STRONGER PERIPHERIES Publication

Building a Southern Coalition in performing arts

PCAI is glad to announce the successful completion of the Stronger Peripheries: A Southern Coalition project, which was celebrated in a seven-day cultural event (24th to 30th October) hosted in Portugal, showcasing the international theatre, dance and performance co-productions created as part of the Stronger Peripheries: A Southern Coalition project. In this framework, an insightful publication titled Stronger Peripheries: Building a Southern Coalition in Performing Arts stands as the culmination of the four-year large scale European Programme, gathering various texts and artistic presentations that reflect different backgrounds, imaginaries and disciplines. The publication offers the readers a dynamic and stimulating read to which they always want to return—a catalogue dedicated to contemporary performing arts in the southern peripheries. Its dramaturgy, the creation of a story about empowerment and voice—giving, listening and raising the voice of recurrently marginalized art worlds in the periphery(ies) of Southern Europe.

Through articles, artistic insights and observations, poetic meditations, journals or visual essays and academic reflections, it explores in depth the performing art scenes in contemporary societies. The editorial team who took a practical approach to organizing this publication, represent a larger group of artists, academics and cultural critics all of whom collaborated in its design. The book begins by presenting Stronger Peripheries: A Southern Coalition, a project that aimed to strengthen arts and culture in the countries and regions of meridional Europe, and specifically focused on artistic approaches to participation within specific communities and capacity-building activities. This first overview of the project helps the readers to understand the subtleties of Southern European art worlds and the project as a whole. The second section of the book is titled “Participation in Southern Peripheries”. Here the main concepts which were present in meetings, conferences and informal chats throughout the four years are addressed and explored from new perspectives: art, participation, south, periphery, community, power relations, post-colonial perspectives, etc. Having contextualized the project and its conceptual framework, the readers are immersed in the 14 heterogeneous artistic productions which resulted from the encounter between the project partners, the selected artists and the communities and territories in which they developed their creations. “Stronger Peripheries Artistic Creations” (Section 3) contains visual presentations of the performing arts work produced throughout the course of the project. Gathered around six topics which reflect striking contemporary challenges to societies and art worlds, the fourth section of the book, “Southern Art Worlds”, is dedicated to cultural, social, political and aesthetic reflections on the performing arts scenes in the Stronger Peripheries producer countries. This section helps to understand the diversity of possible “souths” and to keep in mind how diverse our cultural productions can be when influenced by different cultural milieus, social and economic contexts or political environments. It also delves into reflections on structural and often fractious issues in our society, such as politics of care, feminism and global power relations. The following section, “Alternative Gazes from the South” (Section 5), leads the readers to reflect on the ways we organize as a society and imagine possible futures. Section 6, “Recommendations for Action”, sets out lessons learned from the joint involvement in the southern coalition and makes recommendations for individual and collective action. The final section of the book, Section 7, contrasts the expectations and impacts of the Stronger Peripheries Project and presents two operative toolkits, co-constructed by the research and cultural partners throughout the project. These toolkits are intended as training tools, that should also help us to better get to know our “southern” audiences and improve the quality of arts-based community participatory processes.

 

From the editors note:

“In your hands is a book dedicated to Stronger Peripheries and all the people who comprise this story. This object can be magnificent and terrifying at the same time. Like the project itself, it’s flexible, gathering various texts and artistic presentations that give light to different backgrounds, imaginaries and disciplines. Through articles, artistic cogitations and insights, poetic meditations, journals, visual essays and academic reflections, it explores in depth the performing art scenes in contemporary societies.”

 

The publication is available HERE.

 

Partners:

Artemrede (leader, Portugal), Bunker (Slovenia), Centrul Cultural Clujean (Romania), Consorci Transversal Xarxa d’Activitats Culturals (Spain), Fakultet dramskih umetnosti – University of Arts in Belgrade (Serbia), ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (Portugal), L’Arboreto – Teatro Dimora di Mondaino (Italy), Occitanie en Scène (France), PCAI Awareness Raising (Greece), Pergine Spettacolo Aperto (Italy), POGON – Zagreb Center for Independent Culture and Youth (Croatia), Pro Progressione (Hungary), Teatro di Sardegna (Italy), Universitat de Barcelona (Spain)

A project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

 


Activity aligned with Goals 4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17