was shown at independent events and festivals elsewhere. Just a few days ago, Eliza wrote in an email: „Today we had a ‚press conference’ at the Berlin senate department for integration. The senator had organized it and the film was screened on the occasion. Not one journalist showed up. We were five in this big conference room, with the senator, her consultant, and a woman responsible for public relations. Only the public was missing.“

Eliza Petkova and Hannes Marget are currently negotiating to sell the film to a German TV station. This is now over two years after starting to work on it. One year after the inception of the “retransfer” treaty. Fifteen or twenty years after most of those who we see and hear in the film have decided to make a new home elsewhere. For them everywhere is made into elsewhere, and it goes by the name of EUROPE.

TRANSEUROPA is at once a cultural festival and a political event. It is the first transnational Festival happening in 12 cities simultaneously promoting democracy, equality and culture beyond the nation.

If you are not free, I am not either! Roma rights are human rights! Europe must become a utopia! If we jump we will fly! Migration is the human condition. Frontiers are the limits of our imagination! If Europe is a fortress, we are all in prison Edinburgh Free movement, free spirit! ‘Je t’aime’ ‘I feel the same’ Hospitality obligatory here!

Slogans produced by the audience Cardiff interacting with the Home of the Festival in London, Paris, Cluj-Napoca and Bologna London

Amsterdam Berlin

Paris Lublin

Prague

Bratislava Cluj-Napoca

Sofia Bologna