International Unconference Building Communities

International Unconference Building Communities is set to take place on Thursday, 28th of January 2021 from 10:00 to 12:45 CET via Zoom platform.

The event is gathering leaders and members of diverse international organisations and institutions, as well as experts in the areas of hybrid arts, museum practices, visual arts, intermedia and new media art, hacker and maker culture, performance art, environmental disciplines, street art and socially engaged practices with  inclusive approaches to vulnerable groups and minorities in the context of community practices.

Photo: Christopher Burns (cc), Design: Q.ck (cc)

Presenters: 
Anna Stolyarova Street Art Museum Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Majken Overgaards Catch (Helsingør, Denmark)
Tina DolinšekProjekt Atol (Slovenia)
Stefanie Wuschitz  – Mz* Balthazar’s Laboratory (Austria)
Jeffrey Roe TOG Hackerspace (Ireland)
Javier FernandezMadrid Makerspace (Spain)
Eleni Dimopoulou& Richard LucasEn dynamei Ensemble (Greece)
José Gustavo Books on Wall – (Uruguay/Portugal)
Saša Danon – independent climate change expert – Climate Tracker Balkan – Eastern Europe (Croatia)
Deborah HusticRadiona – Zagreb Makerspace (Croatia)

The speakers on our unconference will present their own communities and talk about the ways they are developing, building and nurturing their ecosystems and audiences. We will also talk about the obstacles and exclusions in specific areas, as well as how the organisations are trying to over jump it. What is it like to build a community in a neighbourhood, suburbia, village or a smaller city compared to huge cities where you have to work double in order to get your audience or strive for directions where you maybe do not want to go or see your institution going. 

Building a community is a very sensitive and socially engaged work, it needs a lot of investment of time and patience, collaborations, networking, talks about mutual trust and compromises, collaborative culture, understanding of group dynamics and a joint vision. We will also try to clarify through examples of practice how different artistic and social environments are reacting to the similar situation. As an example of practice, we will see how communities and partnerships are being built in rural areas of Africa (Madagascar) with their micro-communities being engaged in local environmental projects and endangered animal protection. 

Living in a very fragile and polarised times around the globe being at the same time wounded by pandemics, climate change consequences and huge poverty numbers is asking for more organic, holistic and comprehensive use of art, technology, creativity, science, culture and education as vibrant forces for more cohesive, competent and empathetic societies. 

Apply here for the unconference: https://forms.gle/N6fs1iV9zQPEMeQe8
Working N Talking language: English

Schedule:
10:00 – 10:10 – Intro: Why communities matter? – Deborah Hustić
10:10 – 10:20 – Street Art Museum Amsterdam – Anna Stolyarova
10:20 – 10:30 – TOG Hackerspace (Dublin) – Jeffrey Roe
10:30 – 10:40 – Catch (Helsingør) – Majken Overgaards
10:40 – 10:50 – En dynamei Ensemble (Thessaloniki) – Eleni Dimopoulou& Richard Lucas
10:50 – 11:00 – Mz* Balthazar’s Laboratory (Vienna) – Stefanie Wuschitz
11:00 – 11:10 – Tea/Coffee/Cookies Break
11:10 – 11:20 – Madrid Makerspace – Javier Fernandez
11:20 – 11:30 – Projekt Atol (Ljubljana) – Tina Dolinšek
11:30 – 11:40  – Organising environmental micro-communities in Madagascar – Saša Danon
11:40 – 11:50 – Radiona – Zagreb Makerspace – Deborah Hustić
11:50 – 12:45 – Q/A, Conclusions – See You Soon, Stay Well!

Organiser: Radiona.org
Supported by Kultura nova Foundation within the program “Innovative art practices: Building Urban Communities”