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context
==With the recent and ongoing expansion of the European Union towards the East and its Mediterranean neighbours, there is an urgent need to foster integration, cooperation, understanding and unity.
All this can be done without losing sight of the vital importance of preserving local identities and cultural heritage. Towards this end, art and culture will play a crucial role in the creation of a stable and prosperous pan-European society. In turn, the dynamic relationship between an expanding European community and the rest of the world, may best be embraced and explored through artistic and cultural exchange.
need
- Facilitating cultural and artistic exchange as a priority for the future of a cohesive and peaceful Europe.
- Preserving local identities and cultural heritage to provide a stable foundation upon which to build the future.
- Promoting creative work as a vehicle for knowledge and understanding that transcends political and cultural boundaries.
- A place where this can happen, providing accessibility, facilities and expertise.
solution
- To create a new International Research centre for Culture, Arts and Performance.
- To locate the centre in Italy.
- To preserve and enhance an historic architectural complex giving it a new lease of life.
- To provide a facility that is both unique and different.
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art-tracks: the organization's main aims and objectives
• the centre aims to further communication and exchange among writers, musicians, performers and visual artists by offering international working residencies in the peaceful setting of the Italian countryside.
• the centre aims to facilitate networking opportunities, through the residencies of artists who meet and work there, and through the dissemination of work produced, by means of exhibitions, on-line publications and performance.
• the centre aims to become a meeting place for cultural operators, academics and artists from different countries, to foster mutual understanding and creative participation.
• art-tracks will positively enable people of different cultures to work together at the centre.
• art-tracks will positively seek international and collaborative partnership with inspaniduals and organizations.
• the centre aims to have as neutral an environmental impact as possible.
• the centre will experiment and apply sustainable technologies wherever possible, with a view to achieving a totally environmentally friendly set up.
The centre will be a self contained and independent site that offers serviced facilities to arts professionals and cultural operators for courses, meetings, conferences, workshops, rehearsals and other experimental creative activities.
We intend to locate the art-tracks in Italy, in the ideal centre of the area interested.
The centre aims to combine residential areas for the participants and areas equipped for a variety of activities, from small workshops suitable for painting, drawing and other crafts to large spaces suitable for theatre, music, dance and other physical activities.
The office and multimedia studio will be equipped with a digital video and audio production unit, with high band satellite connection to the Internet allowing for video conferencing and remote on-line cooperative work.
The performance area will be specifically designed with wooden floor, rigging for aerial acrobatics, PA system, audio recording facilities, video projection and a modular stage. An outdoor swimming pool is a standard feature in all the properties considered, and the construction of an outdoor covered performance pavilion is planned as are a number of small "retreat cabins" to be built in the surrounding grounds.
The centre will provide an ideal environment for small group meetings , for both established and emerging practitioners to engage in personal as well as group research and development.
There will be the opportunity for both formal and informal exchange between individuals and groups who are using the facilities.
This will take place alongside and help to inform the development of modular, custom-designed courses and activities.
The activities can include problem solving through cultural analysis, hands-on experience, role play and simulation, or extend to highly experimental techniques utilizing the centre's creative research approach.
The emphasis will be on developing the ability to look at problems and situations from a non-conventional angle, to refine the ability to think laterally, to detach oneself from the constraints of convention and established thought patterns.
The centre will offer the opportunity for people of different cultures to work together and aims to become a meeting place for cultural operators, academics and artists from different countries, to foster mutual understanding and creative participation.
The centre aims to achieve these objectives by hosting and organising a variety of residencies, performance events, exhibitions, seminars, courses, conferences and the development of joint projects.
In keeping with the objective of cultural exchange, art-tracks will document the outcomes of activities run at the centre, making these records available on-line to other organizations and individuals for research purposes
Energies, resources and capital are too often invested in projects, which receive a minimum of exposure, being seen by a limited number of people in a one off production. No matter how valuable the work is, its chances of reaching wide and diverse audiences is limited at the outset.
art-tracks aims to make better use of limited resources, through nurturing active partnerships within a cooperative network of centres for the arts and culture; this network will provide an international platform for the touring and circular exchange of new work, benefiting both artists and audience.
centres and organizations that have expressed interest in becoming partners in the joint development and hosting of projects include YaD Arts, England (http://www.yadarts.com/) and Vorpommersche Künstlerhaus, Germany (http://www.kuenstlerhaus-vorpommern.de/), while contacts within other organizations in various parts of Europe and the Mediterranean are being developed, including Palestine, Portugal, Hungary Romania and Italy.
A considerable amount of interest has been expressed by artists based in the US and we have received enquires from as far as Niger and India (see endorsements).
art-tracks: the chosen location for the centre
The choice of central Italy as the centre’s location reflects the organisation’s cultural objectives, being placed at almost identical distance from many European and Mediterranean cities, such as Madrid, Tripoli, Bucharest, London, Athens, Warsaw, Istanbul and Algiers (see the location). We are however considering other locations too and keeping an open mind while we consoder all opportunities.
The area we have explored more in depth and were we considered a number of properies so far is around the city of Perugia, in Umbria, this is approximately 1 hour 45 minutes from Rome. Rome’s Ciampino airport can be reached in 2 hours, Florence in 1 and a half hour, and Siena in 1 hour. The lake Trasimeno is only 25 minutes away.
[Distances measured driving within the speed limits and with average traffic during workdays.]
The airport of S. Egidio is 20 minutes away. It has recently been upgraded as an international airport and has two daily flights to Milan Malpensa and two to Rome Ciampino, coinciding with a series of international connections, with direct regular flights to London and other European destinations planned for the near future.
The region of Umbria is not only historically rich, but plays host to numerous contemporary arts events and festivals which are of local, national and international renown.
To complement its own research programmes, the centre intends to work with these established cultural events as part of art-tracks' main objectives.
Each summer, coinciding with the renowned “Umbria Jazz” international festival the centre will invite a group of musicians-composers and performers from around the globe to gather in a unique collaborative music making residency, resulting in the presentation of a public concert at the conclusion of the programme, in cooperation with the local administration.
Visual arts residencies at the centre could provide opportunities to exhibit work at Rocca - centre for Contemporary Art, Umbertide, the Gubbio Sculpture Biennale and the Spoleto Festival.
There are also opportunities for work as diverse as film, writing, theatre and physical performance. Through the use of its facilities and accommodation, the centre will be able to help meet the need for research, rehearsal and development space, for the numerous international practitioners who come to participate in the festivals.
The area is culturally rich and already offers a variety of activities and courses, from small art holidays to credited University modules, however, we have identified the need for a cultural centre that works as a focal point, providing a complete environment designed for multidisciplinary activities.
Art-tracks aims to be that centre, offering tailored spaces, serviced facilities, networking opportunities, thorough multimedia archiving and public dissemination of the outcomes, a truly international setting and a fertile ground for creative intercultural activities.
Preserving local identities and restoring cultural heritage
The centre aims to foster cooperation and networking with the other valuable initiatives that exist in the same region or nearby. These initiatives are indicative of the demand for high quality facilities, courses and various forms of retreat spaces in this unique part of the world; art-tracks operates in the belief that cooperation and networking are much more valuable than competition.
art-tracks look forward to establishing productive relationships with Universities and Research centres; there are major Universities in the area, the closest being Perugia but also Siena, Florence and Rome, offering a very wide range of courses.
There are also several Fine Arts Academies, Foundations and Institutions for the restoration and preservation of artistic and cultural heritage as well as minor centres; all attracting researchers, students and academics from all over the world.
art-tracks will strive to become a bridge and a networking node between existing initiatives while also providing a breeding ground for new ones.
Who is it for?
artists and performers
• Visual artists - sculpture, painting, photography, multimedia, site specific
• Performance artists - acrobatics, new circus, physical theatre, environmental performance
• Dancers - performance and choreography, vertical dance
• Actors - ensemble / theatre development
• Writers - novelists, poets, drama / script, theorists, academics
• Musicians - solo, group, ensemble, bands
• Media/multimedia - designers and producers
European Union funded projects as well as private and public sector and NGOs
• company retreats and team building
• conferences
• training and development
• local administration
• educational institutions, research centres and Universities
• art organizations developing joint projects and activities
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