Heur B (van) (VKS) on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 07:39:17 +0200 (CEST)


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[Nettime-nl] conference in Maastricht


Hello netttime-nl,

On Thursday 14 and Friday 15 May, I am co-organizing a conference on Maastricht as potential European Capital of Culture (following the municipality’s decision to compete for this title). Although the conference has Maastricht in the title, the speakers are from all over the Netherlands and Europe and might be of interest to you or others interested in culture and urban development, EU geopolitics, networks and institutional change, experimentation, peripheral cities and mobility (to name but a few buzz words).

More information is available in the attached flyer and above all online at: http://lieudepassages.ainsi.nl. Entrance is free. Register by sending an e-mail to subscribe@ainsi.nl.

Also, around the dates of the conference other activities are scheduled in Maastricht that might be of interest to you as well:
- Wednesday 13 May, 8 PM: Saskia Sassen in the NAi Maastricht
- On 15 and 16 May talks by Angela Melitopoulos (also speaking at the conference) and Maurizio Lazzarato at the Jan van Eyck (tbc)

In short: it would be really great to see you at this conference. Also, if you know of other people potentially interested, please do forward this mail.

All the best,

Bas van Heur


** **

Maastricht: Lieu de Passages? Towards European Capital of Culture 2018

On Thursday 14 and Friday 15 May, Maastricht University, Hogeschool Zuyd and the Jan van Eyck Academy organize in cooperation with the Municipality of Maastricht a conference on ‘Maastricht – European Capital of Culture 2018’. The aim of the two-day conference Lieu de Passages? is to critically investigate the conditions of possibility for Maastricht to become European Capital of Culture. By inviting a diverse and international group of researchers, policy makers, cultural workers, artists and entrepreneurs at this early stage, the conference wants to actively contribute to shaping the direction this process takes.

Themes

The conference will be organized around the following themes:

Destination Maastricht
As elsewhere, in Maastricht the relative decline of industrial labor has led to a search for new imaginaries that can guide urban development. From Maastricht as a shopping city and major tourist destination to Maastricht as an internationally-oriented university town, all of these new imaginaries are unthinkable without acknowledging the role of increased mobility. What is the role of mobility for culture in Maastricht? How does the city brand itself as a destination across the region and the world? In what ways do the internationalization of education and the temporary presence of students shape the very cultural texture of the city?
Speakers:
Peter Peters (Moderator - Hogeschool Zuyd, Maastricht, Netherlands)
Jeroen Boomgaard (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Anne Lorentzen (Aalborg University, Denmark)
Zora Jaurova (Košice 2013 European Capital of Culture, Slovakia)

A Cultural DNA?
Is a city merely a “halteplaats in het process van mondialisering” (stop-over in the process of globalization), as Abram de Swaan once expressed it? Or does Maastricht really have an inalienable and durable cultural identity, as many local actors seem to believe? Maybe we should instead talk about a city as formed of layered identities, which are constantly transformed through processes of exchange and consolidation, inclusion and exclusion? This theme investigates the various rituals and routines that constitute the supposed cultural essence of Maastricht.
Speakers:
Sjaak Koenis (Moderator - Maastricht University, Netherlands)
Jorijn Neyrinck (Tapis Plein, Brugge, Belgium)
Katia Segers (Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium)
Neil Peterson (Liverpool Culture Company, United Kingdom)

Urban Laboratories
A European Capital of Culture clearly cannot only be a place of representation (of established cultures and traditions), it should also be a place of experimentation and innovation. From the general argument that we are now living in a knowledge society to specific policies dedicated to promoting creativity and innovation, the idea of the city as a laboratory for new social and economic forms has become central to EU, national and local strategies. But what does an experimental urban culture mean? Who are the main actors involved in these processes? What are the conditions of possibility for experimentation and innovation to take place?
Speakers:
Bas van Heur (Moderator - Maastricht University, Netherlands)
Marc Glaudemans (Stadslab, Tilburg, Netherlands)
Pascal Gielen (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium)
Michelle Teran (Berlin, Germany)

Cultural Capital and Institutional Change
The ambition to become European Capital of Culture raises the question how the city can develop its various kinds of cultural capital (in a Bourdieuan sense). In particular, attention needs to be paid to the institutional dimensions of cultural capital and the ways in which cultural and educational institutions selectively in- and exclude particular forms of knowledge, skills and attitudes. How do the various performing and visual arts institutions in Maastricht shape our very understanding of what constitutes artistic practice? To what extent do institutional credentials determine access to publicly funded and/or commercially viable cultural networks? What are the actual and latent relations between the various amateur theatre groups, the professional orchestras, small-scale production companies and institutions of arts education? In what ways could one rethink these relationships and, by doing so, democratize cultural production?
Speakers:
Janicke Kernland (Moderator - Studio Kernland, Maastricht, Netherlands)
Kate Oakley (City University London, United Kingdom)
Ayse Güleç (Kulturzentrum Schlachthof, Kassel, Germany)
Piet Menu (Het Huis van Bourgondië, Maastricht, Netherlands)

Between Centers and Peripheries
Any discussion on the cultural identity of a city will have to negotiate the problematic status of the border. No longer can Maastricht define itself as a closed spatial entity, as was once perhaps possible with reference to the city walls or the municipal boundaries. Instead, contemporary Maastricht will have to actively engage with related spatial entities, such as the cities of Liège, Aachen, Heerlen and Hasselt or wider regions such as the Euregio, ‘Holland’ and Europe. What are the commonalities and differences between these spatial entities? How does the de-centered and often peripheral role of Maastricht within these spatial formations shape the very dynamics of its cultural life?
Speakers:
Gideon Boie and Matthias Pauwels (Moderators - BAVO, Rotterdam, Netherlands)
Therese Kaufmann (EIPCP, Vienna, Austria)
Olivier Kramsch (Nijmegen University, Netherlands)
Angela Melitopoulos (Berlin, Germany)

More details: http://lieudepassages.ainsi.nl


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