Archive for November 22nd, 2007
A brainstorming session on the futures of Alkantara with the guests, all professionals from the performing arts field and culture in Lisbon
A future study on the possible scenarios for Alkantara, the organization that recently acquired a space for its venue in Lisbon.
For the first time, Alkantara (the former Danças na cidade) can move into a space given by the city of Lisbon. This event will determine a change in the course of the development of this institution. Taking as a motto the quote from Immanuel Wallerstein “Future is uncertain because it will be what we make it”, this small-scale research deploys some methods of futurology in investigating alternative possible, probable or preferable/desirable futures for Alkantara.
Many institutional parameters may change when Alkantara, after 14 years of inhabiting numerous sites in the city with its biannual festival and various other programs and projects, moves into a building. Will the profile or orientation of Alkantara change? Is it a moment to reflect on its role and function in the performing arts scene in Lisbon, Portugal and in a wider international context? Or to rethink its mission? Should its organizational structure change? Who will be its future audience? etc.
The research consists in two stages. In the first one, Claudia Jardim and Bojana Cvejić are conducting interviews with a number of professionals who had been collaborating with Alkantara and Danças na cidade in the past: members of the team of Alkantara, choreographers, journalists, theatermakers. The interviews will feed a film telling a story about Alkantara (Danças na cidade) from the different perspectives (interests, roles) of the interlocutors. They will be available on display in integral version. So far, 4 talks have been recorded with Mark Deputter, Catarina Saraiva, Sonia Baptista, Rogeiro Nuno Costas, and Carlos Ramos. 3 more will follow with Tiago Guedes, Clara Andermatt and Cristina Peres. Parallel to this, Ana Džokić, Mark Neelen and Pedro Penim are investigating all sites, spaces and locations in and around Lisbon which Alkantara (Danças na cidade) has inhabited since its inception. Making photographic documentation of a current state of more than 70 locations used for performances and other activities during 14 years period.
In the second stage, the participants of IWBWWMI will embark on a futurist fiction, a kind of collective hallucination or brainstorming on what Alkantara in its new space could become. For that they are organizing two events: an informal conversation with the guests, all professionals from the performing arts and cultural field in Lisbon (Maria Assis, Miguel Lobo Antunes, Miguel Honrado, Filipe Viegas, Maria Jose Fazenda, André e. Teodosio et al.) about what they envisage as the future of Alkantara, and a presentation of the work of the group IWBWWMI on Alkantara in 2019.
brainstorm on the future of Alkantara
