On Saturday 28th March 2009 twelve Arts Collaboratory stakeholders met in Cairo to discuss the development of activities and proposals around two of Arts Collaboratory’s programmes: cultural entrepreneurship and knowledge sharing.
It was a good occasion for African partners, who generally have a limited access to Internet, to get to know the progress that had been made since Arts Collaboratory meeting in 2007, and to bring their own feedback to the discussions.
Three partners, Theertha, CCAEA and ruangrupa, presented proposals for the Re-writing history theme being explored under the knowledge-sharing programme. You can find a summary of “SethuSamudram: bridge across the ocean” presented by Jagath Weerasinghe from Theertha, “Amnesia”, presented by Jimmy Ogonga from CCAEA and “Re-writing public”, presented by ruangrupa, at the Re-writing history forum: http://www.artscollaboratory.org/rewriting-art-history
Please feel welcome to join the discussions!
During the meeting in Cairo we went through different exercises trying to define the meaning of “Re-writing history” for the group attending. It was evident to everyone through the discussions that the act of writing history, of reading the past, is closely knitted with the creation of opportunities and space in the present, and in this sense, it also influences the future.
These ideas easily led us to think about the potential the discussion of such a theme in the context of Arts Collaboratory could have, and from there, to the importance of engagement with Arts Collaboratory as a collective platform.
In general, it was agreed that Arts Collaboratory can be seen as a loose network of partners (20-50) funded by a joint effort made by Hivos, DOEN Foundation and Mondriaan Foundation, in order to develop activities around two areas: cultural entrepreneurship and knowledge-sharing. This network focally tightens, from time to time, around a specific theme or activity (i.e Re-writing history), with some of the partners (4-6) actively involved around a node of contents, which are delivered by virtual and real activities.
It was also pointed out that Arts Collaboratory main strength is to serve as a forum where to nurture cross-cultural discussions and collaborations between artists otherwise disconnected.
Back from Cairo, we would like to know from ALL Arts Collaboratory partners your opinion on the programme:
- What are your main expectations regarding the possibilities of exchange that the programme offers?
- What opportunities do you see of sharing the knowledge being produced in the programme with your own community?
Thanks in advance for your contribution to this discussion!