The Next Generation of Cultural Spaces reimagines the use of historical spaces, reviving them through cultural activities to create safe spaces where non-dominant youth culture, queer communities and other marginalised groups in Eastern & Southern Europe can thrive.

RESOURCES

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NGOCS publication

This report tells the stories and experiences of the NGOCS project team, as well as those of the spaces and communities touched by the project. It provides a glimpse into the journey towards enabling space, including the challenges and opportunities encountered along the way.

We feel this is only the beginning of our exploration of how to provide the necessary know-how and information to emerging spaces and communities in geographically and politically diverse settings. We aim to provide the resources needed to build more stable environments for value creation and thriving, non-dominant youth culture, queer communities and other marginalised groups, because these spaces and communities constitute the future generation of culture.

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Living document

This living document is made for cultural collectives in Southern and Eastern Europe that have an own independent space or aim to obtain an independent space for non-dominant culture.

We aim for you to download and modify this document to your needs. It can be used to present your space or concept to the outside world, especially to local administrators, property owners or potential funders.

As a living document, it is to be regularly edited, updated and expanded with new information and templates. The goal is to provide an increasingly effective tool that can strengthen existing spaces and support obtaining new spaces for independent non-dominant culture.

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CONFERENCES

The Saturday seminar was designed to explore obstacles and opportunities for enabling the next generation of cultural spaces in South Tyrol. The conference broadened the view of local actors to challenges and solutions from spaces in other countries and regions. Through that confrontation one has to re-think the local situation, which has become normal.

Comparing that situation to spaces in Georgia, where it is nearly impossible to work together with the governments and financing has to come from private investment, a large contrast appears. None of these situations are ideal, yet the confrontation with a completely different approach enhances one’s capability of rethinking and eventually redesigning one’s own approach.

BASIS Vinschgau Venosta

South Tyrol, 22-24.09.2022

Tbilisi, 14-16.10.2022

The conference part of the Tbilisi symposium consisted of two full days of presentations and discussions, in English on October 14th and in Georgian, on the 16th. International speakers came from Berlin, Amsterdam, Silandro, Bolzano, Innsbruck, Istanbul and Baku; local actors joined in from Tbilisi, Rustavi, Kutaisi, Batumi and the region of Racha.

The conference summarised the NGOCS project and discussed a wide range of issues through panel discussions. The Georgian language portion was fully dedicated to local cultural entities, with particular emphasis given to the representatives of non-profit and non-dominant cultural sectors. It was also very well attended where all four largest Georgian cities participated.

ACT4culture

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ENVISIONING FREE SPACE CONFERENCE 2021 & 2022

Envisioning Free Space envisions a future where cultural spaces and their creative ecosystems are self-reliant, finding ways to deal with the growing threats authoritarian governments, neo-liberalism and war pose. Over the years it has united a vast network of artists, activists, urban changemakers, scientists and political agents, creating a space for interdisciplinary collaboration to drive policy change.

Since 2016 Space of Urgency organises the Berlin based Frei(T)räume / Envisioning Free Space conference. The annual event is co-organised with Dance of Urgency, as part of the Nights: Stadt Nach Acht conference.

Berlin, 27.11.2021

The panel discussion ‘ECF: Rave-olution from East to West’ aimed to showcase the NGOCS project setup and its project partners, with a focus on the main space that could serve as lighthouse and blueprint, the ‘Hotel Igman’ in Sarajevo.

Amsterdam, 26.11.2022

The panel discussion focussed on the NGOCS project’s current situation as well as the local contexts of Basis Vinschgau Venosta in Italy and House of ReconNEXTion in Tbilisi. Both project partners discussed their local difficulties and opportunities, as well as the local implications of the NGOCS project for Amsterdam.

COMMUNITY CALLS

Community calls, participating cities

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Community calls

The community calls are virtual meetings where participants join in a moderated discussion to tackle topics related to obtaining and sustaining independent spaces for non-dominant culture. Organised by Space of Urgency, the community calls aim to ignite a translocal artivist alliance between spaces and communities from Southern & Eastern Europe.

The three calls are organised around key subjects related to the project’s theme. They support knowledge exchange, serve a motivational purpose by bringing like-minded people together facing similar challenges within their local environments, and build relationships that lay the foundation for the continuation of the translocal network.

Participants