About the Project
This project focuses on the building of capacity of regional, cultural and art initiatives which take an active part in addressing societal issues, most importantly in the sphere of social issues and the environment.
The aim is to identify key actors in all regions of the Czech Republic, excluding Prague, who use innovative approaches and significantly improve the conditions of life for local communities. The information gathered through this research will become part of a map entitled the Black Edition, which will be available in both printed and online form, and which will serve as a practical tool for those interested in the issues of civic cultural communities.
Apart from the database of the individual subjects, the map interface will also offer access to interviews with select players, as well as descriptive texts by an interdisciplinary team, consisting of specialists in social anthropology, ecology, cultural environmentalism, the arts, and curatorship. The content and selection of the players will focus on cultural subjects which have had long-term involvement in ecology or social exclusion, and which promote inter-generational dialogue, the rejuvenation of cultural traditions, and support for historical places, and the like.
Part of the project is to identify the problems these players struggle with, while simultaneously featuring a visual representation (via the map itself) of possible connections between individual organisations and individuals in a cultural, social and ecological context. The map will also include a text about smaller Norwegian cultural and artistic initiatives prepared in collaboration with a Norwegian partner, and will be distributed to cultural organisations. It will also be presented at a meeting attended by, among others, the experts and the general public, together with representatives of independent cultural centers and communities from rural and peripheral regions. The meeting will also include representatives of our partners in Norway who will present similar initiatives in Norway and will visit several regional initiatives in Czech Republic.
The Black Edition map will visualize the socially and environmentally stricken areas of the Czech Republic and gather information about cultural and artistic places, cultural organisations, individual and other initiatives working in such fields over a long time period, and ones which actively influence the local (social) ecosystem. An appendix to the map will present examples of specific artistic and cultural projects that focus, for example, on environmental problems while using contemporary expressive means, e.g. interventions in the landscape, acoustic ecology or various forms of art activism. Comprehensive interviews with key local activists will help identify the central problems they deal with, and present ways forward to improve the initiative and reach of their activities. The Black Edition, in its multiple layers, will thus provide a tool for organisers by visually presenting various active and possible connections within wider structures. It will at the same time present specific local histories. The process as a whole will allow key players to gain a critical distance, identify their positions within a wider schema, find local and remote support and allow for better planning of future activities.
The collection of data and distribution of the Black Edition will take place in all regions of the Czech Republic, excluding the city of Prague. The project will identify a minimum of five key cultural civic initiatives/organisations or individuals in each region.
Program Structure Code: KU/REG/CB1
Project no.: KU-CB1-009
Name of the Call: Reinforcing of the Capacity of Professional Umbrella Associations, Networks and Platforms