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TASAWAR Studio 2

3 October 2019 // 2.00 pm to 8.00 pm
4 October 2019 // 2.00 pm to 8.00 pm
+ 5 October 2019 // 12.00 pm to 2.00 pm _ Brunch with artists
5 October 2019 // 2.00 pm to 8.00 pm

All meetings will take place in Minassa Coworking Space
Minassa: Website

3 October 2019

Profiles: Artists, Artworks, Curators, Personal
by Bettina Pelz

DREAM TEAMS
_ preparing the discussion: What is art?
>> find examples on Philosophy Now: What is art?
_ preparing the meetings with the artists
_ preparing the visit of DREAM CITY
_ research the curators’ profiles and co-operation

KEYNOTE

Curatorial Concepts
by Bettina Pelz

PROTOCOL

Curatorial concepts // DREAM CITY

1 // WARM-UP // (re-)introductions

What is the difference between Oktoberfest and Dream City?

  • CITY MARKETING – the promotion of a city/municipality/district in order to attract economic growth (related to city branding) through various activities and strategies. For the sake of TOURISM, BUSINESS RELOCATION, and MIGRATION OF RESIDENTS
  • Requires teams to focus on infrastructure surrounding the activities/events
  • e.g. ask restaurants to stay open late, increased transportation from other cities/districts, free local transportation, free wi-fi
  • e.g. Lyon Festival of Lights (“Fête des Lumières”) generates more economic growth in 4 days than the entirety of France does in a full year.* (source?). In 2018, 3 million visitors attended the 4-day festival. Hotel rates go from 60Euros to 360E/night. Lyon is so well-marketed that it has more than one website: thisislyon.fr and en.lyon-france.com/

“CURATION CAN BE AN ECONOMIC FORCE.”

“the meeting point of DEMOCRATIC CULTURE.”

[sidenote: Those who sign up to complete the protocol, be sure to do it! This week: Aisha, Imen, and Imen]

2 // STUDIO 1 TYT

1 – Personal Profile
2 – Artist Profile
3 – Legendary Exhibitions summary

CO-WORKING: The purpose is to learn together and find solutions, this time specifically regarding WordPress. Attend the sessions and email/message Aymen for help.

3 // ARTIST PROFILES

For reference, see Wadi Mhiri’s profile composed by Bettina. DO! NOT! Just copy and paste information from other sources. While this seems to be common practice in the art world, it is unacceptable!

ARTFORMS

MATERIALS/MEDIA

It is interesting to see how their background influences their media choices. It is good to know the history of the media (is the artist working with a medium with a long tradition or the latest technology?)

GUIDING INTERESTS

Bettina gathered the information for this profile from an interview she conducted with Wadi in 2017. A curator should be in active exchange with artists. You can learn a lot from discussions. In negotiating the artist’s profile, you can learn a lot about their philosophy and legacy.

[sidenote: In practicing and pushing yourself to take on the intimidating task of putting an artist’s practice and philosophy on paper, you will begin to find your language.]

QUOTE: Try to find the artists in their own words. Give the reader the opportunity to read and interpret the artist without your framing.

INTERVIEWS

EXHIBITIONS Selection: Regular exhibition activity is a main indicator (aside from education).
. . .
. . .
CV (provide a link to the artist’s extended CV)

FORMATION:
Includes study experience and teaching experience. Be sure to clarify.
e.g. 1999-2002 | Tunis.tn | Institut Superieur des Beaux Arts de Tunis | Studies
or Since 2008 | NYC.ny | Parsons School of Design | Associate Professor of Fashion Design

BIO

LINKS: should be in English, or else you will have to translate the entire text.

TEXT

VIDEO

AUTHOR
Bettina Pelz, edited by Aisha Abbassi on 04 October 2019.
Artist profiles, for the time being, are open to editing by TASAWAR peers. Discuss with the original author before making changes and negotiate. Be respectful.

It is okay for these profiles to be a WIP (work in progress). Build them as you go and add things when you find them. You may publish before you are 100% finished.

FEATURED Image: cite the source

/// BREAK ///

3.1 // ACTIVITY: DREAM CITY Artist’s Profiles

Group 1 | Ursula Scherrer
Group 2 | Floy Krouchi
Group 3 | Thomas Bellnick
Group 4 | Tonia El Khoury

Break into groups to research and begin the artist profile. [HWK: Post before tomorrow, even if WIP]

Prepare questions for upcoming artist meeting. Everyone will meet together, but we will be seated in our groups with our respective artists. [HWK: Prepare and negotiate your questions with your group] Each team should be visiting DREAM CITY together as you will be writing a collective review of the full festival. Visiting DC should be a collective activity so that we may analyze and discuss together, not simply visit the art. [FUTURE HWK: Collective DREAM CITY Review]

4 // ARTIST’S INTERVIEW

INTERview – mutually, together, being between

Develop questions that design/model/direct the situation. An interview is communication between two people, but the questions frame the conversation.

DISCUSSION
. . . questions show your stance, they take a position
. . . the interviewee can be diplomatic and shift the direction with their answer
. . . but they are still within the interviewer’s frame
. . . “we learn more about a person from their questions than their answers.”
. . . questions give insight to what interests that person, what they think about
. . . he who puts out the questions leads.

An interview should be a dialogue, not a rigid set of questions. Be prepared with questions but be ready flexible to the direction of the conversation.

  • interview—an exchange, a give and take
  • contribute attention and care
  • be together
  • be interested in each other
  • meet them and engage
  • build your relationships/network
  • make a friend!
  • An interview is not an INTERROGATION or judgment
  • PROVOCATIVE and meaningful
  • impress with ~cool~ questions
  • dig really deep
  • do your research / do your homework
  • ask unusual questions (inspire them to open up, “What are the foods your mother cooked for you that you now cook for yourself?”)   

The qualities of a good curator are the same as the qualities of a good photographer. The subject should forget the camera is there.

INTERVIEW LOCATION: Where do you conduct an interview?

Depends how you wish to frame the conversation:
studio v coffee shop v their exhibition
. . . studio shows the process, but they may not have a studio space
. . . coffee shop is more personal, but art is not there
. . . exhibition is more formal, but direct access to work

DOING YOUR HOMEWORK (RESEARCH)

Do you read interviews ahead of time?: Read interviews to know what the artist has already been asked and how they previously answered. Don’t waste precious time asking the same question they have answered 1,000 times without reason.

Do you write your questions down? This may be intimidating for the artist, but it helps you stay organized.

Do you express personal feelings? Interviews should rely on feelings as well. Talk about how you feel in a non-judgmental way.

4.1 // ACTIVITY: Ears
Practice letting words flow and overcoming discomfort in different situations.

5m/each, say what you feel as your activity partner massages your earlobes. Find a way to address your discomfort without hurting the other.

/// BREAK ///

5 // VISITING DREAM CITY

We will do a critical review at the end of the festival.

HOW do we collect information about an artwork [in DREAM CITY]? Anytime you visit a DC piece, you MUST go as a collective (at least 2 members from your group). Coordinate!

For all pieces visited, we will follow a certain protocol:

  • ARTISTIC POSITION
  • CURATORIAL APPROACH
  • CONCEPTUAL APPROACH
  • ONSITE EXPERIENCE
  • PERSONAL ECHO
  • DISCURSIVE ECHO
  • ROLE IN FESTIVAL’S SETTING

ARTISTIC POSITION

. . . methodology
. . . continuity between works
. . . artistic process
. . . technique and materials
. . . the artist’s research

What is artistic research? Research comes from science—looking to discover, further understand, to prove or contradict. An artist’s research may include what shapes their idea, history of the place, history of the materials, knowing the community. What the artist is looking for?

[sidenote: Is everything that an artist does art? How do we decide if something is art or not?]

[FUTURE HWK: DREAM CITY teams must begin to answer: WHAT IS ART?]

CURATORIAL APPROACH: What type of artists do you wish to work with?

Parameters link your interests + intellectual legacy

e.g. color, conceptless/material-driven works, women, art with artistic research, experience-oriented, curate with a partner

[sidenote: How does an artist become famous? NO ART MEDIA, NO ART DISCOURSE. Does money+exhibitions+reviews = success+fame?]

CONCEPTUAL APPROACH

DISCUSSION: text of DREAM CITY brochure
Who wrote the texts for the artworks? Curator or artist?

ONSITE EXPERIENCE
[addition needed]

PERSONAL ECHO
Does the piece build a memory? What do people take away?

DISCURSIVE ECHO
Does the piece cause discussion? A ripple? [addition needed]

ROLE IN FESTIVAL’S SETTING
Relative to other neighboring pieces and the overall festival. How does the work relate to its “neighbors” in terms of sound, color, topic, etc?

Does the world need this work? Does the world need this festival?

5.1 // DREAM CITY TASAWAR PROGRAMMING

FRI 04 OCT – TANIA EL KHOURY
13h30 | Groups 1 + 2
15h00 | Groups 3 + 4
16h30 | Group 5 +

18h00 | Lecture begins at Minassa

SAT 05 OCT – THOMAS BELLNICK
14h00 | Groups 1 + 2
16h30 | Groups 3 + 4 + 5

6 // CURATOR PROFILES

JAN GOOSSENS
SELMA OUISSI
SOFIANE OUISSI

[HWK: Find at least ONE interesting thing about one of the DC curators and add it to their profile. Add all the information you have, even from personal experiences, to the profiles. This helps us build an understanding of their practice.]

FORMATION
#### | Tunis.tn | National . . . | Studies
2014 | Tunis.tn | ISSAM | Bachelor of Design

PRACTICE
2007 | London.uk | INSTITUTE OF . . . | Choreographer
#### | city.co | INSTITUTE NAME | Role

Big contributions should be written into the biography. For example, DREAM CITY should be noted as the first public art festival in Tunis.

7 // PERSONAL PROFILES

The goal of our profiles is to begin building our online reputation. Make yourself known and understood. By creating a professional image available on the internet, you increase your visibility. TASAWAR is now a scouting platform for young curators.

More links = more visibility

Think about your CURATORIAL STATEMENT. Start with 3 lines and add a little each time. “Writing is like a mille feuille.” Layer by layer by layer, we have something!

When adding images, use the IMAGE SLIDER WIDGET (image gallery) to embed big images.

[FUTURE HWK: Read Dorothea’s text, nestled under TASAWAR > DISCOURSE > ZINES]

HWK summary:

  • Post your DC artist profile before tomorrow, even if WIP
  • Prepare and negotiate your questions for DC artist with your group
  • Find at least ONE interesting thing about one of the DC curators and add it to their profile
  • Collaborate with your DREAM TEAM to visit DC
  • Add more artists / curators / art spaces to REPOSITORY
  • FUTURE HWK: Collective DREAM CITY Review
  • FUTURE HWK: DREAM CITY teams must begin to answer: WHAT IS ART?
  • FUTURE HWK: Read Dorothea’s text, nestled under TASAWAR > DISCOURSE > ZINES

 

4 October 2019

KEYNOTE

Moving between languages
by Aymen Gharbi

RESEARCH

Introduction to online research
by Bettina Pelz and Aymen Gharbi

WORKING GROUPS

_ Brutalist architecture in Tunis
_ From the Bauhaus to Tunis
_ Contemporary Art and Democratic Culture
_ Contemporary Art and Cultural Heritage
_ Contemporary Art and Eco Awareness
_ Plus One

TOOL

Pecha Kucha

CROSSCHECK

_ artists’ profiles
>> collecting info and profiling artists

PROTOCOL of the 2nd Day 

12:00 l Interviews with 2 of the dream  city artists : Ursola and Tania Khouri in DOKEN Restaurant 

14:00 l The session started in Minassa with groupe 2 / 3 / 4 by an exercise in order to learn how to make and write: 

  • A curatorial position

We started by answering these questions : 

→ Where am i ? 

→ What is your position / statement ?

We interviewed each other and collected some key words.

*Wunderkammer 

*Worldview 

 *Well  

  • Where do i start my curatorial journey from? 

→ What is your talent ? 

→ What is your well ?  ( the force that pushes you / what moves you / your sources ) 

  • Presentation / pecha kucha

→ Present your curatorial profile in a pecha- kucha : 20 slides * 20 sec 

→ Visite pechakucha.org 

→ Talk about : what you bring / your talent / competences/ the way you work / outlook of the world..
→ Make it personal, more like a talk then a presentation 

( For more details about how to structure a pecha kucha you can ask groupe 2 and 1 ) 

2 Participants per studio will present their curatorial concept in pecha kucha 

  • Wunderkammer  : Think about wunderkammer as a curatorial concept for the exhibition of Ennajma Zahra
  • Curatoratorial concept : 

-Theme : Think about the title and the subtitle / is it a good idea to reproduce the same exhibition ? 

-Discourse : Bring artworks together and create a relation between them 

How it becomes a collective experience? 

-Defining parameters

→ Art forms 

→ Materials 

→ Site specific 

→ Context-conditioned 

→ Geo-cultural background 

→ Handicaps 

→ Sustainability in a every changing world 

 

– Audience care 

 

– Impact : Does the world need that exhibition ? 

 

5 October 2019
Visiting Dream City in working groups

KEY COMPETENCES

Time-management
by Bettina Pelz

WORKING GROUPS

_ Brutalist architecture in Tunis
_ From the Bauhaus to Tunis
_ Contemporary Art and Democratic Culture
_ Contemporary Art and Cultural Heritage
_ Contemporary Art and Eco Awareness
_ Plus One

CROSSCHECK

_ exhibitions’ profiles
>> collecting info and profiling exhibtions