Social
Spaces

Van vr. 17 tot zo. 19 sept. 2010 vindt voor het eerst festival Kanal plaats. Dit Brussels festival wil op een creatieve manier de problemen, de uitdagingen en de mogelijkheden van de Brusselse kanaalzone onderzoeken via kunst- en cultuurprojecten.

In het kader van dit festival organiseren AWB, Demos en platform Kanal op vr. 17 sept. het internationaal seminarie Exploring Common Space. Het colloquium onderzoekt de mogelijke bijdrage van een artistiek festival aan positieve stedelijke dynamiek in de Brusselse kanaalzone. Volledig programma en meer info

A festival in a Must Go Zone. The Festival Kanal projects are artistically diverse and explore cultural, social, political and historical issues, but they have one thing in common: they literally get the public moving. As Brussels edges its way westwards, the various districts around the canal are gradually being incorporated into the city centre. Some changes are already under way, others are on their way: streets are being revamped, development plans drawn up and new projects given the green light. At the same time the gap is widening between rich and poor, between those with a qualification or a job and those without.Yet because of its mix of different nationalities, languages, smells, colours and vibrant young population, this is Brussels at its best – a powerful mélange with an unseen reserve of energy, creativity and joie de vivre. Unfortunately, these communities don’t always have the opportunities they deserve. Unfortunately, a none too rosy picture of this part of Brussels is often conveyed to the outside world. Hence the new, biennial FESTIVAL KANAL.

On 23rd – 25th of August, the research group Social Spaces will be present at the E-Culture Fair 2010 in Dortmund (Germany). The fair is organized by BAM, the Flemish institute for visual, audiovisual and media art, “Virtueel Platform” and “Medienwerk NRW” and is part of RUHR 2010, the European Capital of Culture and ISEA 2010 (16th International Symposium on Electronic Arts). The E-Culture Fair revolves around (cross-disciplinary) projects on (media) technology, art, research and creative industry. Here, companies, schools, universities, research groups and artists from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany will present their work. At a booth at the Fair, Social Spaces will present itself and several of the projects the group currently is involved in (closely collaborating with Z33 – house for contemporary art, the Province of Limburg and the Expertise centre for Digital Media).

Via my collegue Sarah Késenne, I found an article on artistic research, which offers an interesting and provocative reflection. This sentence seams like an interesting starting point for further discussion: “An adequate research methodology has to be developed in order to allow the researchers positions on multiple social-material time-spaces of actual making and doing—positions that permit and actually encourage active involvement in the artistic processes in the stages of production before publication, exhibition, and critical reception.”
The rest you can read yourself at http://www.e-flux.com/journal/view/40