Transeuropa Festival Presentation

THE FIRST TRANSNATIONAL FESTIVAL IN EUROPE 7 - 15 MAY 2011

LONDON - PARIS - BOLOGNA - BERLIN - CLUJ NAPOCA - LUBLIN - PRAGUE BRATISLAVA - SOFIA - AMSTERDAM - EDINBURGH - CARDIFF

TRANSEUROPA TRANSEUROPA Festival is the first transnational festival of arts, culture and politics happening simultaneously in 12 cities throughout Europe. It is not 12 different festivals happening at the same time, but one bottom-up festival taking place throughout Europe and building a shared transnational public sphere.

Organised by a team of over 40 activists, curators, students, and young professionals from throughout the continent, the festival promotes the values of cultural and artistic exploration, transnational communication, and shared political responsibility.

Using a plurality of mediums including film screenings, performances, artists talks, walks, debates and conferences, the festival examines issues of foremost importance for the future of Europe and European societies, building a new perspective for a dynamic, post-national Europe.

STRUCTURE OF THE FESTIVAL Opening weekend: May 7 and 8 The opening weekend of the Festival will see a packed program of lectures, discussions and debates as well as music and opening parties in all festival cities.

Discussion Series Over the weekdays of the Festival common themes of crucial importance for Europe’s future will be discussed in all festival cities. These discussions in each city will pick up on conclusions from the other cities of the Festival, with numerous participants and young people travelling between similar events in different festival cities Transnational Forums During the closing weekend of May 14 and 15, participants will come from all festival cities to one city for a closing Transnational Forum on one theme, where a common trans-european stand will be developed. 2011 thematic priorities are: social and economic wellbeing; migration and interculturality; new media and pluralism; roma and minorities’ rights; sustainability. .

Artistic Programme The Festival will feature a common artistic and video programme reflecting on the theme of “transnationalism”, as well as a specially commissioned “home of the festival” created by artist and architect Can Altay.

Full programme to be released in mid-february 2011!

The programme of the 2010 edition can be downloaded here

Debates on core themes...

Four transnational Forums in London, Paris, Cluj and Bologna, will be the culmination of simultaneous discussions around four key themes taking place in all festival cities. Several participants from participating cities will be invited to attend and present the discussions held locally.

In London, the issues of social rights at times of austerity will pose the question of forms of collective action for a fairer Europe. In Paris, the moving geography of inside and outside borders of Europe and the conditions of migrants will be exposed. In Bologna, propositions for European action on media pluralism and new media will be elaborated. In Cluj, the ways to better defend the rights of the Roma will be explored.

Other themes such as sustainability, gender equality and civil rights, urban poverty and the dialectic integration/multiculturalism will also be discussed.

‘A more socially just Europe is possible’ Example of a thematic strand in the festival Lublin: Artistic billboards and social theatre in public space Bologna: Presentation "Poor Us" project, with a documentary screening, debate on the economic crisis and on theories of post-capitalism Cluj: Social market of exchanges of goods and debate on postcommunist capitalism Sofia: Photo contest on solidarity, debate on poverty, marginalisation and minorities, and a panel discussion on the feminisation of poverty Prague: Seminar on austerity in the Czech Republic and beyond Bratislava: Debate on the economic crisis and nationalism Paris: Exhibition of photos of homeless people and debate on gender equality at work London: Final Forum on the Future of Europe’s economy bringing together citizens, social partners and participants from all festival cities

Just some highlights...

Opening week-end

During the week

Friday 6th of May Opening lecture on ‘the historical boundary of Europe revisited’ in Sofia; Opening speeches by Franco Bifo Berardi in Berlin and speech on feminism in Lublin with Anne Berger; Parties with music and DJs in Cluj, Berlin and Paris.

Monday 9th of May – Europe day In London - The Europe Day Speech of Will Hutton: ‘Europe in the 21st Century’ In Paris - Europe’s day on Paris Town Hall main square, exhibition on Gender Equality and Forms of Love, debate on the New borders of Europe with C. Withol de Wenden In Berlin - lecture on camps at the external borders of Europe with Gabriele del Grande In Sofia - debate on the new boundaries between society and nature, GMO, consumer concerns, EU food policies In Amsterdam - collecting letters to the President of the EU Council, Herman van Rompuy

Saturday 7th of May Debate on 'How can Europe prevent discrimination against the Roma from repeating?', Treasure Hunt, Bike Tour and Flashmob, debate on art in public spaces and Opening reception in London

Sunday 8th of May Discussion on Sustainability with Serge Latouche, Presentation "Poor Us" project, with documentary screening. Nomadic Readings and Università popolare (University classes in public squares on sustainability / Migration, cultural diversity, identity in Bologna.

And many other events in all cities!

Tuesday 10th – Friday 14th In Sofia - debate on the ‘Feminisation of poverty & gender work right’ In Prague - debate on ‘Deconstructing the migration experience in central Europe’ and on ‘Enacting European citizenship to guarantee roma rights’ In London - performance, 'Paradise Lost' and debate on European identity and the construction of otherness In Paris - debate e-media and new forms of political mobilisation and video screening of EU cinema night programme In Cluj - reading session on Roma rights In Bologna - presentation of film selection YoungAbout Festival, exhibition of visual campaigns on gender equality in Europe

Closing week-end

Closing Forum on Media Freedom in Europe in Bologna , Fri 13th and Sat 14th Citizen’s congress on the Future of Media in Europe, with journalists and media activists from throughout Europe

Closing Forum on External and Internal Borders of Europe in Paris Sat 14th Discussion Forum linking up NGOs and citizens from throughout Europe to build common action regarding Europe’s migration policy

Closing Forum on Roma Rights and European Citizenship in Cluj - Sun 15th Discussion Forum linking up NGOs and citizens from throughout Europe to build common action for defending Rights attached to European Citizenship

Closing Forum on Labour Rights in London Sat 14th Congress on the Future of Europe’s economy, with social partners from throughout Europe

... and the art programme HOME OF TRANSNATIONALISM Taking over the social tradition of the Italian Casa del Popolo, the French Maison du Peuple or the German Volkshaus, the Home of the Festival will temporarily appear and occupy one venue in London (Rochelle School), Paris (tbc), Bologna (Urban Centre), and Cluj-Napoca (Casa Transit).

The Home will enter in dialogue with the city itself and its inhabitants, while at the same time working as a sort of ‘spatio-temporal gate’ that opens towards the other home-venues in the other cities. The Homes will not only host the majority of the festival programme for that city (film and video screenings, exhibition, talks and roundtables), but they will also serve as “contact points” between the cities, using new technologies to allow constant communication and exchange among the different festival participants and audiences.

By designing spaces for social activities Altay tries to blur the border between audience and participants as well as to produce a situation where people with different backgrounds and interests are called to contribute.

Such a practice allows not only to directly operate within the context of the hosting venue by changing the architecture and turn it into a more open and participative space, but also to activate and trigger new and unexpected relationships through a series of what Altay names ‘exercises in sharing’.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Altay formed himself as architect and his artistic practice characterised by a research on the relationship between space and human activities. Can Altay has had solo shows in The Showroom, London (2010), Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2008), Spike Island, Bristol (2007) and Sala Rekalde, Bilbao (2006), his work has been shown internationally including at MoMA and ZKM..

He lives in Istanbul, Turkey.

VISUALISING TRANSNATIONALISM Showcasing in Transeuropa Festival 2011, Visualising Transnationalism is collaborative research-based process aimed at exploring the way in which transnationalism is becoming an embedded reality in the social fabric of Europe. Far from being reserved only to a jet-setting cosmopolitan elite, forms of transnationalism are becoming constitutive of everyday life in many parts of Europe, amongst many groups.

This embedded transnationalism is found in migrant groups, in forms of political activism, in online networking and media spaces, and in the everyday social life of metropolises and border spaces throughout Europe. The project will gather European artists, curators, activists and cultural producers to explore Europe not as a political or economical ‘institution’ but as a space that is continuously reconfigured by collective movements.

Aside fro taking part in workshops in most of the festival cities, participating artists will produce visual materials - billboards, posters, fliers, postcards - attempting to “map” transnational flows in Europe, which will be distributed throughout all festival cities.

FILM&VIDEO-ART One common film and video-art programme A great part of what we think about the world, ourselves and others is mediated by moving images. Information is a cultural and economical asset, and images seem to be the most trusted currency. As digital commodities films are on the privileged side of mobility: they travel easier than the people we see in them, and sometimes easier than their makers. As a programme designed for several cities across Europe, the selection and presentation of films and videos within Transeuropa Festival will therefore reflect on the terms of mobility within Europe, its economical regime and the role of films and videos therein.

Collaborative Curating A collaborative process between several curators based in, or with strong connections to a city hosting Transeuropa Festival 2011 will yield a screening programme as well as a series of local presentations and debates. The process is moderated by Tobias Hering and Emanuele Guidi. It encourages a critical discussion of the festival concept and structure with a practical focus on how audiences can be made to cherish and participate in this dialogue.

How do key terms like “transnationality”, “mobility”, “simultaneity” and “absence” inform contemporary films and videos, and how does their general urgency translate in local contexts?

Full festival programme coming out in late February 2011 For further information, email Segolene Pruvot, s.pruvot@euroalter.com www.euroalter.com www.transeuropafestival.eu