participation

r e m i x i t !

order participation european dimension

Wandering project E U RO P E A N I S L A N D S (2007 – 2010)

in framwork of the European Commission program “Youth in action”

What are “European Islands” ? The common title for different projects of the years 2007 till 2010 is an open concept for art – and (landscape-) architecture projects, which should enable a diversity of creative associations and interpretations depending from needs, interests and perspectives of the inviting partners and involved European participants. Till now mostly concepts for sculptures / installation for public spaces ( traffic islands ) were created. Other versions of understanding like “European Islands in Belarus” or “Belarusian Islands in Lithuania or Poland’ may discover a dimension of political art.

Participation concept : Involvement ! Young European people should have a chance to participate in the design of the public areas of European cities and by this to learn practically models and processes of civil society – rules .Therefore in first line concepts of alternative designs should have a participation dimension , which invite all participants of the workshops to present themselves by an own, individual contribution to the common social project. . As surely other scales are valid in the neighbouring countries of the east , with respect to appropriation of public areas for the purpose of artistic design, here is offered to the European Youth an extended experience field to proof testing of artistic liberty and democratic participation.

What is wandering project ? Participation also means equal opportunities . Each partner should have a chance to invite all or some of the other partners to join a meeting in his home country and get the project funded by the national European Youth agency.Supported by KAJA West e.V. and the German EU Youth Agency (partners from Russia and other former Sowiet States are not able to apply for an EU –Youth grant ! ) the project already started in summer 07, in Moscow and Nikola Lenivecs.

Different projects of the design of traffic islands in European cities were documented, compared and evaluated with the long term perspective to develop projects along the European Route E 30 Amsterdam-Berlin-Warsaw-Moscow in the next years. Funded by the German EU Youth Agency , KAJA West e.V. will continue the project in summer 08 in Ibbenbueren / Germany. We hope, that the polish partner will take over responsibility for a meeting , which wanders from Bialystok/Poland to Braslaw/Belarus. In summer 09 we should take the chance to join the meeting with the event “Vilnius – 2009 culture capital of Europe”.

cultural profile of European regions :

A secular place in the public area, to this still with noise of motor vehicles and exhaust fumes enriched as a place of intercultural meetings? The project title leads astray virtually and already associates the opposite : Islands in European waters, fresh air and quiet on which one recovers among others from the chaotic traffic events on the continent and on which one could meet far better. Yes , but from the following motives

· More and more traffic islands stamp our urbane and rural surroundings -- and so become orientation points and new emblems.

· Traffic islands are orientation points in today's flow of traffic and "signs" of a municipality. The more they will be formed matching the municipality environment, the more they positively will be remembered in our consciousness and connect us with the respective place

· Contemporary art is expression of the attitude of a municipality and her population. With art one can show a modern thinking attitude, creativity and openness. Spin around mark the thinking attitude, mattered at striking points to

· clear identification, re-reconnaissance of the place

· with the right (not only purely decorative) traffic island - object a radiation can be obtained far over the municipality limits

«meeting» is the philosophy of the gyroscope or “traffic island”: One meets other traffic participants and parts again. However, meetings are also our purpose in life -- with people, things, ideas etc. With the look on the European dimension, the European topic should be recognizable for the gyroscope design, this too surely would have to be arranged according to the EU - program, a meeting of the youth of Europe with the gyroscope concepts, created objects and with people from the region, which then has the function "to advertise Europe", to give the own projects a special European dimension by the diversity of creative impulses into the European Region .

For exemple the German region "Münsterland": This rural region in the last years got a special profile : "roundabout - fever” in German region Münsterland” , many projects were realized due to civil engagement. Seen from the level of participation of the citizens in planning and the implementation of the round about design possibilities are given to connect for the participation of the European young people. Then just here in the European region Münsterland in the last time an activity- field for civil engagement was enlarged, for neighbourhood initiatives, also to take on the long-term care and for companies, which sponsor the art objects as form of their branding and advertising.

It was very astonishing and remarkable ( or not ? ), that there were few fears to acquire the public area , what led also to virtually "guerrilla" - encroachments and appropriations, to night and fog action e.g. , to procedures under exclusion (and conscious provocation) of the democratically/culture committees of communes . Corresponding the artistic quality according to native country organization aesthetics. Against this the projects under ordered democratic basic conditions, to give order to an artist or competitions carried out by communes.

So it should be possible during the preparation period of “ EUROPEAN ISLANDS” to documentate the whole spectrum of implementation strategies of the art in public space projects, especially gyroscope / traffic islands sculptures, so that the forms of participation in a civil society , the chances and problems with the traffic circle design in the European region's become transparent and can be examined altogether. This also as a base for the intercultural comparison. Because of course the guest youths are invited to documentate and discuss similar traffic island – projects and the more or less democratic involvement of civil society in their native countries.

step by step : from ideas to reality in 16 month : In general it is the idea to develop in summer 08 “only” concepts as well as outlines and models, for the region Muensterland and also for the follow up projects in Poland and Lithuania ( see project B ). After the projects were evaluated by the administration in the Muensterland region, In Bialystok and Lithuania, by the culture politicians and the organizers of “Vilnius- culture capital 2009 ” , in autumn 2008 the preparation for the realization of three projects in Germany, in Poland and Lithuania, could start. And in summer 2009 two meetings should follow, so that the int. partners could be involved also in the realization. Other local / regional partners like building faculties of Technical Universities Muenster and Vilnius could be involved too.

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