the new local

the new local took place at the Muntplein in the centre of Brussels from October 9 till October 13, 2018

the new local inquires into what a progressive locality could entail in the light of globalism and, more specifically, focuses on the role of spatial practice. It explores conceptions of locality beyond the illusionary attempt to solve global problems on an exclusively local scale, while simultaneously acknowledging that it is necessary to (physically) relate to their abstractness. Is it possible to stretch the notion of “experience” both spatially and temporally?

This exercise is localized through the Muntplein/Place de la Monnaie in the center of Brussels. The public square was designed to serve as a backdrop for events, which resulted in an open, bare place. Sitting at the intersection of two shopping streets, its non-identity was soon filled in by the aura of consumerism. This has recently been reinforced by the arrival of the shopping mall “The Mint,” whose display windows face the square.

Ten artists have been commissioned to each develop an experiment on the Muntplein/Place de la Monnaie. Instead of organizing yet another event on the square, these interventions take place during the day without an audience. The experiments are documented and mapped in different ways, and subsequently presented and discussed by the artists and invited guests during an evening program that takes place in a venue facing the square. The dialectical relationship between the local and the global, and the ways in which this can be experienced on different scales lie at the heart of all the interventions. As such, the project is not designed to seek clear-cut answers or a deployable and hence marketable narrative. On the contrary, the new local emphasizes the need to abandon normalized patterns of relating to “our” world. This, of course, requires time and the acknowledgement that the language, tools, or infrastructure to do so may not yet exist.

website: www.thenewlocal.org

Supported by: The Arts and Heritage Agency of the Flemish Community

Partner: Het Kaaitheater

the new local is part of Precarious Pavilions is curated by Michiel Vandevelde.website: www.precariouspavilions.be

With contributions by: Alex Zakkas & Kurt Tichy (Constant), Beny Wagner & Sasha Litvintseva, Hana Miletić, Martin Belou, Helena Dietrich, Mijke van der Drift, Belinda Kazim, Jeroen Peeters, Naïmé Perrette, Ola Hassanain, Parasite 2.0, Rozalinda Borcila, Sepake Angiama, Kristupas Sabolius, C.K. Raju, Vivien Tauchmann and others

 

Supported by: The Arts and Heritage Agency of the Flemish Community Partners: Het Kaaitheater With contributions by: tbc soon