Looking for speakers experienced in participatory art for a session in Porto
During the plenary meeting in Porto, I'll lead a session about participatory art, and I'm looking for speakers to join me. I'm looking for artists, producers, festival directors, people who can bring some real experience.
I am the artistic director of a theatre company that evolved in a collective of artists focused on site-specific and participatory projects at international level. I would like to share some thoughts and compare good practices with other artists, producers and so on, not to talk about our personal projects but to focus on the mechanisms that we activate to realize them. I am also very interested in the ethics of this topic, because if on one hand we can find new ways to produce art and to talk with our audiences, on the other we can also exploit the public for our needs.
The idea of participation is a very strong element in contemporary culture: the Internet made us more used to express what we think and to have an active role in what we choose to see. Cultural funding often asks for projects to affect a territory or to involve a community. At the same time, theatre and other forms of art are experiencing a difficult moment, also because of the reduction of the attention span.
Quality always brings its results, but it is time to ask ourselves some questions:
- What does it mean to involve the public in art?
- Can the public be involved in the creative process? Can it be useful?
- Is there a good way to create participation or is it just an illusion to receive funding?
- What kind of tools can we develop to measure the public’s participation and engagement?
- What should a art project leave in the public? What legacy a participatory art project should leave?
Involving the public means being responsible of a new kind of relationship, where we can choose our goal and the level of participation. Our first participatory project taught us a very good lesson: most of the people feel a strong need to be part of an artistic activity, but lack the occasions. They are a huge, powerful resource, that needs to be directed with humility, sincerity and generosity. This can trigger a virtuous circle that can lasts for years, and that can change our perceptions and ideas about art in our time.
If you're interested in being part of this panel please contact me, sending info about you activity and projects.
Thanks for your attention and collaboration
Hi Matteo, I am really interested in the topic and have a lot of relevant experience on the matter and questions you are asking. I've sent you an email with more information.
All the best
Karine
Hi Matteo,
I am also very interested in being part of the panel and bringing our experience from Macedonia regarding our project "City that (never) sleeps" which was supported by Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development from the Netherlands.
Can you please advise where can I send more information regarding the project?
Best,
Valmira
Hi Mateo,
I'm joining the Interested group! I'm the Co-Artistic Director of Kaimera Productions, which is based in NYC and Paris. At the heart of our mission is to provide platforms for audiences to come together in dialogue and examine some of the hardest questions our global society faces. Most of our projects are in non-conventional places, and involve/include members of the local community. Here are two recent examples:
1. SPACES: Immersive Storytelling Experience (see link to video below) - The trailer depicts the experience we built for Harlem, so the stories, the music, dance styles and the video projections are rooted in the local history of Harlem. But in each new place we present it, it is recreated to reflect the local community.
2. DATAPRINT - an immersive installation-type performance that blends theater, music, dance, and multimedia, and invites audiences to examine the impact of their online fingerprint, as well as question the ethics of data privacy. Here is a link to the initial draft that we presented in a metro station in Bangalore, India: https://vimeo.com/248120999 (the voiceover is from the overall festival that we were part in, but the footage is of our piece).
If you are interested or have more questions, please feel free to contact me.
All the best,
Simón
Hi Matteo - very happy to be part of this conversation if you think it's useful. Artsadmin produces more and more participatory projects these days, including Station House Opera's Dominoes (lots of people participating over a short time) to Rosemary Lee's projects (fewer people over a longer period), Clare Patey's Empathy Museum and many other projects - there are a lot of issues always raised and constantly in discussion - participatory projects are really brilliant, encourage interest in the arts, spread skills and knowledge, huge enthusiasm etc - but then we should remember how carefully they need to be produced, how to look after the participants properly, how costly they can be in terms of time and money, - and are we actually 'exploiting' the participants etc? I was on a panel talking about it in London a few months ago. Would be very interested to be part of the conversation. Links to all our projects are on the website below. Judith
Hi Matteo,
the danish company Cantabile 2, of which I am the artistic director, works exclusively with participatory performance since 2006.
I strongly believe that participatory work (or, as we call it, Human Specific work) can fully take advantage of the physical presence of the public, in making the theatre performance a truly intimate and personal experience. I would be very interested in participating in the panel. See our links to read and see more about our work.
Dear all, thanks for your replies, I appreciate!
Sorry for this delay, I received no notifications from the Forum for your replies. I'll be back very soon with some updates, thanks a lot