Juist, Germany
Transcultural Art Lab
The TRANSCULTURAL ART LAB (TAL) is a collaborative residency program for cultural professionals from the South Caucasus and Germany.
what we do?
Each year 50 creatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Germany as well as from the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia embark on a two-weeks joint venture on the remote island of Juist, North Sea. Core of the encounter is a shared artistic investigation of ‘utopia’– the unreachable good place – used as a framework for transcultural dialogue and divergent thinking upon possible futures.
TAL is designed as an inclusive space where creators from different backgrounds – irrespective of their educational, cultural or socio-economic contexts – are allowed to ask probing questions and critically engage with their realities and dreams. It seeks to be a space where one can take the lead in artistic collaborations that redefine how relationships are shaped by political conflicts, war, and cultural differences.
From 2016 to 2019, TAL brought a total of 213 creatives from six countries to the island of Juist and was continued intra-regionally in subsequent collaborations. Many of the participating artists had never met a single person from neighbouring countries before. By fostering creativity as a transformative force, TAL promotes a dynamic network of creative minds across the South Caucasus and Europe. The works of art created here have since been exhibited in Berlin, Tbilisi, Yerevan and Baku.
Each year 50 creatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Germany as well as from the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia embark on a two-weeks joint venture on the remote island of Juist, North Sea. Core of the encounter is a shared artistic investigation of ‘utopia’– the unreachable good place – used as a framework for transcultural dialogue and divergent thinking upon possible futures.
TAL is designed as an inclusive space where creators from different backgrounds – irrespective of their educational, cultural or socio-economic contexts – are allowed to ask probing questions and critically engage with their realities and dreams. It seeks to be a space where one can take the lead in artistic collaborations that redefine how relationships are shaped by political conflicts, war, and cultural differences.
From 2016 to 2019, TAL brought a total of 213 creatives from six countries to the island of Juist and was continued intra-regionally in subsequent collaborations. Many of the participating artists had never met a single person from neighbouring countries before. By fostering creativity as a transformative force, TAL promotes a dynamic network of creative minds across the South Caucasus and Europe. The works of art created here have since been exhibited in Berlin, Tbilisi, Yerevan and Baku.
Creative process
We work hard every day to make lives better and happier
how we do it?
TAL manifests as a forum for artistic and social practice in two significant ways:
TAL manifests as a forum for artistic and social practice in two significant ways:
- As a two-week journey through questions about possible futures. Together, participants develop collaborative projects, create self-organized learning, and conduct open discussions on topics ranging widely from the personal to the political.
- As an open platform based on the empowerment of young cultural actors. Overcoming both the physical and invisible barriers for cultural collaboration in post-conflict societies, these encounters have since snowballed. TAL’s annual networking meetings have been a catalyst for numerous follow-up collaborations.
TRANSCULTURAL ART LAB 2018
( 8 min )
why utopia?
- Using utopia as a tool, TAL tackles the complexity of the term by poking into its multiple sociological dimensions. In everyday discourse, utopia is often understood as blueprint for an ideal future, with what seems impossible within the confines of reality. Thus, it bounds to create margins for many and often contradictory interpretations. Instead of lacking a concrete masterplan of an ideal world, TAL mirrors utopia as a provisional, reflexive and dialogical method in order to explore multiple alternatives. It opens up space for thoughts, without being blocked by what we now call reality.
