Vital Space NewsLetter #2 May 2013

Vital Space is founded on the belief in the power of art to change the world. At a time of major confluence of economic and environmental crises,Vital Space deploys the artist’s perspective so as to dissolve the polarisation typifying the current dialogue on our relationship with Nature and with one another. Vital Space is dedicated to the initiation of art projects designed to reach and influence a wide and diverse audience. It strives to demonstrate in the most practical manner that art has its finger on the planet’s pulse and can mediate human deliberation on the course of our future.

Vital Space invites all artists to participate in the first of a series of open call competitions in the context of our ‘Raising Awareness‘ theme. For our first competition we invite short, one-minute video submissions under the broad title EAST | WEST – NORTH | SOUTH : Imperiled Viatl Spaces.

DEADLINE:MIDNIGHT (EST) 7th September 2013

THE THEME

EAST | WEST – NORTH | SOUTH: Imperiled Vital Spaces

ABOUT THE 60″ VIDEO COMPETITION

Participants are requested to submit an original sixty-second (one minute) video that reflects the theme’s spirit and helps raise awareness on our common predicament in this time of global crisis. Indeed, submissions from all over the world are encouraged, with our theme acting only as a general guide to the idea of a ‘local collapse’ following a global crisis. Participants are asked to complete and to submit this electronic Registration Form (including a link to their video on YouTube, Vimeo or any other video hosting service website). The deadline expires at midnight (EST), 1th September 2013

PRIZES, AWARDS & EXHIBITIONS: THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS

ROUND 1 – Videos go live: Vital Space will upload the approved videos on vitalspace.org by15th September 2013. The videos will remain on our site for two months. ROUND 2 – Viewers’ Prize: The general public will then be invited to vote amongst the contenders for the Vital Space 60’’ Video Competition Viewers’ Prize for 2013. The vote will be completed by, and the winner will be announced on, the 16th of November 2013. ROUND 3 – Panel Prize: On 1st October 2013, a five-member panel of jurists (drawn from Vital Space’s Board of Advisors) will announce the winner of the Vital Space 60’’ Video Competition Panel Prize for 2013, as well as two runners-up. These three videos (including the winner of the Viewers’ Prize) will then be added to the permanent collection of Vital Space’s Art Projects. ROUND 4 – EXHIBITION: The winners of both prizes in all competitions, and possibly the runners up will be exhibited, during 2014. Athens will be the starting point of an exhibition series in Greece and abroad. Vital Space will announce details about the exhibition as soon as all competition results are announced.

 

VITAL SPACE’s PREVIOUS 60″ ‘RAISING AWARENESS’ VIDEOS

The idea of one minute, 60’’, videos for the purposes of raising awareness was first introduced to Vital Space by its founder, Danae Stratou, who posted two such videos as part of the ‘inauguration’ of vitalspace.org. These two videos focused on public awareness regarding Climate Change and Urbanisation equivalently. The material shown is original, taken from Danae Stratou’s archive from shootings in hundreds of strategically chosen areas worldwide.

Raising Awareness in 60” (1)  |  Addressing Urbanisation

Raising Awareness in 60” (2)  |  Addressing Climate Change

 

FUTURE COMPETITIONS

Vital Space is pleased to announce that this one-minute video competition is the first in a series of three annual competitions. The other two will involve photographic stills, with suitable captions, and short 100–word texts. For more, watch this space. You will soon receive our next Photographic Competition Announcement: Raising Awareness with One Image.

Terms and Conditions

Submitted videos must be one minute in length. Any spoken words heard in the submitted video that are not in English must be accompanied by the relevant subtitles in English. The video must not contain gratuitous violence, profanity, or defamatory statements (including racism or sexism) on individuals or organizations. Any entries deemed gratuitously offensive will be immediately disqualified. Videos submitted must be original works – no copyrighted music, video, sounds or images may be used without prior, full permission from the author(s)/owners of said copyrighted music, video, sounds or images that you wish to include. Submitted videos must not infringe on any third party rights. Submitted videos that are the result of a group effort need to have a nominated representative.

 

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www.vitalspace.org 

The City at a Time of Crisis: research project on Athens

Posted at Roarmag.org  08 May 2013

A collective of researchers, photographers and filmmakers comes together to launch a powerful new multimedia research project on the crisis in Athens.

In recent years, Antonis Vradis of Occupied London has brought us invaluable reports from the front-line of the popular uprising(s) in Greece, while Ross Domoney, a member of the documentary photography and film collective Aletheia Photos, has produced some of the most paradigmatic short docs and video reports on the crisis and revolt currently under way in Athens. Now, the two join a team of researchers who have just launched the website for a very exciting new multimedia project.

In an emailed announcement, the research collective describes their initiative as follows:

Crisis-scape is the website of the “The City at a Time of Crisis”, a collective, cross-disciplinary ESRC-funded research project that traces the transformations of public spaces in Athens. By focusing on urban public spaces, we aim to study the rapid, wider social and political transformations that are under way in the crisis-ridden Greek society today.

The website so far features metronome, the first in a series of short films corresponding to each of the project’s research strands; a full interactive time-line of the crisis in Greece since 2008; a documentary explaining the ongoing social meltdown taking place in the country; an interview with Professor Stavros Stavrides of the NTUA; two blog-post series (état de siege: public space user manual and metronome) and much, much more.

Crisis-scape is updated every Monday with first-hand ethnographic accounts, theoretical interventions, digital interactive material, videos and photographs from the ground here in Athens.

We rely on your help to spread the word!

The www.crisis-scape.net team

Jaya Klara Brekke, Ross Domoney, Christos FiIippidis, Antonis Vradis and Dimitris Dalakoglou

Metronome. from Ross Domoney on Vimeo.

Alternative Community Peliti Greece

originally published at Artivist.gr

The Peliti Community was founded thanks to the personal need of Mr. Panagiotis Sainatoudis and has been embraced by many people throughout Greece and beyond. It is a non-profit organization which is engaged in the collection, preservation and dissemination of local varieties.

Pelit in Pontic Greek language (a dialect originally spoken in the Pontus area) means oak. The name of the Community, Peliti, is inspired by this tree and its trademark illustrates an oak with its roots, surrounded by dancing men and women holding hands. The logo of Peliti could not therefore express in a better way the dream of the main organizer of the community, Mr. Saitanoudis in 1995. The trademark expresses the collective effort of Mr. Saitanoudis and his team over the last 15 years for the collection, preservation and dissemination of local varieties. An effort that is particularly significant since the introduction of the massive industrialization and globalization of agricultural production puts in danger varieties that are grown in Greece for centuries. These varieties perform better in the Greek territory with its particular characteristics and the prevailing local climate and they represent the Greek culture and Greek identity. The collection, preservation and dissemination of the seeds among the local farmers constitutes the most effective effort towards the conservation of Greek biodiversity, which is attacked by increasing imports of foreign varieties that are supposedly more resistant.

The work of Peliti is holistic; this means that the community is trying to achieve its objectives in a spherical manner by organizing a large spectrum of activities and events. Since 1995, Peliti has been organizing expeditions to the mainland and the islands of Greece to collect and gather as many varieties of seeds as possible and has supplied more than 80,000 (!) amateur and professional farmers with seeds or plants. The community of Peliti gives also the opportunity to farmers to purchase small quantities of free unimproved varieties. Since March 1999 the community has been organizing the “National Festival of Exchanging Local Varieties”. The aims of the festival are the dissemination of traditional varieties to as many growers as possible, the share of knowledge and experiences, as well as the realization of the true concept of exchange, which is the exchange without the intermediation of money! Already since 2002, well before the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008 and the collapse of the intangible financial system, Peliti started the “Nationwide Network of Exchange of Goods and Services without Money” to bring together people and enhance their cooperation without the use of money.

The work of Peliti community is of great importance and scale. It is enough to mention the effort made by the community to record the wide network of farmers of traditional varieties found throughout Greece, the “local farms”. It is also important to mention that the effort of the community is embraced by people throughout the Greek territory. These people have created local Peliti groups in different parts of the country, which aim to organize activities and events locally. Moreover, the Peliti community has issued a series of publications containing information and news on its actions such as the “manual for the collection and preservation of local varieties”, the yearly magazine on “local farms” and the booklet “from hand to hand and heart to heart” that describes the actions of the community for an inclusive economic activity.*

Nikos Kazantzakis in “Saviors of God” urges us: “Love responsibility. Say: “It is my duty, and mine alone, to save the earth. If it is not saved, then I alone am to blame”. People who volunteer in Peliti, the organizers, the amateurs, the professional growers of traditional varieties and all those people and local communities that have embraced the community’s effort practice their responsibility towards themselves and the generations to come. You?

*The information on the above article was drawn from the well informed and comprehensive website of Peliti community. For more information visitwww.peliti.gr

Zoi Volioti – Artivist Team
zoi@artivist.gr