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Unlimited: Long Distances but Small
Differences-Australia and the Med
Project Proposal for EU Culture 2007-13, Strand 1.3.5
Project Leader: Synthesis (Greece-www.sinthesis.gr)
Minimum number or partners: 4 (3 EU countries and Australia)
Proposed period of implementation: 1.09.2013-31.08.2015
Total Budget: 400.000 Euros (in case of successful outcome EU
covers up to 50% of total budget)
UNLIMITED is a contemporary art project comprised of workshops, photographic exhibitions,
music shows, and collaborative performances organized within the framework of Culture 200713 Strand 1.3.5. It is organised by Sinthesis, a non profitable cultural organisation, and seeks to
be implemented with the cooperation of other cultural operators in Europe and Australia.
Europe and Europeans have been important themes in the history of Australia since the 18th
century when the European settlement began. During the 19th century the majority of
immigrants came mainly from Britain and Ireland while, after the second world war Australia
negotiated a series of migration agreements with Continental Europe including the Netherlands
and Italy (1951), Austria, Belgium, West Germany, Greece and Spain. Since then, Europe has
served as a key reference point for Australia in questions of identity, progress, capability,
legitimization and strategic interest.
Today, Australia has become a multicultural society with various issues regarding the
assimilation of different ethnic backgrounds. The introduction of the policy of multiculturalism
has widely been seen as a response to the failure of the policy of assimilationism. Indeed, the
fact was that -.non-British European migrants-Italians, Greeks, and so on-were simply not
divesting themselves of the cultural practices which they brought with them from their national
"homelands" (e.g. drinking coffee and wine and speaking their "national" languages) and cloning
themselves into the Anglo-Celtic dominant culture as the assimilation policy required. The shift
toward a policy of multiculturalism in the 1970s implied a recognition of this failure and an
embrace of the notion of "cultural diversity", which the policy itself is aimed to "manage". But it
was a cultural diversity within a single "white race": it was "white" multiculturalism, not
multiracialism. Identity issues come forward again as these become one of the main questions of
Australian contemporary society.
Europe, on the other hand is facing a major financial crisis. Now in the context of two financial
bailouts and the imposition of tough austerity measures, it is the Euro-zone that is shaking the
economy and society of the European South (and not only). Today’s European landscape is
once more beset by incessant crises. Europe’s purported homogeneity proves to be a landscape
full of contrasts, inequalities and mandatory compromises. Perhaps, all these crises culminate in
the most fundamental one: the identity crisis.
The project addresses the complexity of identity in both Europe and Australia focusing on the
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role of Britain, Italy and Greece played in the construction of identity examining its
manifestations primarily in culture but also in society, politics, foreign policy and economy. This
eventually deepens our knowledge not only of how modern European society has reached this
point but also what Europe is, what it represents, how this may be seen in Australia through the
connection of “motherlands” and local communities. Gradually it becomes clearer that despite
the long distance between Australia and Europe, similar socio-political and cultural issues,
influence the formation of European and Australian society.
Essential to this project and closely related to what represents are the local tradition, common
history and culture heritage of each of the participating countries in Europe and Australia. This
project, however, focuses mainly of the contemporary readings of the past and its creative
adoption in contemporary forms of art expression. More specifically the project will attempt to
investigate how classical art forms such as traditional folk music are playing a role in the
changing perception of identity in the context of Europe. Moreover, the project encourages
actions/performances presenting the integration of local traditions and contemporary culture.
People testimonies play also a key role in the creation of artworks of this project since these
comprise a form of recording this current reality, mapping in essence today’s European and
Australian landscape.
Europe is, in essence, a political space and operates as a conduit for the transfer of great energy
that dates back to antiquity, from the orient to the occident and vice-versa, and has included
movements of people, innovative ideas and ideologies, in times of both peace and war.
Australia, although with a recent western past, also includes movements of people and cultures
which have functioned as major drivers for change.
The Project therefore will be inviting participant artists from cultural and academic institutions
from EU countries and Australia, and mostly from participating countries, as well as from
institutions from the under succession countries, such as Turkey. In addition the project covers
a wide range of topics including culture heritage, visual arts, performing arts as well as social
studies and politics and a number of young artists will be invited to participate in various
activities focusing on the exchange of ideas.
In this way the project complies with the main three criteria of Culture
 promotion of the trans-national mobility of people working in the cultural sector;
 support for the trans-national circulation of cultural and artistic works and products;
 promotionofinter-culturaldialogue
A series of actions is proposed to be organized in all EU participating countries and Australia
according to each partner’s field of expertise and background. The following actions can all be
included in the project and be implemented within the span of 2 years. Each partner can suggest
which actions could organize and actions which could be implemented by them according to
their field of expertise. (One or two) of the following actions are proposed to be organized in
Athens-Greece (i.e. media workshops). The other actions can be discussed and tailored
according to each partners’ background.
An important tool for monitoring the progress of the project and but also for the exchange of
ideas is the creation of an on line platform for uploading any audio-visual material produced as a
result from the projects workshops.
The proposed activities are:
1. Unlimited Workshops
Sinthesis will organize a series of six-month creative workshops in all four countries (Greece,
Italy, UK and Australia) aiming to engage audiences from all places with the European and
Australian cultures and create artworks inspired by each other’s “foreign” history and tradition.
The workshops will take place in specific cultural centres-creative hubs of each participating
country. Distinguished performing arts professors, academics, artists and creators from different
arts disciplines from all participating countries will lead the workshops and the creative process.
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The workshops will be open and accessible to anyone who wishes to take part in the project and
will include courses, classes, training sessions, artistic experiments, presentations, open days,
talks, seminars, residencies and rehearsals in all artforms: theatre, dance, music, literature, fine
arts, visual arts, photography, installations, film etc. The ulterior goal of the workshops is the
creation of a major artwork, a curated live event, including allartforms and all the participants
under the concept of the “Unlimited: Long Distances but Small Differences-Australia and the
Med”. Professional artists with the support of academic theoreticians and the participation of
the emerging creators will be able to produce a unique piece of “live art”, a local experience (see
3. Unlimited Experience) created by multicultural “guests” for the eyes of every possible visitor,
physical or virtual of the specific country and culture.
Venues:
-Athens: Vyrssaki, Space for Art and Action (www.vryssaki.gr)
-London:
-Italy-Rome
-Australia?? Melbourne, Sydney???
2. My Creative Ark
An online platform with cultural arks created by the participants of the workshops will be
uploaded including texts, videos, images, music pieces etc. More specifically, all participants will
create their own personal cultural “arks” which will include:
- A short video in two parts. In the first part, the participants from all four countries will be
talking about themselves, their background, their profession etc. In the second part, they will be
showing us around their favorite and familiar places in the city: where they go for walks, where
they work, where they go to eat, to drink, to enjoy the view.
- A multi-media collage including: a movie clip, a song, an image and an excerpt that remind
them of their city, their country.
Each ark will constitute the participant’s “world”, with the meaning of the cultural way of life in
the specific place and it will promote “secret” cultural aspects of each place, testimonies of
historical value and of local everyday life. All these CreativeArks will be collected from all
partners and these will be uploaded to the platform for others to share.
3. UnlimitedExperience
The combination of the creative output of the workshops and the use of the Creative Arks will
create four major live experiences of the each place, culture and local community in the most
important landmarks of each partner country. These “live art” projects will be divided into a
main live art project taking place in Australia and three other satellite ones taking place in all
other participating countries. All these will be directed by the professional artists and academics
that will lead the workshops and they will be produced in corporation with the participants of
the workshops and the local communities. The Unlimited Experiences of each culture of the
participant countries will have the form of artistic promenades, with fine and visual artworks
playing the role of scenery, theatre and dance twenty- minutes performances, films and concerts
as intermissions, poetry and recite events. All of these will unfold the narrative of each culture
using real testimonials and elements of the Creative-Arks. The live experiences produced in each
place will be live projected at all the cultural centres-creative hubs of the four partner countries,
in order for all participants and audiences of the four countries to have access and watch the
output of their colleges in the other places.
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Ëőęáâçôôďý 18,
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Ô.Ę.
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73,
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Ôçë:
2103390447,
info@sinthesis.gr,