Symposium

Politics of Space
Conference in the context of the exhibition „On Difference #2: Grenzwertig“

7. – 9. April 2006
Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart

From April 7 – 9, 2006, Württembergischer Kunstverein is organising the symposium “Politics of Space” in the context of the exhibition “On Difference #2: Grenzwertig”. The aim is to highlight and explore in greater depth various aspects of the exhibition. One focus is on a critical reflection of the political and economic background of urban developments, which will be discussed both in the local and global context. Taking the city of Sofia as an example, it is planned to analyse the profound changes – caused for example by commercialisation – of the visual culture in so-called post-communist societies. The Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, together with other architectures of the Bask city, will be reflected in regards to an “ethnography of desire”. At the same time, the focus will also be on informal practices of reappropriating public spaces, for example in Indian metropolises, or approaches to the “social city”. In addition to a more detailed analysis of the changing situations in major cities and booming metropolises – and the question of where and how social and cultural free spaces are organised in these contexts – the aim is also to examine “non-places” by example of border regions: as “screens” that are both ideologically charged and characterised by economic power structures – and which can be also interpreted as open spaces of action. The speakers invited – artists, curators, sociologists, urbanists and architects – will present their recent projects. In addition to lectures, the symposium will also feature films.
The conference will be held in English language!

PROGRAMME

Friday, 7. April 2006

7:00 pm

Welcoming Address
Heike Schiller-Schenten, Head of Heinrich Böll Stiftung BW

Introduction
Iris Dressler

Ligia Nobre, São Paulo
www.exo.org.br
Architect, co-founder and co-director of EXO experimental org.
São Paulo S.A. Archiv: 3 case studies
Presentation of the “São Paulo S.A.” project and 3 ongoing researches developed in a collaborative working ground by artists and authors from different contexts. They focus on possible representations of the metropolis of São Paulo – the economic, political and cultural epicenter of Brazil since mid-20th century – and its complexities.

Joseba Zulaika, E
Sociologist, till 2005 director of the Basque Studies in Reno, Nevada
basque.unr.edu/04/4.2.1t/4.2.1.02.zulaika.htm
The Architecture of Desire: Bilbao's Four Cathedrals
It has always been said that there are three important things about Bilbao: the soccer team Athletic (its field is popularly known as "The Cathedral"), the Mother Virgin of Begoña (her basilica overlooks Bilbao), and the Bank of Bilbao (its headquarters are the tallest buildings in Bilbao). In 1997 a fourth "Cathedral" was added: the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum. The presentation will argue that the interactions between these four buildings provide a basic grounding for an ethnography of desire in Bilbao.

Saturday, 8. April 2006

11:00 am

Iris Dressler
„On Difference #2“: exhibition tour

12:30 pm

Solomon Benjamin, Bangalore
Urbanist
Beyond the Concept and into Occupant Cities
Can we open our conceptual boxes in more rooted, and interdisciplinary ways to reveal complex politics and economies that shape city formative processes? These are necessarily turbulent and very different from the ‘Concept city’ (drawing from De Certeau). In that hierarchical city, turbulence is sought to be contained and processes posed within a linearity of “development” progress and modernity. Is the removal of the turbulent a narrowing of the political? Can we explore, via a closer look at forms of occupancy, concepts that are beyond the hierarchical structured.

1:30 pm: Lunch

3:00 pm

Gabriele Steffen, Stuttgart/Berlin
Manager of Weeber + Partner, Institute of Urban Planning and Social Research
Dealing with difference – Concepts and examples of integrative urban renewal
New approaches to urban renewal combine urban development, social action, culture and a strengthening of the local economy, and they are founded on active participation of citizens in the district. Gabriele Steffen presents experience from the German “Soziale Stadt” (social city) programme conducted by the Federal government and Federal states, that aims to improve life opportunities in disadvantaged districts, and from the conversion of former military areas.

4:00 pm

flyingCity, Seoul
Urban Research Group
The artists of “flyingCity” are focusing on the mechanisms and effects of the modernization processes in South Korea.

5:00 pm

Iara Boubnova, Sofia
Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Sofia
www.projekt-relations.de/de/explore/visual_seminar/index.php
Visual Seminar
Iara Boubnova will present her project „Visual Seminar“, which takes the city of Sofia as an example to explore the culture of the visual in the so-called transformation societies.

6:00 pm

Javor Gardev, Sofia
Theatre director and artist
Credibility Gap Beyond Repair
The lecture describes and analyzes the preparation phase as well as the reception of Javor Gardev's TV-simulacrum project "Visual Police", presented in the exhibition „On Difference #2. This project is realized in collaboration with some of the most prominent Bulgarian TV-anchors and opinion makers and explores the manipulative power of electronic media.

7:00 pm

Screening

Krassimir Terziev, Video artist, Sofia
Battles of Troy, 2005, 51 Min.
A documentary film reporting the hectic journey of Bulgarian extras taken by Hollywood out to Mexico on the set of Troy, a feature from Wolfgang Peterson. Krassimir Terziev inquired about these extras' hopes and experiences, and also he tried to raise awareness of the methods of some Hollywood productions.

Sunday, 9. April 2006

11:00 am

Kyong Park,
a retired informal architect, a substitute curator and an aspiring urban theorist
www.europelostandfound.net
Europe Lost and Found
With other founding member of Centrala Foundation for Future Cities (Rotterdam), Kyong Park is planning an open source research project on possible economic, political and cultural geography of future Europe. Starting with Lost Highway Expedition, a massive intelligence swarm that will move through nine major cities of ex-Yugoslavia and Albania, Europe Lost and Found, will explore the contradictions and synthesis of balkanization and europeanization, in the notion of temporary society, moving city and stateless state.

12:00 pm

Francisco Ali Brouchoud, Buenos Aires
artist and critic
The Rogue Zone: An Artistic Project in the Tri-Border Region between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay
How can a region become a "rogue" one? The Tri-Border Region between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay suddenly turned into a "hot" zone, with an "extra" geopolitical charge in the post 11-S world. This complex border place - a true linguistic, social, economic, cultural and political laboratory - provides a platform where contemporary artistic practices could be used as a trigger for the transformation of this enclave into a "temporary autonomous zone", in which artists, writers, thinkers, researchers and activists - in intensive engagement with local communities - promote collective thinking, reflection an activities as resistance against the hegemonic logics and narratives.

1:00 pm

Screening

Stefan Constantinescu, video artist, Stockholm
www.e-cart.ro/ec-6/stefan/uk/g/stefan_uk.html
El Passaje, 2005, 62 Min.
Stefan Constantinescu’s documentary film, „El Passaje“ (the passage), is about the existential transition of three Chileans who were forced to leave Chile after the Pinochet controlled coup d’etat of 1973. All three ended up living under Nicolae Ceausescu’s communist dictatorship, and over time, two of them left for Sweden. „El Pasaje“ is a film about refugees, strangers, the past, prejudices and loneliness.