DESIGNING CIVIC ENCOUNTER, JULY 21- 24, RAMALLAH

Symposium . workshop . tour
Curated by Shuruq Harb and Ursula Biemann
ArtTerritories

Yazid Anani, Shumon Basar, Taysir Batniji, Suhad Bishara,Teddy Cruz, Rami Daher, Hangar, Alessandro Petti, Ahmad Saleh, Muhammad Shtayyeh, Omar Yousef.

Designing Civic Encounter is a series of interventions engaging in existing and potential forms of urban development and public culture. The event will unfold through a bus tour traversing urban locations within and around Ramallah city enabling debates and conversations at different stations, a two-day symposium on questions of urban transformations in Palestinian and other Arab cities, and a full day workshop with visionary social architect Teddy Cruz.
Inspired by ongoing dialogues on ArtTerritories’ website and by the wider civic movements in the region, ArtTerritories proposes an open forum for the inquiry and discussion of the public urban experience under the current trends in planning, financing and building practices. Although Ramallah is a relatively small city, it has experienced radical urban expansions and population growth since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 and the consequent establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1996. Real Estate is the main target for foreign corporate investment today. What kind of living space do these investments create?

The bus tour will highlight a number of distinctive urban landscapes that can be considered emblematic of wider political issues taking place in Palestine. In a close reading of contemporary urban restructuring in the region, the symposium brings to light that the Palestinian context is not as unique and isolated as it may appear but in fact shares many commonalities with rapid developments in Beirut, Amman and Dubai.

The project is conceived as a vibrant multimedia laboratory of ideas and debate. During four days, the city will be under investigation through cultural and artistic initiatives, innovative research projects and political visions.
Attracting an active local and international roster of architects, artists, educators, environmentalists, community activists and politicians, the public event hopes to be a catalyst to produce new civic imaginations and alternative urban policies towards a more inclusive social sustainability.
A digital publication will be made available at www.artterritories.net at a later date.

Arabic and English
Free Admission

The project is initiated and produced by ArtTerritories, and generously funded by Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, and generously hosted by Sharek Youth Forum, the bus tour is sponsored by Riwaq- Centre for Architectural Conservation.

For more information or if you wish to receive the program folder, please contact info@artterritories.net

PRESENTING AT MAKAN, AMMAN, APRIL 25, 19:00

Resident artist Shuruq Harb will be presenting ArtTerritories for the first time in Amman. The presentation will also include a synopsis of the upcoming symposium ‘C-Designing Civic Encounter’ on urban transformations in the region with a particular focus on occupied Palestinian urban centers like Ramallah.

This event hopes to create a space of exchange between Amman and Ramallah, two neighbouring cities with a vast common ground fertile for collaboration and mutual learning among art operators and spaces.

This residency is funded by Al Mawred Al Thaqafy

C – Designing Civic Encounter, Ramallah, July 21-24

ArtTerritories organizes an upcoming international symposium on urban transformations in the region with a particular focus on occupied Palestinian urban centers like Ramallah. With guest speakers Yazid Anani (Ramallah), Shumon Basar (London), Rami Daher (Amman), Teddy Cruz (San Diego), Decolonizing Architecture (Beit Sahur), Hangar (Beirut), Ahmad Saleh (Ramallah) and others. The event includes a commented city tour and a workshop with Teddy Cruz. The project is a cooperation with Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and Riwaq.

PRESENTING AT MARCH MEETING, SHARJAH

ArtTerritories at the March Meeting in Sharjah, March 13, 2011.

The Sharjah Art Foundation hosted the fourth annual March Meeting, a three-day symposium featuring presentations by 42 institutions, artists and art professionals on artistic practice and production in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region and beyond. The event took place in Sharjah from March 13 to March 15, 2011.

WORKSHOP AND INSERT, A PRIOR ART MAGAZINE

 
In the first week of March, ArtTerritories in collaboration with A Prior art magazine held a workshop in Ramallah. Inspired by the energy of hope and anticipation in the Arab world, the project reflects back on moments in the 60’s and 80’s when Palestinians experienced a sense of departure, mobility and connectedness. The artists collaboratively create a 20-page photo text piece to be published in the September issue of A Prior Magazine. Participating artists: Nahed Awwad, Ursula Biemann and Shuruq Harb, Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Basel Abbas and Inass H. Yassin.

ArtTerritories presenting in Ramallah

Shuruq Harb will present ArtTerritories at 3_Every_3- presentation series in Ramallah Dec. 13, 6 pm at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah

Want to find out about new and inspiring initiatives happening in and around Palestine?

3_Every_3
a platform for inspiration, interaction, dialog and networking

Showcasing three new creative initiatives every three months. Each presentation is 15 minutes, where the initiative founder/representative shares the inspiration behind the project, organizational model, team dynamics, and creative strategies. Followed by a 15-minute discussion.

Everyone is invited. Anyone can speak!

3_Every_3 is independently organized and kindly hosted by Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center in Ramallah.