Lokomotiva announces: Summerlab Skopje, 2023, happening from 4 – 9th June in Skopje.
The theme of the summer lab will be related to public spaces, more specifically to the designated and planned ‘empty spaces’ in the city, or the so-called negative space in urbanism.
The summer lab will take the participants trough the parts of the city where those ‘empty spaces’ remain and those which are misused and reformed in places for private matters.
See the full program of the Summerlab Skopje 2023 HERE.
The main focus of the Summerlab Skopje 2023 will be the many public spaces in the country, known as the ‘empty spaces’ especially in the city of Skopje as which were privatized during the political transition of North Macedonia from a socialist into a ‘turbo-capitalist’ society. After many years of corruptive public governing, many public spaces were sold to private owners, thus city plans were misused.
As part of the program, collaborators from Skopje will share and present the historical and political context of the city and its ‘empty public’ spaces, as well as urban ecology. Also, collaborators from Floating University in Berlin to present their project and approach, and the participants will share their work and experiences.
As a part of the program there will be presentations, discussions and reflections in the mornings and afternoons, as well as walking tours in Skopje.
The participants will be mapping, discussing, commenting on those spaces, on the situation and the environment, with critical content that can include physical, poetic and socio-political material.
The Summerlab Skopje 2023 will include lectures and presentations from Biljana Tanurovska – Kjulavkovski, Ivana Dragsic, Viktor Velkovski, Meri Batakoja, Danka Uzunova, Hannah Lu and Jöran Mandik. They will be joined by participants with various artistic backgrounds from all over the world.
The artists that will participate in the Summerlab are: Arshia Ali Azmat – a research co-coordinator and a graphic designer, Carmen Bouyer – a French artist involved in the movement for ecological art, Jo Hellier – an interdisciplinary artist and performer working across live art, dance and experimental music, HYENAZ – sonic alchemists Kathryn Fischer (aka Mad Kate) and Adrienne Teicher who create electronic music and performances to confront how bodies are criminalised, managed and controlled, Katarina Lanier – a bosnian-american dancer, visual artist, and independent researcher, Arijana Lekić- Fridrih – works in film, video art and performance art, Oscar Moore – professional choreographer and dancer, Merel Smitt – an interdisciplinary artist, Zorica Zafirovska – an artist and cultural worker, Tery Žeželj – a dramaturg. Selçuk Balamir is joining the Summerlab as an observer, he is a designer, educator and organiser working on postcapitalist politics, commoning practices and climate justice campaigns.
The Skopje Summer Lab 2023 is part of ACT – Art, Climate, Transition a large-scale European cooperation project co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, The Heinrich Böll Foundation Goethe-Institut Skopje and Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia.
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