Europe calling

performance 2012

Europe calling is a project that was especially created for Art Stays festival 2012. Its aim is to investigate the actual role of culture – specifically in the contemporary art field –within the European Union.

During years of strong financial crisis, the public invest- ments that are mostly subject to great reductions or even clean cuts are the ones destined to culture and arts. Looking at the current Sport and Culture Ministers’ pur- poses and management, it is possible to come across the promotion of initiatives like the “World cup” or the an- nual “Capital of culture” event.

How are these events financed and what kind of cultural improvement are they able to foster and develop? My performative intervention aims to shed light upon the research and presentation methods used in contemporary culture, presenting a ‘different’ kind of approach compared to the main institutional artistic debate channels.

With Europe Calling I want to give a chance to enlarge the knowledge and the network of European independent realities.Through the telephone, a direct communication format, the public will have the opportunity to be in tou- ch with some independent spaces and ONG spaces per- sonally selected by me.

It will be possible to ask these spaces for information on their organization, their programme as well as their past projects, the ‘alternative’ strategies they use in order to create a different development of the cultural field and how they run and fund their space.

The project,which is intended as a sort of deconstruction of the big event “European Capital of Culture”, however, intends to enrich the event itself, through the promotion of those realities that work outside the official channels of the art system, and that constitute an important proof of the ongoing European cultural ferment.