(Article on my experience after I came back from this seminar click HERE)
I am invited to the most anticipated event of European Cultural Residencies – the International Seminar 2017. The International Seminar will take place on November 2-6 2017 in the Carpathian village of Tatariv, Ukraine. Here Koruna Mountain Resort will host 24 experts from 11 European countries (Austria, Hungary, Germany, Poland, France, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium), as well as 7 curators from Ukraine. Together, they will draw up a common vision for the European Cultural Residencies and come up with ideas that Artists Residency will work on in 2018. Organized by Dofa.fund and ZenkoFoundation within Zenko Platform with the information support of Міністерство закордонних справ України / MFA of Ukraine and Stratcom Ukraine.
Based on the survey provided by the Institute of World Policy in 2015, there are no cultural elements or notions with which Ukraine would be associated among the population of the largest EU countries. To contribute to the solution of the problem, we developed the concept of the project according to the belief that culture is an important socializing factor that gives citizens a sense of pride and belonging to their country and community and to the citizens of other countries it gives the understanding of values of other cultures and values of the global cultural process. The main objectives of the Residency will be communication between European and Ukrainian artists and cultural activists, exchange of values and cultures through the means of arts, the presentation of Ukraine’s rich and diverse heritage. In a long term, we count on the demonstration of such projects in the EU as tools for breaking down stereotypes that Europeans have about Ukraine and vice versa.
The project consists of two stages:
the Seminar for curators to create the concept and invite participating artists; and the Art Residency itself, which will result in at least ten international and interdisciplinary cultural and art projects later to be hosted by partner institutions in the participating countries.