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Public Room
Public Room a project by Giuseppe Licari
On the upper floor: Janine Schrijver, photos
Opening 24 mei om 19.00 uur by Jeanne van Heeswijk, Visual Artist
With Public Room Giuseppe Licari transforms Hommes Gallery into a public park, inverting the common understanding of indoors as private and outdoors as public. People are invited to enter and engage in activities that would normally take place in an outdoor public park. You can lie in the grass, read a book, enjoy an espresso or chill with friends.
Janine Schrijver is a photographer, working on the themes of memory and desire, also evident in the series Our Nature, within the boundaries of the park. The key issue is the significance of the park and our relationship to nature in the context of the city.
The installation will be activated with a program of weekly events, curated by urban researcher Cristina Ampatzidou, examining how the urban ecology is associated with the social, cultural and economic tactics of survival of miscellaneous communities. Prime core of the Public Room's program is to give a voice to people with a specific "expertise" in appropriating public spaces, which is normally not acknowledged.
Proram: Public Room and the Identities of Urban Space. Download hier the program as pdf.
Thursday May 30th, 20.00 - Subversive Spaces (film screening)
The cities have traditionally been the places of innovation and advancement. But at the same time they are also, the places of revolutions, riots and urban struggles. The film "Occupy Love" reflects on the global social movement using the concept of "love in action". Featuring scenes from the Egyptian Revolution, the Indignado uprising in Spain, Occupy Wall Street in New York, Indigenous activists at the Alberta Tar Sands, it collects compelling stories of an emerging new paradigm.
Sunday 2nd June, 16:00 - Narrative Spaces (collective reading)
In Edgar Allan Poe's novel "The Man of the Crowd", an anonymous narrator follows an unknown man around in London. The walk takes him through diverse urban spaces, streets, bazaars and poor neighbourhoods, without ever remaining alone. The hero reflects on the personal isolation in the midst of a dense crowd. The short story will be the starting point for an open discussion on the practice of walking in the city.
Sunday 9th June, 14.00 - 18.00 - Echoing Spaces (concert)
Jam session in the park with live music. If you are a musician, take the opportunity to bring your instrument and test your skills in public. If you are a music lover, lie in the grass and enjoy the music.
Thursday 13th June, 20.00 - Extended spaces (artist's talk)
During the Language and Art Gallery Tour Jeroen Jongeleen will intervene in Public Room. Influenced by graffiti and textual art, Jongeleen works mostly in public space, commenting on the overruled society that results in citizens' passivity. He will talk about his practice: the urban canvas, as communication tool and answer questions about the way he spots his places of intervention and the role of anonymity in his work.
Sunday 16th June, 15.00 - Secret Spaces (talk)
Street doctor Marcel Slockers and a homeless person talk about the secret use of places in the city, to live or to stay. Homeless people use the urban surrounding in ways other people do not. They have knowledge of a parallel urban world and the uncharted properties of public space.
Sunday 23nd June 14. 00 - Inner Spaces (meditation workshop)
How do we define our body into the space, how do we create a connection with the space in which we stand and with the people surrounding us? Urban consciousness is a workshop by Alexander Vollebregt, to expand spatial awareness by sensitizing (or building sensitivity to) inner and outer environments.
Sunday 30th June, 16:00 - Playful spaces (tournament)
Kolven is a traditional Dutch game, originating in the late middle ages and an early ancestor of golf. Even though it is an indoor game, it did evolve into an outdoor activity, so in Public Room we are eager to explore this dual character that identifies with the question posed by the installation. Played by 3 players at a time, we will have a small tournament of 15 rounds in 3 sets.
Saturday 6th July, 17.00 - Sharing Spaces (picnic)
A normal barbeque day in the park transferred inside Public Room with Licari's ongoing project Spaghetti Forever. After the French Revolution the picnic became the symbol of a democratic society, when all royal parks became accessible by everyone and the picnic was the most popular way to enjoy them. Since then it has been established as an outdoor cooking and eating event in which all participants contribute. It is unknowingly the most active way of collective place-making, a dynamic engagement in peacefully occupying a public space. So on the 6th of July, take your food and blanket or buy the picnic at the door.
Dit project is mogelijk gemaakt door bijdrage van Deelgemeente Charlois, Werf Charlois, Delta Port Donatiefonds, Stg Hommes Foundation, de kunstenaars en alle deelnemers.
Click on an image to enlarge.
