[Nettime-nl] conference in Maastricht

["Heur B (van) (VKS)" <B.vanHeur@VKS.unimaas.nl>]

Hello netttime-nl,

On Thursday 14 and Friday 15 May, I am co-organizing a conference on  
Maastricht as potential European Capital of Culture (following the  
municipality’s decision to compete for this title). Although the  
conference has Maastricht in the title, the speakers are from all over  
the Netherlands and Europe and might be of interest to you or others  
interested in culture and urban development, EU geopolitics, networks  
and institutional change, experimentation, peripheral cities and  
mobility (to name but a few buzz words).

More information is available in the attached flyer and above all  
online at: http://lieudepassages.ainsi.nl. Entrance is free. Register  
by sending an e-mail to subscribe@ainsi.nl.

Also, around the dates of the conference other activities are  
scheduled in Maastricht that might be of interest to you as well:
- Wednesday 13 May, 8 PM: Saskia Sassen in the NAi Maastricht
- On 15 and 16 May talks by Angela Melitopoulos (also speaking at the  
conference) and Maurizio Lazzarato at the Jan van Eyck (tbc)

In short: it would be really great to see you at this conference.  
Also, if you know of other people potentially interested, please do  
forward this mail.

All the best,

Bas van Heur


** **

Maastricht: Lieu de Passages? Towards European Capital of Culture 2018

On Thursday 14 and Friday 15 May, Maastricht University, Hogeschool  
Zuyd and the Jan van Eyck Academy organize in cooperation with the  
Municipality of Maastricht a conference on ‘Maastricht – European  
Capital of Culture 2018’.
The aim of the two-day conference Lieu de Passages? is to critically  
investigate the conditions of possibility for Maastricht to become  
European Capital of Culture. By inviting a diverse and international  
group of researchers, policy makers, cultural workers, artists and  
entrepreneurs at this early stage, the conference wants to actively  
contribute to shaping the direction this process takes.

Themes

The conference will be organized around the following themes:

Destination Maastricht
As elsewhere, in Maastricht the relative decline of industrial labor  
has led to a search for new imaginaries that can guide urban  
development. From Maastricht as a shopping city and major tourist  
destination to Maastricht as an internationally-oriented university  
town, all of these new imaginaries are unthinkable without  
acknowledging the role of increased mobility. What is the role of  
mobility for culture in Maastricht? How does the city brand itself as  
a destination across the region and the world? In what ways do the  
internationalization of education and the temporary presence of  
students shape the very cultural texture of the city?
Speakers:
Peter Peters (Moderator - Hogeschool Zuyd, Maastricht, Netherlands)
Jeroen Boomgaard (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Anne Lorentzen (Aalborg University, Denmark)
Zora Jaurova (Košice 2013 European Capital of Culture, Slovakia)

A Cultural DNA?
Is a city merely a “halteplaats in het process van  
mondialisering” (stop-over in the process of globalization), as Abram  
de Swaan once expressed it? Or does Maastricht really have an  
inalienable and durable cultural identity, as many local actors seem  
to believe? Maybe we should instead talk about a city as formed of  
layered identities, which are constantly transformed through processes  
of exchange and consolidation, inclusion and exclusion? This theme  
investigates the various rituals and routines that constitute the  
supposed cultural essence of Maastricht.
Speakers:
Sjaak Koenis (Moderator - Maastricht University, Netherlands)
Jorijn Neyrinck (Tapis Plein, Brugge, Belgium)
Katia Segers (Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium)
Neil Peterson (Liverpool Culture Company, United Kingdom)

Urban Laboratories
A European Capital of Culture clearly cannot only be a place of  
representation (of established cultures and traditions), it should  
also be a place of experimentation and innovation. From the general  
argument that we are now living in a knowledge society to specific  
policies dedicated to promoting creativity and innovation, the idea of  
the city as a laboratory for new social and economic forms has become  
central to EU, national and local strategies. But what does an  
experimental urban culture mean? Who are the main actors involved in  
these processes? What are the conditions of possibility for  
experimentation and innovation to take place?
Speakers:
Bas van Heur (Moderator - Maastricht University, Netherlands)
Marc Glaudemans (Stadslab, Tilburg, Netherlands)
Pascal Gielen (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium)
Michelle Teran (Berlin, Germany)

Cultural Capital and Institutional Change
The ambition to become European Capital of Culture raises the question  
how the city can develop its various kinds of cultural capital (in a  
Bourdieuan sense). In particular, attention needs to be paid to the  
institutional dimensions of cultural capital and the ways in which  
cultural and educational institutions selectively in- and exclude  
particular forms of knowledge, skills and attitudes. How do the  
various performing and visual arts institutions in Maastricht shape  
our very understanding of what constitutes artistic practice? To what  
extent do institutional credentials determine access to publicly  
funded and/or commercially viable cultural networks? What are the  
actual and latent relations between the various amateur theatre  
groups, the professional orchestras, small-scale production companies  
and institutions of arts education? In what ways could one rethink  
these relationships and, by doing so, democratize cultural production?
Speakers:
Janicke Kernland (Moderator - Studio Kernland, Maastricht, Netherlands)
Kate Oakley (City University London, United Kingdom)
Ayse Güleç (Kulturzentrum Schlachthof, Kassel, Germany)
Piet Menu (Het Huis van Bourgondië, Maastricht, Netherlands)

Between Centers and Peripheries
Any discussion on the cultural identity of a city will have to  
negotiate the problematic status of the border. No longer can  
Maastricht define itself as a closed spatial entity, as was once  
perhaps possible with reference to the city walls or the municipal  
boundaries. Instead, contemporary Maastricht will have to actively  
engage with related spatial entities, such as the cities of Liège,  
Aachen, Heerlen and Hasselt or wider regions such as the Euregio,  
‘Holland’ and Europe. What are the commonalities and differences  
between these spatial entities? How does the de-centered and often  
peripheral role of Maastricht within these spatial formations shape  
the very dynamics of its cultural life?
Speakers:
Gideon Boie and Matthias Pauwels (Moderators - BAVO, Rotterdam,  
Netherlands)
Therese Kaufmann (EIPCP, Vienna, Austria)
Olivier Kramsch (Nijmegen University, Netherlands)
Angela Melitopoulos (Berlin, Germany)

More details: http://lieudepassages.ainsi.nl


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