Soft Power Platform: European Artist Convention

Over two days in April, the Federal State Office of Baden-Wuerttemberg in Berlin will host a »European Artist Convention« on and outside its premises. The »SOFT POWER PROJECTS« collective has organized a platform used by activists and artists to hold workshops, discussions and stage performances:

The project is a continuation of »SOFT POWER PALACE – Festival about Independent Art Spaces in Europe« which was initiated by Akademie Schloss Solitude as a laboratory culminating in a three-day festival at the Kunstgebäude Stuttgart in the autumn of 2018 (curated by Paula Kohlmann). The Stuttgart-based project aimed to promote self-organized and independent art spaces and initiatives as well as their transnational relations, and this objective will be continued as the project moves to Berlin. Public and civic spaces in which art is exhibited and produced constitute vessels for real encounters.  The project facilitates such spaces for exchange and communication in which collective action, living and thought are explored via various experimental formats and can thus be viewed as spaces of critical engagement with the current social situation.

We seek to tell stories from an artistic perspective which offer a counter-narrative to the current regressive tendencies within Europe. Let’s talk about what unites us as opposed to what separates us, such as altered perspectives, open borders, common visions, networks, artistic initiatives, sustainable strategies, self-organization and neighborly help.

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Itinerary:

Monday, April 29 2019

12:00 pm
Welcome address
Andreas Schulze, Director-General of the Federal State Office of Baden-Wuerttemberg in Berlin
Elke aus dem Moore, Director, Akademie Schloss Solitude
Paula Kohlmann, Curator, »Soft Power Projects«

1:00 pm
Lunch

2:00 pm
Workshops
with Æther Art Space, Fireplace, ZZ Studio, Ardesia Projects, Kinga Tóth, Clan B (S27) and DIE VIELEN e. V.

5:00 pm
Open mike session: open to all!

6:00 pm
Performance of »European anthem remix:
A prayer«, by Kinga Tóth

7:00 pm
Dinner

8:00 pm
End of the event

Tuesday, 30 April 2019

1:00 pm
Lunch

2:00 pm
Workshops
with Æther Art Space, Fireplace, ZZ Studio, Ardesia Projects, Kinga Tóth, Clan B (S27) and DIE VIELEN e. V.

6:00 pm
Open mike session: open to all!

7:00 pm
Discussion
»Can Art Save Europe?«
Talk about Social and Political Expectations of Artistic Practice Today
with Kinga Tóth, Simon Feydieu, Voin de Voin, Quim Packard, Dimitri D’ippolito, Paula Kohlmann, Gideon Smilansky
Moderated by Clara Herrmann, head of the JUNGE AKADEMIE, Berlin

8:00 pm
Drinks and DJ: Louis Largo

10:00 pm
End of the event

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Platform & Camp:
Monday, April 29, 12:00 to 8:00 pm, and Tuesday, April 30, 2:00 to 7:00 pm
Music & DJ:
Tuesday, April 30, 7:00 to 10:00 pm