Forum Skopje 2009: The Aftershock of the Postmodernism

This year's Forum Skopje will be held from 8th to 14th of June at Mala Stanica in Skopje (Macedonia) hosting numerous European and regional architects and urban theoreticians. The concept of this year’s debate would give accent to the newest rises in the City Center, seen as antonyms to the Postmodern's philosophy. The subject of this year’s debate is set to be: the Aftershock of the Postmodernism.


Participants: Erich Raith, Sergej Nikoljski, Biljana Stefanovska, Ivan Rupnik, Antonio Petrov, Marko Sančanin, Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss, Vera Martinez, Christiano Lepratti, Maren Harnack, Kai Vöckler, Gabriele Reiterer, Ines Tolic, Aleksandar Petrov, Maximilian Hartmuth and Ivan Mirkovski.

Programme:
8 June, 19:00h
Pre-opening night
Mala Stanica, Upper level gallery
The Caffe

Lecture by: Antonio Petrov (Harvard University, Wasx.org Architecture - USA)
"Presentness and the Cultures of the Aftershock(s): Critical Formations of the Creative Unemployed"

#
9 June, 19:00h
Opening night
Mala Stanica, Upper level gallery
The Caffe

Jazz concert: the Georgi Sareski Quartet
Exhibition opening: 90 Years Bauhaus

#
10 June, 19:00h
Mala Stanica, Upper level gallery

round table night sessions

#
11 June, 19:00h
Mala Stanica, Upper level gallery

round table night sessions

#
12 June, 19:00h
Mala Stanica, Upper level gallery

round table night sessions

#
13 June, 19:00h
Mala Stanica, Upper level gallery

round table night sessions


#
14 June
Mala Stanica, Upper level gallery

last day activities
the student workshop presentation

inSEECp's conference covered at Labforculture

The conference Cultu(RE)gion online!_The Future Goes By!,  which took place this week in Belgrade has been covered at Labforculture portal.

'Gathered representatives of the portals for culture collected new knowledge in order to improve their work. Through sharing their professional experiences and through the workshops of social and cultural aspects of the web 2.0, but also through the practical usage of portals, blogs, social media and free software, they learned how to use social media in a better way. With presentations of existing portals for culture in SEE and through the discussions on possibilities and challenges of the art and culture in the digital era, they also promoted importance of digital culture.'

Read the whole coverage here

New inSEEcp's logo by Andrija Nikacevic

'The shape of new inSEEcp logo is based on square that presents the basic unit of the screen resolution – pixel, in that sense showing the media it represents – the web portal. At the same time, squares are associate to web windows, their interlacing and information exchange; as well as the collaboration between portals in the region.'

'By spreading the squares from the upper left to the bottom right side in different colors, this logo is geometrically placed within a certain geographical and abstract context of the region, but this dynamic form itself shows a tendency for expanding outside of the borders. With the color pallet, logo for inSEEcp presents optimism and awakens positive vibrations.'
Andrija Nikacevic, graphic designer, Belgrade

Andrija Nikacevic is respectable designer with many projects behind, his latest project was visual identity for the Octobar Salon. Nikacevic was participant of many international artist-in-residence programs, as well as jury member of design contests.

In the occasion of the conference Cultu(RE)gion online, Future Goes By!, the organizers will publish a brochure on English, German and all regional languages of the portals included.

The conference will gather about 20 portals – present and future members of the informal network, as well as representatives of many foundations, cultural centers and different targeted groups.

(RE)gion online, Future Goes By! Has been organized by SEEcult.org portal, Goethe Institute Belgrade and Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe.

More info: www.seecult.org, www.goethe.de/belgrade

CULTU(RE)GION ONLINE! FUTURE GOES BY!

The regional conference Cultu(RE)gion online! The Future Goes By, dealing with the significance of culture portals, the need to utilize the potential of Internet development and opportunities and challenges on the path towards innovative cooperation in the region will take place on 8-9 December 2008 in Belgrade. It is organized by Goethe Institute Belgrade and the Portal for Culture of South-Eastern Europe, SEEcult.org.

The conference be held in the premises of Goethe Institute in Belgrade, and it is an activity within the two-year project for development of Informal Network of Cultural Portals of South-Eastern Europe inSEEcp (Informal Network of South-East European Cultural Portals), supported by the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe.

Minister of Culture of Serbia, Nebojša Bradić, will open the conference. In addition to the representatives of some twenty cultural portals from the region, participants in the conference will be the founder of Berlinergazette.de Krystian Woznicki and one of the pioneers of net-art and lecturer Vuk Ćosić from Ljubljana, who will speak about the phenomenon of social networks on the Internet.

Representatives of local and state authorities, cultural, academic and research institutions, art associations, non-governmental organizations, foundations, media and web-magazines, as well as artists, activists and other representatives of target groups of culture portals are invited to attend and participate in the discussion.

The conference has the aim of highlighting the potential of the network of cultural portals, as a platform for innovative cooperation in the region, but will point also to the obstacles that portals, as non-profit projects, face, in view of the inadequate cultural policies in the region and on the European level. New opportunities and challenges in the areas of culture and arts will be discussed, as well. A workshop will deal with the social and cultural aspects of web 2.0, presenting practical uses of portals, blogs, social web services and free software in culture and arts.

This will also be an opportunity to add new members to inSEEcp, for the moment only from the region of former Yugoslavia. The new visual identity of inSEEcp, designed by the Belgrade graphic designer Andrija Nikačević will be promoted, as well as a booklet on inSEEcp in the original languages of the portals, as well as German and English.

Members of inSEEcp are the portals Artservis.org, Evrokultura.org and RadioStudent.si from Slovenia, Culturenet.hr, Kulturpunkt.hr, Culturelink.hr, Knjiga.hr and Teatar.hr from Croatia, Kulporter.com from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pro-story.org from Montenegro, Culture.in.mk from Macedonia and SEEcult.org from Serbia. An associated member is Stacion.org from Pristina, while Plagij.at from Macedonia, Montenegrina.net from Montenegro and Creemaginet.com from Belgrade have started the process of association.

Representatives of portals Startmontenegro.com from Montenegro and Forumskopje.com will also be among the participants of the conference.
InSEEcp is a result of workshops, meetings and on-line activities of culture portals in Southeast Europe, initiated in 2006, at the first regional meeting organized by SEEcult.org and Goethe-Institute Belgrade.
Given the importance of digital culture, common problems of culture portals in the region, and rapid technological advancement, InSEEcp was launched for the purposes of on-line and off-line advocacy and promotion of culture on the internet, facilitation of a free flow of information about the diversity of cultures in the region, exchange of experiences, and professional enhancement, with a view to supporting and furthering quality production in culture and the arts, and drawing attention of the widest possible public to such production.
At the very outset of its development, InSEEcp has gathered portals from the former Yugoslavia, and has thus formed a natural starting point for further networking in the SEE region, especially in light of related cultures and languages, and historical links of nations in the region.

The first regional workshop of culture portals, titled “Culture on the Internet / Networking Participants in the Cultural Domain in Southeast Europe through Specialized Internet Portals” was held in Belgrade, in November 2006. Representatives of German portals Signandsight.com and N-ost.de were also present at the event. A round table – “Significance of Culture Portals”, hosted during the workshop, brought together representatives of target groups of portals, and attracted undivided attention of expert and wider audiences.
Some InSEEcp members had already met each other at the round table of the Culturemondo international network, co-organized by Culturelink.hr, in Dubrovnik, in October 2006.

Concurrently with the continuation of on-line activities, the second inSEEcp regional workshop, titled “Networking and Cooperation of Culture Portals in the SEE Region”, organized by SEEcult.org and Goethe-Institute, and supported by the Stability Pact for SEE, was held in Belgrade, in December 2007. A round table “Cultural Policy and Culture on the Internet – SEE and Europe” was held within the workshop. Representatives of the German portal Perlentaucher.de and target groups participated in discussions.

InSEEcp presented itself for the first time to the international expert audience in Ljubljana, on 12 June 2008, at the “Re-Network!” conference, organized by CCP Slovenia / SCCA Ljubljana.

InSEEcp members also took part in the international round table “Intercultural Dialogue and Digital Culture”, hosted by Culturelink.hr, in Zagreb, in November 2008.

Within their two-year activities aimed at networking portals in the region, SEEcult.org and Goethe-Institute Belgrade, with the support of the Stability Pact for SEE, hosted a working meeting of inSEEcp in Belgrade, in October 2008, and also are organizing a regional conference “Cultures of the Region Online!_Future Goes By!” in Belgrade, on 8-9 December.

More information: http://www.seecult.org / http://www..goethe.de/belgrad / http://inseecp.blogspot.com
Contact: info@seecult.org / inseecp@gmail.com
Vesna Milosavljevic, vesna@seecult.org, + 381 63 214 893

Video from the Re-network! conference in Ljubljana (June, 2008)

Here is video from the Re-network! conference which took place in Ljunljana on 12th June 2008. This was the first international conference where inSEEcp presented its members and activities.

RE-NETWORK from toni poljanec on Vimeo.

Re-network! (short overview of the conference)

Re-network!

International conference on networking in the cultural sector

12 June 2008

City Hotel Ljubljana,

Dalmatinova 15, Slovenia

Short overview of the conference

The international conference dedicated to the topic of networking and stimulating transnational cooperation and free flow of information in the cultural sector hosted altogether 150 participants, mainly representatives of various international cultural networks, including ca. 50 delegates of European Cultural Contact Points.

A lively and sincere discussion involving speakers as well as the audience has reaffirmed the absolute significance of transnational networks while highlighting their specific roles as:

- »guardians« of the public domain (the power of networking is sharing),

- common platforms for identification of and discussion on relevant issues,

- »translators« (mediators) between different stakeholders,

- empowering structures (survival and self-education; visibility and recognition),

- enablers of the decentralisation of cultural industry.

In general it was stressed that culture should not be seen as a mean (illustration, decoration, PR) but as a value as such. As a concrete example of anachronistic notion of the role of culture in our society, the obsolete and unproductive category of »Ambassadors« supported within the EU Culture Programme was pointed out. This financial support should be rather used to stimulate networks and festivals which can actually enhance transnational cooperation.

Appropriate conditions on the national and regional levels as well should enable and enhance transnational cooperation through programmes stimulating mobility of cultural workers. The EU support programmes should broaden the geographical scope and substantially include the EU neighbourhood (more should be invested on future Members and regions “on the borders”).

Existing definitions related to networks are out of date and networks should adopt more innovative conceptions of operation and contemporary, synthetic approach. We should avoid thinking in paradigm of a rigid and stable structure (‘network’) but rather of a fluid and changing process (‘networking’).

Alenka Pirman, moderator
Mateja Lazar, organiser (CCP Slovenia)
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
The international conference Re-network! was organised within the Informal meeting of European Cultural Contact Points (Ljubljana and Maribor, 11–14 June 2008) being one of the official events of the Slovene EU Presidency cultural programme.

Re-network! was organized by Cultural Contact Point Slovenia / SCCA, Center for Contemporary Arts-Ljubljana with a support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the European Commission (DG EAC) and Executive Agency (EACEA), Government Communication Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenian EU Presidency Secretariat, CCP Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia and other partners.

This conference reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Re-network!

Cultural Contact Point Slovenia is inviting you to the international conference on networking in the cultural sector, Re-network!



Networking in arts and culture has had a long tradition in Europe and there is hardly any professional organisation that is not a member of at least one international network. However, networks as well are facing radical changes affecting cultural industries: new technologies enabling free flow of works and information, audience being transformed into active users…





With the special emphasis put on the intercultural dialogue between the EU and SEE the conference's aim is to find out how ''old'' and ''new'' cultural networks respond to these circumstances and how they manage the problem of free flow of information especially if relevant to transnational cooperation.



The conference will be opened with the introductory speeches by Barbara Kozelj, director-general of the Directorate for Art, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and Marko Peljhan, ambassador of Intercultural Dialogue. Alenka Pirman, artist and founding member of the Domestic Research Society, will moderate discussion with the representatives of EU & SEE cultural networks: Daphne Tepper (Culture Action Europe - EFAH), Pal Steigan (TEH), Vesna Milosavljevic (inSEEcp), Juan Carlos De Martin (COMMUNIA), Dragana Alfirevic (Balkan Dance Network).



Moreover, two keynote speakers will present their views on and experience in networking and free flow of information: Peter Inkei (Budapest Observatory) and Vuk Cosic (net artist).



Re-network! represents a public part of the Informal meeting of European Cultural Contact Points (CCP Meeting) taking place in Ljubljana and Maribor from 11 to 14 June 2008 as one of the official events within the Slovene EU Presidency cultural programme. As a parallel event, the inSEEcp Meeting will take place, gathering editors of on-line cultural portals from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosna and Hercegovina.



12 June 2008, from 9.00 to 12.30

City Hotel Ljubljana, Dalmatinova 15, Slovenia

Registration

By filling the electronic form, please confirm your participation at the conference Re-network! by Monday, 2 June 2008. Only on the basis of your on-line registration CCP Slovenia will be able to arrange your accreditation. The conference is free of charge; travel and hotel accommodation will be covered by participants.



Further information



Re-network! website: General information / Target Group / Conference programme / Presentation of the speakers and panellists / Registration



Contact person: Mateja Lazar, CCP Slovenia, tel.: 00 386 1 431 83 85, e-mail:ccp@scca-ljubljana.si



Re-network! is organized by Cultural Contact Point Slovenia / SCCA, Center for Contemporary Arts-Ljubljana with a support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the European Commission (DG EAC) and Executive Agency (EACEA), Government Communication Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenian EU Presidency Secretariat, CCP Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia and other partners.



This conference reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.



SCCA-Ljubljana

Center for Contemporary Arts

Metelkova 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

http://www.scca-ljubljana.si

phone: 00 386 1 431 83 85

fax: 00 386 1 430 06 29

contact person: Dusan Dovc

e-mail: info@scca-ljubljana.si

SCCA-Ljubljana program is supported by Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and City of Ljubljana.

SCCA-Ljubljana is a member of Asociacija, the association of non-government organisations and independent creators in the field of culture and art in Slovenia.