Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility

In his opening keynote, sociologist Pascal Gielen will direct our focus to a subject that threads through the tapestry of our professional and personal realms: the intricate entanglement of nature, culture and our mental condition.

The lecture will illuminate the cultural sector's ongoing conundrum — the imperative of cultural mobility for rich and authentic exchange versus the ecological footprint this mobility creates. As professionals in the arts, we grapple with this tension: the necessity of physical nearness to foster cultural dialogue stands in contrast to the pressing need for sustainability and environmental stewardship, while digital technology seems to fall short in each of these arenas.

In response to these dilemmas, Gielen proposes three aesthetic strategies that offer pathways toward reconciling these paradoxes. 

'Beautiful Thinking' which seeks to integrate the intuitive and the emotional with the intellectual, forming a holistic approach to our environmental and cultural crises. 

'Situational in-situ art' which emphasises profound engagement with local contexts, fostering art that emerges from and resonates with the specifics of place.

'Depth aesthetics' which encourages a dive into the underlying strata of our experiences, connecting with our ancestors and the historical, geological, and ecological layers that define our environmental cultures.

These strategies offer creative approaches to the tensions we face and form a call to action. They invite us to redefine our cultural practices, to seek solutions that honour our need for cultural proximity while respecting the ecological boundaries of our planet.

Speaker

Pascal Gielen, Professor of Sociology of Culture and Politics University of Antwerp, Belgium

Welcome by
Ása Richardsdóttir, IETM, Belgium
Veselin Dimov, Toplocentrala, Bulgaria

This session will be captioned and broadcasted online on Howlround.tv. Access the livestream on the day here. 

Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility 

This workshop encourages practitioners to further reflect on the environmental, organisational and political aspects of their practice, and to explore tangible new ideas for the development of greener, more resilient, and ecologically connected performing arts. Participants will break into three groups, each of which will tackle one of the themes below. 

Sensing Earth Aesthetics: How Can We Create Art with a Greater Connection to Earth?

Tackling the tension between artistic autonomy and environmental responsibility placed on artistic work - whether art is being instrumentalised for ecological purposes and how growing demands for ‘climate proof’ art may change the aesthetics of its works. How can we develop autonomous aesthetics that are closer to the Earth, to nature and our ancestors, perhaps by drawing lessons from indigenous cultural practices?  

Sensing Earth Organisations: How Can We Constitute Ecologically Sustainable Art Institutions?

Given the potential influx of greening regulations aimed at benefiting our ecosystems, which can be challenging for cultural organisations, we look at how to take environmental sustainability into our own hands. We look at strategies for self-organisation based on the principles of the commons, which offer a third space between state (government subsidies) and market (creative industries). How could the performing arts make cultural organisations greener, yet more resilient, by managing natural and cultural resources independently and in a circular manner?

Sensing Earth Politics: How Can We Influence Decision-Making that serves People and Planet

Political decision-making focuses too much on greening existing industry sectors through technological innovation. Arts and culture are expected to deliver the creative resources that drive such innovations, to increase citizens’ ecological awareness and to mitigate socio-economic decline in places that are undergoing profound climate-related transition processes. We will attempt to design elements of more advanced cultural policies that respect culture and nature as one ecosystem that serves people and planet rather than already powerful industries and lobbies.

Moderators

Pascal Gielen, Professor of Sociology of Culture and Politics University of Antwerp, Belgium
Philipp Dietachmair, Head of Programmes ECF - European Cultural Foundation, Netherlands

Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility 

Amidst the challenges magnified by the pandemic, the importance of the 'status of the artist' has become increasingly evident in both national and international dialogues. This concept has not only influenced numerous discussions but has also been incorporated into the names of new laws. The topic of working conditions in the cultural sector has gained momentum at the European Union level, and several national governments across the globe introduced new measures to tackle it. 

However, UNESCO’s recent study investigated the global situation and concluded that despite the increase in various laws and measures to address artists’ status, conditions are worsening for many artists worldwide. What are the reasons? Is political will insufficient to effect change, especially in the face of rapid changes and constantly emerging global challenges? Are these measures too progressive for their rather conservative contexts? Or is there a lack of recognition of both old and emerging issues that artists really face today? 

This panel aims to make a breakthrough in the ongoing quest for better working conditions in the arts sector by gaining deeper insight into the types of solutions in place and the obstacles to their success, and shedding light on the nuances crucial for advocating or designing policies in this complex field.

Moderator

Elena Polivtseva, Belgium

Speakers

Tom Fleming, United Kingdom

More speakers to be added. 

Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility 

We live in a fast-paced world, often moving between meetings, tasks and media with little time to rest in between. 

In this small group session led by a psychotherapist, artist and writer with over 24 years’ practice, you will learn practical techniques to help centre your thoughts and feelings as you move through your day – whether you have five, three or only a minute! 

Participants will be asked to share the biggest points of stress in their lives, and we will draw on a range of techniques - breathing, body work, meditation and creative activities – to discover the most useful tools for tackling them. 

Working with the group, you’ll have the opportunity to rehearse putting the tools into practice. Wear loose clothing, warm socks and comfortable shoes for walking and moving.

Maximum number of participants: 30. This session requires pre-registration.

 BOOK THE SESSION

Moderator

Virginia Zaharieva, Artist & Psychotherapist, Bulgaria

Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility

Europe hosts a wide variety of contexts for artists to work within. Some of them include more and some less obvious ways on how an artist can survive and live sustainably by practising their profession and the adjacent competencies.

As a follow-up to the panel How do we make it work? on working conditions and the status of the artist, this session will provide a practical and hands-on approach to  help us get on the same page in the rich contextual environment. We will form working groups to explore further local contexts and possible ways to define what a professional artist is, based on a variety of social, economic and cultural factors. We will aim at developing an ‘Are you an Artist?’ calculator in order to help better ‘quantify’ what a professional artist is.

Moderators
Kalina Wagenstein
Stefan Prohorov

Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility 

Apart from very small groups of indigenous people, the rest of the world population has lineage connected to colonisation, settling and migration. Contemporary cultures result from translocal flows of people, technology, capital, media and ideas. They are shaped by hybridisation and cultural exchange, and yet identity-based political tribalism seems to be gaining ground globally. Society at large is experiencing burnout symptoms, such as social unrest and polarisation, prolonged economic downturns, environmental degradation, political instability, loss of cultural vitality and cohesion. 

How can artists continue to make work when feeling the effects of this turbulence, and what role can institutions play in supporting them?

Through a number of historic and contemporary examples the lecture will trace how artists have reflected and responded to political and social challenges, and look into cultural policies and management models that could break a crisis cycle.

Speaker

Margarita Dorovska, Curator Christo And Jeanne-Claude Center, Bulgaria

This session will be captioned and broadcasted online on Howlround.tv. Access the livestream on the day here.