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Description
The proposed project addresses the lack of cultural and educational activities related to contemporary environmental and social issues and artistic challenges. The project seeks to revive the immovable cultural monument of the former Studio B. Kafka.
With the increasing demands for ecological artistic creation and rising awareness of climate change, we see it as essential to create a place where those interested in these topics can learn about them, find examples of good practice and have the opportunity to experience them in workshops. The main goal of the project is to create a new Centre for Art and Ecology UMPRUM (hereinafter CUEU) in this building with a garden, which will raise important contemporary issues - besides ecology and sustainability it also focuses on topics related to inclusion, care for public space and minorities.
Within the first one, we shall organize three major educational and practical symposia/workshops. The second activity focuses on smaller workshops in the garden and community and cultural events. The other two activities will follow up on the first two. We will create a permanent exhibition Garden, and we shall also focus on the sustainable operation of CUEU itself by articulating the outcomes of past and future uses of the heritage site. This will involve the creation of an archive and a publication.
The project is aimed at students and teachers of UMPRUM and other educational cultural and social institutions and target groups: universities, high schools, galleries, eco-centres and minorities. The project is implemented in partnership with two institutions. Firstly, with CAN, a Norwegian art institution with long-term experience in multidisciplinary discussion and creation. And secondly with the Roma and Sinti Centre, which is being established in the neighbourhood, with whom we will jointly formulate what the two Centres have in common and how to use both facilities in a meaningful, ecological and inclusive way.
Summary of project results
The project was needed because of the long-standing demand for a real place and an active platform where art and ecology could be connected. CUEU is aware of the third role of universities: direct social action, which keeps it sensitive to the multiple crises underway. That is why a centre has been opened in the school, which systematically deals with sustainability, ecology and general environmental approaches that are essential for any activity today.
As part of the CUEU project, we explored the possibilities of interspecies collaboration, tended to our place of work (a hundred-year-old studio in Dejvice, its garden) and professionally networked with local and international artists and environmentalists. There were organized professional symposia, lectures, hands-on workshops, guided tours, exhibitions and many other public events that combined art and sustainability. We established cooperation with local associations and targeted activities for different generations or interest groups. The project supported the creation of new works of art, whose insertion into the garden of the building was our goal in revitalizing and enlivening the site - making it more accessible to the public. We also published a book summarizing our new findings on the possibilities of an art-ecology center.
The most important output was the creation of the Centre itself. Related to this are outputs such as the visual identity, website, archive and FB/IG pages of the Centre. In order to make CUEU known as an active platform, we also organized the opening of the permanent exhibition Garden (right in the building), where we placed the newly created artworks. We published a publication summarizing all the accumulated knowledge and results from the events that we were able to realize.
CUEU was opened but also established as a platform of its own in the study system of the University. CUEU thus offers to all those in need a mental and physical sanctuary from the outside world, where we regularly organize ecological-educational and artistic events, and at the same time, CUEU becomes an educational platform directly for students to enroll in and directly participate in its dramaturgy. We also managed to create a network of international contacts with whom we do further collabs.
Summary of bilateral results
With the main international partner - the Norwegian environmental-art centre CAN - we actively consulted throughout the project on the direction, dramaturgy and all concepts of CUEU. In particular, we were in regular contact with CAN''s managing director, artist Nina Ossavy (especially online) and discussed sustainability and art issues with her extensively. With the whole CAN we then prepared one of the symposia, namely the final one (October 2023), when the whole group came and prepared not only a program but also live performances. We ourselves also went on a trip abroad to Norway on behalf of CAN, where we got to know the local art and ecology scene. Thanks to extensive online consultations and discussions, we have substantially deepened our knowledge of the Scandinavian discourse in approaching art and ecology and reflecting on the environmental levels of any art-education centre. We consider the cooperation to be fulfilled - our Norwegian partner came to the Czech Republic twice and we came to Norway once. On both visits/exchanges there were useful discussions and valuable experiences. Together we also prepared the dramaturgy of one of the three international symposia, the Norwegian partner CAN was subsequently involved in the CUEU artistic programme and finally contributed text to a book reflecting the CUEU projects.