Future DiverCities
Art and the performer’s role in society and our time
BEK promotes the field of electronic and digital art by facilitating the production of artists’ projects. In 2014, BEK entered into a partnership with similar organizations across Europe to create a new and sustainable ecosystem for art and its creators. Together we will develop this new model with artistic activity and production, by exchanging expertise and experience across national borders.
Learn more about FutureDiverCities’ projects here.
Future DiverCities is an incubator for cultural innovation and new creative practice. This involves a holistic programme of creative laboratories (LABs), with the 10 partner organisations from Europe and Canada. All 10 partners are central contributors to the creative landscape of production in their own towns. This gives the collaboration the unique strength to encounter the future of urban spaces and their populations: the diversity of the demographic increases, affecting what becomes relevant in terms of cultural identity and its expression in the future. With the aid of intercultural interaction in a socio-cultural and digital context, the partners aim to actively break boundaries between lands. This is an ambitious project, which received four year funding from the EU’s Creative Europe programme in 2016; the intention of which is to create content in collaboration with citizens.
Future DiverCities explores new ways of collaboration and co-creation by using innovative co-design methodologies in artistic processes, incubating artwork that re-composes urban geographies, or explores new participative digital tools to creatively experience the city.
Future DiverCities is a holistic programme looking at the ever-changing role of art and creative work in the urban context. The programme includes a wide range of activities, community labs, citizens’ workshops and artistic interventions, to explore and show how artists and creatives can propose innovative ways to build our future cities and how this responds to current thinking and needs related to urban transformation.
Future DiverCities sees creative innovation as a tool to enable citizens to see things in a different way, supporting the development of stronger communities and contributing to the concept of happy and resilient cities.
Project Partners, part 1 (2016-2018):
·Superact – Wellington, England
·1D Lab – Saint Etienne, Lyon & Paris, France
·Public Art Lab – Berlin, Germany
·CitiLab – Cornella, Spain
·Seconde Nature – Aix en Provence, France
·ANTI Festival – Kuopio, Finland
·BEK – Bergen, Norway
·Kontejner – Zagreb, Croatia
·Liepaja City Council – Latvia
·La Chambre Blanche, Quebec, Canada
Project Partners, part 2 (2019-2020):
·Savonia University – Kuopio, Finland
·1D Lab – Saint Etienne, Lyon & Paris, France
·Public Art Lab – Berlin, Germany
·Seconde Nature – Aix en Provence, France
·ANTI Festival – Kuopio, Finland
·BEK – Bergen, Norway
·Kontejner – Zagreb, Croatia
·Liepaja City Council – Latvia
·La Chambre Blanche, Quebec, Canada