Goal(s): Discovering ways to combine art with tangible historical heritage, to approach the natural and cultural landscape cognitively and physically and to see how this affects artistic material; Promoting sustainability in cultural heritage by creating site specific workshops, thus making the remains of cultural heritage relevant and accessible to a wider spectrum of the community; Investigating how the work of artists (dancers, choreographers, musicians) is affected and modified according to the identity and the stories connected to different sites; Approaching material culture and historic evidence as sources for thinking artistic material through the concept of fortification.
The LTTA5 in Heraklion was divided into different phases: an outdoors phase in the first week and an indoors phase in the second week.
In the first week the group had the opportunity to visit historical sites and follow a specifically designed guided tour on site as well as to have time for reflection both on site and indoors, in the studio. The chosen sites (Venetian Walls of Heraklion, Koules Castle and the fortified island of Spinalonga) followed the concept of fortification, boundaries and exclusion and were embedded in on site workshops. These workshops included a guided tour with input by historian expert Stella Malliaraki as well as time for the participants to interact on site. Depending on the site (organised archaeological site, open area in the city etc.) the participants gained very different experiences and a varied degree of freedom of expression on site.
In addition, during the first week the group had the chance to participate in music and dance workshops guided by local artists (eg. Ross Daly) and/or partners of SIKINNIS (eg. Roula Samiotaki).
The studio workshops served the participants to get to know each other and to acquaint themselves with local traditional music and dance and explore their connections to music of the countries of the Near East. After the input given, the participants were then able to experiment with it and readjust different forms and, in the case of music, instruments. In a crossover jam facilitated by Sergej Maingardt (electronics) and Ross Daly and collaborators (acoustic instruments) the participants explored sound and movement material focusing on transferability, intertwining, reversibility and principles of handing over in creative procedure.
Lastly, during the first week the first meeting with the RELAY group and the local dance community was held as a first encounter between the two groups.
During the second week the group worked mostly indoors both supported by the mentors and independently as peers. The participants divided up into three groups and explored different ways to create artistic material, based on their experiences on the visited sites, the stimuli from the workshops and the experiences of the community meeting. Each group worked on a different concept of their own choice engaging with a variety of materials. On the last day the three groups had the chance to share the results of their research with the community of SIKINNIS.
A conscious effort has been made to make use of a broad spectrum of different sources of material concerning the sites, as well as the building of SIKINNIS in itself, serving not only as a venue but with its specific history and context stimulating the content. Oral testimonies of people, literature sources, photographs and older depictions of the sites, as well as different kinds of music and songs were brought into the pool of material available in order to cater for different interests and learning styles of the participants. In addition to the above the main tool used during the guided tours was the facilitated dialogue between the participants and the guide. There was provision for a certain amount of free time for the participants to explore each site on their own and to readjust their perceptions on fortification, defense, boundaries and limits based on the information they had been given and their own interaction on site.
Another important source of material and stimuli came through the community meetings. In that case the two groups - the RELAY participants and members of the SIKINNIS community - interacted with each other, offering the opportunity on one hand to the RELAY participants to share their work with amateur dancers of different age groups and capabilities and on the other hand to the SIKINNIS community to have a glimpse of how to participate in the production by not only “consuming” dance and music material.
The ARTwork took place as an ongoing event facilitated by Maia Means and Max Wallmeier. From observations and reflections of the previous events, Wallmeier and Means again adapted and tweaked the scores, and changed the setting and time frame for the ARTwork. In Crete it took place in a nearby building that had been abandoned, an old raison factory turned into an art school that in itself enriched the ARTwork significantly through its very visible layers of local history. During the first day the time capsule was opened by the Cologne students and all participants were instructed to engage with the materials and start gathering objects during silent walks in the building and the nearby area. During the week the sculpture kept growing with remnants of the LTTA’s workshops, group work, visited sites and walks around the city. During this event the scores for each session were written on a big paper roll that took up more and more space on the floor, and the scores for each session were accompanied and overwritten with drawings, poems and objects. Wallmeier’s and Means’s role was to ensure the continuity of the project and guide it along the lines of its intended outcome and this time they left the participants alone in the space during big parts of the sessions to ensure that the activities were minimally adapted to the presence of the facilitators. At the end of the LTTA a series of tasks for students, staff and mentors resulted in 30 envelopes containing letters and materials from the sculpture. Because this was the last LTTA, the Time Capsule had nowhere to go, so the last materials of the sculpture were distilled into the Time Capsule, ceremoniously sealed with a note for whoever might find it. It was then buried on a local site. At the very end of the RELAY project the letters will be sent out together with information about the project to people and organizations who have been engaged in the project without participating in any of the LTTAs.
The Crete encounter served as an inspiring example of sustainable infrastructure: In Crete a substantial part of the consumed products is grown and traded locally. SIKINNIS organized the catering with several local family restaurants. Also, Crete provides a well-functioning and cheap bus network.
SIKINNIS organized the program in a manner that all work venues and the hotel were within walking distance from each other. The only exception was our trip to Spinalonga, organized with a local bus company.
To act on the given fact of shortage of drinking water on the one hand and overload of plastic waste on the other hand, SIKINNIS has installed water filters in their canalisation systems and asks guests to bring their refill water bottles, which - in a period of two weeks with approximately thirty-five regular participants and some days with many more community members – helped saving a significant number of plastic bottles.
(Connected) Methods and Tools: Facilitated dialogue; Student driven workshops; Lecture; Site-specific student driven research; Exploring material focusing on transferability, intertwining and principles of handing over in creative procedure.
Participants: CNDB Alexandra Vieru, Anca Stoica, Bogomil Gaetano Menchise, Neli Georgieva, Sergiu Diță, DASPA Anne Sofie Stubbe Lindeberg, Laura Navndrup Black, Léana Licius, Maia Means, Maxime Kroot, Max Wallmeier, Paulina Rewucka, Simon Plancke, HfMT Dmitry Remezov, Jan Burkhardt, Juri Jaworksy, Lili Oksanen, Natacha Huefken, Sergej Mainhardt, Unai Etxabe, Vera Sander, Sikinnis Antonis Rasoulis, Emmanuel Kokkinidis, Konstantinos Tsakirellis, Nikolas Chelidonis, Roula Samiotaki, Stella Malliaraki, Tsakalaki Evangelina, UNATC Amelia Maiorov, Andra Muntenasu, Andreea Duță, Bianca Geantă,Dennis Mihaj, Ioana Goia, UNMB Ariadna Ene Iliescu, Bianca Diana Popa, Cătălin Crețu, Irina Pernes, Lavinia Cristescu, Mihnea Dragne