2020
EMOTIONAL CARTOGRAPHY OF BIDASOA
This research and action project has been developed in tandem with the anthropologist and historian María José Noain and Bitamine Faktoria as an artistic collective. It was awarded a Ribera Grant from the Irun City Council. These grants are aimed at activating a permanent framework in the field of human sciences and art for projects whose object of study is the border territory, especially the Bidasoa river and its surroundings.
The participation of the community has been fundamental during the nine-month-long process of mapping the emotions linked to the Bidasoa region. Research and action have focused on interaction with local inhabitants through surveys, personal and group interviews, actions in the public space and workshops with primary school children.
In this way, the bibliographic research has been enriched with the collection of oral testimonies and personal perception about the river both in its symbolic and plastic dimension. The end result is a timeless polyhedral story in the form of a fold-out map that reflects the emotions shared by citizens. All in all, an artistic creation inspired by an active research into the emotional cartography of Bidasoa.
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PARTICIPANTS OF THE COMMUNITY
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KULTURBOX
The way of consuming culture has changed considerably in recent times. In addition to existing trends towards digitalisation, there has been the impact of the coronavirus, which has had a very negative impact on the development of in-person cultural activity, but which has allowed the development of new ways of consuming art and culture, online and choosing the content that most interests us, to enjoy it when, where and how we want.
This change of parameters logically affects everything to do with artistic creation, art consumption and the dissemination of cultural heritage. Moreover, we must remember the importance of the heritage value chain and its six interconnected steps: identification, documentation, valuation, conservation, dissemination and reflection.
Combining both concepts, the new modes of artistic-cultural consumption and the importance of the heritage value chain, this project is focused on the dissemination of art and heritage combined with a careful aesthetic from the keys of design and contemporary art. This is how KulturBox was born, a series of artistic boxes to approach culture in an accessible, inclusive and comfortable way, offering a new quality format that incorporates playfulness and allows you to enjoy culture à la carte.
KulturBox is designed for anyone who shows an interest in culture and art, regardless of their education or knowledge of it. Restless people, concerned about the knowledge of their environment and who are sensitive to the heritage that surrounds them, eager to know and learn, but also to look for quality leisure activities.
The KulturBox project is promoted in a co-creation format with María José Noain Maura, from Los Viajes de Aspasia.
RESEARCH
Artistic residencies / New approaches
The initiative to review the programmes of aid for creation organised by Bitamine Faktoria over the last 10 years arose shortly after the period of pandemics, confinements and limitations on many of the freedoms we had enjoyed until then.
It is true that the new present had changed as a consequence of the events. The economy had been affected, many families had lost loved ones, the routine and changing restrictions we faced on a daily basis made us feel lost and hopeless. But also, people had changed. Many of us have taken advantage of this hiatus to slow down, reflect, analyse, blame ourselves, accept that sometimes we lose and even take away burdensome duties. To question our objectives and look for answers.
Continuing with the model we had proposed until then in our structure was irresponsible. And the answers would not appear on their own, they had to be sought.
Within this framework, a long task was planned, with concrete phases, articulated with each other and consecutive in time.
A research project was launched in November 2021 to find out the state of the artistic and cultural sector in the Basque Country, and it was carried out throughout 2022.
Many people have been involved in the work process, which has been an invaluable source of knowledge, and it is thanks to all of them that we can now share these results, which I sincerely hope will be useful and fruitful for the sector.
The full report with the results of the research can be downloaded at www.bitamine.net, Projects section.
FRONTIÈRE - Cross-border artistic practices
FRONTIÈRE - Cross-border artistic practices, an event in collaboration with the Montreal artists' centre DARE-DARE and Bitamine Faktoria. This meeting takes place on the occasion of the launch of the publication Frontière, which reviews TOPO's thematic programming for 2019-2022. Helga Massetani, from Bitamine Faktoria, will present the project Atlas Emocional del Bidasoa. Sylvie Cotton, from DARE-DARE, will present the Satellite project and its publication.
PROJECTS.
FRONTIÈRE by TOPO.
Under the theme of the frontier, TOPO has created a cycle of exhibitions and online projects from 2019 to 2022. Rooted in human history and still very current, the theme brings together several issues raised by TOPO, political as well as social and technological.
The Frontier programme includes three thematic cycles with three female authors and art historians: Nuria Carton de Grammont, Paule Mackrous and Mirna Abiad-Boyadjian. To enrich the reflection, four other specialists address the notion of the border more broadly according to different approaches linked to their field of research: Ricard Zapata Barrero (politics), Chantal Pontbriand (aesthetics), Jean-Dominique Leccia (psychiatry) and David Jhave Johnston (technology).
The paper publication, a map that traces the works of the 10 artists proposed by TOPO in the framework of the programme, is expanded on the web with essays and multimedia content (essays, videos and podcasts).
SATELLITE by DARE-DARE.
"This publication traces the first trajectories of a programme of cross-border artistic explorations initiated in 2011 by the artist-run centre DARE-DARE as a satellite of its home territory in Montreal. More than just a retrospective visual overview and a presentation of works produced in three very different urban contexts (Detroit, Tijuana, Mexico City), the book proposes a series of recent observations of the artists and host partners to relive their vivid memories, retrace the path of thought and experience, reveal the imprint on creative practice and intellectual reflection, or even the repercussions on career or artistic mission."
Extract from the essay by Martin Dufrasne, coordinator of the SATELLITE project and coordinator of DARE-DARE programming
Bitamine Faktoria's Emotional Atlas of Bidasoa.
This publication is the continuation of the research carried out in 2019 within the project "Emotional cartography of Bidasoa". It is a series of notebooks accompanied by the work of the illustrator Elena Odriozola, which highlight significant social aspects. These ten fascicles tell the stories of a geographical area - that of the river Bidasoa - elegantly written by María José Noain Maura in a language accessible to all audiences.
Helga Massetani's visit is possible thanks to the support of the Etxepare Institute and the Ministère des Relations internationales du Québec, within the framework of the cultural cooperation agreement between Québec and Euskadi.
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