FREIRAUM SUMMIT 2020 - 30/10-1/11 
THE STATE OF FREEDOM IN EUROPE TODAY & THE STATE OF THE ARTS

DAY 1 - 30/10/2020 - OPENING, THE STATE OF FREEDOM IN EUROPE TODAY

OPENING WORDS

Johannes Ebert (Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut)
Christos Savvidis (Director of ArtBOX, Thessaloniki, Artistic Co-Director of the Freiraum Festival, representative of the Freiraum Partners)
Themis Christofidou (European Commission, Director General of the Department of Education, Youth, Sport and Culture )

KEYNOTE

"Start worrying. Details to follow: Reflections on the State of Freedom in the post-Covid World"

​IVAN KRASTEV
​Political scientist, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna

DISCUSSION

"A new normal after the lockdown? Freedom and Europe in the (post)corona era"
​
IVAN KRASTEV (political scientist, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna), JOHANNES EBERT (Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut), EVA ILLOUZ (Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, author​). Moderator: MATTHIAS KRUPA (Die Zeit)

DAY 2 - 31/10/2020 - THE STATE OF FREEDOM IN EUROPE TODAY

OPENING WORDS

JOHANNES EBERT (Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut)

KEYNOTE

"Can The Home be a Haven from a world in crisis? Reflections on the politics of Covid19"
EVA ILLOUZ
Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, author)

SESSION 1: ECOPOLITICS, BIOPOLITICS AND DEMOCRISIS

LIAM GILLICK (artist) (MODERATOR)
FRANCO BIFO BERARDI (writer)
TIZIANA TERRANOVA (Associate Professor in Cultural Studies and Digital Media at the Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’)
ANDREAS WEBER (Dr., Biologist, Philosopher and Nature Writer, University of the Arts, Berlin)

SESSION 2: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND EMERGING SOLIDARITITES

ANNA CARASTATHIS (political theorist, Co-Director of the Feminist Autonomous Centre for Research in Athens) (MODERATOR)
NITASHA KAUL (Novelist and Academic, Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster, London)
ALFREDO SAAD FILHO (Professor of Political Economy and International Development in the Department of International Development at King’s College London)
SVETLANA SLAPSHAK (Prof. of Anthropology of Ancient Worlds, Anthropology of Gender and Balkanology, Former Dean of ISH, Ljubljana Graduate School in Humanities)

DAY 3 - 1/11/2020 - THE STATE OF THE ARTS TODAY

OPENING WORDS

JOHANNES EBERT (Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut)
RUDOLF BARTSCH (Director of Goethe-Institut Thessaloniki)
ANASTASIOS TZIKAS (President of Thessaloniki International Fair - HELEXPO)

ABOUT COMMON LAB

CHRISTOS SAVVIDIS, SOTIRIOS BAHTSETZIS, LYDIA CHATZIIAKOVOU (ArtBOX Thessaloniki, Common Lab Curatorial Team)
ELLI CHRYSIDOU (artist), "How To Build A Community in 10 Days"
LINA MANTIKOU (architect), "How to Break and Rebuild Your Mug in 10 Days"
​

INTRODUCTION TO SESSIONS 1 AND 2:
​REMEDIATION & DIGITISATION
​PUBLIC SPHERE & COMMONING

SOTIRIOS BAHTSETZIS
ArtBOX Thessaloniki, Common Lab Curatorial Team

SESSION 1: REMEDIATION & DIGITISATION

ILIANA DIMIADI (Head of Dramaturgy, Onassis Stegi Athens), HELGARD HAUG (author and director, Co-founder of Rimini Protokoll),
DARIA MILLE (Curator at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe), BEN VICKERS (Chief Technology Officer, Serpentine Galleries)

SESSION 2: PUBLIC SPHERE & COMMONING

MARK BEASLEY (curator and curatorial director, Pace Gallery, New York) & MARK TITCHNER (artist)
ERIC ELLINGSEN (landscape urbanist and artist)
MANOLIS TSIPOS (cross-disciplinary performance artist)

DISCUSSION ON SESSIONS 1 AND 2: REMEDIATION, DIGITISATION, PUBLIC SPHERE, COMMONING

MARK BEASLEY, ERIC ELLINGSEN, HELGARD HAUG, DARIA MILLE, MARK TITCHNER, MANOLIS TSIPOS, BEN VICKERS
​
MODERATORS: SOTIRIOS BAHTSETZIS AND LYDIA CHATZIIAKOVOU (ArtBOX, Freiraum Festival, Common Lab)

SESSION 3: AUTHOR / CREATOR, PRECARIOUS LABOUR, INSTITUTIONS

JULIETA ARANDA (artist, co-director of e-flux)
​ASH BULAYEV (Director of Onassis AiR & independent curator)
THOMAS OBERENDER (Artistic Director of Berliner Festspiele / Gropius Bau) in conversation with SOTIRIOS BAHTSETZIS (ArtBOX, Freiraum Festival, Common Lab)
​GREGORY SHOLETTE (artist, writer, activist and teacher)

MODERATORS: SOTIRIOS BAHTSETZIS AND LYDIA CHATZIIAKOVOU (ArtBOX, Freiraum Festival, Common Lab)

​FREIRAUM FESTIVAL 2020 - 30/10-1/11 
CONTRIBUTIONS BY FREIRAUM PLATFORM MEMBER ORGANISATIONS

​THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ​OUR DIGITAL AND ANALOGUE IDENTITIES
DEREE - American College of Greece, Athens

Effie Halivopoulou, Artist and Department Head of Visual Arts and Art History of Deree - the American College of Greece, talks on the Analogue versus Digital Identities: ​"Our future has been here for some 30 years; artists have been situated in the blended space between the physical/corporeal and the digital."

ON PROGRESS BY REIHNARD MANZ
original video, 1990, remixed by Martin Schaffner & Max Spielmann, Hyperwerk Institute for Postindustrial Design, Basel

In 1991, video artist Reinhard Manz published a videotape entitled "Fortschritt" (progress). He reflected on his experiences with changing technologies and his own concern to develop a counter language: "The progress of technology is compelling and even dominated us. (…) The progress towards ever finer image technologies carries us away from our origins and creates a distance to reality that only serves as decoration”. Since then, technical developments have exploded, video studios suitable for broadcasting fit in a bag-back. The digital presence intervenes with the physical presence; we are all always on air and on reception at the same time. The promise is as it ever was for all media: a further expansion in space and time or/and an additional prothesis of our bodies. What can we do - on stages, in concert halls, in museums or art spaces, in public? Turn on these electronic boxes by ourselves and develop new counter-media in our everyday life – DIY everywhere. A short video goes through technical developments from the first b&w video cameras to the current situation and opens up new approaches, followed by a discussion with Reinhard Manz.

PERIPHER_IES
Institute Hyperwerk for Postindustrial Design, Basel

"Peripher_ies" promotes a digital exchange for the transformation of concepts of thought such as periphery and centre between students, professional practitioners and academics at all levels, based on audio field recordings. COVID19 forced us to hold the first digital workshops during lockdown. Listening and dealing with sound proved to be an extremely suitable medium for joint discourse and exchange. In the project we ask ourselves methodological questions to combine forms of international digital exchange in combination with local and regional activities. A short video discussing the possibilities of digital/hybrid programs to intensify international exchange while reducing resource consumption, is shown as part of the Freiraum Festival.

I EMPATHY 
​Kunsthaus Dresden

Statements: curator Kari Conte, and artists Fatma Bucak and Erika Richter
Discussion: artists Fatma Bucak and Erika Richer in conversation with Christiane Mennicke and Vincent Schier - Kunsthaus Dresden 
As part of the Freiraum Festival, Kunsthaus Dresden kick-started the INSERT-Residency together with the Freundeskreis der Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden. For the first INSERT, Dresden artist Erika Richter participated in the short-term 10day residency which was initiated to create a support structure for young and emerging artists. During the residency, Richter was asked to share her perspective on EMPATHY, a topic and maybe a mindset which seems to be of great importance during a global pandemic. She did share a short video, in which she discusses the question of empathy in connection to her artistic work. Also, the artist Fatma Bucak and the curator Kari Conte shared their perspectives on the topic and why empathy is badly needed in today's art world. The INSERT-Residency was accompanied by a discussion format, in which Erika Richter, Fatma Bucak, Christiane Mennicke-Schwarz and Vincent Schier took the chance to elaborate the topic of empathy by taking a closer look at the artistic work of both artists. The discussion was recorded and is now shared as a video. 

GIRLS & FREEDOM
Goethe-Institut Krakow & Sarajevo

The pandemic descended unexpectedly upon everyone. We are constantly trying to find ourselves in this new reality. Just as constant is our striving to answer questions about fundamental values, including the need for freedom. How do young girls find themselves in this new situation? Are their life plans changing? Are the effects of the pandemic particularly felt by women, who are confronted with more challenges than men on a daily basis? In September this year, journalists from Deutsche Welle recorded interviews with young girls from Krakow and Sarajevo on the topic of freedom during the pandemic. 

Top: Girls & Freedom
(Languages: Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian
​ with English subtitles)

Bottom: discussion following the online presentation of the film in Sarajevo on 31/10/2020 
Part 1: Talk with the interviewed girls from Sarajevo, 
Ajna Katica and Lejla Hamzakadić
Part 2: Panel with experts, who have done research on the position of women in the period of the pandemic:  
Azra Hadžiahmetović, Jasna Kovačević and Azra Latić
Host: Nikola Vučić
(Languages: Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian)

THE CONFINES OF FREEDOM. EXPRESSIONS OF YOUTH VOICE IN THE COVID CONTEXT
Podcast discussion
Daniel McFarlane - Trinity College & Goethe-Institut Dublin

The online discussion "The Confines of Freedom: Expressions of Youth Voice in the COVID Context" gathers the voices of two generations of under-represented students involved and interested in discussing how the limits of freedom questioned their entire identity once the pandemic took hold of Ireland. The student participants have all been involved in different Freiraum projects organised by the Dublin partners.

Aisling Corcoran is a sixth year student in Pobalscoil Íosolde, from Dublin, Ireland.  She is 18 years old. She is interested in reading books and writing short stories. Aisling has participated in various Trinity Access Programme courses such as Freiraum European Languages & Cultures, Freiraum Theatre Summer School, Pathways to Law, Advancing Young Professionals and Bridge 21 Coding. She hopes to study law, politics and economics in Italy after her Leaving Certificate. After college Aisling plans to travel around Europe and experience new cultures. Ifunanya Chukwuewuzie  is a sixth year student at Loreto College Crumlin, she lives in Dublin Ireland. Ifunanya has participated in a variety of Freiraum initiatives during Transition Year, including Freiraum: European Languages & Culture and Freiraum Theatre Summer School. She participated in a filmmaking project, creating a short documentary on the housing crisis that premiered at Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival 2019. Ifunanya is a violinist in Dublin Youth Orchestras' Symphony Orchestra and was a delegate at the RTÉ Youth Assembly on Climate Change. Ifunanya hopes to study Medicine in University.

THE VIRUS DOESN'T DISCRIMINATE... DOES IT? 
Yepp Porta Palazzo & Associazione Arteria Onlus, Torino

​Top left: Yepp Porta Palazzo & the Freiraum project. Top right: Activities at Cecchi Point Social Centre before the lockdown.
Bottom left: "covid VS youngsters' freedom and rights": a collection of thoughts of Yepp Porta Palazzo group about the consequences of covid on their life. Bottom right: "Mr Jesus is coming", live performance at Porta Palazzo.

FREIRAUM ISLAND BERLIN
Hosted by Yasser Almaamoun and Lena Müller / Alexander Ebert, Büro für Klimakultur
in cooperation with DorfWerkStadt and the municipal department of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf

Freiraum Island Berlin wants to create a space for dialogue on reclaiming the city, freedom and climate change on Mierendorff-INSEL, an island located in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. The project aims to enable and encourage citizens to think about freedom and (urban) sustainability in the face of climate change. The event realised in the context of Freiraum Festival 2020 is the finissage of a public outdoors exhibition presented by the project Mierendorff-Rundweg. Reclaiming public space with a pop-up structure for spontaneous encounters, including the presentation of the Freiraum Summit’s live broadcast, the event gathers conversations, testimonies, photos, drawings and interviews on climate change, its effects on cities, city planning and individuals and the subsequent impact on our collective and individual (sense of) freedom.

POLARIZATION, FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND CHANGES IN SOCIETY
Discussion, H21 & Goethe-Institut Prag
The coronavirus pandemic has restricted fundamental rights and freedoms to the extent that the population had never experienced before and empowered polarization of western societies. The Freiraum event in Prague aims to open a constructive discussion on those pressing issues and problems, and thus help to turn the current crisis into an opportunity. The topics range from psychology, law and political science to innovative voting systems. The areas are covered by experts from Institute H21, which is a Prague-based think tank that focuses on civic innovations, voting systems, and challenges to modern democracies. 

Discussion with: Karel Janeček (MBA, PhD), Adam Růžička (MSc. MRes.) and Jan Hořeňovský (Phd), moderated by Andrea Prinzová.​
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Initiated by the Goethe-Institut in 2017, Freiraum is now an autonomous network of more than 40 actors from culture, science and civil society.
Website admin: www.artbox.gr for Freiraum Platform.