SPOT festival | education online (9-10 July)

Contemporary street theater festival SPOT presents online education! All seminars and discussions will be available live on the Arts Printing House Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/menu.spaustuve/)

* July 9 (Thursday) 12:00

Jekaterina Lavrinec 

 "Co-creating the neighbourhoods through art practices" 

duration: 90' | language: English

During the seminar, we will explore tactics of cooperative arts-based development of the public spaces in the neighbourhoods, grounded in the local narratives, local activities and materials. How to make contacts with the local residents? How to accumulate local stories and how to transform them into new routes within the neighbourhoods? How to co-develop community spaces that will grow further by applying participatory arts and design? Based on the cases coming from Vilnius neighbourhoods, practical methods and approaches will be discussed. 

Jekaterina Lavrinec is a PhD, urbanist and curator who applies participatory approach in her research and art practices. She is a co-founder of interdisciplinary platform for urban games and research Laimikis.LT, that has been reanimating underused public spaces since 2007. The collective exhibited their artworks at a number of collective exhibitions and biennales, Shenzhen biennale of architecture and urbanism Bi-city 2018 among them. As an associate professor in Urban Studies at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, she has been curating annual week of arts interventions in public spaces "priARTink" since 2012. 

Jekaterina Lavrinec has more than 11 years experience as a researcher, participatory artist & educator in Urban Studies with some attention to the field Media Studies. She also works as Participatory Development facilitator & curator of Community Arts initiatives. In her artistic work, she focuses on participatory practices in urban space. Jekaterina Lavrinec integrates skills and expertises in three fields - participatory arts, participatory urban research, and education/learning (both formal and non-formal) - that apply for inclusive urban development / cultural regeneration of public spaces and neighbourhoods while building and working in interdisciplinary groups.

* July 9 (Thursday) 15:00

Benjamin Vandewalle

“Internalising the Black box”

duration: 90' | language: English

What are the differences between the black box and the outdoor? What is needed to create performances in public space? What are the challenges of working in public space, and how to deal with them? What are the artistic potentials for working in the realm of the public space ?

By going over his works Vandewalle will use them as a vehicle to address the questions mentioned above while also elaborating on his own artistic motivations for creating and working in the public space. As embodiment and undergoing the experience is a very important signature of his work the talk will also involve a small interactive artistic intervention as well.

Benjamin Vandewalle (Belgium, 1983) graduated from P.A.R.T.S. in 2006. In his work he explores the perception of space and movement in a variety of contexts, both in the theatre and on location. B. Vandewalle starts from the idea that the way we perceive the world determines how we think about this world and thus also act in it. By changing the way we perceive reality, we can challenge our thoughts and actions in and about the world we live in. By choreographing the gaze, Vandewalle makes the audience aware of the potential of the world we inhabit everyday.

* July 10 (Friday) 12:00

Be Flat (Ward Mortier and Thomas Decaesstecker)

“Be Flat's acrobatic journey in public space”

duration: 90' | language: English

A seminar with Ward Mortier and Thomas Decaesstecker, Co-founders of Be Flat. Be Flat is a Belgian circus company that specialises in acrobatic performances in public space. An insiders' point of view on how to adapt to different environmental and social contexts based on the principles of the urban sport Parkour. We'll focus on the artistic process, the challenges we face and some good practices. 

More info: https://www.be-flat.be/

Videos: https://vimeo.com/user82816410

* July 10 (Friday) 15:00

duration: 90' | language: English

Discussion: Ward Mortier and Thomas Decaesstecker (Be Flat), Benjamin Vandewalle and Agnija Šeiko (Šeiko Dance Company). Moderator: Jekaterina Lavrinec

Topics:

- Transforming public spaces through art practices; 

- Transforming the audience: between comfort zone and action; 

- Acting in neighborhoods: building connections with residents and local artists.