CULTURE & POPULISM: “DO WE BELIEVE THAT ART CAN HELP TO COUNTER POPULISM AND SIMPLIFICATION?”
An event of the FLAX Open Academy for immigrant artists in Germany initiated by FLAX Foreign Local Artistic Xchange in cooperation with the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) and the Akademie der Künste Berlin, and with the participation of SYRIA.ART
Dates: 25 – 28 May 2017
Venue: Akademie der Künste Hanseatemweg 10, Berlin, Germany
Photo credit ©Jesco Denzel
Under the near total hegemony of the market and dominant political forces pandering to populism, the production, exhibition and mediation of culture has become increasingly depoliticized, with the “mainstream” widely ceding ground to the extreme right. Furthermore, political and cultural pluralism, once cornerstones of democratic modern and postmodern societies, are increasingly marginalized and denigrated. What is the role of art, cultural actors and institutions in blunting the nefarious impact and pervasive influence of populism? Can art constitute the ground for a counter-culture and the regeneration of democratic, egalitarian and plural social and political imaginaries?
Participants: Natasha Sadr-Haghighian, Inaya Fanis Hodeib, Adam Broomberg, Nasan Tur, Khaled Youssef, and others…
FLAX is a cultural network that promotes exchange, networking and cooperation for local and newly arrived cultural workers, artists and institutions inside Germany. In cooperation with the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) and the Akademie der Künste Berlin, FLAX invites newly arrived visual artists in Germany (in the past 5 years), to participate in a four-day workshop, designed as an Open Academy that will include lectures, panel discussions and workshops with established artists and experts from the art world.
PROGRAM
FLAX Open Academy / Visual Arts
Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg 10, Berlin
Thursday 25th of May
15.00 – 16.00 Welcome Words & Introductions
Lanna Idriss
Schedules to organize portfolio reviews will be explained
16.00 – 18.45 Open Discussion: Being an Emerging Artist in Germany and in Europe
Moderation: Nasan Tur, Norbert Bisky
Participating artists are invited to speak about their experiences in Europe, the difficulties they face and their expectations. Also we would like to get to know each other…
from 19.00 Networking Evening Event: “FLAX & Friends”
Drinks & Finger Food
Music by DJ
Friday 26th of May
In parallel to the workshops there will be a single portfolio review with Nasan Tur and/or Norbert Bisky are possible. These appointments will be scheduled on Friday.
09.00 – 11.00 Artistic Practice and Self-Organization
We like to answer together many questions as: How can I exhibit? How can I find funding? How can I find a space? How to organize an off space? And many others
Moderator: Lutz Henke
11.30 – 14.00 Workshop: Representation one’s Practice:
Websites and other Media
Tutor: Camillo Brau
30 minutes quick lunch & coffee break
14.30 – 16.30 Art as profession: Education, Career Building, Curating
Moderator: Melanie Roumiguire
16.30 – 18.30 Portfolio reviews:
Each participant is invited to have up to 30 minutes in one by one session to discuss their portfolio and artistic development
19.00 – 21.00 Panel Discussion: Culture & Populism – Can art help counter populism, its simplifications and the rise of the far-right rhetoric?
Participants:
All participants of the FLAX Open Academy are invited to take part in
the discussion Including Nasan Tur, Inaya Fanis Hodeib, Adam Broomberg
and Natasha Sadr-Haghighian
Saturday 27th of May
09.00 – 11.30 Portfolio reviews: Each participant is invited to have up to 30 minutes in
one by one session to discuss their portfolio and artistic development
Reviews with: Nasan Tur, Natasha Sadr-Haghighian and Kati Barath
12.00 – 14.00 Open Forum: Localism, Universalisms and the Cultural Underpinnings of
Understanding Art. A discussion on pluriversal interpretations of art and the histories of modernity
Experts:
Johannes Odenthal (Director of Programming at the Academy of Arts)
Nadia Kaabi-Linke
Natasha Sadr-Haghighian
All participants of the FLAX Open Academy are invited to take part in the discussion
14.00 – 20.00 Gallery Visits
Galerie König, http://www.koeniggalerie.com
Host: Johann König
Duration 2 hours
From 5 pm: Walk through and evening Event at SAVVY
http://www.savvy-contemporary.com
Sunday 28th of May
09.00- 11.00 Portfolio reviews: Each participant is invited to have up to 30 minutes inone by one session to discuss their portfolio and artistic development
Reviews with: Kati Barath and Nadia Kaabi-Linke
11.15 – 13.15 Reflection and notes on settling recently in Brussels
Presentation by Samah Hijawi
13.30 – 15.00 Feedback/Debriefing (Working Group Discussions)
Participants will split in groups to evaluate the Open Academy and collect feedback for the future Sessions in 2018 and 2019.
15.00 – 16.00 Presentation of ideas by each team
Farewell and Drinks
SYRIA.ART 