Townhall Meeting: Empathetic Exchange
Seats of Understanding © transparadiso
Performances
and discussions, presented by the project SPACEX – Spatial Practices in Art and Architecture for Empathetic Exchange
The SPACEX Townhall meeting in Vienna is a major public event at the final stage of SPACEX and focusses on
"Empathetic Exchange“ as vital topic of SPACEX: To discuss and make the goals of SPACEX tangible, for counteracting right
wing demagogies in Europe and enhancing democratic values through artistic and socially engaged strategies and projects of
art and architecture. Especially in the perspective of our turmoiled political situation in Europe, this event – and the engagement
of SPACEX altogether - is more relevant than ever.
SPACEX responds to the troubling rise of
populist nationalism and conflict in European societies by engaging new publics and forging a culture that embraces diversity,
difference, and discursive exchange within cities, towns and urban sites. A lack of interdisciplinary knowledge among those
working in the cultural sector has significantly affected the way in which the social benefit of cultural activities is understood,
articulated and applied. SPACEX proposes that inventing new and inclusive ways of living together, requires implementing new
transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral practices and methods, that connect spatial practice with cultural sociology, cultural
policy, critical pedagogies and behavioural economics. The comprehensive transdisciplinary composition of the SPACEX
consortium — comprising 29 beneficiaries including 13 universities and academies, 16 cultural organisations across
11 EU countries and 1 partner in Palestine — will enable its researchers to undertake secondments at world-renowned
academic institutions, research institutes, arts organizations, biennials, urban agencies and a film festival.
"Empathetic exchange“ will produce performative situations and various other artistic formats to engage and address
the public as active participants. In addition projects developed by SPACEX partners will be presented in various media. The
event will create an overlay of actions based on an experimental choreography, enhancing unexpected encounters and direct
experience.The Townhall meeting will be presented at AIL, the platform for interdisciplinary research and projects of the
University of applied arts Vienna, which is located in the Otto Wagner Postsparkasse. The originally preserved counters of
the bank as well as a special booth in the cashier hall will serve as spaces for facilitating dialogue on 'Empathetic Exchange'
across the counters. While the bank's counters were used for economic exchange, the SPACEX Townhall Meeting will use
them to encourage and envision an exchange of non-commercial values. Rather than directly promoting protest, 'Empathetic Exchange'
will produce small moments, modest gestures, ambivalence, silence and moments of reflection to encourage exchange on a personal
level and create awareness of taking care of one's own interests while respecting others.
The Town Hall Meeting
for SPACEX is curated and organised by: Barbara Holub (University of Applied Arts, Vienna) and Paul Rajakovics (transparadiso)
/ Partners of SPACEX
With contributions by:
Mel Jordan (Coventry University)
and Andrew Hewitt (University of Northampton), leaders of SPACEX; Jitka Hlavačková (Prague City Gallery/ GHMP, Prague), Susanne
Prinz (Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin), Vittorio Iervese (Università di Modena, Modena), Aline Hernandez/ Marianna
Takou (CASCO Art Institute, Utrecht); Annette Krauss (University of Applied Arts Vienna), Julienne Lorz (University of Applied
Arts Vienna), Barbara Putz-Plecko (University of Applied Arts Vienna / former Head of the Dept. Art and Communicative Practice),
and others.
Moderation: Kathrin Wildner (urban ethnologist, metroZones, Berlin).
This project has
received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Research and Innovation Staff
Exchange (RISE).
