In the seven years of its existence, The Outdoor Gallery of the City of Gdansk has invited thirty-one artists to propose interventions in the public realm, has judged eight projects worth to be realized and has produced five of them. Adam Budak, Jacek Dominiczak, Julia Draganović, Enrico Lunghi, Bettina Steinbrügge and Norbert Weber are the curators and architects invited by Laznia CCA and its Director Jadwiga Charzyńska to be involved in the long term development of the Lower Town area of Gdansk. They felt the need to present the first results of their activities to a broader national and international audience and to bring together debates from varied perspectives and practices in an attempt to evaluate which roles artists, curators, designers and architects can actually play in revitalizing and regenerating urban space. On behalf of Laznia Centre for Contemporary Arts Adam Budak and Julia Draganović have called international artists, critics and curators to discuss THIS troublesome, uncomfortable and questionable RELEVANCE of Art in Public Space at Fabryka Batycki in Gdansk on 23-24 November 2012.

After a keynote speech by Chantal Mouffe on Friday night and a performance by Maria Papadimitriou, on Saturday the symposium will be divided into two parts: The first session will be opened by a lecture from Mika Hannula, followed by a panel discussion entitled Close Encounters. Strategies of Collaboration. Participants (Mel Chin, Fulya Erdemci, Tone Hansen, Barbara Holub, Aneta Szylak, Joanna Warsza) will present their public art practices, focusing on questions like: what are the strategies to access existing knowledge systems and to foster collaboration between different stakeholders? Which are the current best -practice models?

The afternoon session will start with a lecture by Simon Sheikh, followed by a panel discussion entitled Museum without Museum. Tactics of Emancipation and Autonomy. Panelists: Cecilia Alemani, Claire Doherty, Maria Papadimitriou, Bert Theis, Mirjam Varadinis will ponder the question, how far public art can be a complement or an alternative to museums and reflecting on strategies of enhancement for self-organization.

 

For more information on the symposium, contributors and lectures' abstracts please check our webiste: http://outdoorgallerygdansk.eu/symposium

Project supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland

 

 

Laznia Centre for Contemporary Arts
Ul. Jaskolcza 1
80-767 Gdansk, Poland