HOWDY PARTNER!

Learning Partnership Kick Off Meeting

The first kick off  meeting for our “Do It Yourself! - Self Empowerment Through Skill Sharing” learning partnership took place at Czentrifugas homebase in Kreuzberg Berlin on the 23rd and 24th September 2010. Nine of the ten partners (roughly 30 people) managed to attend.

Generally , the most productive talks were off-record, ranging from informal to intense , and held within smaller ad hoc groups throughout the two days. The fundamental points were, however, adressed collectively within one main meeting, later to be summarised in a protocol which was later mailed to each of the ten partners . As most of the partners were meeting each other for the first time, each partner explained a little  about their respective organisations.

The main language spoken in the meeting was English which was by no means a perfect solution but the main points were eventually translated and disseminated amongst the participants (for example for the Polish and Czech people attending, it was no problem for them to communicate amongst themselves in their native languages as they are quite similiar)

The fundamental points of order were adressed in this meeting,such as the fact that the Grundtvig organisation requires a documented evaluation from each of its projects. Stephan Kruhl, representing Kulturpark 3000 and also the partnerships Grundtvig application advisor commented that during the forthcoming two years , one aim of the partnership should be to find a way to do an evaluation that is appropriate and fitting to the nature of the partnership. An evaluation form is suggested as it is easy way to get feedback and establish a project overview, giving the partners the possibility to comment on different subjects and help to prepare for upcoming meetings.

It was agreed that there should be a meeting at each partners location and there was  an  agreement on three future General meetings-

January 2011: MS Stubnitz in either Hamburg or Rostock

May 2011: 3 cities link up :   Kolin - Brno - Bratislava

July 2011: Gyzyzko (Poland) Poetry Festival

Here are some examples of our collective brainstorming and about how we all imagined the future  in terms of  mutual cooperation.

Gabba (Czentrifuga) “We should enjoy this partnership, We should use the time, the funding, the potential of all partners to make an impact – social, artistic. It is an opportunity, it is a pleasure – we should enjoy it”

Olivia + Beat (Czentrifuga) “Downsizing our Berlin operation in anticipation of  pursuing a more mobile network”

Aaron (MS Stubnitz) - “Each  Partner selects one (or more?) art project(s)  (music, video, paint, print, poetry multimedia or..?)  which will then visit /tour  the other partners' countries”

Stephan (Kulturpark3000) ”We should use the opportunity of this partnership, the funding and time, to create – according to aims and objectives of this partnership – follow-up projects and raise new, additional funding for these projects”

Aaron (MS Stubnitz) “Establish sub groups/blocks - specifically, a  "Cash Block" Those in the partnership proficient and/or  interested in looking for other forms of funding and sponsorship...Governmental, private, corporate...." This prompted the question: What other "Blocks" or "Sub-Groups" can be established?

Coost (Czentrifuga) “How about taking on new partners that we will meet on our travels ? is there a (Grundtwig) procedure for this ?”

Stephan (Kulturpark3000) “It's not possible to integrate new members into an ongoing partnership – (they would have no chance to get funding through their National agencies )But we may cooperate with any partner we want to and can integrate those partners into a new learning partnership in 2012”

Coost suggested the possibility of linking up with Thierry Jausson who is connected to the MS Stubnitz and is  based in Egypt working with the  North African experimental music scene and is coordinating selected  projects  to perform and make live production on the ship.

Nik (Fair Tunes)  soon to be travelling to Algeria to set up a community based recording studio facility "we would all learn by everybodys mistakes"

Beat (Czentrifuga) in contrast to  inner city, urban culture , remarked on the  "soft power"  which is afforded by places such as the remotely situated  Gyzyzko on Polands Eastern border ,where nature is an integral part of the local culture.

Coost (Czentrifuga) Our Gyzyzko Partner  is already making  art/cultural exchanges with Kaliningrad.  There are already  discussions about relaxing the Polish/Russian border in this region to allow for communication between the peoples of this area.....Maybe as end-festival we sail the MS Stubnitz to Kaliningrad  for 2012?

Antoin (Archway studios) also mentioned his connection  to the Irish countryside and the possibility of not only visiting Dublin but also linking up with remote  "soft power" organisation(s)   This could be interesting to compare and contrast  activities  on the extreme Eastern border (Poland) and the extreme West (Ireland)

We discussed different ideas about setting up a shared Mobile Culture Center, something that is transportable , a small container perhaps or even something that fits in a rucksack, or perhaps exists only on the net. It was agreed that Czentrifuga take care of the administration of the Learning Project.Once the formalities, protocol and hand shakes were complete, the partners had time to see some of the Berlin sights and witness and participate in the Czentrifuga event the following day.

24:09 Czentrifuga @ Mariannenplatz Closing  Event 

"Es Gibt Kein Zurück" 

This public event was to be the last in the Kreuzberg location, it was a fitting end to an intensely productive time and from the downsizing of this large project was formed another (Grundtvig D.I.Y.).

Essentially, there were two screenprint exhibtions , a "kunst markt", five live acts, four Djs, three art installations plus a performance from Gogo Trash and SP38 whereby the audience were encouraged to participate in an  ufo landing  ritual . Impressions from the event are summarised in the accompanying video clip, and also on the Czentrifuga online foto archives (thanks to Gabba and also Marko Krojac (who also volunteered to cook for this meeting..yum, yum!)

http://foto.poetaster.de/Grundtvig-D-I-Y

http://foto.poetaster.de/marko-Krojac-sept-2010?page=1.