Dresden: a study visit focused on team-working
From 12th to 14th February, partners are gathering once again to continue their capacity building process and to connect with local and other international artists and cultural operators.
This upcoming study visit will be held in Dresden, Germany, and organized by the partner Zentralwerk.
This event comes after the formation of creative groups, meaning the 5 teams that will be working together in artistic residencies to co-create a new transnational production each. You can see the teams on the Creative Profile Map published on this website.
The teams already started planning and brainstorming, but the Dresden visit will be a useful time to improve their team working, which will be moderated by the theater educator Nicole Aurich, as part of the capacity building.
Besides the Team-working activities, the three days include a steering committee meeting, networking opportunities and events and visits of the city and Zentralwerk's space, all happening in close relation to an important event for the city, with which TestArt will intersecate its initiatives.
The historical context of Remembrance
The study visit takes place during a crucial date for the city: on 13th February, Dresden remembers the Anniversary of its destruction in 1945.
The destruction of Dresden became a worldwide symbol for military action against civilian populations. Even today, the fate of Dresden is named as an example for many comparable attacks during this and the various wars which have followed. At the same time, memories of the destruction have shaped the image of the city throughout the world.
Since 1945, a strong and multi-faceted culture of remembrance has developed in Dresden, preserving above all the desire for peace of the post-war generations, and creating a framework for reconciliation with former wartime enemies.
The date 13th February 1945 thus stands in the controversy-laden context of a debate with significance far beyond local boundaries. More than simply a critical assessment of the history of Dresden and its citizens, it addresses also fundamental questions of peace, humanity and our own responsibilities.
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TestArt in Ljubljana: Discovering Slovenian and European performing art scene and international productions
The first study visit to Ljubljana of the European TestArt project has ended, an opportunity to meet and exchange good practices with local artists and cultural operators for the 15 partners of the European project coordinated by Consorzio Marche Spettacolo.
The program, developed by the Slovenian partner Bunker, was held during the Mladi Levi Festival 2024, one of the most important events for the performing arts in Slovenia, which has been operating in the capital for 20 years and hosts numerous events and international premieres in different locations in the center of the capital, including the redeveloped space Stara Elektrarna – Elektro Ljubljana (Old Power Station), an old power station now transformed into a cultural center and managed by Bunker.
From 29th to 31st August 2024, the participants had the opportunity to get to know numerous realities in the Slovenian territory, involved in different areas of the Slovenian and international cultural scene, including:
Association that promotes and supports the inclusion of women in culture. The Association for the Promotion of “Women in Culture – City of Women” was founded in 1996, one year after the first edition of the City of Women festival, with the aim of preparing and managing the festival annually. Today, the association is a multifaceted organization that focuses on artistic, activist and theoretical presentations and productions by women* throughout the year, while expanding its activities to arts education, managing projects for youth and teachers; to community building, initiating temporary communities that engage in the co-creation of art; and the connection of art and culture with other sectors, such as social, educational and entrepreneurial.
*The term women and other words written in the feminine grammatical gender are used inclusively and address anyone who identifies with the feminine gender, as well as non-binary, trans- and intergender people.
Glej Theater is the oldest non-institutional theater in Slovenia (and one of the first theaters of this kind in the former Yugoslavia), boasting bold performances, (re)thinking interesting production models, non-hierarchical forms of work in theater and is based on collective and socially engaged work. Active in the area for 50 years, they explore the possibilities of contemporary theater in relation to collective theatrical creation, community and the various forms that the concepts of collective and community can encompass.
Krušče Creative Center is a small cultural center run by Tomi Janežič, theater director and psychodrama psychotherapist, and Katja Legin, dancer/performer and choreographer. It offers an intimate and peaceful space for inspiration and creation, a place where art has its value, purpose and meaning. It creates conditions in which avant-garde art meets other contents, from live entertainment to psychodrama, from education to group work.
Pogon is an independent house of cultures based in Zagreb (Croatia), which makes its premises and equipment available free of charge to associations, artistic organizations and informal groups. Since 2009, Pogon, under the direction of Emina Višnić and the entire team, has gradually become an important place of production and presentation of culture and art, not only for the independent cultural scene but also for the entire cultural panorama of the city .⠀
As partners of the Stronger Peripheries: A Southern Coalition project, Sonja Soldo and Anja Pletikosa illustrated to the TestArt partners the virtues and difficulties in realizing transnational artistic residencies and productions, providing important examples of collaborations and useful feedback that can be used for the carrying out TestArt activities.
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Furthermore, in the days dedicated to the studio visit, the partners - grouped according to their expressed artistic needs - began to explore ideas of transnational productions, planning future collaborations in periods of residency, as foreseen by the objectives of the project.
The next in-person event will be held in Dresden, Germany, guests of the German partner Zentralwerk e.V..
More information on TestArt is available on this website, at the ABOUT section.
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